The Stages of Our Christian Life - Part 2

Welcome to the intense podcast of Charles Stanley Tuesday, February 1 in your? There is a way to get back on track. A series on measuring your spiritual growth continues. If someone should ask you today, how much have you grown in your Christian walk since the day you were say what would you say do you not really even know where we are in our wall. That's the reason I want to talk about the stages of the Christian life because there are stages. God desires that you and I grew up in him. So what is the first stage in a person's spiritual life. Number one is for stages unbelief is not a single person who can boast of anything the simple reason we were all lost so that the first stage of our spiritual life is that we lost were separated from God because the rest of your unbelievers. The second stage is salvation because at that moment you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Maybe somebody tried to explain it.

First he made it into a very good job in and so you as somebody said lot tried to get saved not talk some people still been trying to get say board.

I like to meet them because I want to say your days of trying over.

Let me tell you how to do it as simple as it can be. God wants to save you, he will sustain you.

He chooses to save you. He died to save you now's the time. Let's talk about what you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal savior and you begin to understand a few things and you are excited. The Bible says that you became a new creation in Christ Jesus. Old things are passed away. All things are become new. And you begin to think a little different. You want to go to church when the region Bob on the price. That's why you got so that you felt when you are not dissatisfied doing this when I think about all that God has done for me over in the past you look back over your life and some of you have to say love wasted so much of my life. I don't want to waste the rest of it. So much of my life has just been doing what I want to do and doing my thing. God save me. I will do something him. So what happens brings us to stage number three and that stage is the stage of service you sell, how my going to serve him, God will show you the truth is, he says that you are not the possessions of God. He says you're not your own. You been bought with a price with the blood bought possession of God. Every single believer. The Bible says God prepared beforehand that you and I would serve him in some fashion. There is absolutely no way to succeed in your life in deliberate willful disobedience to God when it comes to serving him missing. He has invested so much in your life and for us to tell them we don't have time. Suppose he said will finally figure out the same. All of us have time all of us have talents and gifts. The issue is God. What do you want me to do with what you've given me, and listen carefully.

God has called every single one was the servant. That's one of the stages in the Christian life is one that you never get over that we get over being lost. We never get over being safe and never get over serving him. The fourth stage is frustrated in adequacy is the Walmart brand that stage come from just listen frustrated in adequacy is God stage the bringers through the ring is one of realizing hey you know what you can't do this, you can't live the Christian life is. It is not a matter of doing better better better because it's not a matter get better better better. The truth is if God took the Lord Jesus Christ out of our body today out of our spirit, you not be just as wicked. Just as evil just as violent as anybody else is, Christ is not our life. And so what does he do. He has the bringers to the stage of frustrated in adequacy.

If he did not. We become proud and egotistical and so what does God do. He gives us enough frustrated in adequacy to bring us to the realization that life we cannot serve God in our own strength. That is not a demotion is not a failure is not a setback. It is a step forward in your Christian walk. He never intends for us to do it.

Apart from him once and for stage spiritual dependency. God you must do it.

I'm going to trust you to do through me father.

What I cannot do because is very evident. Lord I can't do it I can do it adequately.

I can't do it long enough. I came to the mound Street acting to my own wisdom, God, it's just not working. And so it's real difficult process, especially people who are gifted and talented to come to that stage of frustrated inadequacy.

And so what do they do they fight against. I'm going to do it all work harder. I'll be stronger.

I'll think successful out. Think positive.

All that junk's stuff and all the time. They're trying to do better.

Got some vacant doors in order to bring us to the point of spiritual dependency.

So many things happen when you and I were say that we not even realize one of the things that happened was that the spirit of God came into my life just like you came in your life the moment you were say he steals you as a child of God forever. Nobody can break that seal. Nobody can rip that syllabi can tear that sale, nobody can hinder or touch that cylinder pressure seal is a child of God forever. The Holy Spirit came and you like the bow was his. He baptized at that moment, the Christ, that is, he placed you as the branches placed in the bond granted and becomes a part of.

He says he made you a child of God, the Spirit of God living on the inside of you, anointing you enabling you strengthening you energizing you the spirit of God came on the inside of you, so that from that moment on, you and I were to be spiritually dependent.

That is, we were to rely upon the Holy Spirit when you not wake up in the moment we wake up with the spirit of God know better what we face in a given day. The spirit of the living God is there to energize us release that energy through us. Give us wisdom and direction for every single thing we need in life. What a wonderful, wonderful life the spirit filled life and so that is the stage is available to every single person and I think about people who live their whole life doing what trying to live the Christian life trying to understand the word of God.

Trying to be better trying to do better. I know how frustrating that is because that's exactly where I grew.

