GOD IS WORKING IN YOU!

“For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13)

When I was into golf I greatly admired Jack Nicholas. I wanted to play golf like him so much that I bought his video called Golf My Way. Religiously I would watch it over and over again. I would run it in slow motion, stop action, and attempt to mimic every aspect of Jack Nicholas’s sweet swing. After frequent viewings, confidence would be high and then I would go on to the course and anticipate 300 yard drives, great shots with my woods and irons, having a great balance with my long game, short game, and the ability to sink the most difficult of putts. Frequently, I would watch it right before I played a round of golf hoping that like magic in a bottle, I would catch something that would transfer to the golf course. But something happened when I’d get to the golf course and set out to play. As I’d step up to the tee my game rapidly deteriorated. My will and mind and body could not seem to work together and my game was more like Bill Robison than Jack Nicholas. Golf My Way wasn’t golf my way.

Mark Twain once wrote, “Few things are harder to put up with up with than the annoyance of a good example.” Perhaps the most annoying thing about a good example is the inability to accomplish the same achievements in our own lives. Admiration for someone great can inspire us, but it cannot enable us. Unless a person can enter into our own lives and share his skills, we cannot attain the heights of accomplishment. It takes more than an example on the outside; it takes transformation and power in the inside.

The beauty of the Christian life is that it too is a life of admiration. God created the whole universe with the design of admiring His glory which is supremely admirable. That is to say, God's design is that the whole duty of man is to see the glory of God in order to admire the glory of God so as to magnify, proclaim and live for the glory of God, and show the glory of God.

But how can we fulfill that duty on our own? That is the root of our problem isn't it? Trying to imitate Christ and show His supreme worth on my own is like me trying to imitate Jack Nicholas! The good news is that God doesn't just inspire us with admiration of His glory; He enables us to live for his glory by transformation and power in the inside.

The apostle Paul writes in Philippians 2:13, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” Paul is saying that God is the decisive worker in your life! We work, but we work by and through and because of His working in us. It would be like me going out on the golf course and playing golf with God doing a work inside of me that begins causing me to play like Jack Nicholas!

There are two great needs in every Christian life. First, there is the desire to do God's will and the second is the ability to do His will. Paul tells us that God not only creates the desire but provides the ability. But I would add that even before that the sovereign God first opens our eyes to see His supreme admirableness and worth; to see and perceive His design for my life; and then to see and perceive and treasure my duty towards Him. h

God does more than merely strengthen our willing and doing. it is not synergistic where God adds a little help so that I can partner with Him. It is monergistic. Paul's explanation goes deeper. "God himself is working in us both to will and to act: He works in us at the level of our wills and at the level of our doing God works in us, not merely with us. It is not the thought that my work plus God's work gets it done.

Augustine wrote, "Our deeds are our own, because of the free will producing them, and they are also God's, because of his grace causing our free will to produce them." And he says elsewhere, "God makes us do what he pleases by making us desire what we might not desire."' And finally he says, "Give me the grace [O Lord] to do as you command, and command me to do what you will! . . . O holy God . . . when your commands are obeyed, it is from you that we receive the power to obey them."

Take the following texts as encouragements from God that He will help you fulfill His purposes for your life.

Jeremiah 31:31 33, `Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.... I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.

Deuteronomy 30.6, "The LORD your God will circum­cise your heart...so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. "

Ezekiel 11:19–20, A new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them."

Ezekiel 36:26-27, `I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.

Second Thessalonians 1:11-12, "To this end we always pray for you, that our God may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you.”

Hebrews 13:20-21, `Now may the God of peace. equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Corinthians 15:10, “by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”

Romans 15:18, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me.”

First Peter 4:11, "Whoever serves" is to do so `as one who serves by the strength which God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Thessalonians 3:12. "May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another "

God is working now at this very moment! Even when we are most actively working out for God, we are still the recipients of His working in us. God is always there to work for us and in us every moment that we enter. Not only that, He doesn’t stop and wait for you to get working rather He is now and always working The God who in the past worked and changed you is the same God who is at work in you now to change you.

