Latest / Clay to Crown / SIT: Starting the Christian Life From Rest
Transcript
- 0:06Speaker 1: Welcome back, everyone, to the Clay to Crown podcast. I
- 0:10Speaker 1: am so glad that you are here today. Wherever you're
- 0:14Speaker 1: listening from, whatever you're doing, if it's driving or folding laundry,
- 0:19Speaker 1: sitting with a cup of coffee or maybe taking a walk,
- 0:22Speaker 1: which is what I do when I listen to podcasts
- 0:26Speaker 1: or driving.
- 0:27Speaker 2: I do both.
- 0:28Speaker 1: Anyway, what I pray is that this place, this podcast
- 0:33Speaker 1: becomes a place of rest for your soul, a place
- 0:36Speaker 1: of learning, yes, of teaching, yes, of revelation, but ultimately
- 0:41Speaker 1: of rest.
- 0:43Speaker 2: For your soul.
- 0:45Speaker 1: You know, and over the next few episodes, we're going
- 0:49Speaker 1: to be talking about the true Christian experience. This was
- 0:53Speaker 1: a sermon I gave when I launched my book Spiritual
- 0:55Speaker 1: Logistics at my local church back in January. And this
- 1:00Speaker 1: sermon was actually an adaption from some sermon notes that
- 1:05Speaker 1: that I found of my father-in-law's after he passed away.
- 1:10Speaker 1: He was a great man of God, and I can't
- 1:12Speaker 1: thank both him and our Lord for the legacy that
- 1:17Speaker 1: was left behind. So to that end, again, we're starting
- 1:23Speaker 1: the true Christian experience, and we start with sitting. Starting
- 1:29Speaker 1: the Christian life from a place of rest. So that's
- 1:33Speaker 1: our first movement. Because before God ever asks you to
- 1:37Speaker 1: walk anything out, before he calls you to stand against anything,
- 1:42Speaker 1: he seats you. Ephesians 2, 6 says that God raised
- 1:47Speaker 1: us up with Christ and seated us with him in
- 1:50Speaker 1: the heavenly realms. That's not poetic language. That is truth.
- 1:57Speaker 1: And so let's talk about that. If we back up
- 1:59Speaker 1: a little bit into chapter 1, starting at verse 17,
- 2:03Speaker 1: Paul writes to the Ephesian church. He says, may give
- 2:14Speaker 1: you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you
- 2:18Speaker 1: may know him better. I pray that the eyes of
- 2:21Speaker 1: your heart may be enlightened in order that you may
- 2:24Speaker 1: know the hope to which he has called you, the
- 2:27Speaker 1: riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. and
- 2:32Speaker 1: His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power
- 2:39Speaker 1: is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when
- 2:42Speaker 1: He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him. at
- 2:46Speaker 1: his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all
- 2:50Speaker 1: rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that
- 2:55Speaker 1: is invoked, not only in the present age, but in
- 2:59Speaker 1: the age to come. And that was Ephesians 1, 17
- 3:01Speaker 1: through 21. And so then if we jump back down
- 3:06Speaker 1: to chapter 2, starting in verse 6, and God raised
- 3:10Speaker 1: us up with Christ and seated us with Him in
- 3:14Speaker 1: the heavenly realms, in Christ Jesus, in order that in
- 3:19Speaker 1: the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of
- 3:24Speaker 1: His grace. expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
- 3:29Speaker 1: For it is by grace that you have been saved
- 3:31Speaker 1: through faith. And this is not of yourselves. It is
- 3:35Speaker 1: the gift of God. So did you catch that?
- 3:40Speaker 2: I hope so.
- 3:42Speaker 1: Because not only is Jesus seated in the heavenlies, but
- 3:46Speaker 1: Ephesians 2, 6 tells us that we are too. So
- 3:50Speaker 1: that just, it shows us is that the Christian life
- 3:54Speaker 1: does not begin by doing.
- 3:56Speaker 2: Christ did it. And we are just placed.
