Principles of Position Lesson 19 week 1
Courtney Hemenway · Oct 2, 2016
Principles of Position, No. 38
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926540171672

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Alright, we are on lesson 19 of the position class. Lesson 19 and question 1. What does the accusation of Satan and contrarily the conviction of the Holy Spirit lead the believer to do? Let's start off with Satan. What does the accusation of Satan do to the believer or try to do? It's ineffective to me because Christ is always interceding for me.

Yeah, so what is he trying to do to make you get your focus off him? He spurs the failing one, or the one who takes his eyes off Christ, to self-effort. Self-effort. So how does he do that? Because that usually draws it back from your focus on Christ, to focus on self. That's what Satan is always trying to do. Or the flesh is always trying to do. So how does that happen?

Unbelief. Unbelief? You know, it's more after our faith class. That's everything. But on this instance about putting us back, failing, and putting us back to self-effort. How does he do that? I think sometimes You know, we look at our situation, and we get afraid, and we feel like, I've got to go try to solve this problem. And I'm not really trusting that Jesus can fix it all. And I'm out there messing. Well, that's kind of what Henny, he basically tries to hold you to an impossible standard. That's when you said afraid or fearful.

He's always trying to hold you up that you're a Christian now. So, you're perfect, right? No. Well, positionally we are, yes. But conditionally, he's always trying to push you. You're a Christian, why are you doing that? Always accusations. You know, you should be up here. So what do you do?

You try by self-effort to get to there. We're talking about what the accuser is trying to do. So, he's trying to hold you to an impossible standard of being Christ-like in self. Can that ever happen? No. So, that leads to the second one. He agitates continually. So, because he's always trying to get you to get to this impossible standard.

Well, you use the word afraid, but also it's just always, you know, you're not good enough. You just can't do it. Are you really a believer? Look at what you're doing. Always just that drip, drip, drip. of you're not worthy. What are you doing? You're a believer.

Always continually agitating. So what is the result of that? Well, this has never happened to any of you, right? Never. The agitation, I mean, in the self part of it, what does it do? When you continually agitate you... Right, and where does it focus it back on? Self. It's always... The whole goal of the accuser is to take your eyes off Christ and put it back on self. Always.

And again, that takes us out of... What is this class? Position. So we start taking our eyes off our position in Christ, our focus on Christ, and as soon as we do that, we're back on condition and self. The continual agitation... So we forget about position? Yeah, we take our focus off, yeah. Because positionally, are you perfect in Christ? Yes. So when he's always irritating you and saying, you're not really worthy.

What was your favorite one? You're stealing your neighbor's paper. Was that? Sorry, bring it back. That's just one of those ones. It sticks with me. I'm so sorry about that. That goes way back, but that was stuck in the memory banks there. And just how guilty you feel, oh, you're a believer, why are you... Constantly agitating you for that.

Is God done with that? Is He done with that, stealing the paper? Right. Positionally, He only sees you in Christ. But Satan will keep reminding you of that. Oh, look, you're not a believer. Oh, how can you do that? You need to be better. You need to do something. It's true. I think we should have. And we shouldn't, right? We're now in the present. Position. Position. What is our focus?

Is God done with your sin? Positionally, yes. Everything he's done with it. If it isn't, then Christ wasn't enough on the cross. If he's not satisfied, then Christ wasn't enough. And so that's where he's always trying to push you back. Well, you really need to do something. You really should go and do something about your neighbor. You really should do something. You should really feel bad about that. That's the accuser always drilling in on you. And it always takes you back to yourself.

I said, is there ever any rest under Satan's agitation or solution? His solution to it by doing self, is there ever rest in that? Never. And you really think about that, that there's never rest in self-effort. Which is an important thing, because we always try, constantly, constantly. I think about it as you go through all the bookstores where they have self-effort books.

And do they ever work? Eventually? No. They all end up failing. Which then you go to the next book because that one is the one that will do it, right? That, the best, the new Nouveau Grouveau program. That's the one that will really do it for you. The other which, we were actually talking, Ingrid and I were talking about this on the way with the CBS.

It's about under the law and trying to do stuff, and they just can't get out of that. Even though we point out these verses, so many times Paul says you're not under law, but the old man is always trying to get you under law, and the flesh was under law. It's always trying to drill you back to that, and trying to convince people of that, I mean, we, it's ultimately the Holy Spirit, but the flesh is always trying to drive you back there, to self-effort and under the law. Because it feels cozy under the law, because it makes the flesh relevant. And so we've tried to go through this, and it goes back to where we were talking about the identification truths. Ultimately it comes back to identification. Our co-crucifixion, that the old man crucified.

