SPUTTERING, STUTTERING, AND SHUDDERING
JOHN 15:4-5 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Introduction: In John 15, Christ presents Himself as the True Vine and the disciples as branches of that Vine deriving their strength and energy from the Vine. He further points out that without Him they could do nothing; “nothing that is spiritually good; no, not anything at all, be it little or great, easy or difficult to be performed. They cannot think a good thought, speak a good word, or do a good action; can neither begin one, nor, when it is begun, perfect it. Nothing is to be done "without Christ"; without his Spirit, grace, strength, and presence.” (Gill) Without Christ providing us with our strength and ability we are no more than sputtering, stuttering, shuddering Christians.
I. Sputtering
A. A man in North Carolina bought a new car with a voice-warning system. ... At first he was amused to hear the soft female voice gently remind him that his seat belt wasn’t fastened. ... Edwin affectionately called this voice the "little woman." He soon discovered his little woman was programmed to warn him about his gasoline. "Your fuel level is low," she said one time in her sweet voice. Edwin nodded his head and thanked her. He figured he still had enough to go another fifty miles, so he kept on driving. But a few minutes later, her voice interrupted again with the same warning. And so it went over and over. Although he knew it was the same recording, Edwin thought her voice sounded harsher each time. Finally, he stopped his car and crawled under the dashboard. After a quick search, he found the appropriate wires and gave them a good yank. So much for the little woman! He was still smiling to himself a few miles later when his car began sputtering and coughing. He ran out of gas! Somewhere inside the dashboard, Edwin was sure he could hear the little woman laughing. People like Edwin learn before long that the little voice inside, although ignored or even disconnected, often tells them exactly what they need to know. – copied
B. Sputter is defined as to spit or throw out (bits or drops) in an explosive manner. Synonyms for sputtering are stumbling, stuttering, faltering
C. Matthew 25:1-10 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.”
D. Many Christians are sputtering along and about to burn out. They are running with the fuel gauge on empty wondering why they are ineffective and how they are ever going to make it. Their batteries are not charged up and their tanks are empty.
E. If we are going to do anything for God in 2009 we must be charged up, tuned up, and fueled up.
F. Ephesians 5:18 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit”
G. Romans 15:1 “Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status.”
II. Stuttering
A. A enormously muscular guy with a bad stutter goes to a counter in a department store and asks, "W-w-w-where’s the m-m-m-men’s dep-p-p-partment?" The clerk behind the counter just looks at him and says nothing. The man repeats himself: "W-w-w-where’s the m-m-m-men’s dep-p-p-partment?" Again, the clerk doesn’t answer him. The guy asks several more times: "W-w-w-where’s the m-m-m-men’s dep-p-p-partment?" And the clerk just seems to ignore him. Finally, the guy is angry and storms off. The customer who was waiting in line behind the guy asks the clerk, "why wouldn’t you answer that guy’s question?" The clerk answers, "D-d-d-do you th-th-th-think I w-w-w-want to get b-b-b-beat up?!" - copied
B. Moses used stuttering as an excuse for not carrying out God’s will.
1. Exodus 4:10 “Moses raised another objection to God: ‘Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.’”
2. Exodus 6:12 “Moses answered God, ‘Look - the Israelites won’t even listen to me. How do you expect Pharaoh to? And besides, I stutter.’”
3. Exodus 6:30 “And Moses answered, ‘Look at me. I stutter. Why would Pharaoh listen to me?’”
C. In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering. – Howard Hendricks.
D. Exodus 4:11-12 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.’” (ESV)
E. If God did not intend for you to be His witness, He would not send the Holy Spirit – which also means—if you have the Holy Spirit then you have all the power you need to be His witness. If you don’t want to be a witness – then you’re effectively saying you don’t want the Holy Spirit or His work in your life. – Kelly Reed
F. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (ESV)
G. The Holy Spirit is present in this world and in our hearts to Empower and Embolden us to be His witnesses—the Holy Spirit is not meant for the few elite—He is meant for all—but He will work through you—and witness through you in a way that is different from me. - Kelly Reed
H. The world might say there are many reasons why God wouldn’t want to use you or me. But don’t worry... Moses stuttered. David’s armor didn’t fit. John Mark was rejected by Paul. Hosea’s wife was a prostitute. Amos’ only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning. Solomon was too rich. Abraham was too old. David was too young. Timothy had ulcers. Peter was afraid of death. Lazarus was dead.
