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?

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.

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.

Does Knowledge Help You or Hurt You?

Posted by David on under Sermons

Since the end of World War II, America has increasingly grown into an education oriented society. The basic objective of education was dedicated to acquiring knowlege. For many decades, as a society, we have been convinced that proper, accurate knowledge is the most important factor in resolving problems.

We are told that the key to stopping our national epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases is knowledge. We are told that the key to reducing our national epidemic of teen pregancy is knowledge. We are told that the key to reducing our crime rate is knowledge. We are told that the key to healing the alienation between ethnic groups who dispise each other is knowledge.

It is probable that today’s living generations in America collectively have more education than in any previous time period in this nation’s history. As a society, in this age of technology, today’s living generations have been exposed to more information than in any other period of American history.

Yet, even with superior preventive methods and superior medicines, a higher percentage of Americans have been infected with sexually transmitted diseases than ever before. Of all the industrial nations on earth, we have the number one teenage pregnancy rate. In Arkansas alone, our prison population increases by three persons every day. Ethnic tensions have assumed sophisticated expressions previously unknow in our society. The divorce rate among first marriages is fifty percent, and the highest percentage ever of our children will spend at least a portion of their childhood in a one parent home.

Knowledge without understanding does not solve problems. Knowledge without moral responsibility does not solve problems. Knowledge without sound values does not solve problems. Knowledge without relationship skills does not solve problems.

1. As Christians, as the church, we believed that the solution for all spiritual problems is Bible knowledge.
   1. “If people just have enough knowledge of the Bible, every problem that concerns us will disappear.”
      1. “Bible knowledge will bring an end to sexual activity among teens.”
      2. “Bible knowledge will bring divorce to a halt.”
      3. “Bible knowledge will end criminal activity.”
      4. “Bible knowledge will eliminate racially based problems.”
      5. “When people learn enough Bible, problems will come to an end.”
   2. In spite of the reality of our own experiences as individuals and as a church, we typically accept this unquestioned assumption as truth.
      1. Collectively, there is a lot of Bible knowledge in this room.
      2. Has your knowledge solved your problems? Has your knowledge eliminated problems within your immediate family?
      3. Has our collective knowledge as a congregation solved all our problems?
      4. “Well, Christians just don’t know as much Bible as they used to know. If they did, we wouldn’t have any problems in the church.”
      5. Have you ever lived when there were no problems? When the church had no problems? I have preached for four decades, and I have never seen that time. The problems were different, but they were just as real.
2. Knowledge of itself is just knowledge; the way knowledge is used makes it constructive or destructive.
   1. In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul emphasized that true, correct knowledge can destroy God’s purposes.
      1. Within the Corinthian congregation were many members who worshipped idols before they were converted.
      2. Some in the congregation had the correct, absolutely true knowledge that idols were not gods and did not represent any god. That was the truth.
      3. Those that had this true, correct knowledge reasoned in this way:
         1. “We know that idols are spiritually nothing and spiritually represent nothing.”
         2. “We know that there is only one God.”
         3. “Only because of ignorance do people worship these ‘so-called’ gods.”
         4. “The one and only God created everything, sustains the world, and allows us to exist in Him.”
         5. Every bit of that is correct knowledge.
      4. But these knowledgeable Christians were using their correct knowledge in a way that destroyed other Christians. How?
         1. They used their correct knowledge to draw these conclusions.
         2. “Food is food–even food sacrificed to an idol is still just food.”
         3. “When we eat food that has been sacrificed to an idol, we are just eating food.”
         4. “Eating that food is an act of worship to the person who believes the idol is a god, but because of our knowledge, it is not an act of worship for us.”
         5. “It is not an act of worship for us because we know that god does not even exist.”
   2. But there were Christians in that congregation who truly believed that the idol gods did exist, that they were alive.
      1. When an unlearned Christian saw a knowledgeable Christian eating food that had been sacrificed to an idol, he or she believed that Christian was worshipping the idol.
      2. So the unlearned Christian drew one of two conclusions:
         1. Either this Christian was honoring the idol to the dishonor of Christ,
         2. Or this Christian was affirming that it was perfectly okay to worship both the idol and Christ.
         3. Either way, the unlearned Christian, with limited knowledge, was offended and left Christianity to return to idolatrous practices.
      3. Paul said that when a knowledgeable Christian used his correct knowledge to ruin a weak Christian, the knowledgeable Christian sinned again Christ.
         1. Christ died for the unlearned Christian.
         2. The knowledgeable Christian had no right to use his knowledge to destroy God’s purposes in the unlearned Christian.
3. For decades, one of our unquestioned assumptions is the direct correlation between Bible knowledge and godliness.
   1. I want you to examine that assumption.
      1. I do believe that there is a direct correlation between understanding God and Jesus Christ and godly living.
      2. But I question the correlation between Bible knowledge and godly living.
      3. I have known preachers who had a lot of Bible knowledge, but who had adulterous affairs and visited prostitutes.
      4. I have known elders who had a lot of Bible knowledge, but who were not trustworthy.
      5. I have known Bible class teachers who knew a lot about the Bible, but who had earned reputations for being manipulators who used people.
      6. I have known Christians who were very knowledgeable in the Bible, but used their knowledge to justify abusing their wives or their children.
   2. Which would you prefer?
      1. A teenager:
         1. Who can name the books of the Bible, name the apostles, list the beatitudes, and give 100 proof texts from memory, or
         2. Who understands what it means to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and has such a living relationship with Christ that he or she cannot yield to sexual temptation without struggling with his or her love for God?
      2. An adult Christian:
         1. Who can explain the technical basis for the contribution on Sundays complete with a logical explanation of what percentage of your income you should give, or
         2. Who understands the meaning of being God’s steward and looks at his or her total existence as a gift from God?
      3. An adult Christian:
         1. Who can explain in detail the biblical teaching on baptism, or
         2. Who understands in his or her own life what it means to be born again and to be a new creature who has been recreated in Christ Jesus?
      4. An adult Christian:
         1. Who can take the Bible and, in detail, share his or her knowledgeable judgment on the latest issue that is consuming our brotherhood, or
         2. Who understands from the heart and the mind that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners?
4. Because I love God, because I love Christ, because I love the church, because I love my brothers and sisters in Christ, because I love people who are still enslaved to evil:
   1. I would choose:
      1. The teenager who understands what it means to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and has a living relationship with Christ.
      2. The adult Christian who understands what it means to be God’s steward and looks at everything in his or her life as a gift from God.
      3. The adult Christian who understands what it means to be born again, who understands what it means to be recreated through the forgiveness and blood of Jesus.
      4. The adult Christian who understands from the heart and the mind that Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners.
   2. Why?
      1. Because the teenager who understands what it means to love God and has a living relationship with Christ will survive sexual temptation–he or she will even survive sexual sin through repentance; but the teenager who has only knowledge will not only yield to temptation, but will also justify his or her sexual activity.
      2. Because the Christian who understands the meaning of stewardship will use his or her whole life in God’s work and purposes; while the Christian who has knowledge will drop some money in the collection plate and believe that he or she has done 100% of his or her duty.
      3. Because the Christian who understands what it means to be born again and to be recreated in Christ Jesus will, by his or her life, attract people who want to understand how to be a Christian; but the Christian who has correct knowledge will use knowledge to turn people off and close their minds.
      4. Because the Christian who understands from the heart that Jesus Christ came to this world to save sinners will use Jesus’ mercy and compassion to reach out to people who do not have Christ; but the Christian who knowledgeably discusses the issues does not have time to help people find hope and forgiveness in Christ.

