INTRO.- ILL.- As a father came home from his work he saw his little daughter who had been playing in the mud. He said to her, “My, you’re pretty dirty.” In her childish way she replied, “Yes, I know daddy, but I’m prettier clean.”
I think we’re all prettier when we’re clean. At least, we are prettier in God’s eyes when we’re clean and blameless.
A blameless life. It sounds almost impossible, does it not?
ILL.- A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter. So he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled the block 100 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES."
When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note. "I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, I'll lose my job. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION."
ILL.- I remember one time when preacher Bob Russell was the Senior Minister for the large Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY, he told this story on himself. I think it was Easter, Sunday afternoon, just after church. And Bob was in a hurry to get to a family gathering. The best I remember, he got stopped at a railroad crossing. The signs had come down, warning people to stop because a train was coming. Since Bob was in a hurry, he looked around and didn’t see the train so he drove around those warning signs. He didn’t get far when a policeman pulled him over. Bob admitted that he was in a hurry to get somewhere and that’s why he drove around the railroad crossing signs. Bob knew that he deserved a ticket and figured he would get one.
Fortunately, for him the police officer who pulled him over was a member of his church and took pity on him, but warned him not to do that again. And Bob was humble enough to admit the incident in his own pulpit.
To lead a completely blameless life is hard for any person. If it’s not impossible, it’s next to impossible, but of course, there are certain things we can do to help us lead a better life.
2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life—when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart.
PROP.- How to live a blameless life
1- Focus on the Lord
2- Have nothing to do with evil
3- Cast away pride
I. FOCUS ON THE LORD
1 I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will sing praise. 6 My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me. I will sing of your love.
I take this to mean that the Psalmist focused on the Lord. Otherwise, why would he sing to the Lord? If you sing gospel songs, traditional or otherwise, more than likely you do it to honor the Lord. Why else would you sing gospel songs? And if your eyes on the faithful followers of the Lord then you are also focusing on the Lord.
ILL.- Long ago, a preacher was visiting at a couple’s new home out in the country. The preacher spent the night there. He was awakened the next morning by the soft voice of a soprano singing, “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” He was impressed by the young woman, since she evidently began her day by singing to the Lord. At breakfast he spoke to her about it and told her how pleased he was. “Oh,” she replied, “that’s the hymn I boil the eggs by; three verses for soft and five for hard.”
Any time you sing gospel is a good time whether boiling eggs or otherwise. I prefer singing while driving in the car by myself and in my office by myself. When do you sing to the Lord? If you don’t, why don’t you?
Ephesians 5:19-20 “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Any time you sing to the Lord from your heart, no matter how it sounds, it is pleasing to Him and will increase your devotion to Him and help you to lead a better life.
I Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray continually” or “Pray without ceasing.”
You know as well as I do that if we spent every day in the spirit of prayer we’d live better lives. If we constantly communed with the Lord we would be better people. And the same thing holds true for singing to the Lord.
There is more than one way, of course to focus on the Lord.
Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
We focus on the Lord by studying His Word! Many people believe in the inspired Word of God but they don’t read it or study it!
ILL.- When I was in Joplin, MO, for the OCC preaching convention I went to visit my old college professor, Wilbur Fields, in the nursing home. He had me sit down and started showing me papers where he was still writing notes from the Psalms and the book of Amos. In fact, he sent some papers home with me. He was keeping mind alert by continuing to study even in that nursing home.
And what helps me in my study of God’s Word is preparing sermons. Maybe if you tried to prepare some lessons from scripture it might help you in your study and focus. Or if you would volunteer to teach a Bible class or Sunday School then you will become a better student of scripture also a better person. Scripture can make you clean and keep you clean if you focus on it because it’s the powerful Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
ILL.- An African woman was asked if she enjoyed reading her new Bible. She replied, “Sir, I am not reading this Book. This Book is reading me!” God’s Word does that and even more.
Psalm 119:9-11 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
ILL.- Golf immortal Arnold Palmer recalls a lesson about overconfidence: “It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament, and I had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot. I felt I was in pretty good shape. As I approached my ball, I saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. He motioned me over, stuck out his hand and said "Congratulations." I took his hand and shook it, but as soon as I did, I knew I had lost my focus.”
DON’T LOSE YOUR FOCUS! Keep your eyes on the Lord through scripture, prayer and singing.
II. HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EVIL
3 I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. 4 Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil.
8 Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.
