Spiritual Life of the Leader - Lesson 14

Dr. Stephen Martyn
Spiritual Life of a Leader
sf502-14
Tools to Deal With The Eight Deadly Sins
Lesson Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome back. I'm thankful you're with us. If you're with us at this point, then you get a medal of Honor for running the course on this. We're approaching the midway point. And just pray for grace for everyone listening. Most of all, we ask the Lord to help us with this, to to help us see what He wants us to see for our own lives. Heavenly Father, thank you for all those listening. Africa. Asia. Europe. England. Canada. America. Central America. South America. Blessed Lord, we are one body. We are one church under our living head. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So we all bowed before him this day, asking that He will help us and that in our heart of hearts, we will honor him. Come, Lord Jesus, be with us. Let your kingdom be known or guard our hearts and guide my mouth in my heart now. And I ask it in your holy name. Hey, man, we want to hear just briefly go back through some of what we've been looking at and take this take a fly through in order to be able to move on into where the Lord wants us in terms of some of the virtues and fruit of the faith and and righteous living. So if we go back through our our red flag issues here, what are we doing? With gluttony, it's a false bread. You know, It's like I'm trying to stuff my life with the things that just are not going to bring any kind of fulfillment at all. Listen, I even I even think that, you know, if you were to pull out your your cell phone. Now, I've been around the world enough to know that every in every corner of the world there are cell phones.

[00:02:18] And I think I tend to be overly indulgent with this thing. So. So I want you to go. I want you to go broad in in your thinking. What am I trying to fill my life with? That really, that God shaped place is not going to be filled with anything other than divine spiritual love. And so I can keep stuff in and keep stuff in and keep stuff in and keep ballooning, either in a literal way or in a figurative, figurative way of of destructive divisions of my soul. Where even think about with with my own students that I get so irritated at times with them surfing the web and even playing video games and they like to multitask. And I say, Listen, get your mind focused, get your heart focused, Put the machine down, put the device down. You know, part of what we're about in the spiritual life is being able to focus upon the Lord Jesus. So then certainly the whole business of using others, there's lots of ways to use others. And we we we want to avoid that. That's not the way of Christ or others or not. There is anything to for me to use abuse to feast on in any way. That's not that's not the way of Christ. We talked about greed, how either fear drives it. The fear, the fear of not having enough. I mean, how many times have people gone into corruption because of fear that they're not going to have what they need or this inordinate insatiable drive to accumulate more and more and more? If you ever watch some of the shows on In America on American television, which I know goes all over the globe, you'll see television shows about people going around in looking for antiques.

[00:04:47] And sometimes you they'll go into places where there'll be barn after barn after barn where people just hoard and stuff their whole lives. What do you take to heaven? It's really kind of the issue here. What goes with you to heaven? Yeah, nothing. I mean. Well, actually, only what is in your heart. It's the only thing that goes for the love of God. The love of the free and the the loving relationships we have. So all of this, eventually all of it, we have to let go of our anger. You know, we love to vent. We love to get inflamed. We we we love to have a spirit of offense where we are profoundly offended by the actions of others. And yet it kind of belies who we are. You can tell the measure of a human being by what upsets them. And surely I am the the the pot calling the kettle black here. But it's it's that's an American term, meaning I'm guilty of doing this. Yet there is a better way. Well, line it out. Sadness is this whole idea that you know what? I really had a good plan for my life and I had a good purpose for my life. And my heavens, look at how it's all messed up now. And my spirit becomes downcast. Hopelessness then, can ensue. If the sadness is not taken care of, then vainglory. Let me just add one word to vainglory. It's a word. It's a word straight out of poorly thought. In Romans two eight, where Paul says while those who are self seeking now, those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, it's now Saint Augustine. Augustine picked up on this and Martin Luther picked up heavily on that word self-seeking.

