Kingdom Living: Moving Out and Moving On!

Beyond Superficial, Able To Answer

Title: Knowing The Scoop
Subject: Doctrine and Discernment Date Presented: 04 Nov 2012

Introduction:
To The Series I. Purpose Weve spent several years on theme Kingdom Living A. B. C. D. II. Covered a lot of ground, Emphasized that living in Covenant with God is important stuff... That being a Christian means whole person commitment: you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your m ind. (Words of Jesus, Matthew 22:37) Imparted (I hope) a lot of information, teaching...

Have not demanded (exhorted, called for, pleaded for) very much in response. A. B. Not specific actions... no disciplines... no accountability. Its time for that to change.

III.

If we are going to take our faith seriously, we cannot sit back on our heels and just exist. A. B. C. Jesus command to His disciples in Galilee - Com e, follow m e. Is the same command He extends to His disciples today. Jesus is moving... He wants us to follow... 1. 2. like Nathanael we have to stop sitting under our fig tree And go with Jesus and see the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending on thee Son of Man (John 1:51)

IV.

We are called to a life of deepening spiritual growth and mature service to our King. A. B. Now I am calling for us to actively undertake to do so. Accordingly, this next phase of Kingdom Living is under heading Moving Out and Moving On In Our Faith Organization Charles Swindolls Growing Deep In The Christian Life

Todays Topic: Taking Seriously The Call to Abound More and More in Knowledge and Discernment
Principal Passage: (Phi 1:9-11 NKJ) And this I pray, that your love m ay abound still m ore and m ore in knowledge and 10 all discernm ent, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without 11 offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the
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glory and praise of God. First: Recognizing (Knowing and Discerning) the Cultural Challenge we face: The Constant Battle & Constant Threat (1Ti 4:1-6 NKJ) Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter tim es some will depart from the faith, giving 2 heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience 3 seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be 4 received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and 5 6 nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. I. II. Spiritual warfare is not a sometime thing Major battle = pressure to devolve to sub-human A. B. III. Reactionary, Instinctual, habitual/emotion based behavior => uninformed opinions Level playing field = every one at same lowest denominator

Result: Deadly Combination of Ignorance & Anti-Intellectualism A. B. Richard Hofstadter (1963) Anti-Intellectualism in American Life Susan Jacoby, Washington Post (17 Feb. 2008)

Dumbness, to paraphrase the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, has been steadily defined downward for several decades, by a combination of heretofore irresistible forces. These include the triumph of video culture over print culture (and by video, I mean every form of digital media, as well as older electronic ones); a disjunction between Americans' rising level of formal education and their shaky grasp of basic geography, science and history; and the fusion of anti-rationalism with anti-intellectualism. First and foremost among the vectors of the new anti-intellectualism is video. The decline of book, newspaper and magazine reading is by now an old story. The drop-off is most pronounced among the young, but it continues to accelerate and afflict Americans of all ages and education levels. Reading has declined not only among the poorly educated, according to a report last year by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1982, 82 percent of college graduates read novels or poem s for pleasure; two decades later, only 67 percent did. And m ore than 40 percent of Am ericans under 44 did not read a single book -- fiction or nonfiction -- over the course of a year. The proportion of 17-year-olds who read nothing (unless required to do so for school) m ore than doubled between 1984 and 2004. This time period, of course, encompasses the rise of personal computers, Web surfing and video games. C. Deadly Situation: 1. 2. 3. Reasoned discussion is devalued, Nuance & precision of language is lost Ability to think is affected a. b. 4. a. b. D. Thinking is synergistically related to language skills Inability to pro-actively deal with issues Unstable patterns of life and society Increasingly drastic reactions to increasingly serious crises

Resultant circumstance: social & individual roller-coaster

These latter times means that people, Christians included, are much more open to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

Self-examination is required:

I.