Do you know what I really look forward to? I really look forward to being in heaven with you. God’s greatest miracle will be performed when you and I reach heaven. That miracle will be bigger than the miracle of creation. It will be bigger than the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection. “What is that miracle?” All of God’s people will be together. And everyone of us will love each other. And every difference that we experienced on earth will vanish. There will be no tension or awkwardness. Everyone of us will truly like each other. No one will feel awkward or be embarrassed. Every influence of evil will be removed from every mind and heart. Every single flaw of every single one of us will vanish.

Every saved person from Adam and Eve on will be there. People from every age of the earth, from every culture. Joyce’s and my African friends will be there; Jim and Deborah Wilson’s Ethiopian friends will be there; Michael and Jeannie Cole’s friends from Guyana will be there; Jerry and Meg Canfield’s friends from Laos will be there; Roy and Joyce Dunavin’s friends from New Zealand will be there. Chinese Christians, European Christians, Australian Christians, Christians from India–Christians from everywhere will be there.

There will be no language barriers and no cultural differences. For the very first time we will love each other like God loves us. We will love being together. We all will fall on our faces and thank God that He was so patient and forgiving of us when on earth we were so concerned about our differences. And in our heavenly love for each other, for Christ, and for God will be seen God’s greatest miracle.

Human beings have so many problems. We will get to Heaven and not have these problems. There are some people who don’t like me. There are some people that are hard for me to like. Becoming a Christian is letting God change you. The more He changes you, the more people there are that you like.
We are here because we love Jesus Christ. God wants to change you. It is because we love Jesus that we learn to love each other more. You can become one of the best friends of a Christian or a sinner.
Jesus wants you so much He was willing to die for you. Are you His? Will you be baptized into Christ?

Jesus Emphasized the New

Posted by David on July 20, 1997 under Sermons

One of the eternal struggles in human existence is created by the ever present reality of established thinking clashing with new thinking. In every age, established thought patterns exist and new thought patterns emerge. In every age, people struggle because when established thinking tries to grasp new thinking.

Why the struggle? New thought patterns require you to learn how to think in new ways. It is not just a matter of learning new knowledge. It is a matter of learning how to think as you have never thought before. Experienced adults think easily, naturally, and comfortable in old, established ways of thinking. Experienced adults do not grasp new ways of thinking easily.

When you are young, you are establishing your thought patterns. New ways of thinking do not disturb you because all thought patterns are new to you. After your thought patterns are firmly established, new ways of thinking drive you nuts. New thought patterns frustrate you–maybe even anger you–because your established way of thinking does not easily understand the new thought patterns.

Let me give you an illustration. I cannot think in the language of the computer world. I mean that literally–my thought process does not grasp computer language. To me, the computer world has no language. My “old” thought process just does not grasp the concepts of computer language. Even if I learn the words and the phrases, I still do not understand the concepts. Some very capable, kind, considerate teachers have tried to help me learn the concepts. But I have a basic problem: my thought process is very different to their thought process. All their patience cannot change my thought process.

The only way that I use the computer is to memorize what to do. For over ten years I used a computer software package called Word Perfect. I wrote at least five books using Work Perfect. I wrote my sermons every week on Word Perfect. I did all my correspondence on Word Perfect. Since I have been in Fort Smith, which is less than a year, I have used a software package called Ami Pro. This week I realized I don’t remember how to use Word Perfect. Why? Because the new thought patterns that utilize computers and my old thought process are not compatible.

There is an area in which old thought patterns clash with new thought patterns more violently than in the area of computer language. It is harder for old religious thought patterns to learn to think about spiritual truths that are new to the person’s thinking. In spiritual matters, when established thinking tries to understand spiritual truths that require new thinking, it commonly produces an emotional, hostile reaction. Being asked to think about spiritual truths that we have never known disturbs us.