[00:07:24] I'm sure I'm not pronouncing the Latin totally correctly, but they wrote in Latin or Augustine wrote in Latin. Martin Luther did a lot most much of his writing in German, but is in Cravat, too, in, say, the self curving back upon itself. Now, what do you mean by that? So the Lord created us to be in life giving, loving relationship with him. And so the trajectory of my life and the trajectory of my love and the trajectory of my will is met design by the desire to be in deep, ongoing, everyday intimacy with the Father through the son and united with the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit. But what happens in self seeking the same curvature since is that I'm meant to project out to the father, but I bend it back upon myself. It's a it's a deadly loop. These things are there for me. These people. They're there for me. The setting. This situation is there to promote me. See what I'm saying? It's the self bending back upon itself so that suddenly a big fat me in me or capital, I becomes the center of the universe. Never meant to be that way. And then the collapse of all of this comes down to pride, where ultimately I become a functional atheist or an outright atheist, or just push Scott out. I don't need him. I'm fine. I'm just getting along with my business the way I think I need to be going. And, you know, let's just leave me alone. God, leave me alone. Well, that's that's functional atheism. And in. Oh, you'll find it. I mean, we'll find it in congregations today. People who want a little religious flavoring on a Sunday morning, but, man, they don't want much else.

[00:09:57] Dallas Willard. Call them vampire Christians. Vampire Christians. Just give me a little blood of Jesus for a little benefit. But I really, really just need to get on with my own life. All right, So when you look at this. When you start to unfold all of this, you really begin to see what can be a from through to movement. So clearly, the Lord wants us to move from. This kind of fall in life that is poorly provided by the self bending back upon itself, putting myself as the Lord of life, then he's usually going to take us through some type. Of it. Either there's going to be a crisis or crises, plural. But there's going to be some type of crisis that that he's going to take us through so that he can get us to the point. A place of crisis lightness. This is this is where we want to want him to bring us. This is the mature person in crisis. This is the place of holiness. This is the place where I can be in service. So let's just look at the two part, the through part and look at what what his virtue, what what the life of Christ would look like in is so. So when it comes to gluttony, what what do we see here? We see temperance. Boy, has that been an overused word in American Protestantism, particularly early in the 1900s. However, if we look at the classical understanding of temperance, it just means that I'm living a balanced life. I can I can enjoy going and getting a fine cup of coffee or for me, I love tea. I can totally. I love tea. I love dark chocolate. Now, the problem is when I start gorging, you know, dark chocolate, there's gluttony.

[00:12:54] But if I do all things in moderation, that's a life of temperance. So here, the great word to us here again on what's what's the Holy Spirit diet? You eat until the Holy Spirit says, No, that's enough. You know, just just cut it off. All things held in balance of all things to the glory of God. Then when it comes to use in others, no. In the Christian life, I'm not called to use others. I am called to exercise what classically has been termed chaste love. That chaste love is where I do not p r e y on others, but I graciously extend the love of God, the Father, God, the Son and God, the Spirit to others. I'm blessing others. I am showing them I want to be an epiphany to them of Christ's love, so that each of us, as Paul said, our little praises of his glory, reflecting his love to those around us and to those in his care. That's why it's so important also to make sure that water level, that Holy Spirit level, is maintaining itself in my life so that I can have that kind of a presence to others. Then when it comes to greed, I'm seeing that poverty. Of spirit. Little is actually spirit is the greater way. Poverty of Spirit, meaning that I am totally dependent upon the Lord, and He promises to be with me to take care of this. Now, do we rest on his promises or do we take matters into our own hands? So Poverty of Spirit is is saying, thank you, Lord, for how you're going to resolve all issues in my life and how how there will be enough for all things need for you know, everything need for will be covered.

[00:15:26] Everything will be covered. So greed and then anger works into a sense of meekness. Where I know that if the Lord Jesus can forgive me of all that He has forgiven me, of which is immense. I deserved the punishment of death as the sinner. I deserve the punishment of death. Yet yet he has forgiven me of that debt. And he took my place and he has allowed me to enter back into or to enter into the relationship with God, the Father that I was destined to have from before the beginning of time. So if I've been forgiven that kind of a death sentence, for heaven's sakes, he will give me the grace to forgive others. So meekness is just saying I am a sinner in need of grace and I can extend that grace to others. Meekness also says, Hey, I understand that in gospel and in gospel language, hearing, gospel understanding of life, that there is suffering. To be carried in the Christian life. And I can see it as a privilege to suffer for Christ. Not that I'm going to work out anything more for the salvation of anybody by suffering. We don't see suffering in itself as a virtue. However, why would we expect his followers of Jesus to be exempted from what he went through? So if our Lord went through immense suffering for the sake of the Gospel, bringing the full message that the father wanted him to bring to us, then I too can say Thank you, Lord, that I can do that. I can carry whatever cross you are giving to me and allowing me to carry. Now sadness is going to give way into appreciative, appreciative love and patience. Rather than seeing the world is coming apart and rather they've seen everything narrowing down to a darkness, I no, I can appreciate what God is doing even when I can't see it.

