Troubles Have Spiritual Purpose

Posted by David on August 10, 1997 under Sermons

Everybody has troubles. No one wants the troubles he or she has. When it comes to troubles, we have two basic preferences. First preference: we don’t want any. We want a daily life that is literally free from trouble of any kind. We spend lots of energy and effort trying to discover a trouble free daily existence.

Second preference: if we must have troubles of some kind, we want to swap the troubles we have for someone else’s troubles. We want the troubles of our choice instead of the troubles of necessity. No one likes the troubles that he or she has. And, we all know many people who have troubles that we do not want. But, we know some people who have the kind of troubles we would trade our troubles for their troubles.

Think a moment about the first preference: a daily life that is genuinely trouble free. Spiritually, that would be one of the worst things that could happen to any Christian. It certainly would be one of the most dangerous things that could happen to a Christian. Why? When we have no troubles, we do not feel a need for God. We become self-reliant, self-sufficient, and self-confident. We don’t feel like we need saving, so we don’t feel a need for our Savior.

Consider the second preference: having troubles of choice instead of having troubles of necessity. If you could pick your troubles, what troubles would you choose? In spite of appearances, there are no easy troubles. Some troubles have many more external consequences than others, but every trouble does basically the same thing to our minds and hearts. Troubles are not called troubles because they are insignificant or pleasurable. If we were allowed to choose troubles, we would choose a different set every six months. Six months is about as long as it would take for us to be thoroughly distressed with the troubles we had.

1. In the world of in-depth Bible study and Christian theology, it is not unusual for people to put Paul on a pedestal.
   1. Many things impress Christians about Paul.
      1. The dramatic redirection of his life at his conversion is impressive.
         1. He went from a violent, obsessive man to a helpful, committed man.
         2. He went from total confidence in his own knowledge to total confidence in Jesus Christ.
         3. He went from a man dedicated to destroying people to a man dedicated to saving people.
         4. That is impressive.
      2. His encounters with the resurrected Jesus are impressive.
         1. His conversion encounter on the Damascus road is impressive (Acts 9).
         2. The fact that everything he knew about the gospel was directly communicated to him by Jesus is impressive–he had no human teachers! (Galatians 1:11,12).
         3. The fact that Jesus spoke directly to him on a number of occasions is impressive (i.e. Acts 18:9,10).
      3. His education and knowledge are impressive.
         1. He is the most educated Christian that we are acquainted with in the first century.
         2. He is the best educated writer in the New Testament.
         3. Of the twenty-seven New Testament writings, thirteen actually bear his name as the author.
      4. His spiritual gifts and experiences are impressive–no first century Christian had more of either.
      5. The hardships that he endured because of his faith in and commitment to Jesus Christ are impressive (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).
   2. Because of these impressive things about Paul’s life, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 declares a powerful lesson.
      Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me–to keep me from exalting myself. Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for (my) power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
      1. Paul had some incredible spiritual experiences.
      2. Among those experiences, was this one: he actually visited the realm that God lives in.
         1. While there, he heard things that he was not permitted to share with people on earth.
         2. Can you think of any spiritual experience that would equal that?
         3. How much difference would it make in your faith and your life to have actually visited the realm called heaven?
      3. That experience would provide the building blocks for arrogance, self-confidence, and self-importance.
         1. “Yes, God thought so much of me that he let me visit heaven.”
         2. “I would tell you what I heard while I was there, but God won’t let me.”
         3. “Can you believe that God thought enough of me to let me do that?”
         4. “Guess I must be pretty important to God.”
         5. “You do know that He has given me a special work to do on earth–no one else can do what I am to do.”
      4. Listen to what Paul said:
         1. “Because I had this incredible experience, there was a real danger that I might exalt myself–I might decide that I was beyond Satan’s reach.”
         2. “So Satan placed a thorn in my physical life–Satan did it, not God.”
         3. “Satan did it to distress me–to prove that I was not beyond his reach.”
         4. “It worked–I hurt, my effectiveness suffered, and I knew Satan could still afflict my life.”
         5. “So I begged Jesus three times to pull the thorn out.”
         6. “And this is what Jesus told me: ‘The thorn makes you depend on me, not yourself.'”
            1. “My grace is more than enough to cover your weakness.”
            2. “Actually, my power in you reaches its fullness in your human weakness.”
      5. Paul learned something (after he visited God’s realm! after he had his revelations from Jesus!): he learned Christ does his most powerful work in us through our weakness because weakness makes us depend on God instead of ourselves.
      6. Paul did not ask again for the weakness to be removed.
         1. He found joy in his weakness.
         2. He gladly accepted the reality of being weak.
         3. Now he understood: it is our weakness that allows Christ to use a greater measure of his power in our lives.
2. “A thorn in the physical body doesn’t sound like much trouble–I would never call my trouble a mere thorn in my body; it is much more like a knife in my heart.”
   1. May I make a couple of observations about Paul?
      1. This is the man who was publicly whipped too many times to remember; who was thrown into jail many times; who was stoned once; who was shipwrecked three times; who knew hunger, thirsty, cold, and extreme weariness; and who experienced about every form of danger you can name (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).
      2. I doubt that you and I would consider what Satan did to Paul a mere thorn.
   2. How long has it been since you had a thorn you could not remove from the “holding, grasping” side of one of your fingers?
      1. Remember how red and infected it got?
      2. Remember how it hurt when you touched anything?
      3. Remember how badly you wanted to get it out?
      4. It was not a mere “small inconvenience!”

