Dallas Willard | Life in the Spirit

thank you for your warm welcome thank you for those kind words it's always a delight to be here when I can and especially now to be a part of the conference and to have a chance to talk in Chapel the conference is on life in the spirit spiritual formation in theological perspective and this morning I would like to try to leave a clear or clearer impression on our minds as do exactly what life in the spirit is like and actually this wonderful hymn it would be hard to improve upon an overall description of life in the spirit from what is said in this hymn but you might expect a philosopher to offer a definition or two and I think I'll just start by telling you what spirit is haven't you wanted to know what spirit is spirit is unbelie-- personal power unbought early personal power now biblically God is paradigmatically spirit and that's what God is he is unbelie-- personal power he acts God acts and God's actions constitute his kingdom God's kingdom is the range of his effective will its where what he once done is done and we pray thy kingdom come and when I pray that prayer I'm not actually thinking about the United Nations or the larger scene though I hope it will come there too I am thinking about my life may your kingdom come may your will be done in my life a spiritual life is basically in the Christian understanding it is a life lived from the direction and the power and the motivations and the character of Jesus Christ himself it is Christ in you that gives you a spiritual life and of course with Christ comes his two best friends God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and actually they bring Christ into our life a spiritual life is a life lived from the kingdom of God it's a life in the power of the resurrected Christ and it's a life that is available to everyone who will simply come and place their confidence in Jesus Christ he will take care of the rest of it now I'm afraid that's still a little abstract and so today I want to take a number of scriptures and try to help us understand more fully what a spiritual life looks like and I'm going to Center it all on one verse which I think you all know very well we even have a song where we can sing it and that verse is Matthew 6:33 Matthew 6:33 where Jesus is talking and would you agree with me that Jesus knows what he's talking about right so when he speaks we say yes and then we say how can I do that so his word is seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness the kind of righteousness characteristic of the kingdom of God and everything else will be added he's speaking into a context of people like us that have all kinds of concerns that get up and jump on us when we wake up in the morning if we didn't dream about them and he's saying to them now all of those concerns you just let those rest for a while and pay attention to one thing and that is finding the kingdom of God actually he doesn't say find it did you notice that about the verse and you might well wonder well why didn't he say find it and the reason is because if you seek it you will find it and actually it will find you that's the way that works if you seek the kingdom of God it will find you and especially if you understand that Jesus is inviting you to seek it now what do you do when you seek for something how would you describe seek and suppose you lost your keys well when you seek for something you look for it everywhere that's what seeking means and you make out your main project to find it you're not going anywhere until you find your keys so that sort of puts it up on the front row and now you're looking for your keys and you're seeking them everywhere and that's how you seek the kingdom of God okay now what did we say the kingdom of God was God in action so when we seek the kingdom of God what are we seeking God in action and where are we looking for it can you say everywhere okay you seek God in action everywhere that's how you seek the kingdom of God now we're going to try to make it a little more specific in certain ways in a moment and we will bring some other scriptures that promise very much the same thing that if you just do one thing everything else is taken care of the Lord is my shepherd I shall not lack anything really yes really if the Lord is my shepherd if I made him and I'm living under his care the description is actually full of these things we're going to look at some more well-known scriptures in a moment to fill out the picture but I want you to have the general idea because you live in a world where you face many many demands and threats and it is only an honest response to my situation personally to recognize that I cannot deal with them and if I recognize that without the kingdom of God then my life is as the song says a short life and full of trouble it's whenever I step into the kingdom of God I seek it and he and it finds me that I begin to have the kind of righteousness that is characteristic of it and I begin to see the action of God in relationship to all of the things that I'm concerned about including the upcoming finals that you're going to take so when you take a final you want to be sure and take it in the kingdom of God and when you prepare for it you want to do that also in the kingdom of God so that's the general picture now one might say why do we have to seek it why isn't it obvious why doesn't it run over us well that's an important question seeking is fundamental because it is what we are seeking that shows who we are our once constitute the most important thing about our lives you remember in John chapter 2 some of the Baptist's John the Baptist's disciples came to Jesus and as they approached him he turned and asked them a very simple question what seek ye what you and I are seeking is what pulls our life together in whatever shape it may be and makes it what it is and God leaves us free to deal with the issue of what we want a very famous famous in philosophical circles story about Bertrand Russell and father coppleson having a debate and father coppleson asked Bertrand Bertie what will you do when you stand before God what will you say and Bertrand Russell answered I will say why didn't you give me more evidence now God has an answer to that and the answer was well Bertie I wanted you to have a chance to do what you wanted to do because that's who makes you that's what makes you who you are so let me ask you this morning as you are here in this quiet moment what is your life really about what are you seeking beyond your major beyond the grades beyond good letters of recommendation from your teachers for that professional school you hope to get into what are you really seeking in life that's the deepest question