https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Denying-Oneself.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Titus 2:11-14<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. Self-improvement books abound. People constantly look for means wherein they can\nmake themselves better.\n
A. “Better,” in most people’s books, means happiness.<\/p>\n
B. But to many people there are limits to betterment<\/p>\n C. Ingrid Law captured the idea when she wrote, “You can’t get rid of a part that\nmakes you you and be happy.”\n
D. But compare this to what Christ said – Matthew 16:24-27<\/p>\n
1. To gain heaven, you have to deny yourself.<\/p>\n
2. You can gain the whole world and it isn’t as valuable as your own soul.<\/p>\n E. Daniel W. Blair said, “Man in his spiritual pride has exchanged God’s method of\nself-denial for Satan’s plan of self–improvement.”\n
II. Self denial is not deciding to give up something<\/p>\n A. Catholics practice self-denial each spring in giving up something they like for\nlent.\n
B. Priest give up marriage – Despite Paul’s statement- I Timothy 4:1-3<\/p>\n
C. Monks give up contact with the world, though Jesus say – John 17:15<\/p>\n D. Each is a denial of something from self, but each is a self-imposed denial –\nColossians 2:20-23\n
1. A denial of religion<\/p>\n
2. A denial of pride<\/p>\n
3. A denial of physical needs<\/p>\n
4. It sounds good, but the problem is that man makes the demands, not God.<\/p>\n
III. God’s grace teaches us – Titus 2:11-12<\/p>\n
A. The same grace that brought us salvation – I Timothy 2:4<\/p>\n
B. The same grace that appears to everyone – Luke 3:6<\/p>\n
C. God’s grace teaches us (paideuousa<\/i>)<\/p>\n
1. It means to train, teach, correct, or to chastise<\/p>\n
2. It includes the hard things in life – Hebrews 12:6-7; Revelation 3:19<\/p>\n
3. Not a judgment, but a developing and refining of the character.<\/p>\n
D. It is God’s grace that teaches us to deny ungodliness<\/p>\n
1. Finding out what God wants – Ephesians 5:8-10<\/p>\n
2. Self denial is living for God – I Peter 4:2<\/p>\n 3. It is a focus on doing the will of someone higher and greater – II Timothy\n2:4\n 4. It is a denial of what I want or desire because what God wants is more\nimportant – Romans 6:19\n 5. Leonard Bernstein, the celebrated orchestra conductor, was asked, what is\nthe hardest instrument to play. He replied without hesitation: “Second\nfiddle. I can always get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays\nsecond violin with as much enthusiasm or second French horn or second\nflute, now that’s a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no\nharmony.” \n
6. Being a Christian is choosing to be second fiddle to God.<\/p>\n
E. God’s grace teaches us to deny worldly lusts<\/p>\n
1. The world is under Satan’s control – I John 5:19<\/p>\n
2. We are not to love this world – I John 2:15-16<\/p>\n
3. Lust, after all, is focused on what I want<\/p>\n
4. Not conformed to former lusts – I Peter 1:14-15<\/p>\n
5. Self denial is not following after the lusts we once chased – Ephesians 2:1-3<\/p>\n
6. God called us to be holy – I Thessalonians 4:7<\/p>\n
7. Put to death the members on earth – Colossians 3:5-7<\/p>\n
IV. It isn’t just giving things up, God’s grace teaches us (Titus 2:12)<\/p>\n
A. To live soberly (sophronos<\/i>) – having a sound mind, prudent, sensible<\/p>\n
1. This is service to ourselves. <\/p>\n
2. Yes, ironically, self denial leads to serving yourself in a beneficial way.<\/p>\n
3. For men and women – Titus 2:1-3<\/p>\n 4. The best thing you can do for yourself is to keep your mind clear and\nreasonable\n
B. To live righteously (dikalos<\/i>) – being just and fair<\/p>\n
1. This is service to those around us, our neighbors<\/p>\n
2. Being upright with others – I Thessalonians 2:10<\/p>\n
3. Wronging no one – II Corinthians 7:2<\/p>\n
4. Being an example – Titus 2:7-8<\/p>\n
C. To live godly (eusebos<\/i>) – It means to fall before out of fear and respect <\/p>\n
1. This is service to God – Hebrews 12:28<\/p>\n
V. So many problems come from an inability to deny oneself<\/p>\n
A. “God wants me to be happy!” being the reason for continuing sin<\/p>\n
B. Why self-control needs to be one of the first lessons taught – Acts 24:25<\/p>\n
C. We have to be willing to leave all for Christ – Matthew 19:29<\/p>\n D. “Self-denial is indispensable to a strong character, and the highest kind comes\nfrom a religious stock.” – Theodore Parker\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Titus 2:11-14 I. Self-improvement books abound. People constantly look for means wherein they can make themselves better. A. “Better,” in most people’s books, means happiness. B. But to many people there are limits to betterment C. Ingrid Law captured the idea when she wrote, “You can’t get rid of a part that makes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[1347,416],"class_list":["post-35929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-self-denial","tag-submission"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52043,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-be-forgiven-for-denying-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":35929,"position":0},"title":"Can I be forgiven for denying Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm currently 13 years old, but when I was 12. I would tell my grandmother \"I don't believe in God\" deliberately because I wanted to make her angry, since I was angry. I didn't know it was bad to say that. I actually regret it so much that I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70807,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/becoming-and-doing\/","url_meta":{"origin":35929,"position":1},"title":"Becoming and Doing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Why are we here in this world? To have a good time? To earn a living? To accumulate wealth? To make a name for ourselves? Unless we clearly understand our purpose, we'll be sure to take a wrong turn and miss the whole point of living, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25633,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/only-an-appearance-of-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":35929,"position":2},"title":"Only an Appearance of Religion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Amos 4:1-5 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When you look at the religious world, there are many odd ideas about what constitutes a religious person. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Exhibitionism as Religion \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some people judge how religious a man is by the religious things that he does in public \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Matthew 6:1-6 - Some people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/better-than-self\/","url_meta":{"origin":35929,"position":3},"title":"Better Than Self","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Please add an audio file by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When learning another language, it helps to start with the most common words first, the ones most likely to come up in a conversation. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So what is the most common word spoken in English? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One study in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42096,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-denying-the-holy-spirit-by-questioning-whether-my-pastor-speaks-in-tongues\/","url_meta":{"origin":35929,"position":4},"title":"Am I denying the Holy Spirit by questioning whether my pastor speaks in tongues?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I was just reading your page on speaking in tongues. I'm trying to find an answer to my problem. I have been attending a church for the first time for the last eight weeks or so. The first time I attended at the end we praised Jesus and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15149,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-keep-denying-boys-a-chance-to-walk-with-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":35929,"position":5},"title":"Should I keep denying boys a chance to walk with me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I commend your site, it really gives people a lot of spiritual help. Thanks! This just happened three days ago. A friend of mine asked to meet me at school to hand me a souvenir from a place he went with his family. We did meet, and after thanking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}