Don't Be Plundered

CEFC. JC Hicks. 2008-12-28.

"don't be plundered"

Colossians 2:6-10

6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

'plundered' or 'taken captive' - v8
- to be taken away as prisoner

How do we keep from being plundered?
1. Continue as we began
- v6-7
- rooted/built up in jesus, be established in faith, abound in thanksgiving
-- our lives must revolve around jesus like the earth revolves around the sun
-- trust and base ourselves in the faith we've been taught
-- be thankful constantly!
- "walk" how I live
-- often I trust myself for my life thinking that I know better (but ill trust him for what I can't see)
2. Beware of the philosophy of men
- v8
- traditions of men/elementary spirits of the world
-- pagan beliefs/science
--- using man based resources to discover a god based creation
3. Remember who we serve
-v9-10
- jesus is not a wise teacher
-- all the fullness of god dwells in his bodily form
-- and now we've been filled by christ who has all the fullness of god

Don't be plundered doesn't mean watch out that our possessions are stolen
- don't let yourself be plundered or carried off
-- cannot become unsaved
-- satan tries to carry off our peace and assurance in christ

How do I keep from being plundered?
1. Recall what I felt when I came to jesus
2. Find ways to be rooted in jesus
3. Remember who I serve

Hidden Treasure

sermon 2008-11-23
bob sproul. hershey evangelical free.

be careful when interpreting parables
- look for the meaning, but dont make one up
parables - communicates spiritual truth through an earthly story
- not an allegory where everything means something
- must understand the audience
- must hold true to the rest of all Scripture

mt13:44-46

2 meanings:
- we are worth everything to jesus
-- god gave up all in order to bringus to himself
1 ptr 1:18-19
- redeemed by god; bought w a price
why?
- he loves us so much

kingdom of god is worth everything from us
- cannot buy k.o.g.
- enter only through faith
-- gal 2:16
-1 cor 1:18, 23-24
-- perishing only see empty field; redeemed see great treasure beneath surface
- trying to teach us the supreme value of the kingdom
-- not how to get in
-- worth giving up everything
-- must surrender all
-- phlp3:4-9
---everything is crap compared to knowing christ

bonhoeffer
"To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us."

watchman nee
"Presenting myself to God implies a recognition that I am altogether his. This giving of myself is a definite thing, just as definite as (receiving Christ). There must be a day when I pass out of my own hands into his, and from that day forward I belong to him and no longer to myself...If we give ourselves unreservedly to God, many adjustments may have to be made: in family, or business, or relationships, or in the matter of our personal views...His finger will touch, point by point, everything that is not of him, and he will say 'That must go.' Are you willing?...It is always foolish to resist his will, but it is a blessed thing to just hand ourselves over to him and let him have his way with us...My giving of myself to him must be an initial fundamental act. Then, day by day, I must go on giving (myself) to him, not finding fault with his use of me, but accepting with praise even what the flesh finds hard. That way lies true enrichment."

it's a process

Discipleship Process

regional training 2008-11-21

mark6:30-44
- started as an interruption - v34

jesus had 3 components:
- knowledge - v34; knowledge led to compassion
- attitude - compassion lead to action; v34
- skills - jesus had disciples pass out bread; teach skills to leaders

how teach attitude?
- model it
- involve them in service
- put a face on the hurt

ppl are:
- made to love
- be loved

jesus taught the family business to the disciples
- preparing them to take over

- anytime someone gets it or starts getting the right attitude, bring it up

eph 4:11-13
pastor/teacher-->equip-->saints-->ministry-->built up-->unity in faith & mature in knowledge of christ
- everything builds on itself

equip - campaigner mtgs, small groups, weekend trips, leadrship mtgs, mentors
- equipping is measured by ministry fruit not by number of ppl attending
- ask how is the group doing in unity and knowledge?

Faith, Hope, and Luck part 5

Andy Stanley - Faith, Hope, Luck part 5

What does it look like to have incredible faith?