2 Corinthians 5.17, we are a new creature in Christ now. That's where you start, and that's where you grow.

If you're always thinking about the self and Satan or the flesh is always there trying to get you off point, trying to get your focus off Christ, and that's the result of that, is if you don't know about that co-crucifixion. So, again, billions of believers, but not growing because they're always trying to fix up the self. And Satan and the flesh are more than happy to do that for you, to keep your focus off and to go back.

When the believer allows the enemy to spread the choking smog of self-accusation over his life, what happens? What happens when he keeps focusing you on self-accusation? I'm not good enough. I'm not worthy. Am I really a believer? What is the result of that? You feel miserable. Feel miserable? What also does it... What does it diminish also?

Well, it takes the focus off of Christ so that your enjoyment is gone. Yeah. I mean, the fruit of the Spirit is not there because you're not focusing on Him. So the realization of the righteousness of Christ is dimmed. You see, all that you have in Christ now, well, I'm not really good enough. Well, where are you placed? In Him. If I'm over here thinking I'm not worthy, what does it diminish? Christ's righteousness. Who is our righteousness?

So, all this is meant to take your eyes off of him. The fourth one is the goal of Satan is to lure the believer back onto the ground of condemnation. And why does he do that? Why would he bring you back to condemnation? We were talking about that too also on the way in with the CBS group. Doesn't he want us to be out of fellowship with Christ so that everything just falls apart? Yeah. Until we're back in fellowship? Yeah, it's always to point you away.

Getting back to CBS, they were all, as I said in our discussion on the way in the church this morning, They were all talking about the wrath, about the wrath to come. Do we have wrath to come? No. Do any of us believers have that wrath, there's going to be wrath poured out on us? No. It's funny, they all are worried about the wrath to come. What is CBS?

Oh, Community Bible Study. Sorry. No, no, no, sorry. It's the Community Bible Study. But they are fearful of the wrath. The last thing I said, what does that take away from? Joy. It takes away from the righteousness of Christ, who we are in Christ. It takes everything away when you're worried about, God's just going to take a big stick and whoop me. You know, the wrath is coming. I'm just quick and I'm going to try and do everything I can to make myself better. And they're all worried about the wrath to come. What about, I forget the verse, Ingrid had it, that we will not suffer the wrath to come, or the Romans 8, therefore there is now no condemnation. So we don't have to worry about that.

It was taken care of on the cross. Who suffered the wrath? Christ did. Which again, from a believer, How much more do I need to love Him? He took the wrath that was for me, and He took it. So I will not be under wrath. I will not be under condemnation. He did that. So again, Satan is always trying to diminish that and take your joy away. Take you off knowing your position in Christ. That's the whole purpose. He just wants to negate the benefits of the resurrection.

What happened at the crucifixion and the resurrection? The payment. The payment for all of our sin was accepted by God. The wrath for us is gone. How about the Holy Spirit? What does the conviction of the Holy Spirit lead to? We said he's a convictor. Conviction. Is that a bad or a good thing? Good thing. Because Satan will convict us. But what's the difference between Satan convicting and the Holy Spirit convicting? Yeah. And what is the focus of the... I guess maybe what direction is the focus of the Satan in flesh? It's always down here on earth. What is the conviction of the Holy Spirit?

What direction does that take us? To where we're seated, in the heavenlies. Hid with Christ in God, Colossians 3. So, when He convicts us, it's a completely different thing. It's not to condemn and run us into the ground. It's to convict us, that's not who I am in Christ. My focus is back on Christ now. That's the job of the Holy Spirit, which is diametrically opposed to what the accuser is doing. So, completely different focus for the Holy Spirit. So what does conviction lead to by the Holy Spirit? Fellowship. Good. Others? Is repentance part of that? That's the process I think, but the result is what? Fellowship? Joy? Yeah, I mean as far as the fruit of the Spirit. How about the issue of the conviction of the Spirit, just the conviction part?

How do we react to that? I think it's painful. I don't think it's conviction and then everything is hearts and flowers. I think there's an understanding of what I've done, how it's separated me, and it isn't comfortable. I think it can be, and it can be just about the verse in Luke 22 with Peter. When Christ looks at Peter during the trials, And he looks at Peter. That was convicting, but he knew it was in love. And it was painful. He went out and... He was sure Peter later, because Peter was thinking he was under a rock with the Lord. Yeah, and him, what did he do immediately? What did Peter do? He went, oh boy. What did he do?

