INTRO.- What’s your destiny in life? Did you know when you graduated from high school what your destiny was? What you would become? And where you would be now? You may have had an idea you would live in Arkansas, but did you know what you’d do for a living? And if you’d follow the faith in which you were raised?
ILL.- There was a frog that absolutely knew his destiny was to turn in to a handsome young prince. But for confirmation, he decided to visit a fortune teller. The fortune teller brought the frog in and gazed into her crystal ball. She said, “Oh, I see something. You are going to meet a beautiful young woman.” The frog got very nervous, “Yes, I knew it. I’m going to become a prince.”
The fortune teller continued, “From the moment she sets eyes on you she will have an insatiable desire to know all about you. She will be compelled to get close to you and you’ll fascinate her." The frog was very excited. He asked, “Where am I? At a singles club?” The fortune teller answered, “No, Biology class.”
ILL.- There once was an oyster whose story I tell, Who found that sand had got under his shell; Just one little grain, but it gave him much pain, For oysters have feelings although they’re so plain. Now, did he berate the working of Fate Which had led him to such a deplorable state? Did he curse out the Government, call for an election? No; as he lay on the shelf, he said to himself, "If I cannot remove it, I’ll try to improve it."
So the years rolled by as the years always do, And he came to his ultimate destiny -- stew. And this small grain of sand which had bothered him so, Was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow. Now this tale has a moral -- for isn’t it grand What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand; What couldn’t we do if we’d only begin With all of the things that get under our skin.
That’s kind of like the old lemonade story. If someone hands you a lemon you make lemonade out of it.
Sometimes life does hand you a lemon. What do you do? Some people allow it to get them down. Some look to the Lord and try to overcome it by His grace and help. When life goes wrong, (and it will) the Lord is the only one who can make things right! He can make lemonade out of lemons! And sometimes, we’re that lemon!
ILL.- Jesse “The Body” Ventura (ex-pro wrestler) and Minnesota’s former governor said on December 2002, "God has a plan and a destiny for each one of us. I wasn’t always a believer, but through my wife and a couple of close friends, in the last couple of years, I have come to believe in God and that He has a plan and a destiny for my life. I challenge you to find your destiny. It’s the most important thing for each of you to find."
PROP.- In this text, in a sense, we see the destiny of every Christian. God’s basic will for us is revealed in this text.
1- The destiny of spreading the gospel
2- The destiny of encouraging others
3- The destiny of experiencing trials
I. THE DESTINY OF SPREADING THE GOSPEL
1So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ.
God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ.
I Cor. 3:8-10 "The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building." "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds."
We are fellow workers in the Lord’s work. We may not preach or teach but we still labor together. WE’RE IN THIS THING TOGETHER, THIS CAUSE, THE CHURCH, AND THE SPREADING OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
This is why we need to support one another’s work for Christ.
ILL.- We applaud one another for their work in the church: singing, playing instruments, preparing communion, serving communion, giving communion devotions, getting supplies, working in the nursery, teaching SS, working in children’s church and toddler’s church, working in VBS, etc.
WE APPLAUD PEOPLE WHO SERVE IN THESE VARIOUS WAYS! But these things are done WITHIN the church services and we need to do some things OUTSIDE the church services as well! Mainly, advertise and evangelize! Advertise the church and evangelize people for Christ!
If Tom Cruise can spread his junk about Scientology, then what about us when it comes to the eternal truth of the gospel? We know what the Word of God says, how it reads.
Matthew 28:18-20 "Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
ILL.- Once there was an old hermit who lived on the side of a mountain. There were three little boys who were always trying to outsmart the old hermit. One of the little boys said, "I’ll put a marble in my hand and we will go to the old man and ask him what it is I have in my hand. So the three boys went to visit the old man and the little boy said, "Old man, what have I in my hand?" The old hermit answered, "A marble".
The three boys left and came back with another similar senario and to the boy’s astonishment the old man in his wisdom was able to answer the question.
The next day the boys were pondering the situation trying to come up with something so ingenious that the old man would never guess the answer. Then one of the boy’s said, "I know, I’ll put this baby bird in my hand and I’ll ask the old man if the bird is alive or dead and if he says the bird is alive, I will crush it in my hand and outsmart the old man."
So with smiles on their faces they went back to the old hermit’s house and the little boy said, "Old man, what have I in my hand?" The old man answered, "A baby bird." Then the boy said, "Is this bird alive or dead?" The old man looked at the little boy and said, "It is as you wish my son, it is as you wish".
The fate of that little bird rested in the hands of that little boy just as the destiny of our souls rest in our own hands. And it may well be that the destiny of others is in our hands! We can allow them to live or we can crush them.