Jesus had a great faith
- didn’t use the faith as leverage to get God to do what he wanted or to make the world work as he wanted
- extraordinarily surrendered to God’s will
-- great faith IS great surrender
-- didn’t use faith for his benefit, but for the Father’s sake

our culture makes us suckers for trying to get things to work better, faster, longer for US
- jesus had extraordinary faith which means extraordinary surrender
- biblical faith is God is who he says he is and that he’ll do everything he promised
-- we can go to him with everything but sometimes he’ll say no
-- faith isn’t getting out of tough times, it’s surrendering to God’s will in the midst of tough times

theme: jesus was not here to do his own will but the will of the father
- the authenticity of faith is not manifested in things going your way, but in surrendering to God’s way

John 5:30
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
- Jesus isn’t here on a happiness quest
- Jesus saying his role is to understand what God wants done and to do that

john 12:49
“For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.”
- Jesus speaks God’s ideas, not his own

John 6:38
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
- came to do what God wants done, to say what God wants said, to bring about God’s will not his own
- why would he do this?
-- because Jesus has faith that the Father is who he says he is and that he’ll do everything he said he would do
-- the logical response to that God is faith, surrender to his will

John 6:39-40
“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
- God’s will is about other people
- Jesus has no life of his own (no will, thoughts, ideas, etc)
-- this is completely opposite of our thought patterns; how did this survive when it is so diametrically opposed to our thoughts patterns?
-- if we believe any part of what Jesus said or did, we must understand what jesus was here for
--- it was all done out of faith in God and surrender to God

John 14:10
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”
- Jesus is just a vessel for God’s will, work, words

*For the following verses, understand them in the context of what Jesus has just told us*

John 14:12
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
- as I surrender to the will of the Father, God will do even greater things through me
-- not going to be for my benefit but for the benefit of other people
-- not about getting God to do good stuff for me, but getting on my knees and asking God for what to do next

John 14:13
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
- when jesus talks about doing and receiving, it’s about doing and receiving the will of God
-- not about going my own place
-- I’m a vehicle, not the driver

1 John 5:14
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
- we’re to spend our lives figuring out what God wants done in my life
-- once I figure that out, I need to get in line
-- what an honor! For God to use me!
--- God can only use me if I am SURRENDERED!
--- He is god and I am not; faith in that means being surrendered to his will

Why don’t I do that?
- scary
- we would rather ask that God help us, not for us to go
-- makes us out of control

if we live like there is no God, why do we get upset when God doesn’t show up in the area we command him to?
- it’s insulting to the God of the universe; he isn’t an idol or a lucky charm; he doesn’t just do what we say
- then to take him and use just parts of his teaching to fit our own ideas
-- his words speak against our own ideas
- he never came to be just a small part of our lives
- he came to be everything in our lives

the greater my faith and confidence in God, then the greater my surrender
- Jesus had the greatest faith and he was completely surrendered; did nothing of his own will, just what God wanted done/said

brokenness produces surrender
- in our brokenness, we will be glad that God doesn’t fit in our own thoughts or backpack
- surrender is where there is purpose and peacefulness
- anything short of that is an insult
-- why doesn’t God just strike us all down for that? Because he is a God of infinite grace

brokenness and complete surrender means living life as if God is who he says he is
- “thy will be done on earth” (God’s will in my life)

what would it look like to live with faith in God, surrender to God?
- scary, but isn’t it more scary to be doing things on our own

we’re invited into a relationship with our heavenly father!
- that relationship is characterized by trust! And so we can surrender!

How do I start?
- praying for it and then seek it

Faith, Hope, and Luck part 4

Andy Stanley - Faith, Hope, Luck Part 4

At some point in our lives we ask for something from God
- what do you do when there’s no answer or you just hear silence?

Foundation of our faith is not an exp but Jesus
- we always try to figure out ways to get God on our side and do what we want
- the reason we continue to believe even when things suck is because of the person of Jesus

sometimes God will give us what we hope for, but he always gives us what he’s promised
- what happens when God doesn’t say yes to the things we hoped for

2 corinthians 12:7-8
“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.”
- paul was given something that made him unimpressive and hard to be around
-- a physical affliction that ensured he would always be dependent on God
- for this amazing man of faith, there was a time when God was completely silent
- this can be of comfort because there are times when we wonder if God even knows our name
-- it isn’t the absence of God
- Paul had perfect faith if anyone had perfect faith and god still didn’t give him a yes
-- our goodness/faith level doesn’t make god listen or do things for us

