“PRESSING AHEAD”

(2 Timothy 2:1-15)

INTRODUCTION & REVIEW

For the last two Sundays we have focused on the events leading up to the resurrection of Christ. From Palm Sunday through Easter we stepped aside from our sermon series on “the Spiritual Journey”. Consequently, I want to utilize the first portion of today’s message to review the material we have already visited.

Here are the main ingredients covered so far:

§  God designed human life so people would have a personal relationship with Him whereby they love Him, respect Him, submit to His authority and serve Him.

§  A major upset of God’s plan happened when God’s enemy, Satan, introduced man and woman to sin: rebellion against God. Thus, ALL     people are alienated from God, having inherited a sinful nature.

§  This sinful nature distorts the human perspective of life so people enter into life committed to doing things their own way, on their own time, based on their own resources. It is called self-sufficiency.

§  When people live in such an independent way they go through life totally out of sync with God’s design for His creatures.

§  People I have just described are also on a journey of life, but theirs has no spiritual dimension to it at all. At best, their life consists of pursuing earthly goals that never make sense out of life. Such goals leave life devoid of true meaning.

§  As folk move into the FIRST STAGE of a spiritual journey (and the majority don’t), some learn that there is a personal, everlasting, loving creative God.

§  Through the truth of the Bible (God’s owner’s manual on life) these people recognize God for Who He is, and confess their sinfulness, while asking Him to receive them into a relationship with Him. When they do this, they embark on a “spiritual” journey. This transformation usually takes place because of a sense of awe at God’s work or they are in desperate need.

STAGE ONE: RECOGNIZING GOD

Under the first stage a new spiritual traveler changes life to center on God. Following the conversion, according to the Bible, a person gets a new spiritual nature, is adopted into God’s family automatically and receives God, the Holy Spirit into their life, launching a life of change and growth. This stage is a completely new experience in which the following factors take place:

§  God is now seen as big and the new Christian as small.

§  The new believer is motivated to obey God in life.

§  This person is very child-like in their acceptance of spiritual information.

§  Such a new convert often finds a teacher who understands spiritual things in order to learn. Sadly, many times no such person is available.

§  The convert can also face some realities that might slow or stop the process of growth in this beginning stage of the journey.

o   Sometimes this new experience in life gives one a sense of failure. They made a decision to relate to the Lord but feel inadequate in what to do, or feel unworthy of God’s love.

o   Sometimes this stage makes one aware of being ignorant and uninformed about spiritual things.

o   People who this person had as friends often ridicule, reject or assail this one’s faith. It can become ugly!

MOVING FROM STAGE ONE TO STAGE TWO

Unfortunately, many people who begin a life in relationship with Jesus do not progress from stage one to stage two. Churches have attempted (and basically they have succeeded) in getting folk into stage one. Congregations call this work evangelism. But, the journey has only just begun.

Regularly, churches present the “plan of salvation” adequately. But as we have discovered around FBC, there are three dimensions to Biblical salvation. Just being initially saved is not the totality of Christian life. Conversion to a personal relationship with God is the starting point. It is not the end of Christian faith! The Bible calls a new convert to the faith “an infant” in the faith.

IT IS AT THIS POINT WHERE THE CHURCH TAKES ON EXTREME IMPORTANCE IN A CHRISTIAN’S LIFE! When one embarks on the spiritual journey it is a launch into hostile territory. How so; you ask? A new road, a new task requires; even demands CHANGE.

ü Once, this new believer in Jesus was individualistic and on his/her own. Now, they must learn how to become an active, participating member of a group of people.

ü Once, this one went through life reacting to whatever he/she encountered. Now, they discover that God has definite plans for them and there is something worthwhile to live for. He/she must focus on learning how God wants life to be ordered and lived.

ü Once, this newbie in faith did his/her own thing. Now, this individual can progress if they find a small group of believers who will form a relationship with them and share how the journey works. It is always good to have people who have traveled the road to walk alongside and have the freedom to point out the hazards.

At this point I turn you to the verses we read earlier. Timothy was a convert under the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Now he is sent to the city of Ephesus to oversee the work of the church there. Timothy had received information and education on Christian living from Paul. (v.2) He is to pass the same truth about life to others, who in turn share it with others. Do you get the picture? Christians are not ordered or expected to be on their own when it comes to living their lives. That is not God’s model!

To progress in the journey of life Christians are to use the resources available to them. Those resources are other believers who are already familiar with the trip. (Here’s the rub isn’t it?) People, by natural inclination, try to do things by themselves, figure it out themselves. They don’t want to take the time to do things correctly. They would prefer to make mistakes (but learn on their own) rather than submit to someone else’s teaching in order to learn to do it right. Guess how I know this is the normal, but incorrect way of doing things?

ü Many people never take the time to go to school or actually finish their training before doing what they want to do. That would take discipline.

ü Many people never ask for directions if they are lost. They will go miles out of the way, wasting precious time rather than ask someone else for help. That would take humility.

ü People get miffed if they want to get married and a pastor has the audacity to expect them to not set the date till they have followed a course of pre-marital counseling, being trained by a couple who have been through the married life for at least 20 years. After all, all they want to do is get married not learn how to make it work. They already know all they need to know.

ü People accept the Lord but won’t go to church. Everyone knows that religion is not a subject people should even talk about. It is private and individualistic. Too bad if some spiritual truth is unknown to them. They don’t have time to allow others into their spiritual lives. Beside they would feel very uncomfortable.

Timothy here is given instructions by his mentor to approach life like a good soldier, a trained athlete, a hardworking farmer. As the chapter goes on he is told to directly get involved in others lives with God’s truth. So much for today’s emphasis on not “invading one’s privacy”! Paul goes on to say in verses 15-18 that giving oneself to the discipline of learning how to be grounded in a correct, spiritual orientation to life is essential in life.

Stage two is learning how to live life. It is the stage that “presses on”. It is the phase of the spiritual journey when one makes a commitment to grow and change.      The popular American notion that all one has to do is accept Christ and the Christian task is completed, is completely false! All of us in this room know of folk who have that mythical viewpoint. It is tragic that so many who claim to be Christians have no interest in church (where they could be encouraged to grow). They wonder (at the same time) why they are so miserable and life is such a mess or so stressful.

But let’s not cast darts at others! Do you know what activity is the first thing to go when believers are faced (by the Holy Spirit) with change needing to happen in life? Church attendance takes the hit. It is quickly followed with nonparticipation in church activities. And God’s enemy is delighted with that! When that happens, a Christian is stuck in stage one and no growth can take place. To move to stage 2 demands a willingness to change into the person God wants us to be. That means actively pursuing a relationship with an experienced traveler who already knows the journey first-hand. Folks; the Bible tells us you can find these people at church.

Every time we refuse to change in areas where God is pushing us to grow, we regress back into our infancy and make no progress on life’s journey. When that happens:

*we can’t let grudges go            *we can’t release our worries

*we can’t be joyful in life            *we can’t be Spirit-filled

*we can’t be gentle & loving       *we can’t be righteous

Next week we will discover what stage two actually looks like! See you then: let’s pray!