1. That reality created enormous problems for Jesus, the teacher.
   1. Jesus understood spiritual truths that were new to the religious world.
      1. Jesus’ thought patterns focused on these spiritual truths that were new to the Jewish world.
      2. Jesus constantly exposed others to new thinking.
      3. Jesus declared that people must not only accept this new thinking, but they also must place their full trust in this new thought process.
      4. One of the reasons that Jesus created so much hostility and opposition among the religious leaders was found in the fact that Jesus teachings required new ways to think and they could only think in old ways.
         1. It was far more than a clash of perspectives.
         2. It was far more than a clash of “correct knowledge.”
         3. It was fundamentally a clash of thought patterns.
      5. Jesus powerfully emphasized a new way to think.
         1. In the parable of the wineskins, he said that if you put new wine in an old wineskin, you would destroy the container and lose the wine. (Matthew 9:17).
            1. He was saying that you cannot put my new thinking in the containers of your old religious thoughts.
         2. In the parable of the torn garment, he said that if you patched it with new material, you would make the tear even worse when the new cloth shrunk.
            1. He was saying that you cannot patch your old thinking with my new thoughts.
         3. He said that a scribe who became a disciple was like a daddy who could give his family both old and new things out of his treasures (Matthew 13:52).
         4. When the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of breaking the Sabbath, Jesus said they needed to understand Hosea 6:6 meant, “I desire mercy (or compassion), and not a sacrifice” (Matthew 12:7).
            1. They needed to hear the message of the new in the prophets of old.
            2. Even the old revealed the truth of the new.
         5. Jesus told the Pharisees and the Sadducees that they could look at the sky at sunset and predict tomorrow’s weather (Matthew 16:3-4).
            1. Yet, they were blind to the signs of the new shouting at them in all that Jesus did.
            2. Their old thought patterns could not even see signs of the new in Jesus’ power.
         6. To me, the most powerful images and figures of the old way of thinking and the new way of thinking are seen in the parable of the prodigal son.
            1. The prodigal son who repented and returned to a loving father reveals the new thinking–it presents the loving God of forgiveness.
            2. The insulted older brother revealed the old thinking–the son who failed should forever be rejected for the horrible things he had done.
   2. Consider this question: what is primary in doing the will of God?
      1. If you asked the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the rabbis, or any Jewish official, “What is primary in doing the will of God?” you would get a very specific answer.
         1. They would say, “These things are primary in doing the will of God:”
            1. “Go to the temple exactly as is required by the law.”
            2. “Offer your sacrifices at the temple just exactly as the law declared.”
            3. “Attend the synagogue every week.”
            4. “Respect and keep the holy days.”
            5. “Pray every day at the hours of prayer.”
            6. “Ritually wash your hands before you eat.”
            7. “Eat only the foods that the law permits.”
            8. “Pass judgment on all violators, for they are God’s enemies.”
            9. “Condemn all sinners, for they will corrupt the people of God.”
      2. If you asked Jesus, “What is primary in doing the will of God?” you would get quite a different answer.
         1. In fact, Jesus answered that question in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. He said these things were primary:
         2. 5:7–Be merciful so you can receive mercy.
            1. 5:16–Let your light shine by doing good works–that brings God glory.
            2. 5:23–Go reconcile with your adversaries before you go worship.
            3. 5:29–Do not allow your body’s desires to destroy you as a person.
            4. 5:37–Be absolutely trustworthy in what you say.
            5. 5:39–Be kind to those who mistreat you.
            6. 5:44–In prayerful kindness, seek the highest good of your enemies and those who hurt you.
            7. That is the will of your Father in heaven.
            8. 6:1–Never do religious acts to gain the attention or win the praise of other people.
            9. 6:12–Ask for God’s forgiveness because you forgive other people.
            10. 6:19,20–Live your everyday life for eternal realities, not for material wealth.
            11. 6:31-33–Place your confidence in God and refuse to be ruled by anxiety.
            12. That is the will of your Father in heaven.
            13. 7:1-5–Don’t judge, and don’t try to be the expert who has the answer for everyone else’s problems.
            14. 7:7–Actively take the initiative in seeking God’s help.
            15. 7:12–Treat other people just exactly as you want to be treated.
            16. 7:13,14–As you live your life, look for God’s way, not the easy way.
            17. 7:15-23–Let the teachers who live it influence you, not the teachers who just tell it.
            18. That is the will of your Father in heaven.
            19. 7:21–It is not the people who call me Lord who will live with God; it is the people who do God’s will that shall live with Him in heaven.
2. When you and I have a real “down to it” discussion about doing the will of God, will our conclusion be like that of the Jewish leaders or like Jesus’?
   1. What are the things that we are most likely to classify as being primary in doing the will of God?
      1. Baptism
      2. Name
      3. Church attendance
      4. Instrumental music in worship
      5. Positions concerning the Lord’s supper
      6. The role of women in the church
      7. The use of the Lord’s money
      8. Judging those who violate the commandments–because they are God’s enemies.
      9. Condemning sinners–because they will corrupt Christians.
   2. And we can do all those things and still not:
      1. Be merciful.
      2. Do good works.
      3. Reconcile before we worship.
      4. Refuse to let our greed to destroy us.
      5. Be trustworthy in everything we say.
      6. Be kind to those who mistreat us.
      7. In kindness seek our enemy’s highest good.
      8. Live for eternal realities instead of material wealth.
      9. Trust God and refuse to be anxious.
      10. Refuse to judge.
      11. Take initiative to seek God’s help.
      12. Treat others as we want to be treated.
      13. Look for God’s way instead of the easy way.
      14. Let only the teachers who live it influence us.
   3. Jesus perfectly revealed the will of God in his life, his teachings, and his death–only Jesus has perfectly done the will of God in his life.
      1. Never did he stress as primary:
         1. The temple.
         2. The synagogue.
         3. The sacrifices.
         4. The holy days.
      2. Did Jesus attack those? No!
         1. He went to the temple.
         2. He attended the synagogue.
         3. It is my opinion that he offered correct sacrifices.
         4. On the night of his arrest he observed the Passover.
      3. He neither attacked them or rejected them
         1. But he never classified them as primary.
         2. As he revealed the new, they never had a primary place in the new.
3. I want you to see how distinctly different the thought patterns were when you contrast the old and the new. Jesus did not think like the religious leaders thought.
   1. Look at and listen to the distinctively different way each thought about the will of God.
      1. Jesus said the merciful shall receive mercy.
      2. They said condemn the law violators.
      3. Jesus said your good works let your light shine.
      4. They said your temple activities let your light shine.
      5. Jesus said do not let bodily desires destroy you as a person.
      6. They said control your acts.
      7. Jesus said be trustworthy in all that you say.
      8. They said deception is acceptable if you technically do it the right way.
      9. Jesus said be kind to those who mistreat you.
      10. They said take those who mistreat you to court.
      11. Jesus said seek the highest good of your enemies.
      12. They said hate your enemies.
      13. Jesus said don’t do righteous acts to get the praise of other people.
      14. They said one of the purposes of righteous acts was to win the praise of others.
      15. Jesus said to live for eternal realities.
      16. They said being righteous should produce material wealth.
      17. Jesus said don’t judge and don’t appoint yourselves problem solver for all.
      18. They said judge the wrong doer, and correct those with problems.
      19. Jesus said take the initiative in seeking God’s help.
      20. They said you have to take care of God’s affairs for Him.
      21. Jesus said treat others as you want to be treated.
      22. They said treat others as they deserve to be treated.
      23. Jesus said look for God’s way, not the easy way.
      24. They said God’s way is always easy to see.
      25. Jesus said a teacher’s influence should be based on the way he lives.
      26. They said a teachers influence should be based on what he knows.

