Psalms 31:23 “O love the Lord, all you His godly ones! The Lord preserves the faithful and fully recompenses the proud doer.”What does that mean? What does it mean to love the Lord biblically? My understanding of biblical love includes an attitudinal response and demonstrated obedience, if we obey we are assured both reward and retribution… What is the attitude of love? We can say I love you and truly mean it, but what if we are saying it to a Twinkie? I love you Twinkie… as we savor every bite. How about your parents… I love you mom, I love you dad. Those words have meaning, but how do we know that what our children are saying is true? It’s in their attitude toward us, it’s in their obedience toward us. It’s the same with our heavenly Father… IF we love the Lord with all of our heart mind and spirit and we do not obey His commands do we truly love Him? He has very simple rules… Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and soul, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Over the last year, I’ve seen some very good ministries supported financially by this body of believers. I’ve also seen some volunteerism from many of you in our community. I think that’s wonderful and it is demonstrated obedience. What kind of sacrifices did you make to volunteer at those events? Did you miss something you wanted to do because you had committed to working that event on that day? Loving God requires sacrifice. Deny yourself, and follow Me… The Psalm I read includes the word doer… I’ve had a song running through my head for a few weeks. I don’t know how long this song has been out, but I really listened to the words to it about 3 weeks ago and it really hit me… It goes like this…
I woke up this morning Saw a world full of trouble now Thought, how’d we ever get so far down
How’s it ever gonna turn around So I turned my eyes to Heaven I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?” Well, I just couldn't bear the thought of People living in poverty Children sold into slavery The thought disgusted me So, I shook my fist at Heaven Said, “God, why don’t You do something?” He said, “I did, I created you”
What is going on in our world that absolutely disgusts you? What truly breaks your heart? Is it easy to ignore when it doesn't affect you directly? In Matthew 7:24 Jesus says “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Receiving, reading, researching, remembering, and reflecting on the Word of God are all useless if we fail to put them into practice. Jarod and I were talking on Wednesday and we spoke about James 1:22, which says We must become doers of the word. I understand this is a hard step, because Satan fights it so intensely. He doesn't mind you going to Bible studies as long as you don’t do anything with what you learn. We fool ourselves when we assume that just because we have heard or read or studied a truth, we have internalized it.
Actually, you can be so busy going to the next class or seminar or Bible conference that you have no time to implement what you've learned. You forget it on the way to your next study. Without putting words into action, all our Bible studies are worthless. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24 NIV).
Jesus also pointed out that God’s blessing comes from obeying the truth, not just knowing it. He said, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them, not ponder, not think about, not talk about, but (do) them” (John 13:17).
I cannot overstate the value of being a part of a small Bible study discussion group. We always learn from others truths we would never learn on our own. Other people will help you see insights you would miss and help you apply God’s truth in a practical way.
Let’s turn to Romans chapter 2, I’m going to read through verse 13 ” Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”
Although scripture everywhere teaches that salvation is not on the basis of works, it consistently teaches that God’s judgment is always on the basis of a person’s deeds. Paul describes the deeds of two distinct groups, the redeemed and the unredeemed. The deeds of the redeemed are not the basis of their salvation but the evidence of it. They are not perfect and are prone to sin, but there is undeniable evidence of righteousness in their lives. Undeniable evidence… what is that? How they live? How they love? How they share? How they obey?
How do we know our children love us? By the way they show us… how many times have you heard the phrase actions speak louder than words? I can’t count that high myself… We are all God’s children amen? If that is true, and you believe that is true, then we are all brothers and sisters correct? I understand that siblings argue and siblings have rivalries, but in the end, siblings love one another to the point of defending one another against an enemy. Who is our ultimate enemy? Satan… we should defend each other from Satan… when we see someone doing wrong, when we hear someone saying something untrue, we should love that person enough to tell them they are wrong. Not in a condescending way, but lovingly, with the Word of God. And when we are being corrected, we should not get defensive but should listen to what the Word of God has to say about what we are doing or not doing that is not pleasing to the One that created us… How many times did you hear or say the words I’m telling dad what you just did, or I’m telling mom… Guess what, we don’t have to tell dad He can see us all of the time, he can hear every thought in our brain and he knows our hearts…
What does it mean to be a doer of the word? What does the Word tell us to do? I’ve already named a couple of things… how about as you go, make disciples of all nations… this is not something that is easy, it requires relationships it requires sacrifice, it requires love, it requires commitment. When something is required, it is not negotiable… we are required to love our God. We are required to love one another as we love ourselves… I’ve heard it said that the thing that bothers you the most about someone else, bothers you because it is something you don’t like about yourself… I don’t know how true that statement is for others, but I have found if I do a lot of soul searching, there is some truth to that statement.
Verse 11 in our text says there is no partiality with God… He sees everyone the same. We are all equal in His eyes. He loves all of us, all of the time. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve known Him, it doesn’t matter how many people you have told about Him, it doesn’t matter if you are wealthy, it doesn’t matter if you are poor, it doesn’t matter if you drive a Rolls Royce or a Ford Pinto, it doesn’t matter if you were the CEO of the biggest corporation, it doesn’t matter if you are the humanitarian of the year, it doesn’t change your standing in front of the one that created you… He created each of us for a purpose; it is to serve Him… The last couple of verses of the song I referred to earlier go like this…
I’m so tired of talking about how we are God’s hands and feet but it’s easier to say than to be live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves it’s alright, “somebody else will do something” Well, I don’t know about you But I’m sick and tired of life with no desire I don’t want a flame, I want a fire I wanna be the one who stands up and says, “I’m gonna do something”
The chorus of this song is If not us, then who If not me and you Right now, it’s time for us to do something If not now, then when Will we see an end To all this pain It’s not enough to do nothing It’s time for us to do something
We are the salt of the earth We are a city on a hill But we’re never gonna change the world By standing still. This song was written by Matthew West, born and raised in Downer’s Grove, IL and a member of the class of 99 from Millikin University. I think he’s on to something, how about you?
“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” John 13:17
I’m going to ask those singing the song of invitation to come forward. As they do I want to challenge you with these questions…
What has God already told you to do in his Word that you haven’t started doing yet? How do you want God to bless your life? With whom are you sharing what you learn and apply from God’s Word? The evidence of your love can be found in how you live your life and ultimately we will all be judged according to our love for God…