The lesson is powerful and much needed. When we seek to be godly and serve in godly ways, troubles play an important role in our lives. Troubles led us to greater dependence on God. Greater dependence on God results in Christ becoming more powerful in us.

The greater your spiritual experiences, the more important it is that you experience troubles.

Wearing Big Shoes

Posted by David on under Sermons

There are moments in the lives of small children that delight parents in every generation. Though those moments occur in every generation, the very same incident never gets old, never stops touching us, never fails to make us smile.

One such moment is the sight of a three or four year old child wearing Dad’s shoes. Dad’s shoes are too big for the child to lift off the floor. If he tries, he steps out of the shoes. So he struggles to keep his small feet and legs in Daddy’s shoes as he scoots those huge shoes across the floor.

Small children have been trying to walk in Daddy’s shoes as long as Daddies have been wearing shoes. Yet, that sight always makes us smile. We are never bored by a small child trying to wear Daddy’s shoes.

Why do small children try to wear Daddy’s shoes? To the child, Daddy is bigger than life and can do anything. Daddy is his hero. He wants to be like Daddy.

One of the songs I remember singing in worship when I was a child is “Stepping in the Light.”

Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Trying to follow our Savior and King;
Shaping our lives by His blessed example,
Happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Stepping in the light; . . .
Led in paths of light!     (Eliza E. Hewitt & William J. Kirkpatrick, 1889)

A newer song of worship that I find deeply meaningful is “Step by Step.”

O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You.
I will seek You in the morning,
And I will learn to walk in Your ways,
And step by step You’ll lead me,
And I will follow You all of my days.
(Copyright © 1991, Kid Brothers of St. Frank Publishing/ASCAP)

As Christians, we are trying to wear Jesus’ sandals and step in his footprints.