I grew up in a church that taught me I had to do better in writing think I did that article God does love me and back are sinned against God, how can he love me when I sin against not realizing no one ever told me for years and years and years that are not realized that it is the work of the spirit of God, enabling us no matter what he calls us to do all right now. Once this next stage because this next one you think. What in the world is that preprogram the bondage stage number six preprogram to bondage. What in the world is preprogram to bond 12. Let's take it to the stages now there was a time when you are in unbelief, but you got saved and you want to serve the Lord and God began to use you, and you begin to realize hate something's missing the Christian life here somehow just not able to do it all to do and so you came to the stage.

There frustrated inadequacy. Roger needed more than the spirit of God came in your life and you became filled the spirit is there, this is it.

Praise the Lord hallelujah visit walking in the spirit and then somewhere along in your life you began to have to deal with things that you never thought about before, not situations. It will necessarily sin, but things in your life that maybe hadn't cropped up before and I think often times this comes a little later in life to some people than others, and you can ever put anybody in these categories the stages and say you want to be here and you should be there no because it depends upon the individual personality now what do I mean by preprogram to bondage. I mean the things that you and I learned the things that we were taught as children either by school teachers are by her parents. For example, things that they did not necessarily purposely teaches that we learned them from them. For example, let's say that his a person who was physically abused and they were told you not worth anything.

We didn't want you anyway. You are an accident in this family, my friend, you can be saved.

You can serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You can be filled with the Holy Spirit on until God deals with that preprogram bondage that your parents said to you. You not worth anything you don't matter is what happened all through your Christian walk. That tape is going to play that idea is going to keep popping up in your mind. I know that the spirit of God is within me again. I feel so inadequate. I feel so unworthy and what happens is you strike against your own self-esteem and one of the struggles you have in serving God is a dental tape keeps playing back.

You can still hear your dad is say you not remounting that you can hear your mother say we want you anyway and so on until that is dealt with. That's preprogram to bondage is bondage a person lives in.

It is bondage a person lives with and somehow oftentimes show that it's admissible that's meaningless and that doesn't count. And that doesn't bother me. Yes it does before you listen to anybody counsel you on what you can and cannot do or tell your children what they can and cannot do. Listen you talk to your children about what God has equipped them to do and nobody can tell them what they can and cannot do. God is the one who equips us so so we we all of us have the state in every man in yellow cast strong and mighty muscular you are the little boy still inside. And so what is God is able once you fill the Holy Spirit.

Why does God allow that stuff to come up and you will the simple reason he wants us absolutely ~dependent upon him, and he wants us to have the joy and the peace that comes to us in knowing him as our Savior, and I know Christians just like you do, who say they understand what it means to be filled with spirit guides using them. But you know what they struggle with things something that happened back on in their life, something they were taught something. There were told and even while I'm talking you already have thought about some things that happened maybe in your early life that it influenced you keep influencing you keep causing sometimes you feel like it's a stranglehold on your life. Your you can't do this of God now know that you said the spirit of God will enable me and yet sometimes you wrestle with those self-esteem situations and circumstances. And God certainly Lord, I know that I believe in the Holy Spirit, but God certainly you could use me in that way. While Lord I know that you do whatever is necessary, but Lord, who am. You see, these are things we struggle and wrestle with. We all have those tapes we all have those tapes running and they run at different levels at different speeds at different times with different messages in all of us and so often it is a negative feeling that has to do with our sense of self-esteem and sense of worth, I want to tell you my friend.

It does make a difference who you are, God says you are so were that he stretch that is some lacrosse and said you're worthy of me dying in your behalf. Preprogram bondage I could stay there for a long time last stage is what I called the exchange life. What in the world is that is what it means. It means that you and in our spiritual walk. We come to the realization that God never intended for us to live the Christian life that the truth is that when he came into her life and saved us. He came in.

Listen when people say will let Jesus in my heart you know what really happened. What really happened is you dad to your old way of life and the Lord Jesus Christ himself in the present. Somehow the Holy Spirit came to live on the inside of you and now it is no longer either live Paul says, but Christ lives within me, look at that second chapter of Galatians and outlook of the 21st. The Scripture says in different ways in different parts of the word, but the second chapter of Galatians and 20 verse he says I've been crucified with Christ.

What is that me, it means that when Jesus Christ died 2000 years ago.

Listen, God the father had the apostle Paul in mind when when Jesus died. The old apostle Paul died within because he was created in newness of life. All of us who been saved could say the same thing. I've been crucified with Christ is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me now and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in the faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me this was happening every single one of us, who is a believer, we have the Lord Jesus Christ living his life. There is now what is this exchange based his what I'm talking about we come to the place and like to realize God, I can't live this life you never intended me to I can remember the day that I learned the truth. I couldn't have liberating inferring it was. I can never driving to church the next morning sitting in the park and not in my car and looking at the church building and thinking thank God this is no longer my responsibility.