anyone can ask you and it is a very dangerous question and that's why we need to ask it and that's why God doesn't jump down our throat if God wanted to he could put an end to all deviations from his will simply by being present but when he came incarnate in the form of his son he came in an inauspicious way and even after he had been raised from the dead he just appeared to some of his friends not if it had been me I would have gone over to visit Pilate right and I would have said that let's have that conversation about truth again or perhaps the chief priests but he didn't do that because he wanted them to choose he wanted them to follow their wants he wanted them to be the person who makes the decision and that's why the kingdom of heaven is something we have to seek do you know what if you don't want to know it you don't have to at least for now and now is what we're concerned about and that's very important for God to preserve that but now on the other hand he makes it available so that we can find it if we seek it if we begin to put it first on our agenda Jeremiah in his well-known statement in Jeremiah 29:13 says if with all your heart you really do seek me you will find me see that gets you back again to the question what is it you really want Kiwi it's very tempting for us we have our projects there are things we want and we'd like to have a little help from God see that's that's not thy kingdom come that's my will be done my kingdom come and the greatest threat to the kingdom of God in my life is my kingdom and God gives a space he makes the kingdom available he made it available in his son he makes it available in the scriptures he makes it available in human history and above all he makes it available right next to you where you can know it now and today if that is what you want to know if you really want to know we have a song holiness holiness is all I longed for really if that's what you long for you will find it but sometimes our songs don't quite coincide with the realities of our heart and Christ comes to us now and he says you have a lot of things to worry about just do this one thing make it your primary objective in life to find to interact with what God is doing in your time that is the doorway to eternal life now God is all in favor of it you don't need to worry about having help from him the help will be there it's simply a question of our settling in our lives what that amounts to now you know I think that that was Jesus's gospel if you look at Matthew 4:17 and other passages you'll see that when Jesus came preaching his word was repent for the kingdom of the heavens is and how we have trouble with the wording and there's been a lot of misunderstanding about it but let me tell you what he was saying and this is seen from the realities of how he dealt with people and what happened to them what he means is the kingdom of heaven is now available to you it is at hand it has drawn nigh those are ways of translating but I think it doesn't get the real sense which is it is now available to you and the big change in that was it's now available to everyone who will simply look at him and trust him everyone no longer do you have to have the right okay you fill in the blank the right whatever because the conditions that had been laid down had made or so it seemed had made the kingdom of God the reign of God the action of God the rule of God something that was not available to most ordinary people and the point of the Beatitudes is to make clear that the people who were down on the human scale could come into the kingdom of God we're blessing is and Jesus's gospel brings the old news that there is a kingdom of God down to the level where the people who say I don't qualify could by trusting him enter the kingdom of God that's called a new birth if you read John three you will see that it is a kingdom of God passage and now what does it look like more specifically let me give you three passages I hope that these may be familiar to you but if not they will be after today some of you will have memorized Joshua 1:8 and if you haven't make a note look at it because it coincides with what Jesus says about seeking first the kingdom of God Joshua 1:8 says this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth he didn't say it won't depart out of your bookshelf or your book pack out of your mouth this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth but you shall meditate therein day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it then you will make your way prosperous then you will have good success do you see the parallel between Matthew 6:33 and Joshua 1:8 jesus said seek first the kingdom of God what's the kingdom of God it's what God is doing what is the law of God it's what God is doing it's God ways God's way of acting and of course the law refers much more than to just the Ten Commandments but it it includes those as well the Ten Commandments are how God would act the law as Paul says is spiritual the law is holy and righteous and good the laws of good things to keep it to fill your mind with it brings a substance that will direct your life according to it you don't just have to try to do it you take it in and then as you take the substance of the Word of God into you it directs and motivates and empowers you so that whatever you're doing is in conformity with the kingdom of God and that's why you make your way prosperous and have good success now Weedon has a wonderful program of studies but they cannot guarantee you what that verse guarantees you unless they enable you to come to terms for that verse which is whatever you do will prosper and you will have good success now that's repeated in Psalm 1 I don't have time this morning to go to that but if you would take joshua 1:8 and parallel it with the first Psalm the first four verses and you'll see the same problem promise you see the word is a primary dimension of Kingdom it's a primary dimension of the kingdom it's active its creative its redemptive and when you take the word in it is a substance to your soul and that's why Jesus you would remember said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and when we take the word of God into us not just a verse here and there you need some passages and you need to take them in I always recommend Colossians 3:1 through 17 is a good place to start because in many ways it has the whole reality of spiritual formation in it let me give you another verse hopefully you know this one as well this is proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 through 7 so to these words now what are we talking about we're talking about a spiritual life what it looks like listen to these words trust in the Lord with all your