Can you see the difference in the way Jesus thought and the way those religious leaders thought? Some people really had trouble thinking like Jesus thought. Nicodemus, the 12, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the rich young ruler did. Some people quickly learned how to think like Jesus did. The Samaritan woman, the sexually sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, Mary Magdalene who had seven demons, and Zacchaeus understood his thinking quickly.

Do you think like Jesus thought?

Mom and Pop Stores in a Wal-Mart World

Posted by David on under Sermons

Several years ago I preached a series of lessons in a small town in northern Arkansas. A Wal-Mart store at the edge of town had been open for about five years. Within the time that Wal-Mart had been in business, most of the stores on Main Street had closed. Not more than three or four stores on Main Street were open.

Typically, most Mom and Pop stores cannot survive “head to head” competition with Wal-Mart. There are a few that can. Those that can fall into one of two categories. Either they sell a needed product that Wal-Mart does not sell, or they offer a personal service that Wal-Mart cannot provide.

Why? Why is it so difficult for Mom and Pop stores to go “head to head” with Wal-Mart and survive? That question has many answers. “Wal-Mart has superiority in size, superiority in cash flow, superiority in buying power, superiority in pricing, superiority in advertising, and superiority in exchange policies.” And all of those are real factors. But they are not the basic reasons. Wal-Mart has correctly “read” our society in two essential matters. They have correctly targeted America’s obsession with time. And they have correctly targeted America’s insatiable appetite for choice and variety.

Wal-Mart has made one-stop-shopping a “science.” I can make one trip to one parking lot and one store. There I can buy anything from car batteries to bagels, from dish drains to dresses, from water hoses to wrenches, from plungers to pillows, from film processing to phenergan. Wal-Mart’s basic objective is to save the shopper time and give the shopper variety at competitive prices.

Whether you love Wal-Mart or hate it, you have to admit that Wal-Mart understands the reality of today–just drive by their parking lot and count the cars.