And let me tell you, that truth keeps me from despair, because one of the great realities that I live with every waking moment is that I know that I am not what I ought to be. And the Apostle Paul is simply saying to you here, ‘Child of God, He’s not finished with you yet. He is at work with you, in you, for you, for His pleasure and glory.’ And I cannot imagine a more comforting and encouraging thing to know in the pursuit of godliness in the Christian life than that my God is not done yet. It keeps me from going over the edge. It keeps me from the brink of despair.

It is the promise (God will work in you!) that sustains and gives hope to the willpower (work out your salvation). Take heart. God will not leave you to yourself. John Newton once wrote: I am not what I want to be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I should be, but by the grace of God, I am what I am.”

Can anything be more radical than this? It means every good desire; every Christ-like thought, attitude, decision, and aspiration which I have is something which has been produced in me by God. God controls my willing, it is God who is energizing my very desires and hopes and aspirations and thoughts. He stimulates it all!” It means God understands our weakness and is committed to helping us. It means we are not left to simply work to muster more of our strength but we are invited to tap into His. It means we don't have to worry about falling away in the end because God is working on our desires and appetites so that we won't want to drift away. It means that the victories and accomplishments we have in the spiritual realm should be acknowledged as coming from the Lord and we should give Him the glory. It means that we can live the Christian life. AMEN!

Pastor Bill

THOUGHTS ON PRIDE AND HUMILITY PART 2

"God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble...Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. "
James 4:6,10 ESV

In 1967 I played in the Hawaiian State Golf Championship for Aiea High School. I’d like to say that I was able to participate because I was such a great golfer, which I wasn’t; it was because every school got to play, even though we finished in last place and I was the bottom golfer on the team. At the tournament were representatives from various universities checking out the talent for recruitment. I remember thinking to myself as my turn was coming up at the first tee, “Bill you hit an awesome drive off the tee, this could be your meal ticket to college.” When it was my turn to get up to the tee, the loudspeaker blared, “And now representing Aiea High School, Bill Robison” At the tee were not only recruiters but also pros, golfers from all the other high schools, all sorts of media types, and several hundred people. Suddenly, the gaze of all these people, especially the recruiters utterly paralyzed me. It seems as if every basic skill I had and every golf fundamental I ever had learned left me at that moment. I stood over my ball for what seemed for an eternity, taking several practice swings, all the time thinking of all these people watching me and not blowing my drive off the tee. Finally I swung my driver and proceeded to hit the ball. Immediately I knew I had done the worst thing possible, I had looked up to see my 350 yard drive without looking at the ball. As a result, my 350 yard drive turned into me topping the ball and the ball dribbled about ten yards from the tee. I wanted to die! There went my golf future and in place entered complete humiliation. I didn’t even want to look at the crowd after that embarrassment. I just picked up a club and immediately hit my next shot and never looked back. I ended up taking twelve strokes to get into the hole in the Hawaii State Championship! So much for my golf career!

Phillip Yancey says, “What we think about God and believe about God matters-really matters-as much as anything in life matters.” There have been times in my life that I have thought that God was like those scouts, looking for talent to help His team win. There have been times I have thought that I was that talent that could do just that. But then spiritually I have way too many times approached the tee and have failed miserably. Now I know that when it comes to the Christian life neither have I the talent nor is God a talent scout.

What is God looking for from us when it comes to Christian living? What gets the attention of God? In Isaiah 66:2 we read these words from the Lord: “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” Here God is telling us what it is that gets His attention. This is the one to whom I will look is a striking statement. It’s pretty hard to get God’s attention, but right here God is telling us what makes him stop what He is doing and take a second look.

Brothers and sisters, Humility draws the gaze of our Sovereign God. Humility attracts His active and gracious gaze. The eyes of God are a theme running throughout Scripture. Take, for example, the familiar words of 2 Chronicles 16:9, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him." Obviously God doesn’t have physical eyes, God is spirit (John 4:24). He doesn’t need physical eyes, because He's also omni­scient. Nothing escapes His notice. He's aware of all things. But though He's aware of everything, He's also search­ing for something in particular, something that acts like a magnet to capture His attention and invites His active involvement. God is decisively drawn to humility. The person who is humble is the one who draws God's atten­tion, and in this sense, drawing His attention means also attracting His grace-His unmerited kindness. Think about that: There's something you can do to attract more of Gods gracious, underserved, supernatural strength and assistance: humility!