1. We have a Savior.
   1. As Christians, our Savior is bigger than life — literally.
      1. He is our hero.
         1. He loved us, wanted us, and was not ashamed of us before we knew him.
         2. He not only saved us from all the forces outside ourselves that were destroying us, but he also saved us from ourselves — from all the forces within us that were destroying us.
         3. Because we know him, because we place our confidence in him, because we have begun to understand what he did for us, by our choice, he is the controlling force within our lives.
      2. He loved us so much that he saved us from eternal death.
         1. He took our punishment for our mistakes and paid for our failures.
         2. He did that before we understood who he was or what he was doing.
         3. In fact, he did that before we realized that we were destroying ourselves.
      3. Because he saved us, because he actually gave us new life, because he will give us life again after we physically die, we want to be like him.
         1. That is why we call ourselves Christians — the people who seek to be like Christ.
         2. We live in him, and by our conscious choice he lives in us.
      4. Unless he teaches us, we will not understand the purpose of living.
      5. Unless he guides us, we will not find the direction that leads to life with God.
   2. Our Savior Jesus is unique.
      1. In every age of this world there have been would be saviors.
         1. These saviors are always certain that they know what we must learn.
         2. But they want to save us by telling us what we should do.
      2. Jesus never limited his efforts to help us by just telling us what to do.
         1. As he told us, he showed us by using his own life as an example.
         2. Often he showed us before he told us.
      3. So, to the Christian, Jesus is much more than our teacher.
         1. Because he showed us, he is also our example.
         2. So each day we put our small feet and short legs into his huge sandals, and each day we try to wear his sandals as we walk in his steps.
   3. About 2000 years ago he actually walked the sandy beach of time.
      1. His footprints are still clearly visible on that beach — they will remain on the beach of time long as this earth exists.
      2. Each day, in front of us, are his sandal prints as he walked through life.
      3. As we walk down that beach of time, we struggle to wear his sandals and step in his footprints.
      4. As our patient, loving heavenly Father and loving, resurrected Savior watch, that must be a comical sight.
2. There were twelve hand-picked men who followed Jesus every day.
   1. Acts 1 indicates that there were many more than these twelve who followed Jesus daily, but these twelve were hand-picked by Jesus.
      1. Every day they listened to Jesus teach, watched him help all kinds of people, and witnessed the miracles he performed.
      2. The night before his execution, Jesus made this statement to these twelve men (John 13:13-17).
         You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
   2. Because we declare that we are Christians, we propose to be Jesus’ disciples — not just on Sundays when we spend two or three hours in study and worship, but every day.
      1. We call him Teacher and Lord.
      2. For each of us, he has done more than wash our feet — he has washed our sins away.
      3. Since he has forgiven us, he asks us to forgive each other.
      4. In his cleansing of us he has given us an example of both humility and service to others.
      5. In his example he has given us a purpose bigger than self, bigger than material ambitions, and bigger than physical desires.
      6. He specifically gave us his example because he wants us to put on his sandals and walk in his footprints.
      7. If we are to wear his sandals and walk in his footprints, there is something very basic that we must understand: we are never more important than he is.
         1. If something was not beneath him, it cannot be beneath us.
         2. If something was important to him, it must be important to us.
         3. It is by looking at and understanding him that we literally define who we are and what our purpose on earth is.
      8. If we know these things, we are blessed if we do them.
3. If I am going to wear his sandals and walk in his footprints, I must listen as he explains something very fundamental about belonging to God.
   1. In John 5 Jesus was in Jerusalem.
      1. He healed a man on the Jewish Sabbath day, the day on which God’s law forbid anyone to work.
      2. He told the healed man to pick up his mat and go home.
      3. According to the religious leaders, that was an act of work that violated God’s law.
      4. When these leaders turned on him, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, the Son can do nothing of himself, unless it is something he sees the Father doing; for whatsoever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19).
      5. In that same statement Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 5:30).
   2. In John 6 both the religious leaders and a huge crowd of people who were following Jesus became very upset at some things Jesus said about himself.
      1. Among many things Jesus said to them, he made this statement: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38).
   3. In John 8 Jesus was involved in another confrontation with the religious leaders.
      1. The situation was growing increasingly tense.
      2. Jesus was quite aware that these people would succeed in having him killed, and that he would be executed on a cross.
      3. So he said to those who would succeed in having him killed, “When you lift up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught me” (John 8:28).
4. Jesus was so powerful, so popular, so untouchable that the twelve hand-picked disciples began to feel like very important people.
   1. They had visions of Jesus being king in Jerusalem and of them occupying very prestigious and important places in Jesus’ kingdom.
      1. Each one of them was filled with ambition and a sense of personal importance, and each considered himself more important than the other eleven men.
      2. When they gathered to eat the religious meal called the Passover on the last night of Jesus’ life, they were a pride filled, arrogant group.
      3. Because they wore sandals in those days, their feet quickly got dirty as they walked.
         1. When guests came or when the family came in for the evening, it was a matter of good manners and warm hospitality to wash people’s feet.
         2. Not one of the disciples dared lower himself to wash the other disciples’ feet.
      4. So Jesus, their Lord and Teacher, got up, took off his robe, put a towel around his waist, poured a basin of water, and washed their feet.
   2. When he finished, he asked “Do you know what I have done?”
      1. That is when he said that they rightfully called him Lord and Teacher.
      2. If he could wash their feet, they should wash each others’ feet.
      3. “I have given you an example; do as I did.”
   3. If you are going to wear Jesus’ sandals and walk in his footprints, there are two things you must never forget.
      1. The first thing: always follow God’s lead.
         1. If Jesus could do nothing of himself, we surely can do nothing of ourselves.
         2. Our spiritual ambitions are unimportant; God’s purposes are essential.
         3. Don’t decide for God; listen to God, and follow.
         4. Almost every day I remind myself, “It’s about God; it is not about you.”
      2. The second thing: nothing in serving God’s purposes is beneath you.
         1. Execution by death on a cross was not beneath Jesus.
         2. No use that God would make of a Christian’s life is beneath him or her.
         3. Self-importance and arrogance have no place in a Christian heart.

Is anything more important than your living with God in heaven? Without hesitation, you probably say no. Do you really mean that? If you really mean that, then in surrender to the Lord and Teacher, begin to pray this prayer. “Whatever it takes, Lord, whatever it takes. I want to be your spiritual person. I want to live close to you now. I want to live in heaven with you. Let me experience whatever it takes.” Then step into Jesus’ sandals and begin the most incredible journey of your life.

A small child can’t fill his daddy’s shoes. I can’t fill my Lord’s sandals.

It won’t happen.
It can’t happen.
It will never happen. Some days I may do a fair job stepping in His footsteps. Some days I struggle to even find His footsteps. God said we had to follow His son, not necessarily in His same steps.
Above all things, God wants me to have Jesus’ heart. Don’t say you can’t do it. God loves you more than you love your child. The strength is in God, not in you. Will you let Him lead you home?

Several “Think Abouts”

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

Operation Encouragement should be at full speed! Did you remember to write your note of encouragement to someone this week? It is not too late! Make your day–and someone else’s!

This week’s operation encouragement suggestion: write a note to the elders that specifically names something you genuinely appreciate about this congregation. Could you send your note to the church’s address so that all of the elders could read it? It will be wonderful for our elders to receive a few hundred such notes this week! Without hesitation, we tell them what disturbs us. Have you ever told them what you appreciate? This week is the perfect opportunity!

