Do You Like Surprises?

Posted by David on October 7, 2001 under Sermons

Do you like surprises? That is not a yes or no question for any of us. It depends on the surprise. Some surprises are wonderful. Some surprises are horrible. If a surprise brings a person joy and delight, he or she loves the surprise. If a surprise brings a person sadness and shock, he or she hates the surprise.

Surprises use the unexpected. If you expect it, it cannot be a surprise. “Surprise” is an important tactic in modern warfare. When your objective is to destroy an enemy in modern warfare, you value the “element of surprise.” So in modern warfare we use the “surprise attack.” What is the “element of surprise”? What is the “surprise attack”? It is the element of astonishing. It is to attack when the enemy is unaware of danger.

We have been blessed to live through years of peace and times of peace. In times of peace we do not need wartime words. So we gave some of those words peaceable meanings. We developed “pleasant surprises.” “Pleasant surprises” have the same objective of astonishing and catching unaware, but the result is wonderful, not destructive.

As an example, consider the “surprise birthday party.” That astounding, unexpected event is wonderful–unless it is your fiftieth birthday! The first surprise birthday party I attended after moving to Fort Smith was for Jack Lowry. Boy, did his friends put the word surprise in that party! It was really a surprise! The party occurred at midnight at the close of his birthday. A son called and told him he had car trouble. He sat up and came outside. The party began with a candle light vigil on his lawn. Oh, the joys of Jack’s surprise birthday party! Maybe surprise birthday parties and war do have something in common.

1. I want you to note something stated very obviously by Jesus.
   1. When talking about the judgment, Jesus deliberately combined the concept of surprise and the concept of eternal accountability.
      1. And your immediate response is, “Of course he did! We clearly understand that the judgment will be an occasion of huge surprise for a lot of people!”
      2. What do you mean by that statement?
         1. “Well, we will not be surprised because we know what to expect and are prepared.”
         2. “Many people think they know what to expect and think they are prepared.”
         3. “But they do not know and are not prepared, and they are in for a huge shock.”
         4. Consider some statements Jesus made about judgment that may challenge your conclusion.

   2. Likely Jesus’ most familiar statement about the judgment is found in Matthew 25:31-46 when he discussed the final gathering of the nations.
      1. Jesus talked about the scene at the judgment and declared there would be a great separation of peoples or nations.
      2. I call two obvious teachings to your attention.
         1. First, people did not know their sentence until the Lord declared it.
            1. Those on his right were welcomed to the inheritance God prepared for them from the moment the world began.
               1. He said they were receiving this inheritance because they were kind, helpful, and thoughtful to him in times of need.
               2. And they were surprised. And in their amazement they asked, “When did we do any of these things for you?”
               3. And he said, “When you did it to the least of my brothers, you did it for me.”
            2. In the same manner, those on the left were condemned and rejected because they ignored him in his need.
               1. And they were surprised. They said they never neglected him.
               2. But he said they neglected him when they neglected the least.
         2. Second, carefully note that everyone was surprised.
            1. Those receiving the inheritance were surprised.
            2. Those condemned were surprised.

   3. I call to your attention a second statement Jesus made about the judgment in Matthew 7:21-23.
      1. Jesus said when that day comes, he will not know all the people who call him Lord.
      2. In judgment, there will be people who say to him, “We did Jesus’ things in Jesus’ name.”
         1. “We belong to you! We can prove it!”
         2. “You prophesied; we prophesied.”
         3. “You cast out demons; we cast out demons.”
         4. “You did miracles; we did miracles.”
      3. “We not only did the things you did, but we also did those things by your authority.”
         1. “We did them in your name.”
         2. “We gave you credit.”
      4. Jesus will respond by saying, “I never have known you. Get away from me. Your lives were dedicated to lawlessness; they were not dedicated to me.”
      5. They expected acceptance; they received rejection; and they were surprised.

   4. I call to your attention a third statement Jesus made about the judgment in Matthew 12:38-42.
      1. Some significant Jewish religious leaders, the scribes and Pharisees, said, “Show us some evidence that what you are saying comes from God.”
         1. Jesus said, “Your desire for evidence comes from evil motives, not godly motives.”
         2. “You have evidence from events in scripture; I will not give you any more.”
         3. “The people of Nineveh, Assyria, will tell you in the judgment, ‘We repented, and Jonah did not care about us. Jesus cared about you.'”
         4. “The Queen of the South will tell you in judgment, ‘I traveled a long way to hear Solomon’s wisdom, and you had someone greater than Solomon to hear.'”
      2. When people hear these things in judgment, can you see the shock, the amazement, the surprise?

   5. I call your attention to a fourth statement Jesus made about the judgment in Luke 10:10-14.
      1. This statement was made in Jesus’ charge to seventy men he sent out in pairs to prepare cities and towns for his coming visits.
      2. He gave these men specific instructions about what to do if a town or city rejected them.
      3. Then Jesus made some amazing statements.
         1. He named some cities which were the symbols of evil, wicked places like Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon.
         2. To Jesus the Jewish communities of Chorizin and Bethsaida symbolized faithlessness (Matthew 11:20-22).
            1. He performed miracles in those cities in an effort to move them to repent.
            2. But they refused to repent.
         3. In the judgment the wicked cities will not receive as much harshness as cities that had great opportunity but no faith.
      4. Can you imagine their shock, their surprise?

2. We will not and cannot grasp the significance of Jesus’ judgment statements unless we understand Jesus’ audiences.
   1. Jesus spoke to Jewish people who considered themselves the upstanding people of God.
      1. Jesus seemed to have made the Matthew 25 statement about the judgment on the mount of Olives while teaching his disciples (Matthew 24:3).
      2. Jesus’ Matthew 7 statement is a part of the sermon on the mount spoken to a large crowd of disciples.
      3. Jesus’ Matthew 12 statement was made to questioning scribes and Pharisees.
      4. Jesus’ Luke 10 statement was made to seventy disciples as Jesus prepared to send them out in pairs.

   2. Jesus made his judgment statements about people who were certain they had the advantage in the judgment.
      1. They were God’s people.
      2. God had chosen them.
      3. They had scripture and the prophets.
      4. They knew the right way to worship God.
      5. According to them, they had the right credentials for the judgment.

   3. The parallel is frightening. Look at the way we think about ourselves.
      1. We are God’s people.
      2. We are the church that Christ built.
      3. We understand the intent and meaning of scripture.
      4. We understand the right way to worship God.
      5. According to us, we have the right credentials.

3. Regardless of what happens to each of us in judgment–good or bad–Jesus said we will be surprised.
   1. If we are among the saved, the reasons we are accepted will surprise us.
   2. If we are among the lost, the reasons we are rejected will surprise us.
   3. There may be those who shout at us, “If your opportunities had been our opportunities, we would not be among the rejected!”
   4. Perhaps the condemnation of some of us will be harsher than people we consider wicked.

4. Jesus stressed that both he and God place enormous importance on doing good in the way we treat other people.
   1. Our conditioned, gut response to that statement is: “No, no, no! God’s emphasis is on what you know, what you do in worship, on having the right theology. Being godly is not about doing good to people, but about being obedient to the commandments we declare to be important.”
      1. Think with me a moment.
      2. No one on earth has ever known as much about God as Jesus did.
      3. No one on earth has ever understood God as completely as Jesus did.
      4. No one on earth has ever grasped God’s will as perfectly as Jesus did.
      5. No one on earth has had exactly God’s correct balance in life as Jesus did.
      6. In any way, in any subject, in any consideration, the God-Jesus relationship was superior than any other God-human relationship.
      7. Jesus truly understood what God is about and what God wants.

   2. Stated in another way, as a human, Jesus reflected God perfectly.
      1. In his attitudes, he perfectly reflected God.
      2. In his spirit, he perfectly reflected God.
      3. In his priorities, he perfectly reflected God.
      4. In his values, he perfectly reflected God.
      5. In his focus and his deeds, he perfectly reflected God.

   3. When Peter discussed Jesus with Cornelius, Peter made this statement:
      Acts 10:38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

You have influence every day of your life in every relationship of your life. Jesus wants you to be light in a world of darkness and salt in a world that is decaying. Use your influence! Be like Jesus! Each day of your life, do good! Do good to your family! Do good to your neighbors! Do good to the people you go to school with! Do good to the people you work with! It is belonging to God through Jesus Christ to do good that will cause you to stand in judgment.

In judgment, it will surprise you when you realize how important doing good to “the least of these” is to God and Jesus Christ. Why? When you do good to “the least of people” you do good to Jesus. And God pays special attention to how you treat his son.

Nurturing Life, Not Barriers

Posted by David on September 30, 2001 under Sermons

In working with any group of people, the greatest challenge to achieving a common goal is generating cooperation. This is especially true in our American culture and society. These are our tendencies: (1) individually we tend to be extremely independent. (2) Individually we tend to be very self-centered. (3) Individually we tend to think of self importance. (3) Individually we tend to attribute bad motives to those who do not think “as I do.” (4) Individually we tend to be very competitive. (5) Individually we tend to have great confidence in our personal conclusions. (6) Individually we tend to want to determine the direction rather than following in a direction.

In my understanding of scripture, God establishes our goal as the church. In my understanding of scripture, that goal is to encourage every person toward the fullness of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Christians achieve spiritual maturity by traveling differing routes, differing development patterns, and differing learning patterns.

When Paul wrote his letter we call Romans to the Christian community in Rome, those Christians were extremely different. Part of them were converted from first century Judaism and part of them were converted from first century idolatry. Their differences were enormous. Their concepts of God were quite different. The way they saw life was quite different. Spiritual development occurred in their lives differently.