[00:18:38] I mean, this is faith. Even when I can't see it, I can thank him for what he's doing in this situation. Then hopelessness is going to give way to infuse now when I use that word infused. It just means that this is not something that I have fabricated on my own. This is a sheer gift of grace from God. God's love gives me. What is the Pali Triad here? Faith, hope and love. Infused faith. Hope and love. Vainglory once again gives way just as poverty of spirit is up here. Vainglory also is going to give way to absolute humility in that I know that every good thing coming in and through and out of my life is a result of grace. And to be honest, when you get down here on the pride level. This has to be broken. This has to be crucified. You can't live with this. This is. This is something that does not does not take us anywhere other than into death. And so even here, we're going to see this through process now. So with all of these with all of these, think about it. There may indeed, there will indeed be a life giving process called at least in the early church. It was called pin Thor's P in to show is. So let's run it up and down the board all the way. P in th0s pin toss. What is pin toss? It was the gift of tears. What do you mean? Well, pathos. In the early church, you'll see this in. In a number of writings. In the three hundreds for hundreds. Pathos was a was a deep, deep sense of lost salvation. And there was mourning. IMO. You are in I in g deep mourning and sadness over the loss of salvation, loss of all of the benefits of salvation in my life.

[00:21:41] Loss or any of the benefits of salvation in my life loss. I'm in deep mourning over that deep mourning over looking out at the world and and seeing the collapse of a people and the tragedy of people's lives that just didn't have to be that way. They get wrapped in the passions over here and the self curving thing just destroys them, tumbles on the loss of salvation in the world. And this would bring tears, literal tears, so that a holy person in the three hundreds really had to be given this gift of tears, of crying and literal tears over the loss of life in the world. So for us, pathos, there's there's a sorrow over these things. There's there's an asking of a reaching out to God, saying, Lord, I, I repents. I need your help to make this turn. Lord, help me, Lord, help me. Now, in all of these things, then in all of these things, with this through movement, we call this through movement discipleship, the active business of following Jesus in all of this. So there's going to be a through movement. And so while we ought to be so grateful and appreciative of the good food that the Lord provides for, said how he provides all things necessary, we're also going to start feeding, feasting, Dwelling on what? The bread. Of life. This is where we're going to find the true banquets. And this through process is going to take us deep, deep as a disposition into the not just the study of the world, most certainly not just the mastery of the word, but allowing the word to master us. This business of using others, we're going to actively work into a life of what? Serving others. We don't use others.

[00:24:24] We serve them in Jesus name. Listen, this is this is part of why the early church grew against unbelievable odds. You know, how how can the church grow where people get crucified for being Christians? How did that happen during the first 350 years of Christianity? Well, a big part of it was the quality of their lives in a very hostile society, an incredibly hostile society because of the quality of their lives and their love for others, their love for the body, and just the fact that they were honest, the fact that they would take care of sick people, not throw them out in the streets like others did during plagues, we're showing Christ's love to the body in terms of greed. We're realizing that all things belong to the Lord. I have nothing. All things belong to the Lord. And so I'm learning how to give not out of a scarcity mentality, but out of a trusting mentality. And I'm very, very clear on the fact that all I get to do is manage it. I don't own it. How? What do I own? What? Nothing. Yet. Even in not owning anything, all things become ours in Christ. So in anger, I'm learning how to step back, be a human being. Other words, step back. I'm allowing. I'm allowing the Lord to temper my spirit. And in the sense of I don't have to follow actor, I don't have to be passionately whooped here in order to vent against others. And what am I doing? I am totally trusting again that God is going to resolve. This situation in ways that I can't even imagine. And I don't have to be the one tearing down the walls of Jericho. It's not my job. My job is to lead forth with praise and Thanksgiving, not with anything else.

