1. Renovation of the Heart
Session 4:
Denying Self

2. Heart Examination Reflection
Get in groups of 3 or 4 and discuss one of the following passages (5 minutes):
Isaiah 6:1-8
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Romans 3:10-18
What does this passage say to you about the evil that is in the world?
What does this passage say to you about the evil that is in you?

3. 11 “And that is what some of you were
11 “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” –1Cor 6:11

4. Self-Denial Matthew 16:24-26:
24 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?’”

5. Lifestyle of Denial
If we are going to have any success against the evil within we must consistently deny its requests
This is also seen in the command to take up our cross
Denying self and taking up your cross means surrender of control and sacrifice
Before the Lord can renovate your heart you have to be willing for God to move in and to move the furniture around.

6. Greater life Matthew 13:44-46:
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

7. Quote from Dallas Willard
“This is of utmost importance to those who would enter spiritual formation—life as normally understood, where the object is securing myself, promoting myself, indulging myself, is to be set aside. ‘Can I still think about such things?’ you may ask. Yes, you can. But you increasingly won’t. And when you do, as formation in Christlikeness progresses, they simply won’t matter. In fact, they will seem ridiculous and uninteresting.”

8. A Journey
Spiritual formation is a journey of maturity. We are a work in progress.
Slowly the good of God replaces the evil within us. The evil will never be fully gone until its home, the flesh, is gone.
“None of Self and All of Thee”

9. A Snapshot of the Lifestyle of Denial
Phil 3:7-14:
7 “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

10. A Snapshot of the Lifestyle of Denial
12 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”

11. Heart Examination
Are you living a lifestyle of denial surrendering your life fully to God?
Before the Lord can renovate your heart you have to be willing for God to move in and move the furniture around. Are you willing?
Denying self and taking up your cross means surrender of control and sacrifice. Are you willing?