1. Read with me as I read Romans 12:3-8.
   For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
   1. Were I to sum up Paul’s message in this paragraph to Christians in Rome as they struggled with differences, I would do it in this way: “You are not in competition.”
      1. “Whatever ability or gift you have, use it for the benefit of the entire church.”
      2. “You are not in competition.”
      3. “Look at yourselves in the same way you look at a human body.”
      4. “You are not in competition.”
      5. “Well developed eyesight, a strong stomach, and powerful hands do not achieve strength in the same way.”
      6. “You are not in competition.”
      7. “No matter how different you are, it is okay.”
      8. “You are not in competition.”

   2. We urgently need Paul to teach us the same lesson.
      1. We are not in competition.
      2. The car clinic is not in completion with CURE, the Discovery Dinner is not in competition with His Needs/Her Needs, the Inner City Ministry is not in competition with Kids for Christ, the Quilters are not in competition with 60 plus, Wings is not in competition with the Vacation Bible School, local outreach is not in competition with foreign missions, and the Jail Ministry is not in competition with the children’s education program.
      3. We are not in competition.
      4. We function together as a body to help people move toward a mature, spiritual completeness in Christ.

2. The lives of many of you are sources of personal encouragement to me.
   1. This morning I want to mention one person to illustrate my point, and I surely do not want to do anything to embarrass him.
      1. John Lindgren powerfully encourages me.
      2. I sincerely doubt “big John” has any idea of how much he encourages me.

   2. Let me share just a little bit about John as a person.
      1. I met John about four years ago when he was deeply troubled.
         1. He genuinely wanted to be a Christian.
         2. But he thought his past made it impossible for him to be a Christian.
         3. When John understood that the purpose of God’s mercy and grace was to allow him to begin his life anew, John became a Christian.
      2. John grew up in an orphanage without parents.
         1. Because of that experience, he endured a lot of disadvantages.
         2. Initially, his Bible background would not allow him to have a good understanding of sermons or classes–he just did not understand.
         3. The fact that he could not understand caused John at lot of anxiety.
      3. So Buster Herren and John spent one-on-one time studying together every class period and on many Sunday nights.
         1. And John grew.
         2. And John became a serving, involved part of the body of Christ.
      4. And every time I see John, I am encouraged.
         1. And every time John walks up to me and says, “I have a question,” I am encouraged.
         2. And every time I watch John as he is involved, I am encouraged.

3. The road to maturing in Christ is not the same road for all of us.
   1. That is one of the reason we started the small group ministry.
      1. Not everyone learns by the same methods.
      2. Not everyone is encouraged by the same context.
      3. Not everyone is nurtured in the same forms.

   2. That is the reason that this ministry continues to function as LIFE groups.
      1. The “L” is for love; the “I” for involvement; the “F” for fellowship; and the “E” for evangelism.
      2. The objective of LIFE groups: to encourage people on their journey to the fullness of Christ.

   3. Deacons Blake Frost and Larry Roper want to share with you briefly a blessing and opportunity that LIFE groups provides them.

[This ends the prepared outline of David Chadwell.]

The Big Gift

Posted by David on September 23, 2001 under Sermons

In the past twelve days we have seen Americans responding to American needs with an outpouring of concern unseen in this country for decades. The images of firemen rushing up a burning, collapsing building as thousands flee that building astound us. The images of policemen securing a disaster area by placing their own lives in jeopardy are riveting. Nationwide long lines of people gave blood, and some donors had never given blood before. This summer our hospitals pled for blood, but very few gave. Those who exhaust themselves in recovery and rescue efforts have their physical needs addressed as people bring food, water, and anything else they think is needed. If any personal equipment is needed by the hundreds of people working at ground zero, Wal-Mart sends it if they can find it. In New York’s business community, competitors sacrifice to assist each other. A massive influx of people continue to go to New York to volunteer their help.

Everyone wants to do something. People do not just want to do something. They want to do something that makes a difference.

Therein lies a major issue. What makes a difference? How should you measure differences when they are made? What criteria determine if a difference is an important difference?

1. Think with me about an incident in Jesus’ ministry recorded in Matthew 9:1-8.
   1. This particular incident involved a man who was paralyzed.
      1. Remember that Jesus already caused enormous curiosity and incredible interest by performing miracles.
         1. Matthew 8 recorded Jesus healing a man with leprosy, healing the servant of a Roman centurion, destroying a fever in Peter’s mother-in-law, causing a storm to cease, and casting demons out of an uncontrollable man.
         2. This miracle in the beginning of Matthew 9 just followed in the flow of Matthew’s emphasis.
      2. Some friends or family members of the paralyzed man either heard or saw what Jesus could do.
         1. They were convinced that Jesus could make a difference.
         2. Jesus could end their friend’s [or family member’s] paralysis.
         3. Jesus arrived in Capernaum by boat.
         4. They brought the man to Jesus on a bed; his physical condition was bad.
         5. Jesus looked at the faith of the people who brought the man on a bed and said to the man, “Take courage, my son, your sins are forgiven.”

   2. Jesus’ statement would not have been heard as an insignificant statement.
      1. Remember, these were Jewish people in Galilee who knew and understood the beliefs and traditions of the Jewish people in Palestine.
      2. Remember first century Jewish people commonly regarded disease and serious health problems to be the result of acts of evil the sufferer committed.
         1. Often a serious health problem existed as proof of a serious sin.
         2. To tell a first century Jew with a serious health problem that his sins were forgiven quite significant.
         3. That statement made to a seriously sick person today would likely cause a lot of people to laugh, but not then.
         4. From the teachings given to Israel in what we call the Old Testament, they clearly understood that God used disease to punish evil Israelites.

   3. It is possible to focus on two reactions to Jesus’ statement.
      1. Matthew focused on scribes’ reaction.
         1. The scribes overheard Jesus’ statement and were appalled by what Jesus said.
         2. Among themselves they said, “This man blasphemes God.”
         3. In their view Jesus acted as if he were God by presuming to do what only God could do.
         4. Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he classified those thoughts as evil.
            1. Astounding!
            2. Here were men who served a very important religious role in Jewish society by, among other things, making copies of scripture.
            3. Scribes had an earned reputation for detailed knowledge of scripture.
            4. But Jesus said in this situation their perception of God caused them to think evil thoughts.
            5. I seriously doubt anyone but Jesus considered their thoughts evil.
            6. Most Jews considered the scribes’ thoughts to be godly in any situation, particularly a situation that involved knowledge of God.
         5. So Jesus revealed to them the evil of their mistaken perspective.
            1. He asked which was harder to do, to say the paralyzed man’s sins were forgiven, or to tell the paralyzed man to get up and walk?
            2. To document his authority to forgive sins, Jesus told the man to get up, pick up his bed, and go home.
            3. That is exactly what the man did.
            4. The large crowd who watched and listened were in awe of what happened and glorified God for giving such authority to people.

   4. For a moment I would like to focus your attention on the paralyzed man and the friends or family members who brought him.
      1. Matthew did not record their reaction to Jesus’ statement, “Take courage, my son, your sins are forgiven.”
      2. I wonder if they realized that Jesus gave this man his greatest gift first?
      3. I wonder if they were disappointed because Jesus did not immediately heal the man as they expected?
      4. Let me try to put the situation in perspective.
         1. Jesus’ forgiveness would last for eternity.
         2. Jesus’ act of physical healing would last only until the man died.
      5. Would he feel and understand the blessing of forgiveness if he spent the rest of his physical life paralyzed, unable to get up or walk?
      6. Would he feel blessed only if he could get up and walk?
      7. What do you think?

2. Allow me to focus our attention on us.
   1. The greatest single blessing God wants to give each of us is the forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ atoning blood.
      1. You and I can be reconciled to God only if we are forgiven.
      2. You and I can be at peace with God only if we are forgiven.
      3. You and I can worship God only if we are forgiven.
      4. You and I can serve God only if we are forgiven.
      5. You and I can live in hope only if we are forgiven.
      6. You and I can die in confidence only if we are forgiven.
      7. You and I can be resurrected to live eternally with God only if we are forgiven.
      8. Every good thing God wishes to give us depends on our forgiveness.

   2. Right this moment in our lives, there is no gift that Christ can give anyone of us that is more significant than forgiveness.
      1. Yet, the truth is that forgiveness is the least appreciated gift God gives us right now.
         1. We each want God to do something for us that makes a difference.
         2. Forgiving us while leaving our physicals situations untouched is not what we want.
         3. Right now, forgiveness is not the difference we expect and want.
         4. The situation is much like the immaturity we see in our children who live at home.
            1. Their expectation wants a difference that is immediate and visible.
            2. If their parents do things that have the potential to make major, lasting differences throughout the child’s life, those things are not significant to the child unless they are immediate and visible.

   3. If you could have God do anything you can imagine to make a difference right now, what would it be?
      1. If we let our imaginations run wild, we can think of a lot of things we would like to change instantly.
         1. We would like to have the Trade Center Towers standing and the Pentagon unharmed.
         2. We would like to have all those wives have their husbands back, all those husbands have their wives back, all those children have their parents back, and all the dead have their lives back.
         3. We would like to have the same secure feeling we had two weeks ago.
         4. We would like to have the terrorists become as committed to peace as they are to destruction.
         5. We would like for all the innocent people of Afghanistan to have their wounds healed and lives restored.
         6. We would like to have people understanding each other instead of hating each other.
      2. Could it be that nothing we want would be eternal?
         1. Could it be that nothing we want would last longer than our lifetimes?
         2. Could it be that nothing we want would be the thing we need the most–God’s forgiveness?

