Pastor Jon Cobler February 12/13 2011

Church of Living Water Saturday/Sunday

Olympia Foursquare Church

BUILDING SOLID LIVES

Part 3

TEXT: 2 Timothy 2:19-21

But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who
are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from
iniquity.” Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but
also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a
vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house,
ready for every good work.
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I. SOLID LIVES HAVE A SOLID FOUNDATION

A. The firm foundation of a solid life has two corner stones:

1. Security: The Lord knows those who are His.

a. Confidence in how God sees me and how I see myself.

b. He knows you and how you were created to thrive.

2. Sanctification: Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart
from iniquity.

a. Iniquity: anything not of God’s way

←
← B. Depending on your background you may feel more comfortable with one
cornerstone more than the other.
←
← 1. Background in the church = comfortable with the guidelines.
←
← 2. Background in the world = embrace the love.

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 C. Both cornerstones are important and vital.

1. We should not be motivated by guilt, but we should not be so secure that

we lack all motivation.
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← II. THE RESULT OF A SOLID LIFE

A. An honorable vessel.
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B. What to do when we see a fault in our foundation?
←
← 1. Recognize that there is a battle for your mind.
←
← For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according
to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have
divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every
lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every
thought captive to obey Christ… (2 Corinthians 10:3–6 ESV)
←
← a. Destroy arguments: Philosophical conclusions.

← b. Lofty opinions: Prideful or self-centered thinking.

← c. Arguments and opinions are often assaults or “fiery darts” of the

enemy.

← d. Thoughts are the activity of the mind.

C. When the devil cannot conquer, he’ll counterfeit.

← Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the
Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall
not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1 ESV)

← 1. We can take control of the mind’s activity with the power of Christ.

← 2. Solid lives take every thought and place it under the command of
Christ.

← 3. The “guilty” feeling often associated with wrong decisions could

likely be the Spirit grieving that we had every opportunity to align with Him
and we didn’t take the thoughts captive with the power He has provided.

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 ← III. A NEW YOU IN CHRIST

← A. Every believer has the mind of Christ…a new “command center”.

←
...But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16 ESV)
←
← 1. When we are born again we receive the “mind of Christ”.
←
← 2. Whether or not we operate out of the “mind of Christ” or the flesh is
still our choice.

← 3. When we ignore the tension our spiritual growth is stunted.

←
4. The outcome of broken thinking is that the good things God intends to
come out of our relationships will be soured, unsettled, and broken.
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B. Learning to think correctly is critical to establishing a foundation for solid lives.

1. What is flowing out of you?

a. Joy: serving, giving, sharing, going?

b. Peace: future, relationship, children?

c. Love: wholehearted for God, for the people around you?

←
← C. Every revelation of who I am must begin with a revelation of who He is.

← He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him
“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are
Peter...and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. (Matthew 16:15–18 ESV)
←
← D. There is no such thing as a “good” crack in the foundation of a solid life.

← Do not be conformed to this world, 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. (Romans 12:2 ESV)
←
← E. You can recognize what will build you up and what will tear you down.

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← For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine
power to destroy stronghold… (2 Corinthians 10:4 ESV)