He went out and wept bitterly. That's the pain. There's the pain that you have in that. But I think there's also... I know when I've done something and come before the Lord, it's like, that was stupid. It isn't as much pain as it is disappointment. So I think there's a wide array. It's not only... It can be very agonizing, as with Peter. And it can be very...

Suffer. I mean, you... Man. Why did I do that? And also just the change, getting your focus back from what I'm doing, can be painful. Is it painful because you're not thinking about the past? I think it's a little bit of both. Maybe it's what you've done.

But see, that's where the first John 1 9, confess that you agree with him. That's not who I am. That's not how I should be acting. I'm telling you I didn't. And let's go on. The one who keeps reminding you of that sin is Satan. Once you confess it, it's done. And that's only merely agreeing with him. I wasn't acting as who I am in Christ. Okay, so the pain is that... You haven't yet said that's not what I am in Christ. I think it's a realization that you, you know, it could be disappointment, it could be agony.

Like I said, when Peter, I use that a lot because that is such a powerful thing to me. In the midst of the trial of Christ, all that was going on with him, when a rooster crowed three times, he looked directly at Peter, and I think that was, tough for me to say it, of love.

And what he felt. It wasn't, Peter, you're an idiot. It was, Peter, I love you. And how did that make him feel? That he disappointed him. That's where the agony was. He knew he loved him and he disappointed him. And he said he failed. And Christ's love was evident there. And it wasn't a condemning thing, but it was totally out of love. But the agony was Peter realizing what he'd done. He thought he was the biggest guy in the park. I just cut the soldier's ear off and I'm standing up with one sword against you 300 guys. It was, Peter, I love you.

And that was the agony of realizing that Christ did love him, and he didn't realize that, I think. That's one of the most powerful, and I said when we were in Israel, that was one of the ones I really wanted to try and find that spot, because I think that was just one of the most powerful things during that.

And then you see Peter from that. You know, what happened after that? Peter realized he loved him, or that Christ loved him. And it changed Peter completely after that. I go to that all things too, that God uses all things. Peter failed miserably. But God allowed him to do that for his purposes, which was to realize Christ's love to him. Yeah, all things for the good, right? Yes, all things. Which means the trials, the agony, the blessings. He uses all that. to draw him to us. And that's why I say I always link the sovereignty part with the eternal love. He allows all these things, blessings, trials, circumstances, all that. But if you associate that with the end of Romans 8, where we can't be separated from his love, then you have an understanding. that whatever I'm going through, I have peace. And I can understand it.

Just like Peter realized it was out of love that he allowed him to go through that. But it was painful. Right after he talks about the Lord's table and Paul is talking about, therefore if anyone, whoever eats the bread and drinks it in an unadorned manner will be guilty of the body and blood of Christ, of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, so let him eat the bread and drink the cup, for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not concerning the Lord's body.

And here's the point. If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brother, when you come together, wait for others. The point that I'm making is that when the Spirit of God convicts us, there's a judgment process there.

And in the judgment, there's a footnote here that says, self-judgment is not so much the Christian's moral condemnation of his own ways or habits, has of himself for allowing such ways. Self-judgment avoids chastisement. So what is self-judgment? It's a recognition, I think, that I'm not functioning as I should as a believer.

And my question has always been, what if I don't do that? What if I just, either through ignorance or stubbornness or whatever, I don't? The loving part there, is the part that God will judge me and He will restore me, which is a huge blessing. Because if it's left up to me, I'm going to be stubborn about it until something drastic happens. Well, that's the thing, the eternal love. He will pursue you forever.

For judgment. Yes. Well, to judge, to restore. The judgment part, I like the convicting. It's to convict us. The judgment always seems to bring back the legal aspect of it. This is a convicting of who you are in Christ, and you're not acting that way. I think that's the judgment. Well, yeah, but I don't like the judgment, just using judgment, it always brings back a legal to me. The convicting is more, it's convicting me, it's putting, you know, you're not acting as who you are in Christ.

And that whole sole purpose, and that's the thing I think believers don't get a lot of time, it's for restoration. And that's why even, you know, as an elder, when you look through some things, to restore a brother who has sinned or whatever, It's not that you go out and whack them and just beat the tar out of them for being stupid or sinning or whatever. The sole purpose is for restoration. From one brother or several brothers to the elders to the body, there's a process there, but all of them are meant for restoration.

It's the same thing for us with the Holy Spirit. It's for restoration of our fellowship. Conviction leads to Christ consciousness. Where he convicts the heart and conscious concerning sins, he leads the believer to self-judgment of confession. He then points upward to the remedy for sins committed, the blood that has opened the way to the peace and life of our position in the light of God's presence. The whole thing is to refocus us. Just like Peter denying he refocused once he saw Him, who did he focus on? Himself. He looked right at Christ.