   4. Let me approach the same thought from a different direction.
      1. How long have you been a Christian?
      2. In the time that you have been a Christian, has there been an occasion or situation in which you knew beyond doubt that God powerfully touched or blessed your life?
         1. I am not talking about your everyday type of experience.
         2. I am talking about an unusual circumstance or situation.
      3. If someone who was not a Christian was in a serious conversation with you and asked, “Has God ever done anything for you?”
         1. How would you answer? Would you say yes?
         2. If the person sincerely asked you to illustrate how God has blessed and helped you, and you were moved to answer, how would you illustrated God’s help?
         3. Let’s say you shared more than one illustration.
            1. What would be your number one illustration?
            2. Would the fact that God forgives you on a daily basis be one of the illustrations?

If we through God’s mercy and grace hear our Lord greet us and accept us as faithful servants in the judgment, we will hold a unanimous conclusion about God’s greatest gift to us. It will be God’s forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. And we will praise Jesus for dying for us. And we will glorify God for sending His son.

What Would You Like?

Posted by David on under Sermons

Wow! Have you caught your breath this week? Is it not amazing how our thinking has changed? So many things that were enormous and of incredible importance to our lives on Monday, September 10 became insignificant and petty after Tuesday, September 11. If you are like me, your mind staggers and reels as it attempts to grasp the significance of September 11. We realize something major happened, but we struggle to understand what it means. We realize our nation is unlikely to ever be the same, but we struggle to grasp how it will be different.

Allow me one example to illustrate the change. If on Monday, September 10, we made an application for a permit for a prayer assembly on the capitol building steps, what reception do you think that request would have received? If on Monday, September 10, we suggested through proper channels that our congress make plans that week to sing a prayer for our country [God Bless America] on the capitol steps, what reception do you think that suggestion likely would have received? If on Monday, September 10, we recommended all living American presidents and a host of dignitaries assemble in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., for prayers for our nation and our world, would anyone have seriously considered the request? If on Monday, September 10, we seriously suggested that President Bush declare within that week a national day of prayer, what reception do you think that suggestion would have received?

I think the only honest answer to all of those questions is a negative answer. Yet, all that happened. In less than twenty-four hours after Monday, September 10, the unthinkable became the desirable. A society that was virtually anti-religious instantly became a praying society. An invincible society suddenly felt weak. A society who was the master of its own destiny suddenly became vulnerable. A society that strongly believed in self and its abilities suddenly knew they were pathetically inadequate. A society that was convinced it had fashioned an indestructible nation by becoming the earth’s only superpower suddenly realized it could be destroyed by an incredibly small group of invisible enemies.

1. This is the strangest moment in American history.
   1. We have declared war on an enemy who devastatingly attacked us in unbelievable, impossible ways.
      1. We have declared war, yet we have not fired one shot because we do not know where to shoot.
      2. We have declared war, and we have placed our powerful military on high alert, but for days we did not deploy our military to a specific front.
      3. We have declared war, and we have the world’s largest navy and air force, but for days our navy and air force’s primary function was to protect this nation instead of attacking an enemy.
      4. We have declared war, and we are not absolutely certain who our actual enemy is or where that enemy is located.
      5. We have declared war, and our greatest initial weapon is prayer.

   2. So you are praying, are you using your prayers to help fight our war?
      1. What do you want?
      2. If through your prayers anything could happen that you want to happen, what would happen?
         1. Would some people die?
         2. Would over 6000 bodies be found so grieving family members could “find closure?”
         3. Would grieving people find comfort?
         4. Would our lives and our American lifestyle “return to normal?”
      3. What is it you would have God do? What would you like?

2. In his earthly ministry, Jesus lived in a very religious, very prayerful society.
   1. In Matthew 6:5-15 Jesus told a praying people there were some basic lessons they needed to learn and understand about prayer.
      1. He said that if they were sincere in their desire to talk to God, they needed to understand some realities.
         1. First, he said when you pray, you pray for God’s ears not for people’s ears.
            1. If you pray to impress other people, those people may be impressed, but God does not even listen.
            2. When you pray, talk to God.
         2. Second, he said (speaking of personal prayers) pray your private prayers all alone.
            1. With many religious people then that was not the situation.
            2. Privacy was much harder to find and was not a typical part of life.
            3. Some seemingly felt that if people did not hear your prayers that God could not hear your prayers.
            4. Jesus said people do not have to hear your prayers in order for God to hear your prayers.
         3. Third, he said you cannot influence God by “wearing God down.”
            1. Many children use the tactic of “wearing their parents down” by endlessly making the same request over and over.
            2. Jesus said that is the way that people who do not know God pray.
            3. He said it is not repetition that moves God to action.
            4. Repeated, earnest requests are good, but attempts to use whining manipulation is bad.

   2. Then Jesus gave these praying people an example of how to pray to God.
      1. In his example, Jesus included this very simple statement in verse 10: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
      2. Is that what you want? Do you want God’s will to be done right here and now in the same manner that it is done where God’s presence is centered?
         1. If I had a one-on-one religious conversation with you three weeks ago and we discussed the moral, spiritual, and religious decay in this nation, could you, three weeks ago, illustrate America’s decay?
         2. If three weeks ago we discussed things that were spiritually hurtful in our nation, could you, three weeks ago, illustrate spiritual failures?
         3. Since September 11 has this nation become morally or spiritually healthy?
         4. Has anything changed besides our anger, our fear, and our awareness of our need?

3. I absolutely do not wish to be misunderstood.
   1. To me, the patriotism, the courage, the bravery, and the national unity we have seen for almost two weeks is wonderful.
      1. I have deep gratitude for the incredible examples of sacrifice and caring we have seen for days from New York.
         1. With genuine apologies to the residents of New York and Washington D.C., I do not think most religious people in this nation would have looked to those two cities for spiritual or patriotic inspiration.
         2. I honestly doubt that any place in America could have surpassed them in heart, attitude, or courage in the face of an unthinkable crisis.
      2. My personal love for this nation grew powerfully in the early 1970s when Joyce and I did mission work.
         1. Until that experience, I had no idea of how blessed Americans are.
         2. I have visited in several nations in capacities other than a tourist.
         3. No one lives as do we.
         4. No one has the extensive freedoms we have.
         5. No one has the opportunities we have.
      3. One of the great gifts God has given me is American citizenship.
         1. It is an unspeakable privilege to live in this country.
         2. Far too few American truly understand the privileges they have and commonly take for granted.

   2. I wonder in the past week and a half, how many times Americans have sung “God bless America” sincerely with heart?
      1. I wonder in the past week and a half how may times Americans have earnestly prayed for God to bless America.
      2. Have you?
      3. If so, what are you asking? What do you want?
      4. May I ask you to think about something I find absolutely fascinating.
         1. The first week in September you and I could have discussed all the reasons for God perhaps not blessing America.
         2. Few, if any, of the things we could have talked about have disappeared.
         3. Could we have a discussion today of reasons for God blessing America?

   3. I love my country.
      1. I do not even wish to try to imagine life without the freedoms and opportunities this nation provides me.
      2. But as much as I love America, there is something I love more.
         1. I love God’s kingdom even more than I love this nation.
         2. I would love to see God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
         3. Above everything else, I would love for God’s kingdom to prosper.
      3. If God can bless America and His kingdom simultaneously, may it be.
      4. Nothing would bless this nation and this world more than for God’s will to be done here and now as it is in heaven.

4. Two thousand years ago Luke 13 tells us about a tower in Jerusalem that fell and killed eighteen people.
   1. It is possible that the tower in Siloam was a part of Jerusalem’s defense system that was intended to help protect the holy city and the temple.
      1. It was unthinkable that a tower whose purpose was to help protect God’s city and God’s temple could fall on some of God’s people.
      2. With their view of God and their concept of God’s people, what happened to those people simply did not make sense.
      3. There was only one answer that made sense to them: the people who were killed when the tower fell must have been really evil people, and God was punishing them.

   2. Jesus said they reached the wrong conclusion.
      1. He did not explain why the tower fell on those people; in fact, he did not even discuss the deaths.
      2. Instead, he talked to his living audience.
         1. He said if their conclusion was that those people died because they were evil and they were lived because they were good, they reached the wrong conclusion.
         2. The tower falling on those people had nothing to do with their being evil, and the fact that his listeners were alive had nothing to do with them being good people.
      3. Then Jesus made this simple but profound statement: “…Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5).
         1. “The fact that they died violently in an incredible accident is not proof that they desperately needed to turn their lives around.”
         2. “The fact that you are alive does not prove you do not need to turn your lives around.”
         3. “You need to redirect your lives as much as they did.”

5. Our nation is in great crisis, probably greater than any of us yet realize.
   1. That automatically means each of us is in great crisis.
      1. The truth is that we all face a crisis we do not wish to face.
      2. So we sing and pray, “God Bless America.”
      3. What do we want from God?
         1. Are we singing and praying, “God get us out of this mess.”
         2. Or are we singing and praying, “God help us turn our lives around.”

   2. America’s greatest crisis is not terrorism.
      1. That is the shocking, devastating crisis that captured our attention.
      2. That is the unbelievable crisis that mystifies us.

   3. America’s greatest crisis is the same crisis we faced when the month of September began.
      1. We need to redirect our lives. Have you redirected your life? Have you placed God in charge of the direction?
      2. Allowing God to redirect our lives is a crisis that we each can handle.

None of us are invincible. We never have been. We just deceived ourselves into believing we were. September 11 sobered us. September 11 made us stop lying to ourselves.

Since September 11, what has happened to your spiritual health? Do you need to redirect your life? Do you want to redirect your life? Do you realize all that God has done in Jesus Christ to give you opportunity to redirect your life?