- 4:01Speaker 1: Once we come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ
- 4:04Speaker 1: as our Lord and Savior, we are placed in the heavenlies,
- 4:09Speaker 1: seated with Christ in heavenly places. So let's anchor this
- 4:15Speaker 1: with a little bit of Bible verses and a little
- 4:18Speaker 1: bit of theology, because everything that I want to do
- 4:22Speaker 1: in this podcast, it must be anchored in the Word, okay?
- 4:26Speaker 1: So Ephesians 1.3 says that God has blessed us with
- 4:29Speaker 1: every spiritual blessing in Christ. Not will bless, not might bless,
- 4:35Speaker 1: but has blessed. That God has blessed. And then verse
- 4:40Speaker 1: 4 says, he chose us in him before the foundation
- 4:44Speaker 1: of the world. Before you ever lived a day, God
- 4:50Speaker 1: had already set your seat. And then Ephesians 1, 7 says,
- 4:56Speaker 1: in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
- 5:00Speaker 1: of sins. We earn redemption, not sin. working toward forgiveness,
- 5:06Speaker 1: that we have redemption. We have it. How do we
- 5:11Speaker 1: have it? Because Christ already accomplished it. And that same father-in-law,
- 5:20Speaker 1: he put it this way, that our being seated with
- 5:24Speaker 1: Christ and with Christ is the believer's repose. You know,
- 5:31Speaker 1: now that's a word that we don't use much in
- 5:33Speaker 1: day-to-day language, right?
- 5:34Speaker 2: Repose. It's this big fancy word.
- 5:37Speaker 1: And so, to repose on something means to rest by
- 5:40Speaker 1: placing your weight on something or someone. To rest by
- 5:46Speaker 1: placing your weight. When you're reposing on Christ.
- 5:54Speaker 1: When you're resting in Christ, it is a deep, settled
- 5:58Speaker 1: confidence that Jesus has done what we could never do.
- 6:05Speaker 1: And here's the thing. He wants us to do that.
- 6:09Speaker 1: He wants us to come to him and repose upon him,
- 6:13Speaker 1: rest in him. Matthew 11, 28 through 29 says,' Come to.
- 6:17Speaker 2: Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I
- 6:21Speaker 2: will give you rest.
- 6:24Speaker 1: It goes on, he says, take my yoke upon you
- 6:28Speaker 1: and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble
- 6:31Speaker 1: in heart and you will find rest for your souls.
- 6:36Speaker 1: Meaning we lean the full weight of our lives on him.
- 6:41Speaker 1: We rest in his righteousness, not our own. We rest
- 6:44Speaker 1: on his strength, not our effort. We rest on his
- 6:48Speaker 1: finished work, not our unfinished attempts.
- 6:52Speaker 2: Praise God.
- 6:54Speaker 1: Sitting is the posture of receiving what Christ has already finished.
- 7:02Speaker 1: And so why does this matter, right? I think most believers,
- 7:06Speaker 1: some believers, you know, whatever, a lot of us rush
- 7:10Speaker 1: past this.
- 7:12Speaker 2: We come to faith.
- 7:13Speaker 1: And we immediately want to start trying to perform, to
- 7:17Speaker 1: show ourselves, to produce. You know, we want to be
- 7:20Speaker 1: good Christians. So we start running before we ever learned
- 7:23Speaker 1: how to sit. But scripture calls us to something different.
- 7:31Speaker 1: Scripture insists that identity comes before activity. Position comes before practice.
- 7:38Speaker 1: Grace comes before obedience. Think of Mary in Luke chapter 10,
- 7:43Speaker 1: the story of Mary and Martha, and Martha's running around
- 7:49Speaker 1: trying to do all the work and serve the disciples
- 7:53Speaker 1: and serve the Lord. And she comes out, and her
- 7:56Speaker 1: sister Mary's just sitting there, and she gets kind of
- 7:59Speaker 1: perturbed and frustrated with Mary. And she comes to complain
- 8:03Speaker 1: to Jesus and says, can you, and I'm kind of paraphrasing,
- 8:07Speaker 1: but can you tell her to help me?