Isn't it amazing God has such endurance? Isn't it amazing? Freddie, it's like us. That's the thing that you can never be separated from His love. No matter how many times we fail, He is 24-7, the Holy Spirit, convicting and convincing us of who we are in Christ. And He'll continue to do that until we step into eternity. when we get rid of these shells. So, I mean, it's... He'll keep doing that regardless of our failures. It isn't like you get 10 and you're out. You know, three strikes and you're out on the legal system now. It's not that way. Continually.

You were saying this, it made me realize we know God's sovereign in all the different timings when He does things. The timing of having Jesus being escorted wherever he was going, the rooster crows, Jesus looks at Peter at that instance, that's from a God's timing in the Nativity. See, I don't have a lot of trouble if I committed a sin that I wasn't normally doing.

My problem is that when I get to the 700th time, I'm doing the same thing. I begin to think, am I ever going to get over this? But see, I think he takes you to that point. You may need 700 times to really understand it's not you. I think that's the all things. You know, how many times do you think you'd lick something, and you're a swell person because you got this licked. And as soon as the carrot comes by, you're right off in the same boat. Thousands of times. And I take the bait, and he's going, okay. But he will never stop.

That's the important part. And see, I think believers, Believers keep beating themselves up, and that's where the first part of this about the accuser always wants them to dwell in that position of unworthiness. I'm not good. Am I really a believer? All the doubts, all that stuff.

He wants you to focus on that. His whole purpose is to take your eyes off Christ. The whole purpose of the Holy Spirit is to put your eyes back on Christ. So, you know, the verses about the spirits in warfare against the flesh and the flesh again, you know, and they're warring all the time. All the time. And so, like I said, it will happen until we get rid of the flesh. But the thing is, it's restoration. Don't beat yourself up for things that God has already done with. And the whole purpose of these things is to refocus on to Christ.

And that's why he allows, I think, sinning, or the 700th time, is for us to get us to the point, why did I do it for the 700th time? One more question. You know, you talked before about the Bible fellowship group and you can lump in Reformed theology and all that kind of thing. Those people who have no concept or understanding of positional truth, eventually they either give up or they get so convicted and condemned that they just quit.

It goes back to Donna. If you have the fruit of the Spirit, what do you have? Joy. Peace. Patience. But joy and peace. But you get to... No, I know. That's what I'm saying. They don't have that. Because they don't know that they're co-crucifixion, number one. I think it all goes back to identification. Because they're always trying to fix up the old man.

Or they feel cozy and it's like going under the wrath. For some reason it feels good to be under wrath. How idiotic is that? Is that rational thought that I want to be put under wrath? And I feel good that somehow I'm being humbled because I'm going to be put under wrath, so I'm going to suffer. And that makes me feel worthy or unworthy or whatever.

All the focus is back on here. There are lifelong Catholics that go to confession every week. but are still taught that there's this place called Purgatory, where they have been thrown on some of the things that they've committed. Boy, that's a great prospect, isn't it? That's why they're full of fear. All of these things.

They don't want to die because they don't want to go to Purgatory. And they don't have the joy. They don't have the peace. They don't have the rest because they look for worldly or fleshly solutions. And the world cannot give us rest. You know, I have later in here the Matthew, where, come to me all who are heavy laden and I will give you rest. The world cannot do that. He can. Only he can. And you know, the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts. So if your focus is on him, you'll have that peace and it'll guard your heart from this.

Like I said, the whole purpose of the accuser is to go the opposite direction of all this. The purpose of the spirit is to bring us to these positions and back to our position. If we focus on our position, we're focusing on Christ, because that is our position. Would you say that there has to be an intelligent focus? A spiritually intelligent focus? Where you can say, well I'm going to focus on the Lord today, or whatever. But if you don't have the information or the doctrinal position to focus on being good.

You know you're going to bring me back to the thing I can never get right. You know it, right? Yeah. There you go. So facts have to come first. So you have to know. I can believe a lot of things, but if it's not based on fact or what's in the Word, it's useless. And if you're waiting for the Holy Spirit to convict you of things that are not in the Word, you've got a long wait. Long wait. It's not going to happen. So yeah, facts have to, you have to know what you believe are the facts and then he'll convict you of those facts.

A lot of saints just don't teach position and condition. No they don't. So I learned all this here, thank you. What it, you know, it is, and as our discussion coming in this morning was, you know, I can't look in the, I can't say anything without looking in the mirror. How long did I, elder, brethren, all the people who laid out a lot of these things, never saw it. Never saw it. How many times did I read through Galatians and not understand Law versus Grace? How did I read Romans 6 and not figure it out?