The “Throwaways”

Posted by David on September 2, 2001 under Sermons

What destroyers do you think that you would most despise? If someone did something horrible to totally change your life, what “thing” could they do that you would despise the most? What could someone do to you or your family to make you say, “I despise you! I hope nothing good ever happens to you! I hope you have to live in great sorrow and die in agony!”

Perhaps your response is, “Nothing could happen to make me feel that way.” I hope that you are right, but I doubt that you are right. There are moments when I think I could never despise anyone. Then there are moments when it would be much too easy to despise people who really hurt me. Those moments make me realize we all can despise other people much more easily than we think.

If someone murdered your husband, would you despise that person? If someone raped your wife, would you despise that person? If someone murdered or raped your child, would you despise that person? If someone deliberately burned your home, would you despise that person? If someone deliberately destroyed your job out of sheer contempt for you, would you despise that person?

Let me set a context that would cause all of us to struggle with our feelings. If another nation conquered us and took away our freedoms, we would struggle with our feelings. If that nation replaced our police force with their occupation troops, we would struggle with our feelings. If by new law, those troops could conscript us to help them any time they wanted to, we would struggle with our feelings. If everywhere we went, we saw those occupation troops controlling the situations, we would struggle with our feelings. Every time we saw an officer in charge of those troops, we would really struggle with our feelings. That situation is so foreign to our circumstances, can we even imagine it?

1. We have to imagine those circumstances to understand Matthew 8:5-13.
   1. For about a hundred years, the Jews were free.
      1. Then in 64 B.C. the Romans took control of their country.
         1. The official headquarters of the Roman military occupation force was located in Caesarea.
         2. That city was the official residence of the Roman procurator who controlled Palestine.
         3. That was the official location of Palestine’s Roman court.
      2. The Roman occupation military force was scattered throughout Palestine.
         1. Everywhere Jews traveled within their own country those troops were visible reminders that they were not free.
         2. If a Roman soldier was traveling and he wanted a Jew to carry his pack, all he had to do was tell the Jew to pick up the load.
         3. Roman law required the Jew to carry his pack for a mile.
         4. No matter what the Jew was doing or how much he resented it, he had to carry the soldier’s pack.
      3. Place yourself in those circumstances and feel the animosity.

   2. A Roman centurion came to Jesus pleading with Jesus to help him.
      1. Can you picture that scene?
         1. Can you picture a Roman officer in the occupation force pleading for a Jew to help him?
         2. The Roman military did not plead for help from its captives; it ordered its captives to help.
         3. Can you imagine a man from a military that honored many gods asking for religious help from a man who taught there was one God?
      2. The situation:
         1. A Roman military officer in Palestine’s occupation force who keeps the Jewish people under control has a servant who is paralyzed and in great pain.
         2. He is so convinced that Jesus can correct the situation that he comes to Jesus to ask for his help.
            1. This is one of the few times that Jesus used a miracle to help a person who was not a Jew.
            2. The entire situation is quite unusual.
         3. Jesus immediately agrees to go to the man’s home and heal the servant.
      3. The response:
         1. The officer’s immediate response: “I am not worthy for you to come into my home.” (Wonder how many other people were told by this officer, “I am unworthy to have you in my home.”)
            1. This Roman military officer had more respect for Jesus than did Jesus own countrymen–what Jew ever said, “I am not worthy for you to come into my home?”
            2. Incredible!
         2. The officer further said, “There is no need for you to come into my home.”
            1. “I possess and use authority.”
            2. “I know how to give orders to those who are under me.”
            3. “Just say the word, and the healing will occur.”
      4. Jesus’ astonishment:
         1. “I have met no one in Israel that has this much faith!” (Israel’s religious establishment asked Jesus for “a sign.”)
         2. “This is the reason that people who are not Jews will be in the kingdom of heaven.”
         3. “It is also the reason you first century Jews will be excluded from that kingdom and experience enormous grief and suffering.”
      5. Jesus’ response to the Roman army officer:
         1. “Go back. May your faith determine what happens.”
         2. The healing quickly occurred.

2. If you think that Jesus was doing nothing more than condemning many of the first century Jews, you miss the point.
   1. If you think this is merely an anti-Semitic statement, you really miss the point.
      1. Jesus was not putting the first century Jews down.
      2. It was not a “I do not like you because you do not like me” statement.

   2. Jesus’ point is seen in the incredible contrast.
      1. On one side were the first century Jewish people.
         1. They had a long history with the living God that began with Abraham.
         2. For centuries they have been blessed by their relationship with God.
         3. God gave them His word, His law, and His prophets.
      2. On the other side is this Roman army officer.
         1. He was in an army that consulted the idolatrous gods for favorable signs before beginning a military campaign.
         2. He is an officer in the occupation force.
         3. He may never have heard of or had contact with the God of Israel until he was stationed in Palestine.
         4. He heard of Jesus, and he believed Jesus could heal his servant.
         5. Though he held a position of authority and had power, he humbly came to Jesus to ask for help. (He did not send someone; he came himself.)
         6. He was convinced that Jesus had the authority just to speak and the healing would occur.
      3. Jesus said the first century Jews who have known God for hundreds of years did not have that kind of faith.
         1. Because they do not have that kind of faith, people like the Roman army officer would be in God’s kingdom, and the first century Jewish people would not.
         2. God accepts us on the basis of our faith, not on the basis of our ancestors or our history.

3. I have given a lot of thought to the point of this incident, and I struggled to find a way to make it come alive in our understanding.
   1. Do you plan on going to heaven, to bowing yourself down in the presence of God?
      1. “Certainly!”
      2. Why? Explain why you plan on being in heaven.
         1. “I am a member of the Church of Christ.”
         2. “I was immersed when I was baptized.”
         3. “I take communion every week.”
         4. “I sing in worship a cappella.”
         5. “I trust the Bible to be my spiritual and religious authority.”
      3. If you wrote your reasons down for having confidence in your eternal salvation, without prompting:
         1. Would you list faith in God? Where would you rank it?
         2. Would you list faith in Jesus Christ? Where would you rank it?
         3. Would you tie your obedience to your faith in God?
         4. Would you tie your repentance to your faith in God?
      4. Is our faith in our identity or is our faith in our God?
      5. Is our faith in our heritage or is our faith in our God?
      6. Is our faith in our restoration commitment or is our faith in our God?

   2. Suppose you asked a devout religious leader in Israel at the time of Jesus’ ministry, “What is the difference?”
      1. “What is the difference between faith in commanded sacrifices and faith in God?”
         1. He would have answered, “There is no difference.”
         2. “Faith in a commanded sacrifice is faith in God.”
      2. “What is the difference between faith in the temple and faith in God?”
         1. He would have answered, “There is no difference.”
         2. “Faith in the temple is faith in God.”
      3. “What is the difference between faith in being God’s people and faith in God?”
         1. He would have answered, “There is no difference.”
         2. “Faith in being the people of God is faith in God.”
      4. But Jesus said, “There is a difference.”
         1. Jesus said, “The Roman centurion placed his faith where faith should be placed.”
         2. Jesus said, “I have not seen anyone in Israel who does that.”

   3. What I want you to see is so easy to misunderstand but is so important to understand. Let me answer some questions.
      1. “Do you want to be a member of the church of Christ?”
         1. Yes; I have spent my life attempting to serve God in Christ’s church.
         2. But my faith is in God and what he did in Jesus Christ, not in the church of Christ.
      2. “Were you immersed when you were baptized into Christ for the remission of sins?”
         1. Yes, and I am convinced that a person who believes in Christ and wishes to redirect his or her life should be immersed into Christ.
         2. But my faith is in my God and what He did in Jesus Christ, not in the fact that I was immersed.
      3. “Do you take communion weekly to remember the Lord’s death?”
         1. Yes, and I am convinced Christians should take communion each week to remember Jesus’ sacrifice.
         2. But my faith is in my God and what He did in Jesus Christ, not in the fact that I take communion every week.
      4. “Do you believe in the basic objective of restoration?”
         1. Yes; I am convinced that we should never stop trying to understand how to be God’s people as were the Christians in the first century.
         2. But my faith is in my God and what He did in Jesus Christ, not in the restoration movement.

Can you imagine anything worse than hearing God say, “Well done, good and faithful servants,” and not being included in the group? Can you imagine anything worse than asking, “Why?” and hearing the Lord say, “I never saw the kind of faith they had in you.”

That Is Not the Way It’s Done!

Posted by David on under Sermons

Teens are a wonderful gift! In a family that works together, teenagers can make a wonderful contribution. Teens are a wonderful family labor force, right teens? Parents do not know how to appreciate what teens do for the family until they leave home.

The first year both my sons moved away and were not longer a part of our “family work force,” I mowed over an acre lot by myself with a push mower. I almost killed myself! All that summer, every available evening, I mowed part of my yard. I never finished! By the time I cut the last section, it was time to start again. It did not take long for me to determine the quickest way to mow my yard. Soon after I figured out the quickest way to mow, the “quickest way” became the “only way.” Not long after that, the “only way” became the “correct way” to mow my yard.

The next summer I bought a riding mower. Of course, I still mowed my yard the “correct way.” That summer Kevin visited and offered to mow the yard. I quickly accepted his offer and proceeded to tell him the “correct way” to mow my yard. He listened, smiled his Kevin smile, and proceeded to cut the yard his way.

No matter what I decided, there were many ways to approach cutting my grass.

1. People are very strange beings.
   1. We tend to be arrogant, near-sighted, and over-confident.
      1. If you had a nickel for every argument that will occur in America this week concerning the best way to do something, you would be a rich person.
      2. If you had a nickel for every argument that will occur in the families of this congregation this week concerning the best way to do something, you would have some “serious spending money.”