II. THE DESTINY OF ENCOURAGING OTHERS
2We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. STRENGTHEN AND ENCOURAGE YOU IN YOUR FAITH.
How is your faith? Is it strong or is it lacking something?
ILL.- Recently I got an email from a man in his early 70’s who had been a Christian all his life. He told me that he’d been reading a book entitled, "Questioning God." Well, there is nothing wrong with questioning God about puzzling things in life. We’re all puzzled about something and it’s ok to ask God.
I wrote back to my friend, "At your age, are you still questioning God?" Like: "Why should you question God?" I took it to mean that perhaps he questioned God’s existence, power, etc., but that probably wasn’t what he was questioning God about at all.
The point being: we all lack faith at times and we all need to be strengthened and encouraged by one another.
Romans 15:1-2 "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up."
ILL.- It is said that Albert Scweitzer once stated, "I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know; the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."
What does this mean? Happiness is found by giving to others. It’s found in serving and Jesus came not to be served, but to serve.
Are you strengthening anyone in the faith? Are you giving out any encouragement?
ILL.- Recently, we had a water leak in our water fountain. And VBS was starting the next day. Ray Sandy to the rescue. Ray fixed the leak in just a short time. I TRIED TO ENCOURAGE RAY ALL THAT I COULD! "Hey, you’re doing a great job. There’s another plumbing problem over here." NOT REALLY.
But do you realize that not everyone can do plumbing work? This is like Matt Sandy who takes care of the Toddler’s church. Not many people can handle the toddlers, but Matt can. He’s a kid magnet.
And everyone needs some encouragement for their good work. When did you last say "thank you" to someone for what they did? Or when did you last say something like, "Good job!"
ILL.- A man said: One morning I opened the door to get the newspaper and was surprised to see a strange little dog with our paper in his mouth. Delighted with this unexpected "delivery service," I fed him some treats. The following morning I was horrified to see the same dog sitting in front of our door, wagging his tail, surrounded by eight newspapers. I spent the rest of that morning returning the papers to their owners.
What’s the point? Feed everyone doggie treats and you’ll get more work out of them! Ok, how about feed people some honest and sincere compliments? Our destiny is to encourage one another, to help one another, to bless one another.
ILL.- William Arthur Ward said, “Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you."
III. THE DESTINY OF EXPERIENCING TRIALS
2We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. 4In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
Destined for trials. I don’t like the sound of this verse.
ILL.- Did you ever try your hand at boxing? I did and discovered something very quickly. When I was probably 18 years old I went to the Joplin, MO, Boy’s club and said to the man in charge, "I want to box." Basically, he said, "Put on these gloves and let’s see what you got." I got in the ring and lasted only one round. I found out afterward that I sparred that one round with a three-time Golden Glove champion and I never hit him one time! But he hit me dozens of times. He was so fast I could hardly believe it. He didn’t hit hard but he was fast. I came out of that ring with a bloody mouth and don’t remember what else. I NEVE WENT BACK EITHER!
But I still like to watch boxing matches even though at times it can be pretty brutal. The point is: If you get in the boxing ring as a boxer you’re going to get hit and it’s not much fun!
ILL.- Here’s another interesting occupation. Car mechanic. Did you ever do any mechanic work? In 1992, I think I was, I bought my daughter Holly a 1984 Chevrolet Celebrity with V6 engine. It had belonged to an elderly woman who died and it had only 29,000 miles so I figured it would be a good car for Holly.
One day I told Holly that I was going to change the spark plugs on the engine in her car. It was V6 front-wheel drive car. Do you know what that means? It means that the engine is sideways. I only had 6 spark plugs to change so it was no big deal. The front three spark plugs were right up front, very easy to get to. It took maybe 10 minutes to change those. Then I had to crawl on top of the engine to get to the back three plugs.
And oh my goodness! Talk about hard! It took me well over an hour to change those back three spark plugs and nearly killed my back in the process, not counting the grease and grime.
Guess what? If you’re going to do mechanic work you’re going to get dirty!!!
I Pet. 4:12-13 "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."
Trials are a part of every life. They are also a part of every Christian’s life. That’s our destiny in Christ.
CONCLUSION--------------------------
ILL.- When King Louis XIV of France was dethroned, someone kidnapped his son. They tried to spoil him and dethrone him. The people who captured him exposed him to vulgar language, excessive alcohol and women—anything to feed his passions and to try to keep him from fulfilling his destiny.
After 6 months he refused and refused and refused. Finally his captors said, “Why haven’t you given in to any of these passions? Why haven’t you indulged yourself in any of these things?”
The king’s son replied “I cannot indulge in any of those things because I was born to be a king!”
Brothers and sisters, we were born or born again to be God’s children. Children of King. He chose us to live a higher and holier life. That’s the kind of life that honors Him most. And that’s our destiny!