Sam Roberts was recently asked, “Where are we going as a congregation?” An excellent question that is deserving of a carefully considered, well thought out answer. My “off-the-cuff” response for the immediate future focused on three goals: meaningfully development in spirituality and Christ-likeness as a congregation; developing our community outreach in ways that keep pace with and support our missions outreach; providing this congregation with the tools (facilities) that will enable us to advance fellowship and nurturing among our members. For me, all of this is in addition to (not in replacement of) the wonderful things already happening at West-Ark.

I so appreciate the job our greeters are doing! They are here early (they beat me to the building!). I don’t think anyone can enter the main building without receiving several genuine welcomes. Last Sunday Bob and Sharon Faries were among the greeters. Bob said, “Greeting is a wonderful job! It makes you aware of all the great people we have here.” He told me how much he and Sharon enjoyed it, and how much fun it was. He observed that you cannot see and talk to that many people unless you are a greeter, and he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. To all of you greeters, thanks! You make a difference!

God’s Higher Calling

Posted by David on August 3, 1997 under Sermons

It would be fascinating to listen to people in the different stages of successful marriage discuss the higher calling of marriage. Don’t you think that would be fascinating?

What would a person deeply in love, engaged to be married soon, and genuinely prepared to marry, say about the higher calling of marriage? “The higher calling of marriage is to love. Marriage should make the person feel loved as he or she had never felt loved before. Making the person feel loved is the higher calling of marriage.”

What would newlyweds who had been married a month and love being married say about the higher calling of marriage? “The higher calling of marriage is to feel truly a part of someone else’s life. Sharing life in marriage is an incredible experience! Achieving shared life is the higher calling of marriage.”

What would a couple who had begun their family, who have two small children say about the higher calling of marriage? “The higher calling of marriage is sharing responsibility and meeting challenges together. Having children changes everything. When you can know that responsibility will be shared and when you meet every challenge together, you have responded to the higher call of marriage.”

What would a couple in their 40’s who are advancing careers to support the family and educate the children say about the higher calling of marriage? “Knowing that you are supported, that your mate will be there for you, that you will receive understanding, that your home will be a haven of escape from outside stresses, that is the high calling of marriage.”

What would a couple who have adjusted to the empty nest say the high calling of marriage is? “The high calling of marriage is being friends to each other like no one else on earth can be. To know that you are loved and valued just for being you, that is the high calling of marriage.”

So which of them are right? Which people correctly identified the high calling of marriage? They all were right. They all correctly identified the high calling of marriage at their level of marital maturity. As each marriage grows and matures, the calling rises to a higher level.

1. Listen to Paul’s statement about himself in Philippians 3:13, 14.
   “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
   1. In context, in chapter 3, Paul said, “I could brag with the best of them about what I accomplished as a Jew — my Jewish accomplishments were awesome!”
      1. “But I have absolutely nothing to brag about as a Christian.
      2. “God showed me something in Jesus Christ that never existed through my Jewish accomplishments.
      3. “I want (the presence tense) the righteousness that can be received only through faith as God’s gift.
      4. “I want to be resurrected from the dead in Jesus Christ.
      5. “Christ took my life for a purpose, and I am pursuing that purpose.
   2. “However, I have not arrived; Christ’s purpose in me has not been accomplished.”
      1. That is a fascinating statement.
      2. Considering all the teaching Paul had done.
      3. Considering all the mission work Paul had done.
      4. Considering Paul’s dedication and sacrifice.
      5. Paul was not saying that he, as of that moment, was not saved or had not done enough — the entire context of that statement emphasized that serving Christ’s purpose is not about accomplishments.
      6. Allowing Christ’s purpose be worked in him involved three things:
         1. Forgetting the past (present tense, not living on past failures or successes).
         2. Reaching forward (present tense, extending myself toward the future).
         3. “I press on” (present tense, straining to move ahead).
      7. The objective of allowing Christ’s purpose be worked in him was reaching the goal of the upward call of God in Christ.
         1. The prize was the crown, the wreath, that was given to the victor in an athletic contest.
         2. In this analogy, the goal would be winning, but here winning is not defeating someone else or being better than someone else.
         3. The goal involved a becoming — he fulfilled Christ’s highest purpose for him when he experienced resurrection in Christ.
         4. The upward call of God was always calling him toward the resurrection.
2. It is in the higher calling of God in Christ Jesus that we see God’s purpose for our lives.
   1. The more we spiritually mature, the more we understand God’s purposes in Christ, and the better we understand God’s purpose for us.
      1. What is God’s purpose for the person owned by evil? “God’s purpose is to call me to repentance.”
      2. What is God’s purpose for the person who repents? “God’s purpose is to call me to the new birth.”
      3. What is God’s purpose for the new convert? “God’s purpose is for me to learn to function as a living part of Christ’s body, to worship, to fellowship, and to get involved.”
      4. What is God’s purpose for the developing Christian? “God’s purpose is for me to share Christ as I nurture my brothers and sisters and reach out to those still owned by evil.”
      5. What is God’s purpose for the mature Christian? “God’s purpose is for me to live by the nature, the mind, the heart, and the attitudes of Jesus.”
      6. What is God’s purpose for the spiritually aware Christian? “God’s purpose is for me to complete the journey. This world and life is temporary. It is just a journey. I am called to be godly in Christ Jesus and to let Christlikeness be the number one objective in my daily life.”
      7. What is God’s purpose for every Christian? “To use the resurrection to bring us home to live with Him.”

