Grace Fellowship Church

1. Pastor/TeacherJim Rickard Thursday, April 7, 2011 Grace Fellowship Church www.GraceDoctrine.org

2. DoxologyPraise God, from whom all blessings flow;Praise Him, all creatures here below;Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.—Amen.

3. Memory Verse1 Cor 13:13 “But now abide (live forever) faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

4. John 16:5, “But now I (Jesus) am going to Him (God the Father) who sent Me, and yet not one of you (the disciples) asks Me, ‘Where are you going?’”

5. John 16:6,“But because I have said (taught) to you all these things, sorrow (inwardstress) has completely filled your heart (right lobe of the soul).”

6. Doctrine of Occupation with The Lord Jesus ChristA. Definition of Occupation with Christ (O.C.).

7. 1. O.C. is personal love for our Lord Jesus Christ through MBDSR4A+FGHS,(Balance of Residency).

8. 2. Two Divine mandates to Occupation with Christ.Heb 12:2; 1 Peter 3:15

9. 3. Occupation with Christ is also defined as fellowship with the Son. 1 Cor 1:9, “God is faithful, through Whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

10. 4. The attainment of Occupation with Christ is gradual. It starts by the command in Eph 3:19.

11. Eph 3:19,“And to come to know the love for Christ which goes beyond GNOSIS that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

12. 5. Occupation with Christ is one of 3 PSDs related to virtue-love.

13. a. PSD #8, Personal Love for God the Father, the motivational virtue in life.

14. b. PSD #9, Impersonal / Unconditional Love for all mankind, the functional virtue in the Christian life.

15. c. PSD #11, O.C., the priority solution, and ultimately the answer to any adversity in life as well as the basis for having capacity for happiness and prosperity when it comes.

16. 1 Cor 13:13,“And now abide faith (Faith-Rest Drill), hope (hope 1, 2 and 3), and virtue-love, these three; but the greatest of these is virtue-love.”

17. B. Occupation with Christ is the greatest motivator in life.2 Cor 5:14-17

18. 1. O.C., which begins in spiritual adulthood, means your motivation in life changes.

19. a. At first your motivation is in the Faith-Rest Drill. As you grow spiritually you change very subtly from dependence on people to dependence on the Lord.

20. 2. O.C. is the true motivatorin life. a. It eliminates human viewpoint of life, which makes you miserable causing you to argue with others or complain about everything in life.

21. b. O.C. is the ultimate motivator in life where you are motivated by the highest motivation you can have.

22. c. O.C. results in God emphasis taking precedence over people emphasis. Fellowship with God is infinitely more important than fellowship with people.

23. 1) True Christian fellowship is fellowship with God the Father, the filling of the Holy Spirit, and O.C.

24. 2) Fellowship with God is mandated; fellowship with other Christians is optional.

25. d. God has rendered certain events for the believer, provided your Portfolio of Invisible Assets, and given you equality to execute the Plan of God for your life.

26. e. The key to the Plan of God is that you no longer live for yourself but for Christ.

27. f. In providing eternal life, God provided a way to change yourself. But if you try to change others, you will only become bitter and hardened.

28. g. Wrong experience with God inevitably results in wrong experiences with people.

29. Vs. 16; As unbelievers, we were ignorant of Jesus Christ and did not love Him, we knew Him only from the human viewpoint.

30. But now with cognitive self-confidence in SSE and cognitive independence in SA, we no longer regard Christ from the human viewpoint of ignorance and non-love.

31. Grace Fellowship ChurchThursday, April 7, 2011Tape # 11-041Occupation with the Lord Jesus ChristUpper Room Discourse, Part 493John 16:6; 1 Cor 2:16; 2 Cor 5:14-19; Eph 3:19James H. Rickard Bible Ministries 2011