1. Jesus understood the reality of people’s lives, and he changed people’s lives–profoundly!
   1. In a country much smaller than the state of Arkansas, Jesus changed lives in ways that were to change the world.
      1. Without the printing press, newspapers, books, brochures, or literature, Jesus profoundly changed lives.
      2. Without television, radio, or advertising, Jesus profoundly changed lives.
      3. Without church buildings, educational centers, schools, or colleges, Jesus profoundly changed lives.
   2. I do not mean that he changed habits; I mean that he changed lives.
      1. He understood the reality of evil in human life.
      2. He understood human need and suffering.
      3. He understood how evil worked in minds and hearts to create suffering.
      4. With his understanding, he changed the lives of everyone who allowed him to touch their minds and hearts.
   3. You can see Jesus’ power to change lives clearly by looking at the twelve men who followed him every day.
      1. I thank God that I do not have to work as one of those twelve men.
      2. Most of them, if not all of them, came from Galilee, a region more known for manual labor, not religious knowledge and education.
      3. For a man who planned to teach and preach, these 12 men were a very unsuitable group of followers–they just did not seem to be the people Jesus needed to do the job.
      4. And their personalities clashed.
         1. James and John once wanted to burn a Samaritan village to the ground because the Samaritans snubbed Jesus (Luke 9:51-56).
         2. Peter dared rebuke Jesus when Jesus started talking about dying (Matthew 16:21-28).
         3. James and John asked to be given the two most prestigious positions in Jesus’ kingdom, and the other ten were extremely angry because James and John dared ask for what they wanted (Mark 10:35-45).
         4. All twelve argued among themselves about which one of them was the most important to Jesus’ (Luke 22:24-30).
         5. The last night of Jesus’ life all of them were too arrogant to wash the others’ feet (John 13:2-l7).
         6. That same night Peter cursed and swore as he insisted that he had never known Jesus (Matthew 26:73,74).
      5. Being a part of that group guaranteed stress, tension, and stomach acid.
   4. During the entire time of Jesus’ ministry, these men did not understand Jesus.
      1. They did not understand Jesus, the person, when he taught.
      2. They did not understand Jesus, the person, when he healed.
      3. They really did not understand him when he was arrested.
      4. They were totally confused about Jesus when he died.
      5. They were just as confused about Jesus when he was resurrected.
      6. They still did not understand him when he ascended back into heaven.
   5. The first time that they understood Jesus, and his mission, and his purpose, and what he accomplished was in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
      1. And, immediately, upon understanding Jesus, they were profoundly changed men.
      2. After they understood Jesus, they served unselfishly, sacrificially, and powerfully.
      3. Before they understood Jesus, they fled into the night when he was arrested.
      4. After they understood Jesus, they died for him.
2. To this very day, the same thing is true–when we understand Jesus, our lives profoundly change.
   1. You can be baptized and learn many religious truths, but you, yourself, change very little.
      1. You can change your habits, but your, yourself, change very little.
      2. You can control your behavior, but you, yourself, change very little.
      3. You can rearrange your priorities, but you, yourself change very little.
   2. However, when the moment comes that you know and understand Jesus, you will be changed as a person–and that change will be profound.
      1. Certainly, your habits, behavior, and priorities will change.
      2. But they will change because you have changed as a person.
   3. And when Jesus changes you, your understanding of the meaning of life changes, your understanding of the meaning of service changes, and your understanding of worship changes.
3. Last Sunday, 517 people (476 were members) were kind enough to fill out demographic surveys to help the leadership better understand the composition of this congregation.
   1. This morning after worship you will receive a synopsis of the survey and the written comments that were made.
   2. I want to share just a very few things about the survey.
      1. But before I do, I want to express my appreciation for members that I have always held in high esteem and great admiration.
         1. I have great admiration and appreciation for mothers and fathers of young children who bring their children.
            1. It is a struggle!
            2. Joyce used to struggle with all three of ours when they were pre-school age, and, on the very few occasions that I was free to help her, the child care exhausted me more than preaching ever did.
            3. God bless you for caring enough to bring your children!
         2. I have great admiration and appreciation for those who work with our child care services during assemblies.
            1. That is a demanding task.
            2. They provide a great blessing to fathers and mothers as well as the congregation.
         3. I have great admiration and appreciation for members who have chronic health problems and still attend.
            1. It is very difficult to sit on a pew when you are physically suffering.
            2. I admire the faith that motivates you in your discomfort.
         4. I have great admiration and appreciation for those who have disabilities and attend.
            1. None of us can imagine just how demanding and difficult it is for these brothers and sisters to get ready and be here.
            2. I also admire your faith and your desire.
         5. We have no desire to make worship more difficult for any of you–our only desire is to increase the meaning of our worship and our spiritual effectiveness as we praise God.
      2. Let me share some brief information about the demographic survey.
         1. There were 476 teen/adult members who gave us information. The information that I share with you comes only from members.
         2. Just a little over 24% indicated that they were spiritually struggling or weak.
         3. While several people wrote suggestions or expressed personal preferences, only 9 people out of 476 wrote criticisms–that is .018%, far less than one percent.
         4. I hope that you take the information you will receive as you leave and look at it carefully.
      3. Regarding the statements of preference (and it was a statement of preference and not a vote) concerning increasing our time for worship by song:
         1. 58% preferred to meet earlier.
         2. 20% preferred to extend the time of assembly.
         3. 9% wrote on their sheets that they wanted no change in the time of assembly or the amount of time we spent in worship.
      4. There were 43 people who wrote that they preferred not to lengthen the assembly. Of those 43 people:
         1. 19 (44%) come only on Sunday morning, and several of them come only for morning worship.
         2. 17 (39.5%) come all four assemblies.
         3. Of those 17, at least 8 are above 60 years of age.
      5. There is one very simple thing we can do–it would be completely painless and would make an enormous difference in our time.
         1. I am not offering this as a request; I am only making an observation.
         2. On the average Sunday, this auditorium will hold almost three times the people in attendance, and we sit all over the auditorium.
         3. If, after Bible classes, everyone would move to the front and sit in the front and center, singing would improve, serving communion would take much less time, and our fellowship in worship would dramatically improve.

Someone asks, “Why are you trying to make us to do these things?” I learned a long, long time ago I cannot make anyone do anything. When church leaders try to herd a congregation, we are not doing what God asked us to do. God did not ask us to function as cowboys; he asked us to function as shepherds.

With great respect, some told me last Sunday, “I hate name tags. But for you, I will wear one.” Please don’t wear one for me. I promise you that I will not pressure anyone to wear a name tag. If you wear one, wear it for the benefit of the congregation because you love the Lord and love the other members.

We live in a Wal-Mart world–that is reality. Mom and Pop congregations will struggle in a Wal-Mart world. Are you going to allow a Wal-Mart world to determine what you do religiously? Or, will you understand Jesus and let him change you as a person?

To those of you above 60 who want to go back to the “good old days” in the church just like it was in the 1950s: I remember those days well. Bible class lasted at least an hour. And the preacher preached at least an hour. And you took care of your young children on wooden pews. And you didn’t have a nursery. And you didn’t have a water fountain. And you didn’t have air conditioning. And the congregation probably didn’t have indoor plumbing. And you rarely got home before one o’clock. Has the Wal-Mart world changed you more than you realized?