2 cor 12:9
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
- CHRIST’S GRACE not our own
- grace is power/ability/energy to endure
- Christ’s grace is sufficient to keep us going
- this same grace is available to us as well!
-- the power that kept paul going is the same power that is available to us
- paul says “how can I walk away? I know Christ is true and my faith is based on him”
-- therefore Paul leaned hard on Christ because there was no other option
- paul finally got to the place that this was what God had chosen for him
-- for god to display his power through his weakness
- for the world to look upon the dreadful state he was in and see that God was using such weakness; it could only be God
- people were saying “are you serious? This is what you’re using to spread Christianity?”
- God’s will is for us to live lives dependant on him
-- that was the purpose of this ailment
-- God filled the gap in Paul’s life with his power, not paul’s

2 Cor 12:10
“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
- for Christ’s sake he delights in all of that crap
-- because when he is weak and powerless, he is strong
--- why? Because it is then that he is most dependant
- Paul has recognized that it is far better to be dependant on God than look good to the world
- God wants us to be dependant on him rather than fine in the sight of the world
- MY GREATEST WEAKNESS IS GOD’S GREATEST OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW HIS POWER ONLY IF I DECIDE TO TRUST HIM
- if I choose to walk away from that, I walk away from his empowering grace that I so desperately need in the midst of something I cannot control or change!
-- I need the grace because I am out of control
- if I run from God I turn to other things that only break and pull me down
- the situation may not change, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t there
-- it may be God’s way of pulling us into dependence on him
-- without this affliction, I wouldn’t see my need for dependence
-- God’s grace is sufficient and available only if I come to him
- must go boldly and every time I go I will find grace and mercy in those moments of weakness even whenever God says no to my hopes
- it takes a lot more faith to endure a no than acquire a yes
-- when God says no, it is not a reflection of my faith
-- when god says no, I have an opportunity to be a reflection of his grace
- this is hard
-- Paul doesn’t want a God that allows his servants to suffer; neither do I

Here’s the kind of God I want: _________________________

- what does this paragraph say? Does it show I want to be God or God to be my butler?
-- is that really a god that I need? One that is a butler to everyone?
- I need a God who is bigger than me; a God who can empathize with me; and God who can pull me from the crap I experience; who can give me the strength to get through the crap I’m in
- that grace is available but I can’t get it till I lean hard on god
-- in that moment, it will be sufficient for you
- I can never make life the way I want it to be; god will never make life the way I want it to be
- what I can get is the grace and mercy to endure the way my life is

Faith, Hope, and Luck part 3

Andy Stanley – Faith, Hope, Luck Part 3

No formula of “good things” ever gets God to bend to our will
- circumstantial faith is merely a way of trying to get control over God
- faith isn’t seeing God in the details, although that happens
-- foundation of faith is a person who lived 2000 years ago
-- faith = God is who he claims to be and that he’ll do everything he promised to do
-- bridge between faith and hope are the promises of God
--- the only things that we can count on god to do is what he promised
--- hope – I really hope this happens
--- faith – God, these are your promises and I’m holding you to those

God has not promised:
- to keep bad things from happening (just look at his disciples—they were beaten, stoned, martyred, stranded on an island, etc) John 16:33 – we will have trouble
- wealth (just look at his disciples—they were all poor)
? – if there’s nothing in it for us, why believe? Because Jesus is raised and this is true
- healing (John 5 – Jesus healed only one of the multitude of sick people)
- to reverse consequences of sin (sometimes he will, but not always. These are things we hope for that sometimes God answers)

- can never get God to do anything just by doing __________

Hebrews 4:14-16
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize (empathize) with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
- Jesus is able to empathize with our weaknesses because he has experienced those things
-- Jesus spent a night dreading the events of the next day
-- Jesus knows what it’s like to be betrayed
- every time we fail, Jesus has been obedient in those situations so God credits Jesus’ righteousness to us
- because of this, let’s go to God with confidence not formality (enemy of intimacy) out of fear of offending God
-- we can go to God boldly, with extreme emotion, bare, exposed, dependant
--- so that we may receive mercy/grace
- if we come boldly, we’ll receive something from God EVERY TIME

