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HIGHER GROUND

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As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. ( 1 Peter 2:2) ... At first one is a babe in Christ, having just been 'born again. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: HIGHER GROUND


1
ARE YOU SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
2
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Do you want to stand on a higher spiritual plane?
  • It is possible but much effort will be required
    on your part.

3
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Salvation is in Christ.
  • Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the
    elect, that they also may obtain the salvation
    which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. (2
    Tim. 210)

4
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Salvation is in Christ.
  • One is baptized into Christ.
  • Or do you not know that as many of us as were
    baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His
    death? (Rom. 63)
  • For as many of you as were baptized into Christ
    have put on Christ. (Gal. 327)

5
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Salvation is in Christ.
  • One is baptized into Christ.
  • Belief, repentance and confession must precede
    baptism.
  • He who believes and is baptized will be saved
    but he who does not believe will be condemned.
    (Mark 1616)
  • Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every
    one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus
    Christ for the remission of sins. (Acts 238)

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For
with the heart one believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. (Rom. 109-10)
6
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Belief, repentance, confession and baptism are
    only the beginning.
  • They will get you into Christ but higher ground
    is yet to be gained.

7
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • At first one is a babe in Christ, having just
    been born again.
  • Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly,
    I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot
    see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him,
    How can a man be born when he is old? Can he
    enter a second time into his mother's womb and be
    born? Jesus answered, Most assuredly, I say to
    you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
    he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 33-5)

8
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • At first one is a babe in Christ, having just
    been born again.
  • One must desire the word in order to grow.
  • As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the
    word, that you may grow thereby. (1 Peter 22)

9
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • At first one is a babe in Christ, having just
    been born again.
  • One must desire the word in order to grow.
  • Spiritual infancy can last longer than it should.
  • And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to
    spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in
    Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid
    food for until now you were not able to receive
    it, and even now you are still not able for you
    are still car-nal. For where there are envy,
    strife, and divisions among you, are you not
    carnal and behaving like mere men? (1 Cor. 31-3)

10
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • At first one is a babe in Christ, having just
    been born again.
  • One must desire the word in order to grow.
  • Spiritual infancy can last longer than it should.
  • For though by this time you ought to be
    teachers, you need someone to teach you again the
    first principles of the oracles of God and you
    have come to need milk and not solid food. For
    every-one who partakes only of milk is unskilled
    in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
    (Heb. 512-13)

11
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • But if you want to grow in Christ, there are
    certain things which must be left behind.
  • Ungodly attitudes immoral acts
  • Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit,
    hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as
    new-born babes, desire the pure milk of the word,
    that you may grow thereby. (1 Peter 21-2)

12
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • But if you want to grow in Christ, there are
    certain things which must be left behind.
  • Ungodly attitudes immoral acts
  • For you died, and your life is hidden with
    Christ in God. When Christ who is our life
    appears, then you also will appear with Him in
    glory. Therefore put to death your members which
    are on the earth fornication, unclean-ness,
    passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is
    idolatry. (Col. 33-5)

13
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • But if you want to grow in Christ, there are
    certain things which must be left behind.
  • Ungodly attitudes immoral acts
  • Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather
    let him labor, working with his hands what is
    good, that he may have something to give him who
    has need. (Eph. 428)

14
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • But if you want to grow in Christ, there are
    certain things which must be left behind.
  • Ungodly attitudes immoral acts
  • Now the works of the flesh are evident, which
    are adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
    lewd-ness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred,
    contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath,
    selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy,
    murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like of
    which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told
    you in time past, that those who practice such
    things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal.
    519-21)

15
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • But if you want to grow in Christ, there are
    certain things which must be left behind.
  • Ungodly attitudes immoral acts
  • Improper speech
  • But now you yourselves are to put off all these
    anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language
    out of your mouth. (Col. 38)

16
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • But if you want to grow in Christ, there are
    certain things which must be left behind.
  • Ungodly attitudes immoral acts
  • Improper speech
  • Therefore, putting away lying, Let each one of
    you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are
    members of one another. Be angry, and do not
    sin do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
    nor give place to the devil. (Eph. 425-27)