ILL.- A unique experiment occurred recently at the University of Alberta. Twenty chickens were exposed to TV 24 hours a day for two-and-a-half months, after which they became blind, staggered and wandered about in a daze. Mrs. Jean Luber, a professor of zoology at the university, found that the chickens, when exposed to continued television, developed glaucoma, which often results in blindness. AND IT DOES EVEN MORE THAN THAT!
Thomas Carlyle: “The greatest security against sin is to be shocked at its presence.” But the problem in America is that we are no longer shocked by the presence of sin. Anything goes in America and it’s on TV, the internet, at the movies, etc. What was once only seen at the movie show and rated “R” is now almost every day viewing on TV. It’s no wonder that kids get bad ideas and do bad things today. It’s all glorified on TV as being normal behavior: drinking, drugs, pre-marital sex, the gay lifestyle, shooting, killing, etc.
ILL.- In London, England, the father of a sixteen-year-old boy told a juvenile court that the boy, after doing nothing but watch television for nearly eight months, “has been reduced to the state of a zombie.” The father confessed that the boy was “beyond control.”
ILL.- Robert Liever, professor of psychology at New York State University, stated that “the cumulative effect of violent television programming might be likened to the planting of a bomb which might explode over a period of ten to twenty years. Every murder or violent act a child witnesses on TV is like a small, even a minuscule weight placed on the balance. He said that eventually the balance might tip triggering violent acts on the part of individuals who previously appeared normal.”
ILL.- “The TV Is My Shepherd” The Twenty-Third Channel—The TV is my shepherd; my spiritual growth shall want. It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for His name’s sake, because it requireth all my leisure time. It keepeth me from doing my duty as a Christian because it presenteth so many good shows I must see.
It restoreth my knowledge of the things of the world and keepeth me from the study of God’s Word. It leadeth me in the paths of failing to attend church and being useless in the kingdom of God.
Yes, though I live to be a hundred, I shall keep viewing my TV as long as it will work, for it is my closest companion. It presenteth entertainment before me and keepeth me from doing important things with my family. It fills my head with ideas which differ from those in the Word of God.
3 I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. 4 Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil. It’s what we see and who we run with that corrupts our hearts and minds.
I Thessalonians 5:22 “Avoid every kind of evil.”
If we want to stay as blameless as possible in the sight of God then we must avoid evil wherever it is and every kind of evil.
III. CAST AWAY PRIDE
5 whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure. 7 No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.
ILL.- In the comic strip, one day Linus is talking things over with Charlie Brown. He explains to him: “When I get big, I’m going to be a humble, little country doctor. I’ll live in the city, see, and every morning I’ll get up, climb into my sports car and zoom into the country! Then I’ll start healing people.... I’ll heal everybody for miles around!” Then in the last frame he winds it up, “I’ll be a world-famous, humble, little country doctor!”
How can you be world-famous and humble at the same time?
Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
ILL.- One man said he owed his success to something learned from his Dominicker rooster. That rooster was a powerful fighter. He could fly higher and cut deeper than any other rooster in the neighborhood. But he often lost fights against weaker roosters. His trouble was that right in the middle of a fight, he’d stop to crow. Any time we stop to crow about ourselves in life we’re headed for certain trouble.
Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
People who are totally sold on themselves often find themselves falling into some kind of trouble after a period of time.
ILL.- The one-time Heavyweight boxing champ of the world, Muhammed Ali, said, “I am the greatest...I am the king.” Even though many people think highly of him he is now a broken man with a form of Parkinson disease.
- The 7-time Tour De France winner, Lance Armstrong, vehemently denounced using drugs or blood-doping during his cycling career and now what? Look at where he is now.
Proverbs 15:33 “Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honor.”
I Peter 5:5 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Preacher Dwight L. Moody said: “God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.”
Augustine said: “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
ILL.- John Newton who wrote the song, “Amazing Grace” had the right attitude. He said, “When I get to heaven I shall see three wonders there. The first wonder will be, to see many people there whom I did not expect to see—the second wonder will be, to miss many people whom I did expect to see; and the third and greatest wonder of all, will be to find myself there.”
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. Can’t we all honestly say those words and sing that song? And this is also the way we should live.
CONCLUSION------------------------
Blameless doesn’t mean perfection because we can never reach perfection. If there is any perfection, it is in Christ. And our perfection is in Him.
II Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Because of Christ, we stand blameless before God. But while we live in the flesh we must strive to live a blameless life as much as possible.
We must work hard to: 1- Focus on the Lord 2- Have nothing to do with evil 3- Cast away pride