I don't have to make this grow. It doesn't have to be a big church, I don't have to be a big preacher.

Thank God I don't have to be anything Lord.

But whatever you choose to live through me. That was one of the most liberating moments of my life to think, is no longer Charles but it's Jesus living on the inside of me. It was no longer my responsibility. It was no longer my task.

It was no longer my labor. It was no longer my work. It was no longer my ministry. It was his work and his mention his task and his responsibility. What is mine just to live into continuous surrender decision at the decision because you see the exchange life is an exchange of the old life that we used to have for brand-new life and listen. Not only did that exchange take place, but understanding that it took place and claiming by faith that Christ is my life. What is the exchange life is coming to the realization a life that is no longer my life but Christ living in me you say will now how do we live that life we just live it and listen. Listen carefully and one decision to surrender after another.

That's what it is Lord Jesus is your life.

You see when Jesus Christ is living his life in and through ours and we have accepted the fact that is no longer my life.

But here's there's a sense of rest that becomes ours a sense of peace and contentment and joy. Does that mean you're never having a restless moments like that in trials and difficulties. No it does not, but here's what it means and what it means is this that when we get knocked off balance at times and we all do. We are reminded.

This is in my life.

This is in my burden.

I can't fix this I can change this. This is your life. You'll burn you said cast all your cares upon you for you care for us.

It's your power and your strength. This is your life Lord, not mine. And so what happens the truth is that every single one of us has Jesus living on the inside of us every single day walking through us what we say what we touch what we feel, how we respond how we act at any moment you not get in the flesh anymore.

We can our naturalness can come alive but you know what because we choose to not because we have to.

There is a freedom and a liberty that comes when you and I say Lord I do accept the truth that your life is now my life and I've exchange model life or your life and now I choose to walk in submission to your will, moment by moment, day by day.

There is a freedom there is a liberty. I cannot explain at any moment you can step back in the flesh, but is not because we have to. It's not struggling, it's not trying. I think were the most awesome indescribable results of that is that the struggles and I can about how often I struggle even as a past struggle struggle struggle struggle of the sermons struggle with trying to do the work struggle to live the Christian life. How much of my life was a terrible terrible struggle until the day I understood that simple truth. Do I have a long ways to go absolutely. Is there some limited growth, absolutely not, because it cannot is infinite. You say will what's the next stage listen when you and I understand what it means for Christ to be our life is no longer our life. From that moment on his what happens we just grow deeper in our understanding, we grow deeper in our love and submission to him.

We grow more able to receive his law more able to give his love what we do then is we do it with such joy and a sense of contentment and happiness and peace in our life that no matter what kind of storm squirrel around the there is an anchor to the soul, but anchors Jesus there is a rest in the midst of all the turmoil there is a piece that cannot be explained.

That's what Paul was talking about in Philippians chapter 4 he says that surpasses all human understanding.

When Christ becomes our life. Somehow our view and perspective all the things begin to change. Even though we may been a Christian longtime so I simply want to say to you, wherever you are in your walk. You don't have to stay there and if you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal savior.

If you happen to have been wise not to jotted these things down. It won't take you long to move right along.

And if you find yourself one of those persons who says you know I was saved two years ago five years ago. 20 years ago and attained a true pass. I don't think I've grown very much since Scott right now is the time to start handlebar start get the word of God.

Hello I start God show me where you want to use me anyway, whatever you say listen this careful at the point God says here's where I want you to serve you say nothing doing. That's where you stop growing. Listen carefully you cannot grow around disobedience.

You cannot grow around rebellious spirit. When God says here's what you are to be doing in my service. You say God will not get it. You know what I found.

It does make and it was what kind of excuse argue it's unacceptable. No excuse is acceptable at the point in my life where our site. I'm not don't do that.

That's why stop growing. My friend listen to me carefully. There's not anything under God's heaven worth stopping your spiritual growth for nothing because we can spend eternity with God. And I want to plead with you in Jesus name. If you're a believer take those seven simple little principles, those stages finds yourself, and listen where ever you are, move all you change your financial condition today. If you could do it.

Are you just as hungry to change your spiritual condition you can do that to if you were in the say Lord today. I surrender everything that I am and everything I have you know matter what I choose to obey God move me on to the next level in my spiritual walk. Let me never be satisfied where I am.

Keep me moving and progressing and growing in Christ likeness to the moment you let my heart be the very last, thank you for listening to part 211 stages and our Christian life. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley for intense ministries. Not my intent started writing this podcast is a presentation of intense ministry advantage origin