   2. Most of our disagreements are not about “whats” but about “hows.”
      1. We agree on many of the “whats.”
         1. Most husbands and wives agree on many of the “whats;” the majority of their disagreements are on the “hows.”
         2. Most of the people you work with on your job agree on the “whats;” it is the “hows” that produce the biggest head knocking sessions.
         3. This is my experience in the church: much of the time we agree on the “whats;” it is the “hows” that give us fits.
      2. Consider one example.
         1. Financially a husband and wife basically agree on the “whats.”
         2. They have a specific income that produces a specific amount of money.
            1. The “what” primarily involves living on that income.
            2. The “what” involves paying the bills, providing the necessities, caring for the unexpected, and saving something for the future.
         3. But, “how” do they do that?
            1. Most of the conflicts center on “how.” Why?
            2. “My way is the way to do it; my way makes sense; and all of us understand we need to use the sensible approach.”
      3. Let me describe what happens.
         1. Convenience becomes habit.
         2. Habit becomes routine.
         3. Routine becomes necessity.
         4. Necessity becomes unbreakable law.

2. We humans are so confident that “we know the best way to do things” that we even feel comfortable telling God how He should do things.
   1. “I belong to God.”
      1. “I know what God thinks.”
      2. “I know what God values.”
      3. “I know God’s ways.”
      4. “I know how God would have things done.”
      5. “Listen to me. When you listen to me you can count on the fact that I know God’s ‘what’ and ‘how.'”

   2. Centuries ago Isaiah wrote Judah and declared,
      Isaiah 55:8,9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
      1. In context, Isaiah encouraged exiled Jews to place their trust in the fact that the God who exiled them would forgive them.
      2. That is not the way we humans do things.
      3. We do not force people to endure the consequences of their misbehavior, and then offer them forgiveness and restoration.
      4. We people have a very poor understanding of grace.
         1. Grace is not typically a part of our existence.
         2. Grace is very much a part of God’s existence.

3. Jesus stressed that God does not do things the way people do them.
   1. In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus taught a parable about some laborers.
      1. The time for the grape harvest arrived, and a vineyard owner needed help.
         1. People who worked as day laborers [much as today in some cities] came to a location in the city and waited for someone to offer them a job for the day.
         2. People who needed to hire help knew where to go to hire laborers.
      2. The vineyard owner went early in the morning to hire some laborers.
         1. He found men needing a job and agreed to pay them a day’s wage.
         2. He did not have enough help, so he went back to the same place at 9 a.m. and hired the men he found. He said that he would pay them what was right if they would work for him.
         3. He went again at noon and at 3 p.m. and did the same thing.
      3. At 5 p.m. the vineyard owner did the unthinkable–with only an hour left to work, he went to hire laborers.
         1. When he found unhired men, he asked, “Why have you been standing around all day?”
         2. They replied, “No one hired us.”
         3. He said, “Go work in my vineyard.”
      4. When the day was over, he told his foreman to pay all the workers.
         1. The foreman started by paying the last group who worked very briefly.
         2. He paid them a full day’s wage, the same amount promised to the men hired at 6 a.m.
         3. Those who worked all day were elated–surely they would be paid more than a day’s wages.
         4. But, when they were paid, they received the same amount–a day’s wage.
      5. The people who worked all day gripped: “You paid us no more than you paid those men who worked for an hour! That is not right!”
         1. The owner replied, “I did nothing wrong to you. I paid you what I promised. If I choose to pay those who worked an hour a full day’s wage, that is my business.”
         2. “I can do what I want to do with what I own.”
         3. “You criticize me because I am generous?”
      6. God is not bound by human thoughts and standards; the generous, merciful God does things His way.

   2. Jesus told another parable in Luke 13:24-30.
      1. A person in his Jewish audience asked if just a few were going to be saved.
      2. He urged his Jewish audience to make great effort to enter the narrow door before opportunity passed.
      3. Once the head of the house shut the door, those outside could not enter.
         1. Those outside would beg the owner to open the door and let them in: “We knew you well. We had meals with you. We listened to you teach.”
         2. But the owner would not open the door: “I do not know you. If you were not up to evil you would have come in when the door was open. Just leave and go away. Take your evil elsewhere.”
      4. The Jews who could not get in had double grief.
         1. They saw their ancestors who began Israel inside, in God’s kingdom, and there was no way they could join them.
         2. They also saw people who were not Israelites inside with their ancestors.
      5. Again, God is not bound by our thoughts and ways; He does things His way.

   3. This is just as difficult to accept today as it was in first century Israel.
      1. Paul discussed this very struggle in Romans 9.
      2. First century Jews had a difficult time accepting the fact that God loved and saved people who were not a part of Judaism.
         1. Their complaint: “That is not fair! It is not right! We have been Your chosen people for over 1400 years. We are Israel!”
         2. Listen to Paul:
            Romans 9:10-12 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”
      3. Paul told Israelites God always has functioned in this manner.
      4. If they went all the way back to the Israel’s beginnings, to Jacob and Esau, God chose to work through the younger Jacob before those twins were born.
      5. That is just not the way people did things! You worked through the oldest son, not the youngest!
      6. That was not the way people did things, but God was not bound by the decisions and behavior of people.

4. God is sovereign. What does that mean?
   1. God does things His way, as He chooses.
      1. He does not abuse His power, or people, and He keeps His promises.
      2. Those who trust Him know He is trustworthy; He will keep His word.
      3. People cannot obligate God; people must trust God.
         1. We do not trust God because “He does it our way.”
         2. We trust God because the trustworthy God keeps His promises.

   2. We humans do not like to be reduced to trusting God.
      1. Depending on trust makes us very uncomfortable.
         1. Humans function on documents, signatures, guarantees, and contracts.
         2. We obligate people to keep their promises because humans deceive and break promises.
         3. If we have a document, a signature, a guarantee, or a contract and you fail to do what you are obligated to do, we will take you to court and make you keep your promise.
      2. We humans function much better on obligations than on trust.
      3. But we cannot obligate God; we must trust God.
         1. Must we obey God? Yes.
         2. Does human obedience obligate God? No.
         3. Does human obedience place us in a bargaining position with God? No.
      4. Christians who trust God do not serve God in an attempt to obligate God.
         1. Christians serve God because they trust Him.
         2. Christians serve God because they trust His love for them.

   3. “Why should I trust God, especially since He does not do things the way I would?”
      1. Why? Because God sent us Jesus. It took God a long time to keep His promise, but He kept it.
      2. Why? Because God let Jesus die for our sins. It took God enormous patience to keep His promise, but He kept it.
      3. Why? Because God raised Jesus from the dead to be Lord and Christ. It required a lot of effort from God to keep His promise, but He kept it.

We Christians make a spiritual mess out of the church. In the church, we have spent about a hundred years teaching Christians to trust themselves instead of trusting God. We taught ourselves to trust our logic, our reasoning, our conclusions, our practices, our name, and our ways. Too much of that has little to do with trusting God. It has a lot to do with our attempt to obligate God. Is your confidence for salvation in your trust of God or in trusting yourself because your confidence is in what you do?

Do You Understand Why?

Posted by David on August 26, 2001 under Sermons

Occasionally I hear Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” segment. When I do, I am always astounded. Two things amaze me: (1) what the people selected do not know and (2) what the people selected think they know, but do not understand.

Suppose for a moment that you have microphones and a camera crew to accompany you as you conduct interviews. You ask some very simple interview questions. First you go to a state university to interview incoming freshmen. This is the interview question: “Why do people go to universities?” Having spent twenty-eight years preaching for college and university congregations, allow me to suggest some honest answers. The top three answers. (1) “They go to party. Everyone is entitled to four carefree years of fun. You just left the restrictions of parents and home. You will spend adult life facing and enduring adult responsibilities. The four years of university life are supposed to be the fun time transition.”

(2) “They go to get a degree. The degree is your key to opportunity. If you want to get a good job, you need to have a degree to put down on your job application.”

(3) “They go to make contacts for the future. Everybody realizes that it is not what you know but who you know. People go to universities to make the right contacts for the future.”

You would be amazed at how few answers people give have anything to do with education.

We could do the interview with the simple question, “Why do people have jobs?” Probable answers would include (1) “to make money.” Or, (2) “to afford fun stuff.” Or, (3) “to have good benefits.” You would be amazed at the number of answers having nothing to do with the success of the business.

1. Let’s conduct a simple interview with ourselves by asking this question, “Why should Christians exist as the church?”
   1. Our answers to that question might include these.
      1. “It is important to be religious.”
      2. “Going to church is good for the family.”
      3. “Going to church is something that good people do.”
      4. If all of us wrote down honest, heart answers, it would be amazing to note how many of our answers had little to do with God.

   2. Please consider Paul’s answer in Ephesians 1. “Paul, why do we Christians exist as the church?”
      1. Paul wrote this letter to Christians at Ephesus.
         1. The majority of them were converted idol worshippers.
         2. In chapter two he explained that prior to being Christians they were spiritually dead, separated from Christ, not included in God’s covenant, without hope, and without God.
         3. Their preconversion condition was horribly grim.
      2. In chapter one Paul explained the purpose of their being Christians.
         1. He began by explaining these things.
            1. God is the source of blessings (verse 3).
            2. God provides every spiritual blessing in Christ (verse 3).
            3. Before God created the world, God chose all people who want to be holy and blameless to be His people (verse 4).
            4. Before creation he chose to adopt all people who would come to Jesus Christ (verse 5).
         2. Why? Why would God do those things?
            1. So that those who were alive in Christ would exist to the praise of the glory of His grace (verse 6).
            2. We exist as Christians to be living evidence of how good God is, to demonstrate God’s goodness, and to cause people to glorify God.
         3. Paul continued his emphasis.
            1. In Christ you have redemption through his blood (verse 7).
            2. In Christ you have the forgiveness of your trespasses.
            3. In fact, in Christ:
               1. God lavishes His grace upon you (verse 8).
               2. God showed you what He was doing–makes known to you the mystery (verse 9).
               3. God reveals His complete purpose and shows how that purpose is summed up in Jesus (verse 10).
               4. Through that purpose, you have obtained an inheritance (verse 11).
         4. Why? Why has God revealed all those things in Christ? (verse 12)
            1. So that people who have their hope in Christ should be to the praise of God’s glory.
            2. People would give God praise and glorify God because of what happens in Christians’ lives.
         5. Paul still continued his emphasis.
            1. God placed the insignia of the Holy Spirit on them (verse 13).
            2. To use our wording, God used the Holy Spirit to prove that He made the down payment on them, that they belonged to Him.
            3. The Holy Spirit was proof that God was coming back for them, to redeem them for his own possession.
         6. Why? Why would God do that? (verse 14)
            1. Because He expected them to be to the praise of His glory.
            2. When other people saw what God did in them, those people would praise God and give Him glory.