[00:27:01] Then, of course, with sadness. What's beginning to take place is I'm beginning to focus on the hope of the gospel. Now, I don't know who all around the world will know. An old gospel hymn called My Hope is Built. We don't sing it so much, at least in the church that my wife and I go to now. I don't remember singing there in years and years, but anyway, how does it go? My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus, blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweet is fruit, but Holy Lean on Jesus name on Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking and all other ground is sinking. Saying, Man, it's the gospel that's infused hope. Now, look, I don't think the Lord cares whether we sing old songs, new songs. You know, I do. I do think he wants us to be to know the here, the the Psalms. Those are our prayer. That's our prayer manual. But I think any any hymn like that that talks about infused grace and infused hope. That's our foundation we stand on. So this this stuff with the hope of the gospel, is saying, hey, this is not a desperate situation. God is still in control. All shall be well. And at this point, let me give you a major. Major. From through movement here, we learn this business of what is the difference between expectation. Verses anticipation. I owe this insight to Adrian von Karman. Any time I put an expectation out there, it's that business we spoke of earlier about. I hope that, in other words, I'm locking down reality. I will be happy if and you just fill in that little blank there. You fill in that that you fill in that formula.

[00:29:50] Lord, this is what I need for my life to be complete. This is either who I need in my life or this is what I need for circumstantially to unfold in my life. Here's here it is A, B, C, D. Now, part of the problem with that is that here I am as a creature, dictating to the Creator what is best for my life. That's in cavort to see inside. That's the self curving back. This isn't me writing this script. Listen. Who. When we come to Jesus, it's like we take this script that we've had and we. We lay it down. Literally, we lay it down. So the script now becomes not me passing out what it's going to take to make me happy. Rather than see that expectation. Rather, I learn to anticipate, well, what am I anticipated? I am anticipating, first of all, that God knows what I need, that the Heavenly Father loves me and is able to provide all sorts of amazing good things in my life. He knows that and I can trust him to do that, even in amazing and surprising ways. So you're getting an expectation, This is what I will do. This is my vision, this is my world, and this is what it's going to take to to get it all placed out. Listen, you're going to the those of you in congregational leadership. You're going to have a few people in there who've had that, who've had my world. They've gotten everything and more they ever dreamed of. Now, not always, but sometimes these people will be the most miserable people in your congregation. Not always. Some of them are tempered. The Lord's gotten a hold of their lives, so they may be wealthy in some areas, but in terms of true wealth, no, they're profoundly impoverished people.

[00:32:18] Rather, we're we are anticipation. What is it? The anticipation? It just, man, I'm abandoning my life to Christ. We'll talk about that later or coming up. I'm laying my life down and saying, Lord, I know you've got this and I'm thanking you ahead of time for how it's going to work out. So sadness in Through Grace is transformed into anticipating the goodness of God. And then these gifts of infuse faith, hope and love come in even when I can't see how it's working out. Listen, I truly, truly believe, even at the end of our lives, when we know death is imminent, this is just as applicable then as anywhere I can trust. I the who fears death after the resurrection. There's no fear of death after the resurrection that things have been broken. I think that that's nothing that we need to worry about in Christ. Then of course, with vainglory, listen, what's happening with Vainglory The loop. See here we've had a loop that's feeding back in upon itself. Now the loop, it's going to it may be a little wavy here and it may want to come back some. But you know, what is crooked is shaky, but the Lord himself is working it out where my love and my focus are starting to be on him rather than on self, or rather than on fears or rather than on anger or rather than on any of these other things. I'm seeing him in my heart and my focus are moving forward the way it's meant to go with pride. There's only one tool left now that the Lord has to work with pride. It's the tool that He had to use to get a hold of August in St Augustine's heart, and that is the severe mercy where he allows a major crisis.

[00:34:59] To come and stop the man in his tracks. Now, listen, as a pastoral leader, we're going to see you. So we move forward. These crises actually can be our best friends because the Lord uses crises to wake people up. He shouts to them in their pain. And for once, you might have an audience that's actually listening. So here we go. If if the Lord uses crises in the plural to help get us all over into a life where we are following after him, then it would be good next to take a look at the dynamics of crises. So let's take a break now. Bless you. In the name of Jesus as you absorb all of this. And when we come back, we'll look at dynamics of crises. Thank you.