How Far Removed Are We From The Culture In This Regard? A. B. Are Christians steadily resisting this wide-spread cultural trend? From George Barna Group
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Bible reading has becom e the religious equivalent of sound-bite journalism . When people read from the Bible they typically open it, read a brief passage without much regard for the context, and consider the primary thought or feeling that the passage provided. If they are com fortable with it, they accept it; otherwise, they deem it interesting but irrelevant to their life, and m ove on. There is shockingly little growth evident in peoples understanding of the fundam ental them es of the scriptures and am azingly little interest in deepening their knowledge and application of biblical principles. Barna noted that some of the critical assumptions of many preachers and Bible teachers is inaccurate. The problem facing the Christian Church is not that people lack a complete set of beliefs; the problem is that they have a full slate of beliefs in m ind, which they think are consistent with biblical teachings, and they are neither open to being proven wrong nor to learning new insights. Our research suggests that this challenge initially emerges in the late adolescent or early teenage years. By the time most Americans reach the age of 13 or 14, they think they pretty much know everything of value the Bible has to teach and they are no longer interested in learning more scriptural content. It requires increasingly concise, creative, reinforced, and personally relevant efforts to penetrate peoples minds with new or more accurate insights into genuinely biblical principles. In a culture driven by the desire to receive value, more Bible teaching is generally not viewed as an exercise in providing such value. o 68% of self-identified Christians have heard of spiritual gifts, a decline in the past decade; a minority (roughly one-third) can actually identify a biblical spiritual gift they claim to possess o Less than one out of every five born again adults (19%) has a biblical worldview, which is unchanged in the past 15 years o Just half of all self-identified Christians firmly believe that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles (not the facts, just the principles) that it teaches o Barely one-quarter of adults (27%) are confident that Satan exists o Less than four out of every ten self-identified Christians firmly accept the teaching that a person can be influenced by spiritual forces, such as angels or demons o An overwhelming majority of self-identified Christians (81%) contend that spiritual maturity is achieved by following the rules in the Bible o Only 4% believe that poverty is an issue that is primarily the responsibility of the Church Knowledge (are we equipped?) Discernment (where is the fruit?) Ignorance is NOT Bliss

Growing In Knowledge and Discernment

Emphasis in Scripture

Benefits of Being Scripturally Informed

Knowledge gives substance to faith

Knowledge stabilizes us during times of testing

Knowledge enables us to handle the Bible accurately Knowledge equips us to detect and confront error Knowledge makes us more confident in our daily walk
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http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/325-barna-studies-the-research-offers-a-year-in-review-perspective Following are taken from section headings in Swindolls book.

Knowledge hleps filter out our fears and superstitions The Necessity of Being Scripturally Informed : Prepared for every good work

Conclusion: Knowledge Alone Can Be Dangerous

Pride - Knowledge for Knowledges sake

Miserliness - Knowledge is meant to be used not stored up in always learning... Imbalance - Knowledge must be balanced by love and compassion Equated with Abstractions - Knowledge is directed toward wisdom = conduct of life

Homework & Discussion:

Equipping: Memory Verse - Phi. 1:9-11 Homework / Discussion: 1. Motivational Strategy: a. b. c. 2. Write down a name - someone who is in need of guidance and help that you might be empowered to provide through the material in this study. Find some place (book mark?, post-it note) where you can place that paper with the name to remind you to pray for them and yourselves along the lines taken up in this study. Bring that name to each class and discuss in class how the subject of each class could apply to this person, or to you in relation to them. Deut. 6:4-9 a. b. 3. a. b. What are the ministry opportunities that present themselves in your daily life? In our fast-paced, suburban mobile culture, how can teaching moments be cultivated and pursued? Are you being constantly nourished by the words of faith and if not, what are you going to do about it? Start a notebook... i. ii. spend at least 15 min / day (5 days min.) in Scripture, Focus on a small bite - write down (1) (2) (3) c. what timeless truth is reflected in this passage? what relevance does it have for your life? how might the person for whom you are concerned benefit from this passage if it took root in their life?

1 Tim. 4:6