2. Paul’s emphasis is not some new idea that he thought up for these converted idol worshippers.
   1. That is what Jesus was all about–Jesus lived and died to cause people to praise God and give God glory.
   2. And Jesus did that perfectly!
      1. In Matthew 3:13-17 Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River.
         1. When John hesitated and tried to discourage Jesus from being baptized, Jesus insisted.
         2. He said, “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
         3. John immersed him.
         4. Immediately the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove came upon Jesus and God said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
         5. In the act of baptism, Jesus was conducting himself to the praise of God’s glory.
      2. In Matthew 17:1-8 Jesus was transfigured, and Peter, James, and John were able to see him.
         1. He was talking with Moses and Elijah.
         2. One account says they were discussing Jesus’ coming death in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31).
         3. Peter was frightened and said, “Lord, I am glad we are here. We need to build a tabernacle to honor you, and one to honor Moses [the great Jewish law giver], and one to honor Elijah [the great Jewish prophet].
         4. A cloud covered everyone, and God’s voice spoke saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased: listen to Him!”
         5. In this unusual moment, Jesus’ surrender to God was to the praise and glory of God.
      3. It was Jesus himself who explained that his purpose for existence is to be our purpose for existence.
         1. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said: “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
         2. “If you belong to me, do good.”
         3. “Do not be ashamed of the good you do; let it be obvious that you are devoted to doing good because you belong to me.”
         4. “You do not do good to impress people with you. You do good so people will be impressed with your God.”
         5. We are lights to bring glory to God; people praise God because of the good we do.

   3. First century Jews had been God’s people for almost 1500 years.
      1. They knew God’s teachings; they had known God’s teachings for a very long time.
      2. They had known God’s teachings for so long that they decided their role was to judge everybody else.
         1. That seems to be our human tendency when we know God’s will a long time.
         2. We decide we do not know God’s will to serve God.
         3. We decide we know God’s will to judge those who fail God.
      3. They could tell you what was wrong with everyone, and they could especially tell you what was wrong with all those people who worshipped idols.
      4. In Romans 2:24 Paul described first century Jews who existed to pass judgment [he used a quotation from scripture]: “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
         1. The Gentiles were those idol worshippers they judged.
         2. Those condemned idol worshippers did not praise and glorify God because of their judgments.
         3. Those condemned idol worshippers blasphemed God because of their judgments.
      5. Christians do not exist to cause people to blaspheme God, but to praise and glorify God.

3. As a Christian, one of the primary reasons that you exist is to help people see God and praise Him.
   1. Continually over the past 200 years the focus of the restoration movement increasingly has become the church, not God.
      1. Often we are so obsessed with being the church that we loose sight of God.
      2. We assume that if the church succeeds, God succeeds.
         1. And we have a very narrow, restricted definition of the church succeeding.
         2. Far too often we define success in the church more on the doctrinal stands “it” takes than on the way “it” serves the spiritual needs of people.
         3. Far too often we define success in the church on the basis of image rather than on the basis of godliness.
         4. Far too often we are more concerned about our expectations in the church than God’s expectations in the church.
            1. Too often we confuse our expectations for God’s expectations.
            2. Too often we are more concerned about image than substance.
            3. Often we pick the congregation we wish to be a part of on the basis of approved image instead of spiritual substance.

   2. The problem is more fundamental than our perception of the church; the problem begins in our perception of ourselves as individual Christians.
      1. As individual Christians, we are likely to be more concerned with escaping eternal consequences than reflecting the eternal God.
         1. That is what we have been taught for generations.
         2. That was the basis of conversion for many of us.
         3. That was the basis for producing acceptable behavior and maintaining control of congregations.
      2. How often were you taught, “If you do those things, you will go to hell!”
      3. How often were you taught, “This is the way you reflect the merciful God.”
      4. What role did God have in your conversion?
      5. What role does God have in your Christian behavior?

   3. Consider a specific example. If it were possible, would you choose to reflect:
      1. The perfect holiness of God, or would that interfere with your lifestyle?
      2. The perfect purity of God, or would that interfere with your pleasures?
      3. The perfect mercy of God, or would that interfere with your anger?
      4. The perfect grace of God, or would that interfere with your condemnations?

Most of us do not equate being a Christian with accurately reflecting God in an evil world. Do you? Most of us do not understand our purpose as individual Christians and our purpose as the church. We exist to glorify God. Bottom line. We exist so people can see how God helps flesh and blood, and seeing that, honor God for His mercy and forgiveness.

We need to do much better answering the simple questions of who we are and why we exist. We need to understand what it means to be to the praise of God’s glory.

What Did You Teach This Summer?

Posted by David on August 19, 2001 under Sermons

It is that time of year again. Television commercials do not lie, do they? The ads targeting our tax rebates have been replaced with ads about “back to school supplies.”

One commercial presents a jubilant father and two sad children. The father leaps, dances, and jumps up and down isles as he fills a shopping cart with school supplies. The children just stand together and look sad. While this occurs, a background song plays, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Each time I see that commercial I wonder about the underlying message. It is one thing to sell school supplies. It is quite another to declare it is wonderful to be rid of your children.

I am also amazed at when “back to school” ads market their products with an obvious pitch to sex appeal or an obvious justification of selfishness.

Whatever your emotions may be, summer break is over. Tomorrow morning in Fort Smith public schools open for students. For all intents and purposes, summer is over. Our calendar does not mark the beginning of fall. School does.

So, what did your heart teach your kids this summer? When your children are forty year old adults, they will have memories of the summer of 2001. When they remember this summer and their parents, what will they remember? Will anything they remember be associated with your heart?

1. Consider two fascinating scriptures concerning people committed to God.
   1. The first, Deuteronomy 8:2, was given to the Israelites as they prepared to invade Canaan.
      You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
      1. For forty years these people wandered in the wilderness as their parents died.
         1. God supplied their food by giving them manna to eat every day (verse 3).
         2. God kept their clothing from wearing out for the entire time (verse 4).
         3. Can you image eating the same diet and wearing the same clothes for forty years?
         4. There are people in our world today that would love to eat every day and have something to wear.
      2. Moses spoke to people who trusted, obeyed, and were committed to God.
         1. Even so, they spent the forty years wandering in a desert because of their parents’ choices.
         2. Knowing human nature, there had to be times when they wondered, “Why? We did not distrust God; our parents did! Why must we endure consequences created by our parents’ choices?”
      3. Perhaps God in Deuteronomy 8:2 gave an answer to their why.
         1. Moses said, “I want you to remember this experience.” [“Sure, like they could forget it!” God knew when things changed and became good, they were likely to forget it (verses 11-20)].
         2. Moses said, “This experience happened for identifiable reasons.”
            1. Reason number one was to humble you; humble people depend on God. Arrogant people depend on themselves.
            2. Reason number two was to test you; not to cause you to fail, but to give you opportunity to reveal your heart to God.
            3. Reason number three was based on reasons one and two: obedience comes from people who are humble, whose hearts belong to God.

   2. This whole experience provided them opportunity to reveal their hearts.
      1. The same opportunity was given to their parents.
         1. When the tenth plague released their parents from Egypt’s slavery, in the sports jargon of today, “God was the man!” God was number one on top of everything! God released them, and God visibly lead them day and night with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21).
         2. But when they were trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea, they said to Moses, “Didn’t we tell you to leave us alone and let us be slaves! It is better to be a live slave than dusty grave!” (Exodus 14:12)
         3. When God rescued them by allowing them to cross through the Red Sea on dry land, they were filled with joy and praise for God (Exodus 15).
         4. But when they entered the desert and were thirsty, they grumbled (Exodus 15:24).
         5. When God verbally gave them the ten commandments (Exodus 20), they responded by saying they would do anything God wanted.
            1. Just one request: “Listening to God’s voice will kill us.”
            2. “Moses, you talk to God and we will do anything you tell us.”
         6. Moses went upon Mount Sinai to communicate with God and was gone forty days.
            1. The same people said to Aaron, “We have no idea what happened to Moses.”
            2. “Make us a god” (they knew and were familiar with idols).
            3. Aaron made them a golden calf and said it was their god who delivered them from Egypt (Exodus 32:1-4).
      2. Their parents had a lot of opportunity to show God their hearts, and they did.
         1. They refused to humble themselves when things did not go as they wished.
         2. They failed the test–unless God was doing what they wanted, they did not trust him.
      3. The admonition to this second generation was simple: show God your heart.
         1. Whatever your experience, show God your heart.
         2. Refuse to make the mistakes your parents made; show God your heart.

