February 4, 2007
Morning Worship
Text: Matthew 19:16-22; Ephesians 3:14-20
Subject: Living for Jesus
Title: Rising Above Spiritual Mediocrity
This guy sees a sign in front of a house: "Talking Dog for Sale."
He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the backyard. The guy goes into the backyard and sees a black mutt just sitting there. "You talk?" he asks.
"Yep," the mutt replies.
"So, what’s your story?"
The mutt looks up and says, "Well, I discovered this gift pretty young and I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA about my gift, and in no time they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies eight years running. The jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn’t getting any younger and I wanted to settle down. So I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security work, mostly wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings there and was awarded a batch of medals. Had a wife, a mess of puppies, and now I’m just retired
The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog. The owner says, "Ten dollars."
The guy says, "This dog is amazing. Why on earth are you selling him, so cheap?"
The owner replies, "He’s such a liar. He didn’t do any of that stuff."
One of the things that I really enjoyed in high school was geometry class. I loved to do proofs and try to logically show why a problem was right or wrong. I think that has influenced the way I preach because I like to logically show by the scriptures that what I am saying is accurate. Now with that being said, did you know that eighty-five percent of Americans consider themselves to be Christian? The Bible says that Christians are known by the fruit they produce. Now, following a line of logic along that route, if eighty-five percent are Christian then our society should be moving in a direction where things are becoming gradually more Christianized. All you have to do is look around to see that it’s not so. So from a logical standpoint we can only assume that either the statistic is wrong or that some of who call themselves Christian are not really Christian. You can be the judge, but I would venture to say that there are some who call themselves Christian because they go to church or have once made a profession of Christ. For the former, sorry- it doesn’t work that way. For the latter - there is hope for you yet, because God does not intend for you to live out your Christian walk without producing fruit.
We don’t have to be like the talking dog who kind of misses the point of the miraculous by telling lies. As we look at the scriptures today I want to share a story of a young man who was never going to live up to what God had called him to, and then I want to show you how you can live a life pleasing to God.
God expects you to rise above spiritual mediocrity.
Matthew 19:16-22
I. THE SHAME OF SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE. (16) Did you ever notice the similarity between how the world thinks and the way the rich young ruler thought. The world wants to save itself. The world thinks that at the end of life God will put all your good in one hand and the bad in the other and then weigh it like a scale and if the good outweighs the bad then maybe you get to go to heaven. "16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" The audacity of anyone to think that there is some way that they could earn their way to heaven is beyond me. But that is what people tend to want to do. You see when I keep control of our own life I can determine what I want to keep and what I want to throw out. That way I can hold on to the things that bring me pleasure. The word "do" in the Greek is derived from a word that refers to a repeated action. "What good thing must I keep doing to gain eternal life?" He obviously thought that he had it all covered. And it just kind of seems to me like he was looking for an answer that would tell him what he must do while allowing him to do other things and get by with it. 17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments" 18"Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied,"Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother" and "love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus’ response deals with the commandments concerning one’s relationships with other people. That’s just the way the world understands goodness.
II. THE FOLLY OF SPIRITUAL PRIDE. (20) 20"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" I need to share something with you. I am a die hard born in Missouri "Show Me" kind of a guy. Maybe I am a bit of a skeptic. I’m not a pessimist but if you tell me something about yourself and you want me to believe it you are going to have to show me that you are real. Many people believe that people are inherently good and gravitate toward bad things, but the Bible says people are born with the propensity to sin and can only gravitate toward good through a relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s my point. If you say you are "good" in that sense show me! There is no doubt that the young man had been brought up knowing the Ten Commandments. And I am sure that he thought he had followed the letter of the law. His outward appearance may have said he was OK with God. He was sure confident - confident enough to say, "Been there, done that! What else you want me to do?" But you know even in his pride he understood that there was still something missing. I know that we aren’t supposed to base our relationship with God on emotions alone but there must have been a nagging doubt in his soul that told him he just didn’t feel saved. All the practical religion he had experienced as a child wasn’t enough. All the Sabbaths spent in the synagogue wasn’t enough. Living a good life wasn’t enough. Paul explains it in Philippians 3, "7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ" What do I still lack? I think the young man had to hit rock bottom in order to ask that question. I think he had to come to the conclusion that his righteousness was as filthy rags and his idea of obedience to the commandments still didn’t match up to God’s requirements - perfection. Though he thought he had met the requirements because of his relationship with other people, his relationship with God had fallen short.
III. THE HORROR OF SPIRITUAL WEAKNESS. 21Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth." To me this is one of the saddest stories in the Bible. Paul warned Timothy of things to be aware of in the church. It was human nature reaching its sinful climax. It appears to have its origin not in the church but in the nature of man. "1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God¡ - 5having a form of godliness but denying its power." This young man walked away from what Jesus was offering him - eternal life. Many Christians tread on thin ice also by refusing to give up things that stand between them and a victorious life in Christ. My Mom told me long ago that I should never say, "I can’t" because can’t means you don’t want to.¡¨ Paul says the same thing, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me..." So for all Christians who struggle to rise above the level of mediocrity in the faith, I want you to listen. There is hope for you! Turn over to Ephesians 3:14-20
1) Prayer for God’s strength. "14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family„T in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Are you struggling with going to the next level with Jesus? You don’t have to. Pray! Ask for strength. Then change! "Pastor Mike, I can’t do it." That’s right where God wants you. For it’s when you get to the place of hopelessness in your own strength that His strength becomes a reality. So don’t ask for God to change you if you are not willing to do what He says.
2) Receive God’s Power. "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." The Spirit of the living God is living inside of you. Allow the Holy Spirit to testify to your spirit about the fullness of God’s love for you in Christ Jesus. It’s so wide that the enemy can’t get around it to attack from behind, it’s so long that it goes on ahead of you for eternity, it’s so high that you will never get over it, and it’s so deep that it reaches to the innermost parts of your being, even into the spirit man so "that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of Christ."
3) Accept God’s Purpose. "20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen." Let’s go back to my logic arguments. If we are told to pray for God’s strength and power, and His power dwells in us, then this verse tells us that He is able to do in us and through us more than we can imagine, to His glory.
So, is there any reason that the word "can’t" is still in your vocabulary? Is there any reason that the holiness that is from God is not manifesting itself in you? Is there any reason that you are not living above spiritual mediocrity? Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13, "11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." And "we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" Holy but not haughty; righteous and not restless; faithful and not fruitless; mature and not mediocre. Scottish theologian John Brown said, "Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervours, or uncommanded austerities; it consists in thinking as God thinks, and willing as God wills."
I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
If you told someone today that you were a Christian would your life back up your words? If the answer is no, then it is time to rise above that spiritual mediocrity and become the awesome man or woman of God that you were intended to be. All you have to do is ask and then allow Him to work through you. Maybe the flesh is weak but the power you have in your spirit man will overpower the flesh if you let it.
Rise up and glorify the Lord with your life.