I want Jesus to change you and me as persons. That will happen when we truly understand Jesus. When that happens, we will worship God from our hearts as never before.

Has it happened in your heart and in your life?
Do you understand Jesus?
He came to change you. He paid for the opportunity to change you with His own blood. Has your life profoundly changed because of Jesus?

Have you let Him change you?

Looking Past the Old to See the New

Posted by David on July 13, 1997 under Sermons

As Christians, many in Churches of Christ have an unusual way of determining and interpreting the basic nature of Christianity. We declare that we are not under the law of Moses (the law that was the foundation of Judaism in both the Old and New Testaments). Yet, we use the format and approach of Old Testament law to dictate the function of Christianity and to declare what Christians are required to do. Our reasoning commonly following this line of thinking: God is the God who gave and relied on law in Old Testament Judaism. Since He is the same God, we should interpret Christianity on the basis of law.

An objective, unprejudiced person who is not familiar with Churches of Christ could conclude that Christianity is just a reformed, improved version of Judaism. God did not accomplish what He first intended to do through the Law of Moses, so He perfected His efforts in Christianity. Therefore, Christianity is the revision of the Law of Moses. It is the law of Moses perfected.

When a Christian holds that view, I am convinced that one of three things is true. Either his knowledge and understanding of the law of Moses is limited. Or, his knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ is limited. Or, he has a limited knowledge and understanding of both.

It is very easy to know a lot about our religion but actually understand very little about Jesus Christ. We can know a lot about what we have always been told in the church, but know little about what Jesus actually taught.

It is easy to assume that the Old Testament law and Judaism are very similar to New Testament Christianity. It is easy to assume that the divinely revealed religion of the Old Testament is very similar to the divinely revealed religion of the New Testament.

There certainly are similarities. This evening I want us to see beyond the similarities.

1. Consider some basic comparisons between Judaism and Christianity.
   1. Similarity: Both originated from the same Creator God. But:
      1. Old Testament Judaism was founded on a law code that God gave to the nation of Israel (Exodus 19:3-6; 20:1-17; the book of Deuteronomy)
      2. New Testament Christianity is founded on a Savior that God gave the world (John 3:16-18).
   2. Similarity: They both commemorate the fact that God delivered and freed them. But:
      1. In Israel, once a year the Passover sacrifice and meal commemorated the fact that God released them from physical slavery and gave them freedom as a nation (Exodus 12:1-20; 12:43-51; 13:1-16).
      2. In Christianity, the weekly observance of communion commemorates the fact that God released the Christian from the slavery of evil and gave him freedom from the eternal consequences of spiritual and moral failure (Matthew 26:26-29; Ephesians 1:7).
   3. Similarity: They both worship the same God. But:
      1. In Israel, their primary act of worship was through sacrifice by slaughtering an animal (Leviticus 16).
         1. The animal’s blood provided a temporary solution, not a permanent solution.
         2. The effect of sacrificial worship was to confirm guilt.
      2. In Christianity, the primary act of worship is through praise or thanksgiving singing, praying, and remembering (John 4:23,24; Acts 2:46,47; 1 Corinthians 14:15-17; Hebrews 13:15).
         1. The Christian thanks God and praises God for using Jesus’ blood to permanently forgive him.
         2. The effect of Christian worship is to acknowledge and confirm sanctification through forgiveness.
   4. Similarity: Both address the problem of guilt. But:
      1. In the Old Testament, a legal system used justice to reveal guilt, to confirm guilt, and to impose the consequences of guilt (note the consequences of violating the law in Deuteronomy).
         1. The law provided instruction and guidance.
         2. The law liberated through obedience.
      2. In Christianity, the goodness of a Savior destroys guilt through unconditional forgiveness and liberates the Christian from eternal consequences (I Peter 2:21-24; Hebrews 9:26-28).
         1. A Savior provides instruction and guidance.
         2. The Savior liberates through forgiveness.
   5. Similarity: Both sought to provide forgiveness. But:
      1. In the Old Testament, forgiveness was temporary (Hebrews 10:1-4; Romans 3:24,25).
         1. It was based on an inadequate form of atonement.
         2. In many sacrifices, the sacrifice addressed one specific violation of law.
      2. In Christianity, the forgiveness is permanent.
         1. The forgiven sins with their guilt are destroyed and no longer are recalled by God (Hebrews 8:8,9,12).
         2. As long as the Christian remains in Christ, the forgiveness is continual (Romans 4:7,8; 1 John 1:7,9).
         3. It forgives both realized and unrealized sins (1 John 1:9).
   6. Similarity: Both are concerned with the holiness of the person. But:
      1. In the Old Testament, holiness is dependent on human achievement.
         1. It exists only if the person is completely obedient to the total law.
         2. Consequently, it is an unattainable goal.
      2. In Christianity, holiness is the gift of forgiveness (1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:20,21; 1 Thessalonians 5:23).
         1. A person is holy because he has been and is cleansed through forgiveness.
         2. It is his responsibility to preserve this gift of holiness (1 Peter 1:13-19).
         3. This incredible gift is cared for in a sense of sober responsibility.
   7. Similarity: Atonement is at the heart of Judaism and Christianity.
      1. In the Old Testament, an annual day of atonement was held on the same day of the same month of each year (Leviticus 16).
         1. There was a cleansing of the high priest, then a cleansing of the nation.
         2. The ritual was precise, specific, and included the slaughter of animals and a scapegoat that carried Israel’s sins into the wilderness.
      2. In Christianity, atonement occurred at the death of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:18,19; Colossians 1:13,14,19,20; Titus 2:14).
         1. His single death produced potential atonement for the world in all ages.
         2. Since the cross, atonement has been a perfect, established reality.
         3. Jesus was the “once for all” blood sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 10:12).
   8. Similarity: Both use a high priest who represents the people before God.
      1. In the Old Testament, the high priest was an imperfect human who had failed to perfectly keep the law (Hebrews 5:1-4).
         1. He functioned in an earthly tabernacle/temple using an earthly altar.
         2. Because of his human limitations and imperfections, he was an imperfect representor.
         3. His representation was limited to his human life span.
      2. In Christianity, the resurrected Jesus is every Christian’s high priest (Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:5-9; 8:1-2).
         1. He functions in God’s own sanctuary beside God Himself.
         2. As a human, he was without evil or mistake, but because of his human experience he is the perfect representor.
         3. His representation is unlimited and unending.
2. The contrast between Judaism in the Bible and Christianity in the New Testament go beyond areas of similarity.
   1. Consider:
      1. Old Testament Judaism was dependent on earthly rituals.
      2. New Testament Christianity is dependent on eternal, heavenly realities.
      3. Old Testament Judaism was a covenant extended to one nation.
      4. New Testament Christianity is a covenant extended to all nations.
      5. Old Testament Judaism limited the individual’s access to God by making the Israelites dependent on the priesthood.
      6. New Testament Christianity gives the individual direct access to God through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:19-22).
      7. Old Testament Judaism began as control through a legal system.
      8. New Testament Christianity began as a relationship with God through a Savior.
      9. Old Testament Judaism wanted to compel by love, but commonly controlled by fear.
      10. New Testament Christianity compels through a Savior’s love–even fear must be transformed to love (2 Corinthians 5:14,15; 1 John 4:18,19).
   2. Christians must never base their service to their Savior on the approach, perspective, and mentality of the Old Testament legal system.
      1. Though we obey, our faith is in our Savior, not laws, not in human achievement.
      2. Though we hold God in awe, we do not serve Him in terror.
      3. Though we submit our bodies to God’s control, our hearts and spirits rise to the heights of freedom in love.
      4. Though we worship God, we never reduce worship to habitual ritual–worship must always express the spirit and the heart, not merely comply with instruction.
      5. Though we seek to do God’s will, our spiritual confidence is based on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus; our confidence is not based on “doing the right thing the right way.”

