(The
gift and brokenness, a living sacrifice)
Let us begin our final study with a
quick summary of where we have been.
Everything hinges on having made the leap of faith to a salvation
experience. After that decision comes
the process of growth, or sanctification.
Our study is illustrated by the idea of a new believer reducing, losing
weight, or laying aside the heavy weights that slow him down. Once he has made that bold step, he finds
himself living in the first circle, which is new birth. In that circle, we are given two gifts;
praying and reading the Word. By doing
this, he begins His weight loss program as he grows in the faith. (Heb. 12:1)
In the second circle, he continues
reducing by becoming a bridge builder evangelist. In this sphere because he has been
praying and reading the Word, he continues to follow the example of the blind
man of John Chapter nine by building relationships and building bridges to
God.
Good feelings that come by seeing
souls won to Christ begin to work on him and he wants to share his faith in a
greater way. He puts a
cadre of verses into his mental bank and they start coming alive. He has by memory a series of verses known as
the Roman Road, which helps him lead people to Christ personally. Romans 3:23; 6:23 and 10:9-13.
By now in this third circle, he has taken the
step of baptism or maybe has begun to tithe and take a leadership role in the
church. He is attending worship services regularly now two or three times per
week.
He
serves, because he loves, not because he is seeking a fire escape. So, hasn’t
he arrived yet? No, we are still not
there yet.
In
the last circle, suffice
it to say that he is doing everything he can to grow and prosper
spiritually. He has even caused pain and
misery to his adversary, the great deceiver, but unhappy with the progress,
Satan works overtime to pull him down and defeat him. The new disciple will sometimes be faced with
doubt and confusion, sickness, deaths, loss of job or home, divorce, lawsuits;
and on and on it goes. These trials lead him to depend on Christ at a deeper
level, and the faith that he garners gives him confidence so that he now
considers it pure joy when he faces trials and temptations of many kinds. He realizes that the testing of his faith
produces endurance, and that he must have perseverance to become mature and
complete. James 1:2-4.
He may reach a point that he will be
completely broken. Of course, it should
be understood that brokenness might come for anyone at anytime, before or after
a decision to follow Christ. But it is
often after the decision that it becomes more real and discernable in the life
of the new believer.
This is where the rubber meets the
road in ones spiritual life and growth.
Because the believer is now living in victory, Satan is so angry that he
can’t sit still. He pulls out all the plugs to keep one from following in the
Master’s steps.
This is spiritual warfare, and the
new disciple is doing everything he possibly can to work for the Master as he
sets out in this “kingdom walk”. He
realizes this is a journey that will ultimately lead him to heaven and eternal
life. But while he is still here on this
earth, he is attempting each day to practice this “kingdom walk” right here in
the earthly Kingdom. At this point in the process, some become tired, or
discouraged and they turn back on their commitment.
But our faithful traveler has been
taught that he must grow or he will shrivel up and die. He realizes that he must exercise, or he will
either gain weight and be worthless; or he will shrivel and die. He knows that
this walk is all about relationships. It
is about commitment; first to God, so he is trying to complete the work that he
was given. He has done all in his power to keep the faith and finish the race. He has fought the good fight along the
way. So now he has finally
arrived; right? RIGHT? No, my friend, he
has not arrived, he is only beginning.
He is not there yet, and he never will be, until he steps into eternity. He must reach this stage of brokenness, the
stage of being a living sacrifice, Romans 12:1; and of dying out to sin. It is like a kernel of wheat falling to the
ground and dying. Once it dies, it germinates and springs to new life. So it is with the new believer.
I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the
ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces
many seeds.
John12:24.
This brings the new believer goes
through a growth process. He grows by
reducing, and with all the loss of weight, he is now able to run the race, and
fight the good fight. He is more able to
carry his cross in humility, and not be puffed up as a man of God, thinking he
is God’s gift to humanity in soul winning.
It is that new seed that shoots forth the fruit of humility, that
sometimes is lacking in believers. But
when we go through that stage of brokenness, reducing and dying out to sin, it
is then that we are going to find new peace and joy that puts us on a road to real
true spiritual growth.
What we have tried to demonstrate
with this study is not to attempt to gauge a brother’s spiritual maturity, or
draw judgments of what degree of growth he has reached in his spiritual
walk. It is only a tool, hopefully to be
used by the individual himself to help him determine where he sees himself in
this journey. It is hoped that each
individual might use this tool, and if he still needs help he should go to his
mentor, triad or accountability group to help him along the path.
Dock Caton 01/25/13
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