- 8:08Speaker 2: And what does Jesus say?
- 8:12Speaker 1: He says, Martha, Martha, you're doing all of these things,
- 8:18Speaker 1: but Mary, your sister, has chosen the better thing, the
- 8:22Speaker 1: better portion.
- 8:24Speaker 2: Why?
- 8:24Speaker 1: Because she was sitting at the Lord's feet and listening
- 8:28Speaker 1: to his teaching and not running around, but listening to
- 8:36Speaker 1: him in discipleship. So sitting is not laziness. Sitting is
- 8:43Speaker 1: a pathway to growth. So let's talk about what scripture
- 8:49Speaker 1: says you are seated in. And I love this because
- 8:55Speaker 1: it's so important, you know?
- 8:57Speaker 2: You are seated in grace.
- 9:00Speaker 1: Ephesians 2.8 says, By grace you have been saved through faith.
- 9:05Speaker 2: You are seated in acceptance.
- 9:07Speaker 1: Ephesians 1.6, He has made us accepted in the beloved.
- 9:13Speaker 2: You are seated in peace.
- 9:15Speaker 1: Romans 5.1 says, We have peace with God through our
- 9:18Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. You are seated in righteousness. For 2
- 9:24Speaker 1: Corinthians 5.21 says, we become the righteousness of God in him.
- 9:29Speaker 1: You are seated in sonship. You are now sons and
- 9:34Speaker 1: daughters of the king. Galatians 4.7 says, you are no
- 9:38Speaker 1: longer a slave, but a son. So you don't earn
- 9:44Speaker 1: your seat. It's not about striving. It's not about earning.
- 9:48Speaker 1: It's given to you. You receive it. Sitting is the
- 9:53Speaker 1: opposite of striving. It is the opposite of performing. It
- 9:57Speaker 1: is the opposite of trying.
- 10:00Speaker 2: To earn what has already been given.
- 10:03Speaker 1: When you sit, you are declaring, my salvation, my identity,
- 10:08Speaker 1: my acceptance, my authority, all of it rests on Christ.
- 10:17Speaker 1: You know, and I constantly, a lot of times when
- 10:20Speaker 1: I do teaching, and so if you've listened to even,
- 10:23Speaker 1: you know, a couple of the early episodes of this,
- 10:29Speaker 1: you know I like to go back to the opening
- 10:31Speaker 1: pages of Genesis, and I use this example often in
- 10:38Speaker 1: my teaching to because it's, it's so important, you know, in,
- 10:43Speaker 1: in Genesis and in chapter three, you, you have the
- 10:46Speaker 1: story of the fall and Adam and Eve eat of
- 10:50Speaker 1: the fruit. They were deceived, you know, they ate of
- 10:53Speaker 1: the fruit. Um, And they found themselves naked and fearful
- 10:58Speaker 1: and hid themselves. And they tried to cover themselves in
- 11:03Speaker 1: their nakedness, in their shame, in their fear with fig leaves.
- 11:07Speaker 2: And it didn't do anything.
- 11:10Speaker 1: They were trying to work out their own protection, their
- 11:14Speaker 1: own salvation. They were trying to do works to try
- 11:20Speaker 1: to fix what the enemy had deceived them about, right?
