INTRO.- Many good things don't last long, do they? A good pair of shoes. A favorite pair of jeans. A favorite car or truck. Many things wear out unless we get rid of them before that time. We hate to part with some things.
And how about the human body? Whew! Man, does it ever perish or fade with the passing of time! Have you looked in the mirror lately? What do you see that wasn't there 20 to 40 years ago? Wrinkles? Gray hair or no hair? Sagging this and sagging that? Bulging this and bulging that?
ILL.- Country Singer, Dolly Parton who is now 69 years old said, "If I see something sagging, bagging, and dragging, I'm going to nip it, suck it and tuck it. Why should I look like an old barn yard dog if I don't have to? It takes a lot of money to look this cheap." If you have the money I guess you can do some things to improve your looks.
ILL.- When I was 50 years of age I could run 20 miles at 7 minutes a mile. Now I would have trouble walking 5 miles. What is that? It's called aging, a hip replacement, and just plain tired!
ILL.- An older woman took a package to the post office to mail and was told it would cost $3.95 for fast delivery or $2.30 for slower service.
"There is no hurry," she told the clerk, "just so the package is delivered in my lifetime." He glanced at her and said, "That will be $3.95, please." Some of us are fading faster than others.
ILL.- Two elderly couples were enjoying friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, "Fred, how was the memory clinic you went to last month?" "Outstanding," Fred replied. "They taught us all the latest psychological techniques - visualization, association - it made a huge difference for me."
"That’s great! What was the name of the clinic?" Fred went blank He thought and thought, but he couldn’t remember.
Then a smile broke across his face and he asked, "What do you call that flower with the long stem and thorns?" "You mean a rose?" "Yes, that’s it!" He turned to his wife and said, "Rose, what was the name of that clinic?" If nothing else, our minds are perishing or wasting away.
Brothers and sisters, there is only one thing in this world that will never perish or fade away and that's the Word of God!
Mark 13:31 Jesus said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."
Isn't it great to know that what we believe is eternal truth? It will never die or pass away. And it's not just the Word of God that will never pass away. It's something else that is extremely valuable in the eyes of God that will never pass away. DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS?
I John 2:17 "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
PROP.- In our text, let's consider what the imperishable Word of God produces in people:
1- Purification
2- Love
3- Eternity
I. PURIFICATION
22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth.
ILL.- The state of Pennsylvania once had a law that reads: “If any person shall willfully, premeditatedly and despitefully blaspheme, or speak loosely or profanely of Almighty God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, or the Scriptures of Truth, such a person, on conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine, not exceeding $100, and undergo an imprisonment, not exceeding three months, or either, at the discretion of the court.” Wow!
I wish that the state of Pennsylvania still had that law as well as every other state in the U.S.! We need to understand, of course, that passing a law to keep people's speech pure will not get the job done. It takes something far greater to produce purity in a person's speech, heart and mind.
22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth.
ILL.- The father of five children had won a toy at a raffle. He called his kids together to ask which one should have the present. "Who is the most obedient?" he asked. "Who never talks back to mother? Who does everything she says?" Five small voices answered in unison. "Okay, dad, you get the toy." What does obedience have to do with the Word of God and our salvation? Quite a bit.
Matthew 28:19-20 "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."
Luke 11:28 "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
Acts 5:32 "We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
II Thess. 1:8 "He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." Wow!
Heb. 11:7-8 "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."
I John 2:3 "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands."
These scriptures and more tell us that we must obey God's Word as best we can in order to be purified or cleansed from our sin. True Bible faith is an obedient faith. Faith that doesn't obey God's Word isn't true faith.
ILL.-Thomas a Kempis wrote: Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace.
ILL.- During the War Between the States, General Lee one day sent word to Stonewall Jackson that the next time he rode in the direction of headquarters the Commander-in-Chief would be glad to see him on a matter of no great importance. General Jackson received the message and immediately prepared to leave the next morning.
Rising very early, he rode the eight miles to Lee’s headquarters against a storm of wind and snow, and arrived just as Lee was finishing breakfast. Much surprised, Lee inquired why Jackson had come through such a storm. General Jackson replied: “But you said that you wished to see me. General Lee’s slightest wish is a supreme command to me.”
Is the Lord's slightest wish a supreme command to us? The Word of God can make us pure but only if we obey it.
II. LOVE
22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
A sincere love for your bothers. When we learn to obey the Word of God we'll also develop a strong love for others.
John 13:34-35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
I John 2:5 "But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him..."