17
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • But if you want to grow in Christ, there are
    certain things which must be left behind.
  • Ungodly attitudes immoral acts
  • Improper speech
  • Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth,
    but what is good for necessary edifica-tion, that
    it may impart grace to the hearers.... Let all
    bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil
    speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
    (Eph. 429, 31)

18
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • But if you want to grow in Christ, there are
    certain things which must be left behind.
  • Ungodly attitudes immoral acts
  • Improper speech
  • Things that weigh us down and enslave us
  • Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so
    great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside
    every weight, and the sin which so easily
    ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the
    race that is set before us. (Heb. 121)

19
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • You must also have the proper mindset.
  • If then you were raised with Christ, seek those
    things which are above, where Christ is, sitting
    at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things
    above, not on things on the earth. (Col. 31-2 )

20
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • You must also have the proper mindset.
  • You must allow the Holy Spirit to produce His
    fruit.
  • But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
    longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
    gentleness, self-control. Against such there is
    no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified
    the flesh with its passions and desires. If we
    live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
    Spirit. (Gal. 522-25)

21
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • You must also have the proper mindset.
  • You must allow the Holy Spirit to produce His
    fruit.
  • You must seek Gods kingdom and righteousness
    first.
  • But seek first the kingdom of God and His
    righteousness, and all these things shall be
    added to you. (Matt. 633)

22
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • You must also have the proper mindset.
  • You must allow the Holy Spirit to produce His
    fruit.
  • You must seek Gods kingdom and righteousness
    first.
  • Now you are ready for

23
love
Add to your
brotherly affection
godliness
steadfastness
self-control
knowledge
EIGHT STEPS TOWARD
virtue
faith
24
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • For this very reason, make every effort to
    supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue
    with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control,
    and self-control with steadfastness, and
    steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with
    brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with
    love. For if these qualities are yours and are
    increasing, they keep you from being ineffec-tive
    or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
    Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so
    near-sighted that he is blind, having forgotten
    that he was cleansed from his former sins.
    Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to
    make your calling and election sure, for if you
    practice these qualities you will never fall. (2
    Peter 15-10, ESV)


25
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Faith is insufficient by itself. You must
  • Become partakers of the divine nature, having
    escaped from the corruption that is in the world
    because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 14, ESV)
  • Supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue
    with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control,
    and self-control with steadfastness, and
    steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with
    brotherly affec-tion, and brotherly affection
    with love. (2 Peter 15-7, ESV)

26
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Faith is insufficient by itself.
  • The highest ground is to love as God loves.
  • You have heard that it was said, You shall
    love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I
    say to you, love your enemies, bless those who
    curse you, do good to those who hate you, and
    pray for those who spitefully use you and
    persecute you, that you may be sons of your
    Father in heaven for He makes His sun rise on
    the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the
    just and on the unjust.

27
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Faith is insufficient by itself.
  • The highest ground is to love as God loves.
  • For if you love those who love you, what reward
    have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the
    same? And if you greet your brethren only, what
    do you do more than others? Do not even the tax
    collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect,
    just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matt.
    543-48)

28
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Faith is insufficient by itself.
  • The highest ground is to love as God loves.
  • The acid test of love is the willingness to die
    for those whom one claims to love.
  • Greater love has no one than this, than to lay
    down one's life for his friends. (John 1513)

29
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Faith is insufficient by itself.
  • The highest ground is to love as God loves.
  • The acid test of love is the willingness to die
    for those whom one claims to love.
  • Jesus demonstrated His love for us.
  • By this we know love, because He laid down His
    life for us. (1 John 316a)

30
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Faith is insufficient by itself.
  • The highest ground is to love as God loves.
  • The acid test of love is the willingness to die
    for those whom one claims to love.
  • Jesus demonstrated His love for us.
  • We ought to be willing to do the same for others.
  • And we also ought to lay down our lives for the
    brethren. (1 John 316b)

31
SEEKING HIGHER GROUND?
  • Do you love the brethren?
  • Do you love your enemies?
  • Would you lay down your life for those you claim
    to love?
  • Then there is nothing that you would not be
    willing to do for them!
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