Until we understand that God’s accomplishments and provisions for us in Christ are distinctly different to what God did for Israel through law, we will never become what God wants us to be.

Israel never had the opportunity to have what every Christian has in Jesus Christ. The most devout Israelite would swap places spiritually with any Christian in a heart beat. Not even greats like Moses, David, and Elijah have what you have in Christ. Listen to 1 Peter 1:10-12:

As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven–things into which angels long to look.

It is not a superior or improved law that would make them want to swap places. They would swap places with us because the relationship we have with God did not even exist for them.

What Is Softer Than a Silk Thread But Stronger Than a Steel Cable?

Posted by David on under Sermons

Question: How many people do you know that you would actually die for?
Answer: How many people do you love with all your heart?

I often read of someone who died attempting to save someone else. Intellectually I ask, “Why did he do that? That situation obviously offered virtually no chance of rescue.” But in my heart, I know why. That happens for two reasons. The first reason: the person did not think about risking his life. In the moment of crisis, he did not think about dying; he thought only of saving. In that moment, he was certain that he could do it. The second reason: the person knows that he is risking his life, but he loves so much that he has to try. And, because he loves, he dies.

You might say that you would never die for someone else. But you might surprise yourself. If the person you love the most is dying, you likely would take any possible action to save him or her–even if that action meant risking your life. In fact, if you could save the person you love by dying yourself, you probably would.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). That is the love Jesus had for us. He knowingly, deliberately surrendered his life to death to save your life–and mine. The night before he died, Jesus made this statement: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34, 35).

If, tonight, your house caught on fire while you were asleep, and someone literally kept you from being burned to death, how grateful would you be? If this person died in the process of saving you, how grateful would you be? Would you find ways to express your gratitude?