Which one is God’s true calling? They all are. Every call we receive in Christ just leads us to a higher calling in Christ. From sinfulness the higher call is to repentance. From repentance the higher call is to new birth. From new birth the higher call is to become a functioning part of the body. From being a functioning part of the body, the higher call is to share Christ. From sharing Christ, the higher call is to develop the heart and mind of Christ. From developing the heart and mind of Christ, the higher call is to complete the journey. From the pilgrimage, the higher call is to come home to God.

No matter where you are in your spiritual development, God always has a higher calling. That calling is always God’s call in Christ. The better you understand God’s work in Christ, the better you understand the call.

Do you hear God calling you?
Hear the call to serve God in ways that are a little more mature, a little more dedicated.
It is not a station to be arrived at — it is an ongoing process.

The Only Thing We Will Take To Heaven

Posted by David on under Sermons

Husbands, I want to ask you some questions about your wives. What is the most difficult request your wife has ever made of you? What is your wife’s most difficult expectation in your life? What is the greatest challenge your wife has ever given you?

Wives, l want to ask you some questions about your husbands. What is the most difficult request your husband has ever made of you? What is your husband’s most difficult expectation in your life? What is the greatest challenge your husband has ever given you?

To the unmarried, may I ask you the same questions about your parents or your closest friend? What is the most difficult request ever made of you? What is the most difficult expectation placed on you? What is the greatest challenge someone else has given you?

Likely, for most of us, each of those questions has a different answer. The most difficult request is probably different from the most difficult expectation. The most difficult expectation is probably different from the most difficult challenge.

May I ask four questions about God? What is the hardest command God has given you? What is the most difficult request God has made of you? What is the most difficult expectation God has of you? What is the greatest challenge God has given you?

I want to suggest to you that the answer to all four questions is the same. The hardest commandment God has given us is to love. The most difficult request God has made of us is to love. The most difficult expectation God has of us is for us to love. The greatest challenge God has given us is the challenge found in loving.