- 11:26Speaker 1: But God knew it already, and it didn't work. They
- 11:30Speaker 1: still felt fear. They still felt ashamed. It wasn't until
- 11:33Speaker 1: the Lord came and covered them himself in the skins
- 11:40Speaker 1: of animals that they were no longer fearful and no
- 11:43Speaker 1: longer ashamed. That's why sitting has to come first. You
- 11:48Speaker 1: cannot do it in your own power. You cannot walk
- 11:52Speaker 1: in holiness until you sit in grace. You cannot stand
- 11:57Speaker 1: in warfare until you sit in victory. And I think
- 12:02Speaker 1: this is a lot of times where many believers never
- 12:06Speaker 1: live from that seated in the heavenlies positioning of, Because
- 12:12Speaker 1: they can't see it. They don't understand it. They can't
- 12:15Speaker 1: identify it. Especially in the world in which we live,
- 12:18Speaker 1: we're constantly told that you got to do more and
- 12:21Speaker 1: be more and act more. And you have to have
- 12:26Speaker 1: the next greatest thing, the next greatest iPhone. If your
- 12:30Speaker 1: car is four years old, you need to go get
- 12:32Speaker 1: a new one. So we're constantly running to and fro
- 12:37Speaker 1: and we're never sitting. We're never just being. because our
- 12:44Speaker 1: eyes aren't open to see it. Paul tells us in
- 12:47Speaker 1: verse 18 of Ephesians chapter 1, he's praying.
- 12:51Speaker 2: He says, I pray that the eyes of your heart.
- 12:54Speaker 1: May be enlightened in order that you may know the
- 12:59Speaker 1: hope to which he has called you. So Paul prays
- 13:04Speaker 1: that God would turn on the lights inside of our hearts.
- 13:12Speaker 1: That we would perceive what is already true. Because you
- 13:16Speaker 1: cannot live out a truth that you cannot see. You
- 13:19Speaker 1: cannot walk out an identity that you do not understand.
- 13:23Speaker 1: And you cannot stand in a victory that you do
- 13:26Speaker 1: not believe. And this is, I think it's... why revelation
- 13:35Speaker 1: is the first kind of step. It's the first logistical
- 13:39Speaker 1: supply that God gives his people that the basis for
- 13:44Speaker 1: all of God's dealings with us are that we are
- 13:47Speaker 1: seated in Christ. Um, and I use the word logistics
- 13:51Speaker 1: there because the way my mind goes, I'm always, I,
- 13:54Speaker 1: you know, I was in the military for 21 years.
- 13:57Speaker 1: I was operationally trained. Um, With the Marine Corps and
- 14:01Speaker 1: with the Navy Seabees. And so, you get kind of
- 14:05Speaker 1: some vernacular stuck in your head, you know, when you're
- 14:07Speaker 1: around that sort of, you know, organization for that long.
- 14:14Speaker 2: And nothing in the military. Nothing. goes without logistics. It's
- 14:20Speaker 2: the beans, bullets, and band-aids, right?
- 14:23Speaker 1: Those things have to go and be there for the
- 14:27Speaker 1: boots on the ground, because if they're not, then the
- 14:29Speaker 1: war is already lost. And so, revelation has to go
- 14:38Speaker 1: before you understand that you know, before you start walking out,
- 14:42Speaker 1: before you step into the battle, you have to have
- 14:45Speaker 1: this revelation of who you are in Christ, of what
- 14:48Speaker 1: your identity is, that you are co-heirs with him. You
- 14:53Speaker 1: are sons and daughters and that you are seated with
- 14:56Speaker 1: him in the heavenlies because everything God does in your
- 15:01Speaker 1: life Every correction, every calling, every blessing, every battle flows
- 15:08Speaker 1: from that reality. It doesn't matter that God is correcting you.
- 15:13Speaker 1: He corrects those that He loves. Why? Because you are
- 15:16Speaker 1: seated with Him, and He's sanctifying you. Every calling, you
- 15:22Speaker 1: are seated with Him. Every blessing, every battle, every trial,
- 15:26Speaker 1: every test, you are already positioned in Christ. God is
- 15:30Speaker 1: not mad at you. He is refining you. You are
- 15:37Speaker 1: not trying to climb into favor. You are not trying
- 15:40Speaker 1: to earn access. You are not trying to fight your
- 15:44Speaker 1: way up to God. You are already seated with him.