   3. The second scripture is found in 2 Chronicles 32:31.
      Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.
      1. This statement is made in reference to King Hezekiah.
      2. Hezekiah was an exceptional king in Judah, one of the few kings who led a reform to move people back to God and His ways.
         1. It was Hezekiah who did what was right in God’s sight as did his ancestor David (2 Chronicles 29:2).
         2. It was Hezekiah that repaired the temple and reinstituted sacrificial worship in the temple (2 Chronicles 29).
         3. It was Hezekiah who reinstituted Passover observance (2 Chronicles 30).
         4. It was Hezekiah’s influence that led the people to destroy idolatrous shrines in the territories of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh (2 Chronicles 31:1).
         5. It was Hezekiah who restored the tithe in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 31:4,5).
         6. It was Hezekiah who trusted God when the superior military force of the King of Assyria tried to destroy Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32).
      3. Hezekiah became a very rich man.
         1. He also made some significant mistakes because of his pride.
         2. But with his wealth and his pride, God left him alone to test him.
         3. God wanted to know all that was in his heart.

2. The only thing we control is our hearts.
   1. What is in our hearts lives there by our choice.
      1. Our choices make our hearts soft or hard.
      2. Our choices make our hearts compassionate or uncaring.
      3. Our choices cause people to see God in our hearts or cause people to decide God is no big deal.
      4. Our choices determine if our hearts finds joy in evil or finds joy in God.

   2. The only thing you have power over is what exists in your heart.
      1. We have no real control over our future.
      2. We have no real control over our health.
      3. We have no real control over our prosperity.
      4. We have no real control over the events that shape our lives.
      5. The only thing we control is the nature of our hearts.
      6. Our choices reveal to God what is in our hearts.
      7. Those choices might be made in the harshness of the wilderness like Israel or in great prosperity like Hezekiah, but we do show God what is in our hearts by our choices–wherever we make them.

   3. This is not a perfect world.
      1. Life is not fair, and never has been.
      2. Life is not just, and never has been.
      3. Like is not kind, and never has been.
      4. Life is not easy, and never has been.
      5. Life does not focus on convenience, and never has.

   4. Everyone makes hard choices; there are no exceptions.
      1. There are enough failed expectations in everyone’s life to create an angry heart.
      2. There are enough disappointments in everyone’s life to create a jealous heart.
      3. There are enough injustices in everyone’s life to create a mean heart.
      4. There are enough bruises in everyone’s life to create a hard heart.
      5. There is enough evil in everyone’s life to create a corrupt heart.
      6. There is enough coldness in everyone’s life to create a loveless heart.

   5. Each one of us decide what kind of heart we have; it is literally our choice.
      1. It is not a matter of our experiences; it is a matter of our choices in spite of our experiences.
      2. By our choices we show God our decision.
      3. By our choices we show people our decision.

3. So, this summer, what did you teach people about your heart?
   1. First, think about all the things you did this summer.
      1. Make a list.
      2. Where did you go?
      3. What did you do?
      4. How did you spend your time?

   2. Second, think about what your choices taught the people who are important to you about your heart?
      1. What did you teach your children about your heart? If their adult hearts become exactly what they saw in your heart, will you be delighted?
      2. What did you teach your wife about your heart? If her heart becomes exactly what she saw in your heart, will you be delighted?
      3. What did you teach your husband about your heart? If his heart becomes exactly what he saw in your heart, will you be delighted?
      4. What did you teach your friends about your heart? If their hearts pattern themselves after your heart, is that a good thing?

   3. If someone were to review what we revealed about our heart by our choices this summer, what would they conclude?
      1. Would they conclude you have a spiritual heart, a religious heart, or a secular heart?
      2. Would they conclude you have a God centered heart [“God makes them tick”], a pleasure centered heart [“fun makes them tick], or a “thing” centered heart [“possessions make them tick”]?
      3. Would they conclude that we have a serving heart that cares, a heart that does to others what they do to you, or a selfish heart that always takes care of us first?

What did our choices show God about our hearts this summer? Does God look at what we showed Him about our hearts and say, “That person does not have a clue about what life is about.” Or, “That person’s heart really wants My help.” Or, “That heart is truly spiritual. It refuses just to go through the motions of being religious. It belongs to Me.”

This summer taught a lot of people many truths about your heart. This summer also taught God many truths about your heart. What did your choices teach?

Being Like God

Posted by David on August 5, 2001 under Sermons

I want to begin this evening by giving you a problem to solve. Think about it. Be honest with yourself. Refuse to deceive yourself. You certainly do not have to share your solution, but work on a solution.

I once lived in a society that permitted no physical contact between men and women in public. Any form of public physical contact between a man and a woman meant they were not married, but they were sexually involved. Acceptable public physical contact occurred between good friends of the same sex. It was common to see two men walking together holding hands. Because women were so busy when in public [caring for children or preparing for market], you actually saw more men who were friends walking, holding hands. But both were acceptable.

People had so many documents to be physically carried on their person that men often traveled carrying purses. There were frequent roadblocks, and at each roadblock you were required to produce any document the police requested. The convenient way for men to address the situation was to carry all their documents in a purse. It was common to see men traveling carrying purses.

Prostitutes were the only women who wore pants of any kind. Any woman who wore pants of any kind [jeans, slacks, etc.] was immediately understood to be practicing prostitution. Unless you were in a major city where prostitutes wore shorts, women did not wear shorts of any kind.

Your reason for being in this society is to teach people about God and Jesus Christ. You want people to better understand God and Jesus Christ. You want them to develop their understanding from watching your everyday behavior and from listening to what you said.

This is the problem I want you to solve: if you are a single lady, a wife, or the father of a teenage daughter, what do you do? Would the women in your household wear pants in public? Would you hold hands with or touch your wife in public? Would you condemn men for holding hands and carrying purses? How would you behave in public?

At that same time, in our American society if a woman wore jeans or slacks did that mean she was a prostitute? No. At that time, in our society did women wear jeans or slacks? Yes. If men held hands in public and carried purses, what did that mean? In our society, it meant they were homosexually involved. In our society, did dating couples or married couples touch each other in public? Yes.

If you lived in that society and wanted to teach them a correct view of God, what would you do? Would you say, “Those standards are stupid! To attach such significance to such actions is ridiculous! They are obligated to understand me! I am not obligated to follow their customs!”

Or, would you say, “If they misunderstand my behavior and personal conduct, they will misunderstand my God. If I do things they regard to be sexual proclamations, they will assume my God approves of sexual promiscuity. What I wear and how I behave will be conscious of and sensitive to their thoughts and reactions.”

1. For the Christian, God is his or her standard.
   1. The Christian has these understandings.
      1. Every moment of life in every context and every situation, I represent God.
      2. People will develop more of their concepts about my God from my behavior than from my words.
      3. The best way to properly represent God is to understand Jesus.
         1. Jesus perfectly represented God.
         2. The better I understand Jesus and allow Jesus’ attitudes and principles to be my role model, the better I will represent God.
      4. That is every Christian’s fundamental commitment: to use my behavior and my words to help people better understand God.

   2. Lest you think this is just “preacher talk” that I share to push a personal agenda, listen carefully to Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48.
      You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
      1. I ask you to focus on two things in Jesus’ statement.
      2. The first thing: people who follow God with understanding are different.
         1. They do not hate their enemies and love their friends.
         2. Everyone else does that, but they don’t.
         3. They simply do not act like everyone else even when it comes to enemies.
         4. Reactions to enemies come as close to being “a standard negative” in all cultures among all people as any common behavior/reaction you can name.
      3. The second thing: people who follow God are different because they act like God acts.
         1. Let’s stay with Jesus’ enemy illustration of how our righteousness must surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
         2. How does God treat His enemies?
            1. People became God’s enemy by completely perverting God’s “very good” creation through rebellion (Genesis 1:31; 3:1-7).
            2. People went from bad to worse until evil was in complete control of human conduct (Genesis 6:5,6).
            3. God struggled against evil to create Israel.
            4. God struggled against evil in Israel to generate conditions that would allow Him to send His son.
            5. God allowed His creation to reject and kill His son.
            6. God resurrected His son from the dead to give his enemies hope.
            7. God used Jesus’ crucifixion and Jesus’ resurrection to allow His enemies to become His children.
         3. We have never done as much for one of our enemies as God did for all His enemies.
      4. If we let God be our standard, how will we act toward enemies, toward those who cause us harm? We will love them and pray for them.
         1. Even the most ungodly people love people who love them and hate people who hate them.
         2. There is no spiritual reward in a lifestyle that loves people who love us.
         3. There is no spiritual reward in a lifestyle that gives acceptance to people we like–even the people who do not know the living God exists do that.
         4. The Christian’s goal cannot be to look and act like godless people.
      5. God is different.
         1. He made the sun, but He lets the sun rise for people who hate him as well as people who love him.
         2. He lets the rains bless evil people as well as godly people.
      6. God’s spiritual maturity is the standard for all those who belong to God.

2. The fact that God Himself is the standard for the people who choose to follow and belong to Him has always been true.
   1. Leviticus 19:2
      Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”
   2. 2 Corinthians 7:1
      Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
   3. 1 Peter 1:13-21
      Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

3. Consider the moment and circumstances when Jesus made his statement.
   1. Jesus very clearly stated in Matthew 5:20 in the same lesson that the righteousness of the hearers had to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
      1. Have you considered what an astounding statement that was?
      2. Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees did not represent God.
         1. If they listened to the scribes and the Pharisees they would come to wrong conclusions about God.
         2. If they patterned their lives after the lives of the scribes and Pharisees their lives would not reveal God’s priorities and standards.
      3. Wow!