1. The New Testament declares the most incredible statements about love.
   1. Jesus plainly said that the greatest command that God ever gave was the commandment to love.
      1. Jesus said (Mark 12:30,31):
         1. The greatest commandment was to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
         2. The second greatest commandment was to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
      2. What does that mean?
         1. No commandment God has ever given is more important than the command to love God and to love people.
         2. No commandment from God gives us something more important to do than loving God and loving people.
         3. No commandment God has given us reveals something more important about accomplishing God’s purposes than the command to love God and to love people.
         4. The command to love God and people is God’s number one expectation, God’s number one request, and God’s number one challenge.
   2. In Paul’s practical application section of the book of Romans, he made this astounding statement in 13:8 — “Owe nothing to anyone except to love each other; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”
      1. If I correctly understand Paul, he is declaring that we should pay our debts.
         1. Do not borrow and fail to return.
         2. Do not borrow and forget to repay.
         3. Do not act like other people owe you what you borrowed.
      2. There is only one debt that you cannot repay.
         1. You cannot repay your debt of love.
         2. Each of us are deeply in debt to God — we are in debt to God for all He has done for us in love.
         3. It is impossible for us to repay God our debt of love, and He does not ask us to repay Him.
      3. He asks us to make payments on our debt of love by loving people.
         1. He loved us when we were unlovable and undeserving, and He continues to love us when we are unlovable and undeserving.
         2. His love for us did not and does not depend on our being deserving.
         3. He asks that we love people in the same way that He loves us.
      4. Then Paul made this astounding statement: every law, every commandment God has given about the proper treatment of other people will be fulfilled in our lives, will be obeyed in the way that God wants us to obey it, when we love other people.
         1. If our greatest concern is obedience, Paul says that the key is love.
         2. Love produces obedience that fulfills everything that God has in mind for us to do, and, if we love, we will do it the way that God wants it done.
   3. Paul made another statement that is just as astounding as Jesus’ statement.
      1. Remember, Jesus said the two greatest commandments God ever gave was to love God and to love people.
      2. In verification of that truth, Paul told the Corinthian Christians that godly acts done without love mean nothing to God or Christ (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
         “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”
      3. In our theology of belonging to and obeying God, we place more importance on many things than we place on love.
      4. At times we create the impression that love is good, but love is not a salvation issue: I can go to heaven without it — you don’t have to have love to go to heaven; I can be right without it — you don’t have to have love to be right; I can belong to God without it — you don’t have to have love to belong to God.
      5. Jesus and Paul obviously disagreed with that reasoning.
         1. A Christian can communicate God’s message with the languages of men and with the language that comes from heaven.
            1. The languages can be impressive and the message be correct.
            2. But if love is absent, to God it is just loud, irritating noise.
         2. A Christian can have the gift of prophecy, which in the next chapter Paul told these same Christians is God’s most important spiritual gift.
            1. He can explain all the mysteries — like the resurrection, like how God makes us all one in Christ Jesus.
            2. He can have all knowledge; he can truly be the expert when it comes to information about God and scripture.
            3. He can be faith filled and have a powerful faith — in fact his faith can be so powerful that he actually moves mountains.
            4. But if he does not have love — even with the gift of prophecy, the understanding of mysteries, all knowledge, and mountain moving faith — he is nothing.
         3. He can be an incredibly generous Christian.
            1. He can literally give away everything he owns to feed the poor.
            2. In faith, he can sacrificially yield his body to death by fire.
            3. But if there is no love, there is no benefit to him — it profits him nothing.
2. Perhaps your initial reaction is, “David, that is emphasizing love entirely too much.”
   1. If you are tempted to think this is overemphasis, let me ask you to consider the importance of love from a different perspective.
      1. The most important thing God ever did for you and me was to love us.
      2. Loving us is also the most difficult thing God ever did for us.
         1. Because God loved us, that love made the greatest demands ever placed on God.
         2. Loving us is the most costly thing God ever did.
         3. Because He loved us:
            1. He endured human rejection and human failure.
            2. He endured injustice and grief of sin from the days of Abraham to the coming of Jesus.
            3. He allowed His son to leave heaven and come to earth — and we think it is hard to let our children leave home.
            4. He allowed Jesus to be executed in a grotesque, horrible way.
      3. Because he loves us:
         1. He gives us mercy instead of justice.
         2. He gives us compassion instead of anger.
         3. He gives us forgiveness instead of condemnation.
         4. He gives us kindness instead of giving us what we deserve.
         5. He endures our ignorance, He tolerates our flaws, and He picks us up when we fall.
      4. Loving us is:
         1. The most expensive thing God has ever done.
         2. The most demanding thing God has ever done.
         3. The most frustrating thing God has ever done.
         4. The most exasperating thing God has ever done.
   2. In our lives, God values love for him and love for people more than any other quality that we can develop.
      1. God places a high premium on your love for Him and your love for people.
      2. It is the hardest, most demanding responsibility that He has given Christians.
      3. Why? Because the Christian defines love as God defines love, and because the Christian loves people as God loves people.
      4. Nothing is as hard to do as loving as God loves.
         1. When you love, you show mercy.
         2. When you love, you forgive.
         3. When you love, you forbear.
         4. When you love, you are kind.
         5. When you love, you are patient.
      5. And Jesus put the teeth in our responsibility to love when he said, “If you just love those who love you, you are no different from any evil, godless person” (Matthew 5:46).

Perhaps you are tempted to think, “Love cannot be that important. Love is too weak. There simply is not that much to love — It is not that big a deal. Many Christian responsibilities are much more important than love.” If you think that, look at divine patience and explain how love is weak. Look at divine forgiveness and explain how love is weak. Look at the cross and explain how love is weak.

If you think love is too easy, answer two questions. How many times in your life have you loved God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength? How often in your life have you loved other people as much as you loved yourself? How many times in your life have you genuinely obeyed the two greatest commandments God has given?

What do you think you will take to heaven with you? “My reputation for godliness.” You wouldn’t want it in heaven even if you could take it. “My faith — I have enormous confidence in God.” Wonderful! But you won’t need faith in heaven. You only need faith on earth. “My hope — I have invested all my hope in Jesus Christ.” Wonderful! But you won’t need hope in heaven. You only need hope on earth. You and I will take just one thing from earth to heaven. It is only thing that we need on earth and will still need in heaven. The only thing we will take with us is our love. We need love on earth and in heaven. “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:13.

There are ways of thinking of the Day of Judgement that can be terribly frightening. There are also some marvelous things to consider when we stand before God.

One thing would frighten me more than anything else. There is one mistake that I fear above all others. It is the one mistake that I do not want to take with me into the judgment. As I stand before the God who loved me enough to give me Jesus, and before the Jesus who loved me enough to die on the cross, I do not want to stand there having only loved those who loved me. In my understanding, that would be the most serious failure I could make as a Christian.

Consider the great love God had for us, shown by sending Jesus. God can teach us how to refocus and redirect our lives. He sent Jesus to teach us how to love. God lets you experience His love before He expects you to love.

Operation Encouragement

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

This is the “slow” time. No, life’s rat race did not take a break. Regardless of the month of the year, “hectic” is always the pace and “too busy” is always the reality.

Late July and August have their own personality in a congregation’s life. It is the “slow” time. The weather is hot and dry. The heat zaps our energy. Activities are not as much fun because of the weather’s discomfort. The kids are bored–many actually look forward to school starting. Even the summertime routine breaks down in families.