- 15:52Speaker 1: Before we ever take a step or face a battle,
- 15:55Speaker 1: God seats us. He places us in Christ. He anchors
- 15:59Speaker 1: us in rest. He opens our eyes to see what
- 16:03Speaker 1: He's already done and everything He calls us to do,
- 16:06Speaker 1: every walk we take, every stand we make, flows from
- 16:12Speaker 1: that one unshakable truth. So, let me ask you, where
- 16:20Speaker 1: are you trying to earn what Christ has already accomplished?
- 16:24Speaker 1: Are you trying to earn forgiveness, acceptance, Worthiness. Are you
- 16:29Speaker 1: trying to earn God's pleasure? Hebrews 10, 14 says, by
- 16:33Speaker 1: one offering, he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
- 16:40Speaker 1: Perfected forever. That's your seat. And sitting is not passive.
- 16:49Speaker 1: I think we get that, right? Because in the natural,
- 16:51Speaker 1: it kind of is, right? And I'll go on and
- 16:54Speaker 1: I'll talk about that, you know, kind of throwing things
- 16:58Speaker 1: in a wheel when I get to the walking stage, but.
- 17:02Speaker 2: It's not passive. It's a positioning of your heart. It's
- 17:07Speaker 2: a positioning of your mind. So sitting is not passive.
- 17:10Speaker 2: It is warfare. How's that? Because the enemy's first strategy
- 17:17Speaker 2: is deception. Deception.
- 17:18Speaker 1: Right? That's how he operates. He operates through deception. That's
- 17:22Speaker 1: how he got Adam and Eve, right? What did he
- 17:25Speaker 1: say to Eve? Did God really say? So, the enemy's
- 17:30Speaker 1: first strategy is always identity theft. You know, in Genesis 3,
- 17:36Speaker 1: he did it to Eve. In Matthew 4, he tried
- 17:39Speaker 1: to do it to Jesus. He says, if you are
- 17:42Speaker 1: the Son of God, He asks it three times, right?
- 17:46Speaker 2: If you are, if you are, if you are.
- 17:50Speaker 1: So he attacks identity because when we understand our identity,
- 17:55Speaker 1: that determines how we're going to walk out our faith.
- 18:01Speaker 1: Sitting is how you resist the devil. You sit in truth.
- 18:06Speaker 1: You sit in grace. You sit in Christ. So, Let's
- 18:15Speaker 1: take a breath. Hear scripture speak over you. You are
- 18:26Speaker 1: seated with Christ. Ephesians 2.6. There is therefore now no condemnation.
- 18:34Speaker 1: That's Romans 8 verse 1. You are complete in him.
- 18:40Speaker 1: That's Colossians 2.10. Let those truths speak. settle into your bones.
- 18:48Speaker 1: How many times have we allowed the enemy to gain
- 18:53Speaker 1: traction in our lives because we think that we're not
- 19:01Speaker 1: good enough? I think we do it a lot, right?
- 19:09Speaker 1: But what does that sitting look like in real life?
- 19:12Speaker 1: I think it looks like starting your day with truth
- 19:15Speaker 1: instead of anxiety. What does the Lord say? He says,
- 19:22Speaker 1: cast all anxiety upon him because he cares for you.
- 19:26Speaker 1: Do not worry.
- 19:27Speaker 2: Do not fear.
- 19:30Speaker 1: I think it looks like letting scripture tell you who
- 19:39Speaker 1: you are instead of your feelings. Over and over again
- 19:43Speaker 1: in the word, it says, I'll just go back to
- 19:46Speaker 1: our main verse.
- 19:46Speaker 2: You are seated with Christ.
- 19:50Speaker 1: You are sons and daughters with Christ you are co-heirs
- 19:57Speaker 1: with Christ let scripture tell you who you are your
- 20:03Speaker 1: feelings are deceitful they're real but they're deceitful. You shouldn't
- 20:11Speaker 1: govern how you're going to act because of your feelings.
- 20:16Speaker 1: Put your feelings in light of scripture. Take every thought
- 20:22Speaker 1: captive and make it obedient to Christ because the Holy
- 20:26Speaker 1: Spirit's living inside of you and you can do that.
