Resound Church Leah Ramirez

The elementary Doctrine of Christ May 3, 2009

God desires that we mature and grow up into the full stature of Christ. Though He loves us in our weakness and immaturity, He desires for us to mature and be an equally yoked partner for His son Jesus. Because He loves us He draws us into the journey and adventure of that initial yes we said at the altar. He’s after more than a betrothed heart…He’s preparing us for the wedding. He is the perfector, not just the author of our faith. And He is molding and shaping and pressing and squeezing and conforming us into a suitable match for His son.

  1. GOD WANTS US TO GROW UP
  1. After saying our “I do’s” God wants for us to leave the church ceremony with Him to begin our life. Can you imagine the scandal of leaving the marriage ceremony in separate cars to go back to separate lives? Neither will God be satisfied with the initial ‘yes’ from our hearts if we have no intention of moving in with Him into a new life.

Ephesians 4

10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds[2] and teachers,[3] 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,[4] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

  1. God wants us steady. He wants to mature our hearts in love. He wants us to grow up into the full staure of Christ. He is committed to helping us grow up.

Matthew 7

7“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

  1. God the Father is a good parent. He desires a mature bride, not a spoiled child. He is after far more than our present sense of happiness, He is after maturing us into the likeness of His son.

Romans 8

8And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[7] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

  1. God is not conforming you into a better version of yourself….but He is shaping you into the very image of His son. What are the tools that the Lord uses to fashion us into the likeness of His son?

Hebrews 5

7In the days of his flesh, Jesus[1] offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him

  1. We are being conformed into obedience. To choose the will of God over everything. This is maturity. Not obeying when it benefits us, or when it is easy. But choosing the will of God because it is the will of God. This is the image of the Jesus. And the Father desires that those who redeemed by Jesus would also be made like Him.
  1. THE ELEMENTARY DOCTRINE

Hebrews 6

1Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2and of instruction about washings,[1] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And this we will do if God permits.

  1. I remember the first time this verse caught my attention… I could not believe that the elementary doctine included that profound listing. I want for us to become mature… and more importantly God desires for us to be mature. So, we better get acquainted with the foundations of the Kingdom of Heaven.
  1. Over the next weeks we will look at the 6 aspects of the elementary doctrines of Christ:
  1. Repentance from dead works
  2. Faith toward God
  3. Instruction about washings
  4. Laying on of hands
  5. Resurrection from the dead
  6. Eternal judgment
  1. These are the basic principles of the oracles of God. These are the tenets of the faith. Maturity is not about sounding wise…it is about being conformed. It is about obedience. We must move past being tossed back and forth on the waves of emotion. We must become rooted in the faith.

Colossians 2

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

Ephesians 3

16that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Jeremiah 17

5Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength,[1] whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

7“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind,[2] to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

  1. We learn to discern God through obedience. This is important. We must root down into truth. If we have no root then we can never mature.
  1. REPENTANCE FROM DEAD WORKS

Hebrews 6

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2and of instruction about washings,[1] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And this we will do if God permits.

  1. The foundation of the church begins with repenting from dead works. This passage is not talking about individual salvation…which begins with repentance from sin. Before we take hold of God, we have to let go of our sin. This was John the Baptist’s message and it was the first message Jesus Himself preached.

Matthew 4

17From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

  1. This is the first message given to us. We are called out of our darkness. We turn away from darkness into light.
  1. However, Hebrews 6 is referring to the foundation of the church. And her first call is to repent from dead works. To repent from any form of righteousness that does not come from faith. To stop making external movements to win God’s affections. The first call of the church is to stop being dead!
  1. I wonder how many ministries, home groups, churches discipleships, counseling has been done in death? It’s not the activity itself … it’s where the activity originated. In the mind of God or the mind of man? Is it a good idea, or is it a God idea? Is it on fire or not?
  1. God is looking for an offering. He has fire. He is fire. He is waiting for an offering. He is waiting for a man or a woman to lie down on the altar.

Romans 12

12:1I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[1] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[2] 2Do not be conformed to this world,[3] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

  1. There is only one way to stop performing dead works…it’s time to climb on the altar and offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God.
  1. Charles Finney: How do you know when your heart is cold towards the Lord? When everybody hears you, but no one feels you. God save us from knowing all the right answers and yet remaining untouched. Help us come to the end of all our doing…in your mercy, bring us to the end of our good ideas.

Jeremiah 23

In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

21“I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. 22But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.

23“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

God save us. God help us. Save us from lifeless ministry and cold prayer. Save us from professional church, and lifeless community. Breathe fire on us God. Make us burning ones for you. Set our hearts ablaze in love towards your Son Jesus, and toward each other. We want to be alive.

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