Within the congregation, it is the “wrong time” to begin anything new. Momentum would place last in a snail race. Attendance is erratic because families are making their last trips before school starts. It is difficult to find teachers or men to take leading roles in assemblies because so many are gone. Ministry work crawls.

“What’s wrong?” Nothing. This is always typical of late July and August. It simply is “that time of the year.” It is amazing to watch the life, the involvement, and the momentum revive themselves when September arrives.

The most significant danger in this period is the possibility of developing a bad case of congregational “blahs.” Since healthy congregational routines and involvement tend to suffer, it is easy to lose sight of our blessings. Minor frustrations look like monsters.

To help us “see” our blessings and fight the blahs, let’s begin “Operation Encouragement” this week. For the next few weeks, I challenge every member to consciously focus on our blessings. Focus on everything that brings you gratitude and joy.

We will sharpen and intensify that focus in a very simple way. Each week I will ask every member to write and mail a note. Just one note, just one stamp! I will suggest a different focus for our notes each week.

THIS WEEK: WRITE A NOTE TO SOMEONE IN THE CONGREGATION WHOM YOU APPRECIATE! It can be anyone you appreciate–someone who touches your life, or encourages you, or renews your faith, or lifts your spirits. Write to someone that others may not write. Perhaps it is someone that you have wanted to thank for a long time.

Do it this week! It will sharpen your focus on our blessings! It will lift the spirits and gladden the heart of the person who receives your note!

What Difference Does It Make?

Posted by David on July 27, 1997 under Sermons

“David, I have a question. This is the fourth week that you have talked about the old and the new. In examining the old and the new, you have shown us how the Old Testament law was specifically given in God’s attempt to gain control of and redirect those Israelite slaves who had just been released from Egypt. I understand that.”

“You have shown us that God did not send Jesus to ‘fix’ the law and make it work through Jesus because it did not work the first time. I understand that.”

“You have shown us that Old Testament Judaism and New Testament Christianity have some general similarities, but they are actually distinctly different. I understand that.”

“You have shown us that Jesus’ thought patterns were distinctly different from the thought patterns of the legalistic Jewish leaders. I understand that.”

“But here is my question: what difference does it make? If you look at New Testament teachings as though it were law, you will try to obey God. If you see Jesus as the Savior and a completely new revelation of God’s will, you will still try to obey God. Either way you will try to obey God. So what difference does it make?”

That is a very good question! It does make a difference; in fact, it makes an enormous difference. That difference is to be seen in the contrast between legalistic behavior and relationship behavior. Let me share two examples.