God has promised:
1. mercy: God will take our issue seriously because they are our issues (not necessarily because they are serious)
-He takes it seriously because he loves us, just like a father takes his children’s issues seriously because he loves his kids even if the issues themselves are trivial
-- God knows what we’re struggling!
-- John 11, Jesus weeps outside of Laz’s tomb because he was empathizing with our struggle
--- Jesus isn’t too big or too great to deal with us
2. grace: strength/energy/ability to endure
-- God hasn’t promised us to deliver us from our circumstances
--- he has promised to deliver us through our circumstances
-- every time he will give us the grace to endure whatever we’re struggling through
3. his presence!

- must go boldly to him! Must rely/depend on him even when we can’t see him!

- we want a “can of intervention” from God
-- we want him to do our bidding and our will
-- we want grace and mercy to us and justice to others
- this is the age of grace and mercy to all
- the age of intervention will come
-- it will be the end of the world as we know it
-- there will be a day when we get whatever we want; it will be the end of sin/sorrow/death
-- it will be bigger than our little worries/desires
-- it will also be the end of God’s extension of mercy/grace

- when we see god’s grace, it isn’t because we had great faith but because God is good and gracious
-- our faith is in the person of Christ not our ability to get God to do what we want
-- we can pray for anything we want! And we can go straight to God!
--- lean on God! lose everything that comes between us and God!

Faith, Hope, and Luck part 2

Andy Stanley – Faith, Hope, and Luck Part 2

Pleasures of life erode circumstantial faith because faith is inconvenient

True faith in the person of Christ means that if God never showed up or answered a prayer, that we would still have confidence in God because of Jesus

CHRISTIAN DEFINITION OF FAITH:
- faith isn’t a force or power, it isn’t throwing a lasso around God so that he’ll do what I want, it isn’t a power I tap into, meditate into
- faith is not a formula
- faith isn’t confidence or hope; it isn’t saying “I believe/hope it works out”
- faith is not complicated
- the size doesn’t matter, only the object

Hebrews 11 – faith is the assurance of things hoped for; certain of what we do not see
- faith and hope are different
- call someone and leave a voicemail asking to get lunch w a person (hope)
-- faith is being certain that will happen
-- what will have to happen to make hope into faith
why do I believe God created the world?
-- by faith
-- did I meditate myself into that faith?

Who initiated noah and god’s interaction?
-- God
Noah built the ark by faith; confidence in things not seen

Abraham was told by God to leave and go
-- God’s idea but Abraham responded by faith

as a Christian, why do I believe God created the heavens and the earth?
- my idea? No
- Genesis told me
- my belief is an act of faith

the bridge between hope and faith is the promise of God
- the reason I would show up for lunch is because the person called me back and said they would show up (they promised so I can act on it)
- noah built the ark because God made a promise
- Abraham went because God made a promise

FAITH IS CONFIDENCE THAT GOD IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS AND THAT HE’LL DO EVERYTHING HE PROMISED TO DO


Means we can come to god and ask whatever we want
- faith is confidence that God can do that, confidence that God loves me, confidence that God is still good/there/God even if he says no


luke 5
- man with leprosy fell at Jesus feet and begged (means he has something the leper needs)
-- doesn’t know Jesus will heal him but there’s no where else to go
-- doesn’t try to talk Jesus into healing him
- just falls on his face in humility before God; Jesus could walk away and the man’s opinion of his dependence on Jesus wouldn’t change

sometimes God is willing in the moment, maybe in the future, maybe not at all
-- but he is still God and I am not
- I am his beloved child not because he answered my prayer but because he sent his son to be my savior
-- this is proof!
-- JESUS IS STILL MY SAVIOR AND GOD IS STILL GOD
- this is why people can have extraordinary faith in tough times
-- say that God is still who he is
-- grateful that I am on the other side of calvary/saved
--- therefore God has been eternally good to me
--- anything else is just icing on the cake
- God doesn’t do my bidding, he is the creator and sovereign God!
-- but he wants us to address him as Father because I am his child
--- go to him because he is the one that can do something for me
---- not that he will, but he is the only one who can
--- if he is willing, he can and will do it

what has God promised?
-- what has he promised to do?
-- next sermon