As I said earlier, though He's aware of everything, He's also search­ing for something in particular, something that acts like a magnet to capture His attention and invite His active involvement. God is decisively drawn to humility. The person who is humble is the one who draws God's atten­tion, and in this sense, drawing His attention means also attracting His grace-His unmerited kindness. Think about that: There's something you can do to attract more of Gods gracious, underserved, supernatural strength and assistance! What a promise! Contrary to popular and false belief, it's not "those who help themselves whom God helps; it is those who humble themselves.

This is the promise of humility. God is personally and providentially^- supportive of the humble. And the grace He extends to the humble is indescribably rich. Nothing could be better than to have an infinitely powerful and wise God treat us graciously. Grace is a wonderful word. It means we are recipients of the favor of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When we are humble, we are in a place to receive His grace which He lavishes upon us. Isaiah 57:15 "For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." What a promise! You cannot be too insignificant for God to reach you; He loves to dwell with the lowly and contrite. That is bad news for the proud and self-reliant, but good news for broken sinners.

In William Bridge's lovely words, `If you lay yourself at Christ's feet he will take you into his arms.” What is humility? James’ wording here again speaks of continual action. God has always and will forever continue to give grace to those who humble themselves before the Lord. The word “humble,” as it’s used in verse six, is not only a reference to an attitude, but to a position as well. God gives His grace to those who recognize their lowly position in the presence of a holy and righteous God by honestly assessing ourselves in light of God's holi­ness and our sinfulness. That is the twin reality that all genuine humility is rooted in: Gods holiness and our sinfulness.

Fenelon explained, "A peasant shut up in his village only partially knows his wretchedness, but let him see rich palaces, a superb court, and he will realize all the poverty of his village. He cannot endure its hovels after a sight of so much magnificence. It is thus that we see our ugliness and worthlessness in the beauty and infinite grandeur of God.” In the same way, it's easy for a man or woman to be proud until they catch a glimpse of God's holiness. John Piper says, “Humility can only survive in the presence of God. When God goes, humility goes. In fact, you might say that humility follows God like a shadow.”

John Calvin wrote, “It is evident that man never attains to a true self knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look at himself.” Without an honest awareness of the reality of God’s holiness and our sinfulness, all self-evaluation will be skewed and we'll fail to either understand or practice true humility: We'll miss out on experiencing the promise and the pleasures of grace that God offers to the humble. That is why I want to direct you to God's help for evalu­ating your life honestly, to understand whether you're growing in the humility that draws His gaze and attracts more of His grace.

What are you building with your life? A marriage? A family? A business? A church? A career? A ministry? A friendship? In all your ven­tures, are you aware of your need for God's grace to give your efforts lasting value? So many human ventures have failed because humility was lacking. Ultimately, there can be no effective expansion of your life’s mission and ministry, no growth and maturity, no fulfillment of the specific purpose that God has called you to, apart from the cultivation of humility in your heart and the weakening of pride in your life. But I don’t want you rooting out pride because of its perils and pitfalls. Our pursuit should be driven by the amazing promise James gives that humility holds out to us: God gives grace to the humble!

Do you long for God's providen­tial help and blessing? Then let's allow the promise of humility to shape our life and choices, so that your life will begin to be colored in every area by grace. God clearly states that He is drawn to the humble. He's also clear that He opposes the proud. These two, humility and pride, cannot coexist. Where one is fostered, the other is defeated. Which will you pursue? If you feel convicted of pride in any form, of failing to humble yourself or failing to glorify God, take the time right now to flee to the cross and receive the forgiveness for this sin of pride that God hates. Humble yourself before Him and confess it specifically to the one whom you have offended. And receive the grace of His forgiveness. Tell Him that you want to declare war upon pride in your life- that you want to declare war on this active, daily tendency towards self-sufficiency, this desire to live independently of Him when in truth we are dependent upon him for every breadth. Gladly announce make a declaration of dependency. Make this confession humbly and daily for the rest of your life. Hold on to the promise God gives to those who are humble before Him: GOD GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE!