1. Example one: how should Christian husbands and wives treat each other?
   1. Consider two scriptures that give us insight into proper treatment of each other in marriage.
      1. The first was given by Jesus in a sermon in Matthew 7:12, and it applies to all relationships of all kinds–in marriage or out of marriage.
         Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the law and the prophets.
         1. That applies to your wife or your husband as certainly as it applies to your neighbor.
         2. In your marriage you treat your spouse as you want to be treated.
      2. The second is given by Paul in Ephesians 5:22-33.
         1. Paul said wives were to:
            1. Be in subjection to their husbands (v. 22).
            2. Respect their husbands (v. 33).
         2. Paul said husbands were to:
            1. Love their wives sacrificially, totally as Christ loved the church (v. 25).
            2. Love their wives as they love their own bodies (v. 28, 33).
   2. Consider legalistic behavior:
      1. The legalist says that the two most important principles in all this are that the husband is the head of the wife and the wife must be in subjection to her husband.
         1. If the wife will simply be in subjection to the husband, the marriage will work.
         2. No matter how the husband behaves, no matter how incapable the husband is, no matter how poor the husband’s judgment is, the marriage will work if the wife is in subjection.
      2. The legalist’s definition of subjection:
         1. The wife does whatever the husband wants her to do and tells her to do.
         2. The husband is in charge of and in control of the wife’s life, decisions, and use of herself, her time, and her abilities.
         3. The wife must therefore have the husband’s consent before she does anything–but the husband has no responsibility to consult with his wife about anything he decides or does.
         4. The only exception occurs if the husband attempts to keep her from being a Christian woman.
      3. Spouse abuse has been and continues to be a significant problem in churches of Christ (and in most religious groups that accept the Bible as their spiritual authority).
         1. Many Christian women who never say a word are emotionally, physiologically, or physically abused by their Christian husbands.
         2. Among abusive husbands who are Christians, It is not uncommon for preachers, or elders, or deacons, or Bible teachers to be abusive to their wives.
         3. The tragedy is even greater:
            1. The Christian abuser rarely regards his actions to be abusive.
            2. He has biblical justification for what he does: the Bible says that he must be the head of the wife and she must be in subjection to him.
            3. If she suffers, it is her fault; her failure to be in subjection is responsible for any problem she has in the marriage.
            4. He has no responsibility to treat her as he wants to be treated if she does not comply with his concept of subjection.
   3. Consider relationship behavior:
      1. Relationship behavior understands that treating my spouse as I want to be treated will always be relevant, even in stressful times.
      2. Relationship behavior understands that headship and subjection are not the key concept in Ephesians 5.
      3. The key concepts are the unconditional, sacrificial love and respect.
      4. Relationship behavior understands that a woman perceives love through affection and that a man perceives love through respect.
      5. Relationship behavior never finds justification for either abuse or exploitation.
      6. Relationship behavior focuses on the unending Christian commitment to goodness, kindness, and the best interest of the spouse–not merely the declared rules of the marriage.
      7. Relationship behavior does not create a definition of subjection that serves the husband’s purposes and exploits the wife.
2. Example two: how sexually active should unmarried teens be?
   1. Most of us react to that question in shock–“What a ridiculous question! If they are not married they absolutely should not be sexually active.”
      1. Then we would cite numerous scriptures condemning sexual sin.
         1. Exodus 20:14–“You shall not commit adultery.”
         2. 1 Corinthians 6:13–“The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord.”
         3. Galatians 5:19-21–Those who practice sexual immorality will not inherit God’s kingdom.
         4. Colossians 3:5–Consider your body to be dead to immorality.
      2. Fornication and adultery are strictly prohibited.
   2. Consider legalistic behavior of many of our teens, our college students, and our young adult singles:
      1. For several years, many in these age groups have biblically justified being sexually active.
         1. The only way I can discuss this is by being straightforward.
         2. I am not trying to offend anyone by being plain.
         3. But this is the actual reasoning many teens and young adults in the church use.
      2. # 1: There is no sexual sin unless there is actual intercourse–if literal intercourse does not occur, there is no sin.
         1. Anything short of that is not sin.
         2. Anything other than that is not sin.
      3. # 2: Adultery is the primary sexual sin that the Bible condemns.
         1. Adultery is having sexual intercourse with a married person who is not married to you.
         2. While it is sinful to have intercourse with a person married to someone else, it is not sinful to have intercourse with an unmarried person.
      4. # 3: If you are a virgin, it is a sin to have intercourse.
         1. But if you have already lost your virginity, there is no sin in continuing to be sexually active.
         2. Once I am forgiven of the sin of destroying my virginity, I am free to be sexually active.
         3. The sin is in losing my virginity, not in being sexually active.
      5. These conclusions are regarded to be in perfect keeping with the laws of the New Testament.
         1. It is regarded to be in technical compliance with New Testament teachings.
         2. As long as there is technical compliance, there is no sin.
   3. Consider relationship behavior:
      1. God created our sexual natures and desires to be used as the highest expression of commitment in the responsible love of companionship.
      2. Sexual activity without commitment and responsibility easily becomes:
         1. Sexual addiction.
         2. Sexual idolatry.
      3. By its very selfish nature it involves:
         1. Using and exploiting other people for my own selfish pleasure.
         2. Selfishly abusing my own sexual nature to the extent that I can destroy my ability to make a serious commitment in marriage.
         3. Abusing my relationship with Jesus Christ.
      4. Outside the responsible commitment of marriage, sexual activity is an act of passion, not an expression of love.
         1. Its primary goal is personal gratification.
         2. It commonly is pleasure without responsibility or commitment.
         3. It is spiritually destructive to self and an abuse to Jesus Christ.
      5. Read with me Ephesians 5:1-14.
         Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
      6. Loving Christ and understanding the purposes of God in Christ and in us is the greatest single reason for refusing all forms of sexually immoral conduct.
      7. Relationship with Christ will never lead me to participate in or justify sexual immorality in any form.

So you ask me, “David, are you really serious? Are there really Christian husbands that abuse their wives and biblical justify it by saying that they are the head and the wife must to be in subjection? Are there really Christian teens who justify their sexual activity biblically?” I am really serious. And you don’t have to go to Nashville or Dallas to discover those situations. They are found throughout our brotherhood.

“Where in the world did Christians learn to reason that way?” They did not have to learn it; they just had to apply it. They listened to the way that we legalistically have proven right and wrong in the church for decades. They have listened and watched as we used proof texts and reasoning in the very same way to prove our case in whatever matter that concerned us. All they did is take the common approach used in the typical church and apply that approach to marriage or to being sexually active outside of marriage.

Though we have not intended to, and though we have rarely realized it, for too many years we have taught that it was more important to keep the laws than it was to live the Christian life. We have even convinced people that being a Christian has little to do with how you live; it has everything to do with what laws you keep. So for almost a decade we have created a generation of our own children who have learned from us how to use the Bible to justify whatever they want to justify. It is just a matter of definition and reasoning.

And that is the difference between the old and the new. And that is the difference in legalistic behavior and relationship behavior. And that is the difference it produces when you look at Jesus and his teachings as law instead of understanding the relationship behavior that God revealed through Jesus.

We want the old to end and the new to begin.