heart do not lean on your own understanding and I emphasize now verse 6 in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths smooth do not be wise in your own eyes fear the Lord and turn from evil let me just take the one part of that passage in all your ways acknowledge him that goes that goes with the earlier passage from Joshua this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth but you will meditate okay all your ways acknowledge him a spiritual life is a life of one who acknowledges God in all their ways now what does that mean acknowledge what it means first of all to recognize his presence in everything that you do don't just take it on yourself you have to get over the idea of your own sufficiency and the reason why many people do not find God tangibly present in their life is because they're still running their life God's address is in a manner of speaking at the end of your rope and when you get to the end of your rope you will find God that is why many many people have been converted seriously life-changing conversion by praying what is called the Atheist prayer oh my god if there is a God save my soul if I have a soul and you would be surprised how many people have been soundly converted by that because they were at the end of their room a spiritual life is the life of a person who acknowledges and expects God to be involved in everything that they're doing now obviously that means surrender doesn't it you have to give up the idea that you can run your own life and that's why the proverb says so clearly don't be wise in your own eyes now quickly let me just give you one more passage there's so many that we could refer to here but one of my favorites in how to lead this life is 1st Peter chapter 5 verses 5 through 7 Peter says clothe yourselves with humility toward one another for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time I hope you will see the parallel between Joshua 1:8 and proverbs three five through seven and this passage humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time you see all of them have to do with leading a life of sufficiency but leading it from the hand of God would you like to be exalted probably you would but it's not clear that it would be good for you God knows when it will be good and that's why the scripture says humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that's God's action the hand of God is God's action that means you acknowledge him and everything you depend upon him in everything you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and when the time is right God wants to exalt you God wants to exalt you if he can just get us to lay aside our efforts to be exalted and involve him in our lives he would like to exalt you like a grandparent loves to exalt their grandchild except that's not even a beginning at what it's like but it's more important that you be in a position to be exalted and the way you get there is by humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God we have a hard time with humility you know we have a hard time even talking about it and you may have heard something like if you're really humble you wouldn't know it well ask yourself how are you going to obey this command clothe yourselves with humility towards one another and we have jokes about the man who writes a book on humility with 12 full-page photographs of himself things of that sort what does it mean to be humble to be humble just means that you're realistic about yourself that's what humility means and if you are realistically about yourself that will bring you to God because being realistically about yourself immediately sees that you cannot manage your life or your career or whatever it is you're managing that only with the help of God can you make your life work that's why humility is so important in this overall picture of the spiritual life now if you are humble you are in God's hands that's the humble person it isn't someone acting mortified and your eye he pitch to take a Sounion figure it's a person who very simply just is who they are and I give you three steps to humility I'll show you my full paid pictures later actually what I found is it's quite simple it has three steps all three of which begin with a P so you can use them to preach a sermon one is never pretend don't pretend now you're going to have to learn how to do that okay but just learning not to pretend getting your body to where it doesn't pretend before you've thought about it will require some training some teaching just never pretend that will help you that'll take a great burden off of you just think of all the energy that human beings put into pretending second they never presume never presume that you should be treated in a certain way don't assume that you are down don't assume that you're up just again be who you are where you are never presume it'll save you a lot of disappointment if you will do that and finally never push stand for what is right stand for who you are stand for God but let him do the pushing and if you do those three things you'll have to learn how to do them you will find it possible to submit yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you it's really important that you understand that if you're humble that doesn't mean you're passive and that you don't do anything that means there isn't anything that you wouldn't undertake if you thought it was right and good because you are under the hand of God well this is available to anyone doesn't matter what your qualifications or your lack of qualifications may be it doesn't matter if you're tall or short if you're homely or an absolute knockout have a thematic ability or those of a snail it doesn't matter you don't have to be deep intellectually though that can help and you don't have to be have a good background you begin where you are and you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and you will know the fullness of a spiritual life if you simply stay on that path shall we stand for a benediction Heavenly Father in the midst of many words be our teacher and give us the simple lesson to our hearts each one individually and bring glory to your son and his cause in this world in answer to this praise now may the grace of God rest upon you lively today amen you're watching w ET n a service of Wheaton College for information on our 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Keywords: wheaton, college, illinois, Wheaton College (College/University), Wheaton College Chapel, Chapel (Building Function), Edman Memorial Chapel, Christianity (Religion), Dallas Willard (Author), Philosophy (Field Of Study)

Id: 60kOaLMUFQQ

Length: 33min 2sec (1982 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 17 2015