ILL.- When the Moravian missionaries went to Greenland, they were unable during the first year to make any impression whatsoever. Then came an awful epidemic of smallpox in which multitudes became sick, and the missionaries went about among them ministering to their bodies and souls in Christ's name. After that the way was clear. The people said, “You have nursed us in our sickness. You have cared for us in our distress. You have buried our dead. Now tell us of your religion.”
Those missionaries demonstrated love and that is what made the difference in their mission work. Demonstrating love toward others will make a difference in our witness for Christ as well.
As some has said: People don't care how much we know until they know how much we care! And that care must be demonstrated in some physical or material form.
ILL.- The parable of the Good Samaritan gives three philosophies of life—
- The robber’s philosophy was “What you have is mine, and I will take it.”
- The priest and Levite had the philosophy that “What is mine is mine, and I will keep it.”
- The Samaritan’s philosophy was “What is mine is yours, and I will share it.” Jesus endorsed the Samaritan’s philosopher and said, “Go, and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:37)
It should be obvious to us that if we have truly obeyed the Word of God that we will have the good Samaritan's heart. At least, we'll try to help others every chance we get. We will care for others who are in distress and help if we can.
ILL.- Preacher Dwight L. Moody once said, “Show me a church where there is love, and I will show you a church that is a power in the community. In Chicago a few years ago a little boy attended a Sunday school I know of. When his parents moved to another part of the city the little fellow still attended the same Sunday school, although it meant a long, tiresome walk each way. A friend asked him why he went so far, and told him that there were plenty of others just as good nearer his home.
"They may be as good for others, but not for me," was his reply. "Why not?" she asked. "Because they love a fellow over there," he replied.
Moody said, “If only we could make the world believe that we loved them there would be fewer empty churches, and a smaller proportion of our population who never darken a church door. Let love replace duty in our church relations, and the world will soon be evangelized.”
A heart that has obeyed the Word of God will always be thinking of others, loving others, serving others!
III. ETERNITY
23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25but the word of the Lord stands forever."
ILL.- Some years ago, the popular actor, Patrick Swayze who died in 2009 at age 57, was interviewed about his stage four pancreatic cancer and his thoughts about life, etc.
Swayze, who went public with his diagnosis, said the disease has taken an emotional toll. "There's a lot of fear here," he said. "Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm angry. Yeah, I'm [asking], why me."
Swayze said the illness has made him think more about the afterlife. He said, "I don't know what's on the other side. It tests everything I believe in … that here is something unique in all of us that does not, does not die." And there is!
Even though Patrick Swayze was not sure about the other side of death, WE ARE! And we believe in our eternal God and our savior, Jesus Christ!
And we believe in the promise of eternal life! God, through His Word and Spirit, has put eternity into our hearts and minds and we long to go there!
We've been born again through faith in and obedience to the Word of God. And we recognize that all men are like grass that withers. In fact, we're all in the withering process, are we not?
ILL.- In 1846 former president John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke. Although he returned to Congress the following year, his health was clearly failing. Daniel Webster described his last meeting with Adams: "Someone, a friend of his, came in and made particular inquiry of his health. Adams answered, 'I inhabit a weak, frail, decayed tenement; battered by the winds and broken in upon by the storms, and from all I can learn, the landlord does not intend to repair it.'"
The same is true for us or will be for us. And even though we don't like the withering process we do like the thought of living forever in a place where there is no pain, no crying, no tears, no sin, no shame, no hurt, etc. AMEN?
ILL.- On his deathbed, British preacher Charles Simeon smiled brightly and asked the people gathered in his room, "What do you think especially gives me comfort at this time?" When they all remained silent, he exclaimed, "The creation! I ask myself, 'Did Jehovah create the world or did I?' He did! Now if He made the world and all the rolling spheres of the universe, He certainly can take care of me. Into Jesus' hands I can safely commit my spirit!"
ILL.- A few days before his death, Dr. F. B. Meyer wrote a very dear friend these words: "I have just heard, to my great surprise, that I have but a few days to live. It may be that before this reaches you, I shall have entered the palace. Don't trouble to write. We shall meet in the morning."
May God give us the grace in our dying days to look forward with hope to eternity as these men of faith did. And it is the Word of God that will continue to produce that hope in us.
CONCLUSION------------------------
And this is the word that was preached to you.
The Word of God has indeed been preached to us. Over and over. Again and again. And if we have truly heard the Word and respond by faith and obedience we will be different people. We will be better people. We will be in Christ, living a life of faithful obedience, a life of love, and a life that is looking forward in faith to eternity. Amen.
