2008 San Francisco Conference. Part 1

2008 San Francisco Conference. Part 1.

God measures everything, from start to finish, by the perfections of his Son. Scripture clearly affirms that it is God’s good pleasure “to sum up all things in Christ… in whom also we were made a heritage,” EPH 1:9-11.

“We should be unto the praise of his glory,” EPH 1:12.

1. Our Position in Christ – “SIT” – EPH 2:6
2. Our Life in the World – “WALK” – EPH 4:1
3. Our Attitude to the Enemy – “STAND” – EPH 6:11

Christianity does not begin with walking; it begins with sitting.

The Christian era began with Christ, of whom we are told that, when He had made purification of sins, He “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,” HEB 1:3.

With equal truth we can say that the individual Christian life begins with a man “in Christ” – when by faith we see ourselves seated together with Him in the heavens.

Our natural reason says, If we do not walk, how can we ever reach the goal?

It is nothing more than a form of bondage because the greatest weight on the the believer’s shoulders is his flaws.

Most believers believe that if their flaws or weaknesses could be overcome then more time would be spent in fellowship with God, which would result in more spiritual growth, and more glorification of God in their lives.

What is your motivation?

ISA 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
s ISA 55:9 “For {as} the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Most of the time it has nothing to do with glorifying God and has everything to do with making “self” better and wanting the approval of men.

ROM 7:21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good.

“Faith is dependence upon God. And this God-dependence only begins when self-dependence ends.”

Self-dependence only comes to its end, with some of us, when sorrow, suffering, affliction, broken plans and hopes bring us to that place of self-helplessness and defeat.

Only then do we find that we have learned the lesson of faith in Him and a life now enjoying the victory of power and service toward our Lord and Savior.

ROM 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;

ISA 1:5 Where will you be stricken again, {As} you continue in {your} rebellion? The whole head is sick, And the whole heart is faint.
ISA 1:6 From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, {Only} bruises, welts, and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil.

Robert McLaughlin
Bible Ministries
San Francisco Conference
Speaker: Pastor Rory Clark
Friday AM,
November 14, 2008

Cosmos Diabolicus
The Cosmic System

The Cosmic System is
bull-skubala

The doctrine of sitting is a message from the Godhead that the Christian Way of Life is a PASSIVE way of life,
and requires nothing from believers in Christ other than our permission.

PASSIVE does not mean
apathetic
PASSIVE does not mean
complacent
PASSIVE does not mean
sedentary

Passive means
TO ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE ACTED UPON BY AN OUTSIDE FORCE

And He (the Lord Jesus Christ) is the radiance of His (God the Father’s) glory and the exact representation of His (God the Father’s) nature, and (the Lord Jesus Christ) upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins (the perfect propitiatory payment with His life), He (the Lord Jesus Christ) sat down at the right hand of the Majesty (God the Father) on high (in the heavenly places)… HEB 1:3

And do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind,
so that you may prove what the
will of God is, that which is
good and acceptable and perfect.
ROM 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world (cosmos diabolicus…
Satan’s system of worldly thinking), but (keep on) be(ing) transformed by the renewing of your mind
(the renovation of your thinking)…

(I have to advance to spiritual maturity.)
God is advancing me to spiritual maturity.

(I have to execute the Plan of God.)
God is executing His plan through me with my permission.

(I have to reflect the Christian Way of Life to others.)
God manifests Himself through the doctrine in my soul, to all whom He brings me into contact.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
1PE 5:6-7

Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and
He will do it. PSA 37:5

In the Christian Way of Life
we SIT,
then we WALK,
then we STAND.

We SIT in the Christian Way of Life because we have POSITION.
We believers in Christ are…
In Union with Christ
Priests
Ambassadors
Saints
Holy
Blameless
Absolutely Righteous (+R)

If there is anything overwhelming about the Christian Way of Life,
what needs to be most overwhelming to you is that you are ROYALTY, yet you don’t think of yourself that way.

We SIT in the Christian Way of Life because we have POSITION.

…and (God the Father) raised us (believers in Christ) up with Him (Jesus Christ), and seated us with Him (Jesus Christ) in the heavenly places in (union with) Christ Jesus. EPH 2:6

We WALK in our life in the cosmic system

Therefore I (Paul), the prisoner of the Lord, implore you (believers in Christ) to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.
EPH 4:1

For our citizenship (aristocracy) is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
PHI 3:20

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who
is in the world.
1JO 4:4

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes (strategies) of the devil.
EPH 6:11
..and do not give the devil an opportunity (a room in your soul). EPH 4:27

We RUN with endurance the race that is set before us in a way that we might win.

Therefore, since we (Church Age believers) have so great a cloud of (spiritually mature, Old Testament, new racial species believer) witnesses surrounding us, let us (Church Age believers…the new spiritual species) also lay aside every encumbrance (take advantage of every removed obstacle) and the (power of the) sin (nature) which so easily entangles us, and let us (advance on the) run with endurance the race (the supergrace spiritual life) that is set before us.
HEB 12:1b

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 1CO 9:24

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. EPH 1:18

SIT
To place one’s self in a position of rest

For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle (a theatron) to the world, both to angels and to men. 1CO 4:9

SLOW ME DOWN, LORD!

Slow me down, Lord!
Ease the pounding of my heart
Quiet my mind.
Stop my harried pace
Help me see the eternal
view of time.

Give me,
Amidst the confusion of this day,
The calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles
With the soothing music
Of the singing streams
That live in my memory.

Help me to know
The magical restoring
power of sleep.
Teach me the art
Of taking minute vacations
Of slowing down…
To look at a flower…
To chat with an old friend…
To make a new friend…

To pet a dog…
To watch a spider build a web…
To smile at a child…
To read a few lines from a good book…
Remind me each day
Of the fable of the tortoise and the hare
Help me realize that the race is not always to the swift…
That there is more to life
Than increasing its speed.

Let me look upward
Into the branches of the towering oak
And know that it grew great and strong
Because it grew slowly and well.
Slow me down, Lord,
And inspire me to send my roots deep
Into the soil of life’s enduring values
That I may grow toward the stars
Of my greater destiny.

The Christian’s Challenge
Don’t do anything…
sit down!

Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. MAT 14:19

“If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four hours sharpening my axe.”

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2CO 5:17

Corrected Translation
“Therefore (we come to this conclusion from the first sixteen verses of this passage) if any man (a believer priest) is in (union with the Lord Jesus) Christ and (it’s true…believers ARE in union with Christ), he is a new creature (he is caused by God to be a new spiritual species); the old things (the ancient thing, spiritual death caused by having a sin nature) passed away (has vanished); behold, new things have come (everything is made brand new and keeps on being new).” 2CO 5:17

Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. PRO 3:5-6

“The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” DEU 31:8
Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. ISA 30:18

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1PE 5:6-7
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. JUD 1:24-25

Let us pray…
Enjoy the day!