John was self-righteous. Naomi was a widow. Paul was a murderer. So was Moses. Jonah ran from God. Miriam was a gossip. Gideon and Thomas both doubted. Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal. Elijah was burned out. John the Baptist was a loudmouth. Martha was a worrywart. Mary was lazy. Samson had long hair. Noah got drunk. Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse? So did Peter, Paul - well, lots of folks did. But God doesn’t require a job interview. He doesn’t hire and fire like most bosses, because He’s more our Dad than our Boss.
God doesn’t look at financial gain or loss. He’s not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging, sassy, or brassy, not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need. As much as we try, God’s gifts are free. We could do wonderful things for wonderful people, and still not be ... Wonderful. Satan says, "You’re not worthy." Jesus says, "So what? I AM." Satan looks back and sees our mistakes. God looks back and sees the cross. He doesn’t calculate what you did in 2008. It’s not even on the record. Sure. There are many reasons why God shouldn’t want us. But if we are utterly in love with Him, if we hunger for Him more than our next breath, He’ll use us in spite of who we are, where we’ve been, or what we look like. And thank God for that fact!
III. Shuddering
A. To shudder is to tremble with a sudden convulsive movement, as from horror, fear, or cold.
B. James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder!
C. Demons believe good theology! They believe in God. They believe in the Trinity. They believe in the deity of Christ. All demons believe in the death of Christ on the cross for the sins of the world. Any demon could sign our doctrinal statement! They believe everything we believe. And they even go beyond just mental assent because James says that their response to this knowledge is that “they shudder!” The word used here means “to shudder, to bristle, to have their hair stand on end, to be struck with extreme fear, to be horrified”. They’re in grave fear. They understand the full implications of what they believe.”
D. The faith of demons touches the mind and the emotions, but that’s it. Saving faith involves more. It includes the intellect, the emotions, and a surrendered will to God as Supreme and Christ as Savior.
E. The problem we have is that Christians too often shudder at the wrong things. They shudder out of a fear of man rather than a fear of God.
F. Philippians 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
G. Fear and Trembling = Tromos = a trembling or quaking with fear, used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously does his utmost to fulfill his duty.
H. Christian culture today portrays a God who is too much our friend to ever give us reason to tremble - but that is to our own detriment.
I. William Barclay notes that "this is not the fear and trembling of the slave cringing before his master; nor fear and trembling at the prospect of punishment. It comes from two things. It comes, first, from a sense of our own creatureliness and our own powerlessness to deal with life triumphantly. That is to say, it is not the fear and trembling which drives us to hide from God, but rather the fear and trembling which drives us to seek God, in the certainty that without His help we cannot effectively face life. It comes, second, from a horror of grieving God. When we really love a person, we are not afraid of what he may do to us; we are afraid of what we may do to him." (Barclay, W: The Daily study Bible series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press)
J. The thought of standing before the Most Holy God should cause everyone whether saved or unsaved, to weigh carefully every thought, every word, every deed, every inaction, every aspect of every day of their life in relation to total obedience and dependence on God for His mercy, strength, and grace.
Conclusion: Without Christ we can do nothing that is spiritually good; no, not anything at all, whether it is little or great, easy or difficult, - NOTHING AT ALL! Daily we need His power lest we sputter and cease to run the race on all cylinders to the finish line. We need His grace upon our stuttering, stammering tongues to convey the words of life to the dying. And we need to shudder in recognition of our dependence of His holy presence to do anything at all for Him.