1. Jesus, who died in the act of saving us, did so because he loved us.
   1. That is what it took to rescue you and me from evil.
      1. He knew it was the only way–there was no other way.
      2. So he did what had to be done–he laid down his life.
      3. When you surrender your life, you give it all.
   2. His request was simple.
      1. It is simple to understand, but it is not simple to do.
      2. Basically, he asked us to do two things: love him enough to belong to him, and love each other.
      3. That is the bottom line of all his requests.
2. Paul did his best to get the Christians in Rome to understand that request.
   1. These Christians were like Christians today–too often their differences got in the way of their love.
      1. In the book of Romans Paul powerfully explained that Jesus loved each of them in spite of their differences.
      2. Because Jesus Christ loved each of them, Paul said they must realize the importance of building a love bond between each other.
   2. Paul emphasized the reality of this love bond by using the words “one another.”
      1. 12:5–We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
      2. 12:10–Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.
      3. 12:16–Be of the same mind toward one another.
      4. 13:6–Owe no man anything except to love one another.
      5. 14:13–Therefore let us not judge one another any more, but rather determine this–not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.
      6. 14:19–Let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
      7. 15:5–Now, may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus.
      8. 15:7–Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ Jesus also accepted us to the glory of God.
      9. 15:14–Concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish one another.
      10. 16:16–Greet one another with a holy kiss.
3. How can we at West-Ark improve this “one another” bond, this basic evidence that we each love Jesus Christ?
   1. There are many things we need to do in many areas, but this morning the one area that I want you to consider is the area of our Sunday morning assemblies.
   2. First, we each need to help each other be better acquainted.
      1. I have heard several people say, “I have been a member at West-Ark for several years, and I don’t know 20 people.”
      2. May I ask a question: what do you mean when you say, “I don’t know 20 people?”
         1. Do you mean that you don’t recognize 20 people?
         2. “Oh, I probably recognize 100 people. I recognize their faces, but I don’t know their names.”
      3. How many people can you call by first and last name? 10? 20? 30?
      4. “Well, I can’t call many people by name because the congregation is so big.”
         1. That raises an interesting question: what is the relationship between the size of the congregation and the number of names you know?
         2. Can you learn 30 names more quickly in a congregation of 300 than in a congregation of 600?
         3. I have discovered that size does not prevent me from learning names.
         4. Size keeps us from trying to learn names if size intimidates us.
      5. “But when there are 600 people, you can’t know everybody.”
         1. When you worshipped with a congregation of 200, you know everybody?
         2. When I preached for a college congregation of 300, I did not know everybody and could not call everyone by name.
      6. Do you wonder how many people know your face but not your name?
      7. Wonder how many of those people wish they knew your name?
   3. We will do two things, soon, to assist all of us with names and getting acquainted.
      1. Our new directory will be out early this fall (and I can hardly wait).
         1. I think it will be our first pictorial directory that will allow updates as often as we need them.
      2. This week we ordered the equipment to make name tags for everyone.
         1. We can make them ourselves as often as we need to.
         2. Everyone will have one–it is yours.
         3. It will be laminated, it will attach easily to our clothing without harming our clothing, and it will be simple to use.
4. The second thing we can do is advance the quality of worship.
   1. I want you to look forward to being in worship–I want you to look forward to worship because you know you will be blessed, encouraged, and moved.
   2. I want our Sunday morning assembles to be one of the most uplifting, beneficial experiences of your entire week–I want worship to “make your week.”
   3. I want the impact of our whole worship assembly to encourage you so much that you literally do not want to be out of town.
      1. These are things I want you to say to yourself about worship.
      2. “When I am down, it picks me up.”
      3. “When I am happy, it makes me happier.”
      4. “When I have made a mistake, it moves me to repent.”
      5. “When I feel all ‘used up’ inside, it renews me.”
      6. “When I feel lonely, it reminds me that I am not alone.”
   4. When visitors are a part of our assembly, I want them to say to themselves, “These people know God, and they love God.”
      1. “I can hear it, I can see it, and I can feel it.”
      2. “I want to know God like these people know God.”
      3. “They don’t have a ‘doing church’ habit; these people really worship.”
5. This morning I am asking you for some demographic information; it will help all the leaders better understand the composition of the congregation–which will help us better address your spiritual needs.
   1. I am going to walk you through the form. It is really simple. All you need to do is make check marks. Do not sign the sheet.
      1. Check male or female, and then check
         ( ) visitor,
         ( ) a frequent attender, or
         ( ) a member.
      2. Check your age group.
      3. Then check the “I am” categories:
         1. I am a college student.
         2. I am a single
            ( ) out of college but unmarried,
            ( ) single as a result of divorce, or
            ( ) single as a result of the death of my spouse.
         3. I am married and this is
            ( ) my first marriage,
            ( ) remarried after divorce, or
            ( ) remarried after the death of my spouse.
         4. I have
            ( ) preschool children,
            ( ) preteen children,
            ( ) teenage children.
         5. Spiritually, I consider myself to be
            ( )struggling,
            ( ) weak,
            ( ) adequate,
            ( ) strong.
         6. On average, I attend these assemblies three times or more a week:
            ( ) Sunday am Bible classes,
            ( ) Sunday am worship,
            ( ) Sunday pm worship,
            ( ) Wednesday pm Bible classes.
   2. One thing we need to do and want to do is to have more time for singing in our Sunday morning worship assemblies–singing is a powerful.
      1. There simply is not enough time to sing more.
      2. We want to have time for worship in song by increasing the time of our morning worship assembly 15 minutes, and no more than 15 minutes.
      3. This time will be used for singing, not for announcements or preaching.
      4. Would you prefer to add the time at the beginning of our worship assembly and meet earlier? If so check:
         1. “I would prefer to add 15 minutes at the beginning of Sunday morning assemblies,” and check the time you prefer to begin–
            ( ) 9:00 for Bible study and 10:00 for worship, or
            ( ) 9:15 for Bible study and 10:15 for worship.
         2. Or, if you want the starting times to remain as they are and add the time to the end of the assemblies, check
            ( ) “I would prefer for Sunday morning assemblies to begin at the same time but extend the assembly by 15 minutes.”
      5. Just leave the forms in the pew, and the teenagers will pick them up after we have been dismissed.

Now let me have your full attention. I am dead serious about this congregation becoming a more powerful spiritual influence in Fort Smith. To do that, we must reach out to this community. If we touch a person, the first thing he or she is going to do is come worship with us. When he or she attends our worship, that should be a powerful moment. If he or she says, “The singing was bad; communion was strange; the sermon was interesting,” many will show no interest. If they say, “These people know God. I can hear it, I can see it, and I can feel it. I want to know God like these people know God. They don’t have a religious habit; they worship.” If these people say that, they will want to know and understand more.

When will visitors say that? When our worship picks you up when you are down, when it makes you happier when you are happy, when it moves you to repent when you have made a mistake, when it renews you when you feel “used up” inside, and when it reminds you that you are not alone.

That is what I want for you when we worship. I don’t want you to “come to church.” I want you to come worship God. I want all the worship, including the singing, to move you.

The way you worship, the face you wear, the joy in your heart, the way you live your life, etc., probably will do more to change someone’s destiny than anything I will say.

They will see it in you more than they will hear it from me.