   2. Who were these guys, the scribes and the Pharisees?
      1. The Pharisees:
         1. Were dedicated to ritual purity.
         2. Were dedicated to Scripture as God’s word and gave their understanding of “thus says the Lord” to authorize and authenticate everything they did.
         3. Wore clothing and titles that declared they were religious men who were men of the book.
         4. Were men who knew what scripture said so well that they were convinced that they could pass judgment on everyone else’s beliefs and behaviors.
         5. And they did not represent God! If you listened to them and followed them, you would not act like God wants you to act.
         6. If you listened to them, you would hate your enemies and love those who loved you.
      2. The scribes:
         1. Among other things, made copies of Scripture.
         2. Were technical experts in God’s Word because they made and proofed the copies.
         3. Could tell you how many times every letter of the alphabet occurred in any given book in Scripture.
         4. Knew where the smallest marks went–every dot and dash.
         5. But they did not represent God! If you listened to what they said and followed their example, your life would not show people what God wanted.
         6. If you followed them, you would hate your enemies and love those who loved you.

   3. Let me ask all of us some hard questions.
      1. What does holiness look like? Would people know what holiness looked like if they listened to us and watched our lives?
      2. What does purity look like? Would people know what purity looked like if they listened to us and watched our lives?
      3. What does godliness look like? Would people know what godliness looked like if they listened to us and watch our lives?

Do you have any idea of how much God puts up with in this world every single hour of every single day because He wants His enemies to become His children? And I have the gall to tell God what I will not put up with?

God not only puts up with it, but when we become His children, He forgives it! He treats it with mercy! He looks at us with grace! He loves the ugly and unlovable!

May I share with you one of the greatest heartaches of spiritually growing and honestly reaching for spiritual maturity? The more I mature the more aware I become of the grief I have caused God and do cause God. And God’s love is so great He just asks, “Allow Me be your standard. Represent me conscientiously.”

Do We Know What Love Looks Like?

Posted by David on under Sermons

Once I lived with my family in a place where there were no furniture stores within eighty miles. The roads were in such poor condition it could take up to five hours to drive that eighty miles. It could take up to ten hours driving for the round trip. When you found a furniture store, the clerks did not speak English. Any piece of furniture they sold cost several hundred percent more than the same item sells for here. Needless to say, we did not go furniture shopping.

However, occasionally we needed a specific piece of furniture. For example, our sons were small, their room was small, and we really needed bunk beds. Bunk beds were unknown in that area. But, I knew a carpenter who could build anything if he knew what it looked like. If you could show him a picture, he could build it.

I showed him a picture of bunk beds, explained what they were for, and he built a wonderful set of bunk beds. Never mind that I did not think about how I would get them in the house. Never mind that he made them as a single unit. Never mind that we could not get them in the house after they were built. Never mind that he took them apart and rebuilt them inside the house.

If he knew what something looked like, he could build it.

Maybe this carpenter was like most of us. In our lives, we can build it if we know what it looks like. But, if we do not know what it looks like, we cannot produce it.

1. The Christians living in Corinth faced major problems.
   1. They lived in a very evil environment.
      1. As in every significant city in the Roman empire, idolatry influenced every single aspect of their lives.
         1. No matter how you earned your living, idolatry directly impacted your job.
         2. Every city was full of idols and temples, and Corinth was no exception.
         3. Idolatry was a part of every aspect of city politics.
         4. City officials worshipped and honored the gods.
         5. Morality was defined by the gods.
         6. Ethics was defined by the gods.
         7. Nothing escaped the influence of idolatry.
      2. To make the situation worse, Corinth was a major port city in the Roman empire.
         1. A major trade route to and from the city of Rome passed through Corinth.
         2. Corinth was also the capital of its province.
         3. The city’s environment included everything evil you would expect in a port city on a major trade route.

   2. Societies in the Roman empire and society in Corinth were very different from our society.
      1. Their society was a stratified society, unlike anything we ever have experienced.
      2. We would not even understand how their society worked.
         1. What society expected of people in lower social strata would seem strange to us.
         2. None of us would have enjoyed being a part of their social environment.

   3. Their society had voluntary religious associations.
      1. Such religious associations were common.
      2. Christians at Corinth knew what they looked like and how they functioned.
      3. The evidence suggests that the church in Corinth was conducting itself as a typical pagan religious association.
         1. They knew how to do that
         2. They knew what it looked like.

2. Have you ever found it strange that a letter written to an ungodly, troubled congregation contained what we regard to be a classic piece of biblical literature?
   1. This congregation has some horrible problems.
      1. Division was a major problem in the congregation.
      2. Sexual immorality was a major problem in the congregation.
      3. Selfishness was a major problem in the congregation.
      4. The abuse of God’s gifts was a major problem in the congregation.

   2. Right in the middle of all those horrible, ungodly problems is 1 Corinthians 13.
      1. It is not unusual to read from 1 Corinthians 13 at a wedding. (You would not read any other part of 1 Corinthians at a wedding!).
      2. It is not unusual to read 1 Corinthians 13 when you are motivating people to consider a noble life. (You would not read any other part of 1 Corinthians to motivate people to consider a noble life!).
      3. It is not unusual to read 1 Corinthians 13 when you are challenging a congregation to develop a great spiritual vision. (You would not read any other part of 1 Corinthians to challenge a congregation to develop a great spiritual vision.)

   3. So why is 1 Corinthians 13 there?
      1. These Christians knew what division and rivalry looked like.
      2. They knew what sexual immorality looked like.
      3. They knew what it looked like to take a brother to a pagan court.
      4. They knew what prostitution looked like.
      5. They knew what selfishness, self-centered behavior, jealousy, pettiness, and meanness looked like.
      6. But they did not know what LOVE looked like.
         1. So Paul told them what love looked like.
         2. He described love in very simple, understandable terms.
         3. He contrasted love to the religious things they knew.
         4. He explained love was the only enduring, eternal, spiritual quality that existed–all their other admired religious qualities that they coveted and abused would not exist in heaven.

3. Briefly look at 1 Corinthians 13.
   1. What Paul said in the first three verses was devastating if they really listened.
      1. These Christians placed a high premium on speaking in tongues.
         1. Paul said, “If I could speak every human language,
         2. “If I could speak the language spoken in heaven,
         3. “It would be just empty, meaningless sounds if I did not love.”
      2. These Christians placed a high premium on their selfish use of gifts.
         1. Paul said, “If I had the gift that enabled me to prophesy,
         2. “And if that gift allowed me to know all mysteries and all knowledge,
         3. “With all that I am nothing if I do not have love.”
      3. He said, “If I have the kind of faith that allows me to do a miracle of nature, a miracle that can move a mountain, and I do not have love, I am nothing.”
      4. He said, “If I am the ultimate patron, if in my generosity I give everything I own to feed the poor, if I even sacrifice my very life, and I do not love there is no benefit to me in anything I do.”
      5. The Corinthians knew what tongue-speaking looked like; they knew what prophecy looked like; they knew what miraculous faith looked like; they knew what being a great patron looked like.
      6. But Paul said you could have all those and be nothing if you did not have love.
      7. That was the problem: the Corinthians did not know what love looked like.
         1. They knew what quarreling, rivalry, selfishness, self-centeredness, lust, sexual immorality, and spiritual gifts looked like.
         2. But they did not know what love looked like.

   2. So Paul told them what love looked like.
      1. Love is patient, kind, not jealous, not bragging and arrogant.
      2. Love is not rude, not selfish, is not constantly ready for an argument, does not keep a list of wrongs.
      3. Love never finds joy in what is evil, but always finds joy in what is godly.
      4. Love puts up with anything.

   3. That did not resemble anything happening at Corinth!
      1. That is the reason things were in such a mess.
      2. It was not merely that they were not loving each other.
      3. It was that they did not even know what love looked like.

4. I fear we do not know what love looks like, either.
   1. There are an awful lot of things that would never happen in our lives, in our marriages, or in God’s family if we knew what love looked like and were committed to letting God show us how to be persons of love.
      1. We know what sex looks like in every form and description.
      2. We know what lust looks like.
      3. We know what “one night stands” and recreational sex look like.
      4. We know what affairs look like.
      5. We know what adultery looks like.
      6. We know what divorce looks like.
      7. We know what selfishness looks like.
      8. We know what anger looks like.
      9. We know what abuse looks like.
      10. We know what rivalry looks like.
      11. We know what control looks like.
      12. But far too many of us do not know what love looks like.

   2. So we try real hard to look religious and do necessary religious things.
      1. And Paul did not suggest that should not be done.
      2. Paul said that when we do spiritual things without love, those things are meaningless and without benefit.

5. There is so much pain and suffering in our relationships and in relationships all around us.
   1. So much of that happens because people do not know what love looks like.
      1. Beginning next Sunday for four days Jerry and Lynn Jones will be with us in a special seminar called “Marriage Matters.”
      2. This is not just another religious exercise a congregation is supposed to have.
      3. It is quite practical: from experience, they know about a spouse’s death, an unfaithful spouse, and divorce.
      4. A lot of what they share will help anyone learn what love looks like.

   2. Because we do not know what love looks like, because we would rather look like our culture than our Lord, we look like everyone else. Listen:
      1. Jesus to the eleven:
         John 13:34,35 “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.”
      2. Paul to Christians in Rome:
         Romans 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
      3. John to Christians:
         1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.
      4. Paul to the Christians at Corinth:
         1 Corinthians 13:13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Do you know what love looks like? Do others who are a part of your life know that you know what love looks like? May I share a personal goal with you? I want others to see love when I am at my worst. If love governs me at my worst, it will certainly govern me at my best.

We live in a country, a culture, a society, that does not know what love looks like. It is not enough that we tell people what it looks like. We must show people what love looks like. We know what it looks like because we have seen it. We saw it on a cross and in a resurrection.