Galatians 2.20.

How did I get by those for 20 years? Do we have to tell you? No. One other thing about faith is that for me, because we believe that 1 John 1 9 is true, even though, like you're saying, you get 700 time on some problem for a simple problem, a person has. And you think, how can I just go there again? Thank God. But he. He's faithful and just to forgive us. I mean, it seems we wouldn't put up with that, but God is faithful. And that's the key, God is faithful.

You know, with that Peter, you think that was the only time he'd do that to Peter? He would have done it a thousand times. A thousand times, a million times. He did do it a thousand times because Peter screwed up a couple of times. Yeah, he had a lot of issues. We all identify with Peter a lot.

What was I thinking? I was just thinking something. Anyway, what were we just talking about? Oh, about you letting me know why I had 20 years of doing this. You know why? Because God wanted it that way. He did that. It's like the 78-year-old pastor who read the stuff and he felt, I've been misleading. Well, guess what? He knew right at 78 that guy needed that. He needed to take him all through this to get him to that spot. He needed me 20 years doing stuff, hitting my head on the wall to get me to the point where I realized this. So, I know why he did it. He needed to take me to that point.

When you think you're not there or whatever, He is using all of this and taking to the point that the Holy Spirit can convict and convince you of these truths. Yeah, so the conviction leads us, he points us upward to the remedy for sins committed, the blood that was opened the way to peace and life in our position in light of God's presence. And then we had Hebrews 10, 19, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Do a lot of believers believe that? You know, this goes back to mine on intimacy with Christ. Do you really?

Can you really? in the peace of your heart go before God and say Daddy? Doesn't that feel just a little uncomfortable? A little presumptuous that I can call the God of the universe Daddy? Did He tell us that we could do that? Yes He did. But there's that little conviction that the flesh, and I know it's the flesh, when you say Daddy, God of the universe, I've got to be on my knees and I've got to be in perfect position. I've got to say just the right words. No, you don't. That's the flesh telling you that.

God wants you anytime, anyplace, and He wants to come and call you daddy. Or us to call Him daddy. That intimate with Him. In John 17, He wants the same intimacy that Christ and the Father had. He wants that intimacy with us. And it's only the flesh that keeps us from enjoying that position. And the accuser saying, you really think you're up to that? That you can have the same fellowship with the Father that Christ had? That's the one who's accusing you.

He has told us we have that. Do we believe it? It goes back to faith. Do we believe what he tells us? He told us that. But I guarantee when you go and you say, Daddy, there's the little twinge in you that's going, Don't do it. He's told us we can do that.

He allows for time for development, graciously reminding of the ever available and finished work of the shed blood for our cleansing from all unrighteousness throughout the process of growth. He gently leads the faltering believer from self-centeredness and darkness to Christ-centeredness and light. You know, that's the purpose or what the result of the Holy Spirit is, is to bring us, to convict and convince us of who we are in Christ. And just when we're off, where focus is not there, He's to convict us that we're not acting as who we are in Christ. That also is to bring us about the spirit of truth presents positional truth.

In Colossians 3.1, if or since you've been risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. That's to put us back on the focus. Where are we positionally seated? In the heavenlies, at the right hand of God in Christ. That's what he convicts and convinces us of. I also looked at This is the one that I use a lot. Philippians 4 and then 4 through 7.

Rejoice in the Lord always. So rejoicing. And again I would say rejoice. Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Again, confession, all these things, all these things, everything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And what's the result? And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So, again, bringing it back to Christ. The Holy Spirit is to focus us back on Christ, to bring it before Christ, confess that we're not acting who we are, and what will He do? He will give us the peace of God that passes all comprehension. We can't even imagine it.

And I love that last part, He'll guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus. As our focus is on there, that's where our hearts are guarded. it's when we take our focus off that we're exposed. And we don't have the joy, peace, patience, all the things, the fruit of the Spirit. Alright, any last questions? Otherwise, we will hit it next week. Okay. Alright, let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for this time. We thank You just to be able to look into Your Word. We just thank You again. for the Holy Spirit who indwells us. And as we have discussed, it's knowing the correct facts, the truth of your word, and then it's the Holy Spirit working that into our lives. And we thank you for that. As our focus is on Christ, we have the joy, peace, patience, all the fruit of the Spirit, as we take those facts and believe those facts by faith. So we thank you again for this time. And again, we just pray for Vern in the next meeting that he'll bring us the word accurately and just prepare our hearts to receive it. And Father, we thank you for all these things in Christ's name.