Pastor Bill

THOUGHTS ON PRIDE AND HUMILTY Part 1

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble"
James 4:6 ESV

I have been thinking allot about pride and humility as I have been preaching through the book of Philippians on Sundays. James makes a very strong and convicting statement about Gods' posture towards pride: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

When James says “God opposes the proud”, the verb here is the Greek antitassetai, which literally means 'to arrange against'. It is a military term which could be translated `to set in array as in a battle', and the picture it conjures up is vivid and terrifying. Whereas the humble, godly man has the hosts of God encamped around him, the arrogant, godless man has the God of hosts arrayed against him! James is saying nothing less than that.

But is his language too strong? Is he overstating the case? Not in the least. From God's perspective, pride seems to be the most serious sin. There is nothing God hates more than this. God righteously hates all sin, of course, but biblical evidence abounds for the conclusion that there's no sin more offensive to Him than pride.

His Word reveals that there are seven things "that the Lord hates and that are an abomination to Him” It is the proud man’s haughty eyes that head up the list (Proverbs 6:16-17). Another time God speaks out, "I hate pride and arrogance" (Proverbs 8:13). And consider the divine perspective on pride revealed in Proverbs l6:5, "Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished." Stronger language for sin simply cannot be found in Scripture.

Why does God hate pride so passionately? Here's why: Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence upon Him. John Piper puts it this way: Pride is self-satisfaction, self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and self- worship. Pride lifts up one's heart against God and -contends for supremacy" with Him.

Pride takes innumerable forms. John Piper has described several:

1. The self-preoccupied person. This is the person who thinks continually about himself. He might be a self-effacing person, and so look in a way humble. But inside his cocoon all he is consumed with is thoughts about himself. He may not even like himself.But he is still the center of his attention. His self-hate has no power to produce humility, it just makes his pride pathetic and miserable.That is a subtle and deadly form of pride.

2. The self-infatuated person. This person really does feel quite good about himself. He is not only occupied with himself, but likes being the center of his own attention and thinks others would probably like it as well. He may or may not be outgoing,but he finds himself entertaining or intelligent or handsome or shrewd and enjoys preening himself, even if nobody is impressed.

3. The self-exalting person. This person goes beyond self-preoccupation and self-infatuation to active efforts to display his qualities. He does care if others see and admire. He wants praise.

Notice that the key word in the description of the proud is SELF. Prideful people only have one end in mind: self-glorification. That's the motive and ultimate purpose of pride-to rob God of legitimate glory and to pursue self-glorification, contending for supremacy with Him. The proud person seeks to glorify himself and not God, thereby attempting in effect to deprive God of something only He is worthy to receive. C.S. Lewis said, “Pride is a telescope turned the wrong way. It magnifies it self and makes the heavens small.” No wonder God opposes pride. No wonder He hates pride.

How then does God resist the proud? He reveals Himself in Scripture as actively opposed to pride. "Opposes" in this statement is an active, present-tense verb, showing us that God's opposition to pride is an immediate and constant activity. James is not saying that God simply disapproves of those who are proud. He is saying that God is actively engaged against those who are proud. He does so in many ways. The Puritan Thomas Manton says, “The proud man hath his tactics, and God hath his anti-tactics.” His quaint wording is remarkably up to date in our world of missiles, -anti-missiles and anti-missile missiles! Try as he will, man's pride will never get the better of God. How does God resist proud men? The Bible gives us a number of answers to that question:

1. God resists the proud by refusing to speak. (Romans 1:22-30)
2. God resists the proud by ridiculing their schemes (Psalm 2:1-4).
3. God also resists the proud by ruining their success. (2 Chronicles 26)
4. God resists the proud by removing their status. (Daniel 5:20).

If we do not come before God in humility, God will deal with our pride in humiliation. Apart from grace, all that sinners can receive from God is humiliation. The warnings from Scripture about pride could not be more serious and sobering. And they're an expression of God's mercy intended for our good. God is merciful to warn us in this way. He's merciful in this act of revealing this sin to our hearts and in identi­fying its seriousness and potential consequences. He is merciful, and He intends to protect us. So throughout His Word, God exposes pride as our greatest enemy. By unmasking pride-as well now James introducing us to humility, our greatest friend-God is laying out for us the path to receive more grace.

To be continued...