- 20:32Speaker 2: What else does it look like practically?
- 20:34Speaker 1: It looks like pausing long enough to remember that you're
- 20:37Speaker 1: already loved. Again, God is not mad at you. He
- 20:41Speaker 1: loves you. He loves you enough that he sent his
- 20:44Speaker 1: only begotten son to die for you. It looks like
- 20:51Speaker 1: refusing to hustle for God's approval. You don't have to strive.
- 20:58Speaker 1: You don't have to work for it. You already have it.
- 21:02Speaker 1: You've already attained it. Because he already attained victory on
- 21:07Speaker 1: the cross. we think that we have to do more
- 21:15Speaker 1: or be more. And that's just not the way that
- 21:20Speaker 1: the Lord looks upon it. It looks like breathing deeply
- 21:28Speaker 1: and essentially say, okay, Jesus, you've already done all the
- 21:32Speaker 1: heavy lifting.
- 21:34Speaker 2: Thank you.
- 21:36Speaker 1: Have a heart of gratitude. Sitting is a posture of
- 21:43Speaker 1: the heart. It is the quiet, steady confidence that Christ
- 21:48Speaker 1: has already accomplished what you're tempted to strive for. So
- 21:59Speaker 1: return to your seat. Return to your seat. You are
- 22:05Speaker 1: seated with Christ in the heavenly places. You belong, you
- 22:09Speaker 1: are held, you are secure, and everything else in the
- 22:14Speaker 1: Christian life flows from that place. You don't start by running.
- 22:25Speaker 1: You start by resting.
- 22:27Speaker 2: Resting.
- 22:41Speaker 1: Before we close, I want to give you a moment
- 22:45Speaker 1: right here in this episode just to practice, to practice sitting.
- 22:51Speaker 1: If you're able, just pause whatever it is that you're doing.
- 22:57Speaker 1: Take a slow breath in and let it out. Let
- 23:02Speaker 1: your mind settle. Let your heart soften and hear these
- 23:06Speaker 1: words spoken over you. You are seated with Christ. You
- 23:11Speaker 1: are not fighting for a place, you already have one.
- 23:14Speaker 1: You are not earning love, you are already loved. You
- 23:19Speaker 1: are not proving yourself, you are already accepted. You are
- 23:23Speaker 1: not trying to become worthy, Christ has made you worthy.
- 23:28Speaker 1: And then let that truth settle in.
- 23:33Speaker 2: Let it sink.
- 23:35Speaker 1: Let it become the ground beneath your feet, that firm foundation.
- 23:40Speaker 2: That Jesus calls us to have.
- 23:46Speaker 1: This is where your life in Christ begins. Being seated
- 23:51Speaker 1: with Him, in Him, is where your strength comes from,
- 23:57Speaker 1: because it's where your identity is rooted. So you start
- 24:04Speaker 1: your true Christian experience, you start by sitting. Sitting. I
- 24:12Speaker 1: don't ever want to take for granted the time that
- 24:14Speaker 1: you spend listening to this podcast. I hope, like I
- 24:19Speaker 1: said in the beginning, I hope it's fruitful. I want
- 24:23Speaker 1: to thank you for spending some of your time with me.
- 24:28Speaker 1: I pray that this truth becomes a deep anchor in
- 24:32Speaker 1: your soul, something that you return to again and again.
- 24:36Speaker 1: And if this episode encouraged you, share it. Share it
- 24:41Speaker 1: with someone who needs rest, someone who's been striving, someone
- 24:45Speaker 1: who needs to remember that the Christian life begins from
- 24:49Speaker 1: a seat, not a sprint. And as you go into
- 24:54Speaker 1: the rest of your day, carry this with you. You
- 24:57Speaker 1: are seated with Christ.
- 24:59Speaker 2: You belong.
- 25:00Speaker 1: You are held. You are secure. And everything else flows
- 25:06Speaker 1: from that place. Till next time. Grace and peace.