Illus: It reminds me of the fellow who went to get his driver's license renewed. There were many others there doing the same thing. The line inched along for almost an hour, until the man finally got his license. He inspected his photo and complained to the clerk who took his picture, "I was standing in line so long, I ended up looking like I am mad in this picture."
The clerk looked at his picture closely. "It's okay," he reassured the man. "That's how you're going to look when the cops pull you over and give you a ticket for speeding."
It does not matter where you go:
• You can hear people complaining about their jobs
• You can hear people complaining about their marriage
• You can hear people complaining about their taxes
• You can hear people complaining about the schools their children attend
• You can hear people complaining about the traffic
• You can hear people complaining about the trains
• You can hear people complaining about the way their food is cooked
• You can hear people complaining about people’s workmanship
So why should we be shocked to see these same people come to church and complain about the church?
You can have people who attend the same church, and you will find some:
• Are so excited about their church they are constantly inviting all their family members and friends to attend with them
• That the only time they talk to their family and friends about the church is to complain
Illus: It reminds me of a man that joined a monastery, and one of the rules of the group was that you were only allowed to speak two words every ten years.
• At the end of ten years he said, "Bad food!"
• Ten more years went by and he said, "Hard bed!"
• Finally, on his 30th anniversary with the brothers, he thundered, "I quit!"
The priest in charge responded, "Well, you might as well quit, for the last thirty years all you have done is complained."
This is true of so many people. There is so much good they could talk about, but they choose to complain. Complaining not only makes the life of the complainer miserable, it also makes the life of those who have to listen to them miserable.
Illus: Mary Bachelor was that kind of chronic complainer. She was a minister's daughter, but she also was a housekeeper and helper to her brother, who also was a minister.
Day after day she unloaded her troubles on him in a complaining manner. One evening as they were talking together, she finally realized she was making her life miserable and his also. She needed to do something about it!
She said to herself, “I'm like those trees to my brother, I'm always casting shadows. Why don't I bury my sorrows by leaving them with Jesus?”
She went to her room and found relief in tears, after which she wrote these lines:
"Go bury your sorrow, the world has its share; go bury it deeply, go hide it with care; go think of it calmly, when curtained by night; go tell it to Jesus, and all will be right."
Later, when she had become a much happier Christian, she showed the verses to her brother, who had them printed in a local newspaper.
When well-known songwriter Phillip P. Bliss saw them, and he set them to music.
We have more reasons to REJOICE than we do to COMPLAIN. But there are those who are always looking for people that will listen to them complain.
When they see someone coming in their direction, what they see are two ears that they can pour their complaints into. Complaining ruins our testimony and gets us in trouble.
Illus: In the old days, according to Aesop’s fables, men were allowed to have many wives.
A middle-aged man had one wife that was old and one that was young; each loved him very much, and desired to see him like herself. Now the Man's hair was turning gray.
• The young Wife did not like the problem of the gray hair, as it made him look too old to be her husband, and she complained about his gray hair. So EVERY NIGHT she would comb his hair and pick out the white ones.
• The older wife saw her husband growing gray with great pleasure, because she was often mistaken for his mother. So she often complained to him about the black hairs on his head. So EVERY MORNING she would comb his hair and pluck out as many of the black ones as she could.
The consequence was that the Man soon found himself entirely bald.
When we YIELD to all kinds of complaining, it will destroy our testimony and bring misery to ourselves and to others. How much better it is to remain true to the Lord Jesus Christ and live a life of rejoicing!
Lets look at some REASONS FOR REJOICING.
I. REJOICE IN OUR HOPE
It is a dreadful thing to live a life without hope. This is one of the reasons it is so sad for the sinner. He lives every day without hope. He does not know when he will breathe that last breath and be plunged into damnation.
But we Christians live a life of HOPE.
Look at 1 Pet. 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto A LIVELY HOPE by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
Notice, our hope is a LIVELY HOPE. WHY IS OUR HOPE A LIVELY HOPE? The Word of God tells us it is because of “…the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
Had Christ not risen from the grave, we would be without hope. Had he not been raised from the dead, every one of us would die one day, and we would be no better off than our pets which have died.
Illus: For example, one of the reasons that it hurts when we loose a pet is that we know we will never see that pet again. We have fond memories of these pets, but that is all we have, because we will never see them again.
If Christ had not risen from the grave, we would go to the grave side to bury our love ones, with the realization that we will never see them again.
But because the body of Christ was resurrected, He said in John 14:19, “…Because I live, ye shall live also.”
This is why we have a LIVELY HOPE. WHAT KIND OF LIVELY HOPE DO WE HAVE?
A. IT IS A PURIFYING HOPE
1 John 3:3 “And every man that hath THIS HOPE in him PURIFIETH HIMSELF, even as he is pure.”
A lot of folks PROFESS to have this LIVELY HOPE, but their lives do not reflect they POSSESS this LIVELY HOPE!
You see, when we truly believe in something, what we believe motivates us to act.
Illus: For example, if someone came running into this auditorium and started yelling Fire! Fire! Fire!, this would be some alarming news. But once we heard it, we would have to decide, “Do I really believe what this individual is saying?”
• If we decide we do not, we would sit there
• But if we truly believed in what this individual is saying, it would motivate us to get up and go to the nearest exit, and leave the building
Again, I want to remind you that if you believe in something, it will motivate you to act on what you believe.
And if you truly believe that Christ CAME, DIED, WAS BURIED, and WAS RAISED TO LIFE AGAIN so that you can have eternal life, this belief will motivate you to do something.
WHAT WILL IT MOTIVATE YOU TO DO? The Bible tells us what this LIVELY HOPE that we have in Christ will motivate us to do.
Look at again at 1 John 3:3 “And every man that hath THIS HOPE in him PURIFIETH HIMSELF, even as he is pure.”
As we walk with the Lord day-by-day in this lively hope, we purify ourselves, even as He is pure. But notice the responsibility of purifying ourselves falls on us.
A lot of folks are praying for God to purify them, and God is waiting for them to purify themselves.
WHY DOES GOD PUT THE RESPONSIBILITY ON US? Because He created every one of us as free moral agents. We are created so that we can choose between GOOD and EVIL.
We blame our sins on everybody we can blame them on, but the Bible says the reason we sin is because of our own choosing.
Look at James 1:13-14, we read, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”
It would be wrong for God to hold us accountable for our sins if we had no choice. But we do have a choice, and that is why God holds us responsible.
And that is exactly why God said, “And every man that hath THIS HOPE in him PURIFIETH HIMSELF, even as he is pure.”
Illus: In England there's a paper factory that makes the finest stationery that's made. One day, a man touring the factory asked what it was made from. He was shown a huge pile of old rags. He was told the rag content is what determined the quality of the paper. The man had a difficult time believing such beautiful stationery could come from old rags. In 6 weeks he received a package of paper from the company, with his initials embossed on it. On the 1st page were written the words: "Dirty Rags, Transformed."
The same is true of the Christian life. And if we have this LIVELY HOPE in Christ we will purify ourselves to become like him. We will allow Him to takes the filthy rags of our righteousness and turn them into something beautiful for Him to use.
IT IS A PURIFYING HOPE, but also-
B. IT IS A PERSONAL HOPE
The television program, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”, became successful from the first time it aired.
One of the reasons is because we all like to see good things happen to people.
Illus: When someone gives their final answer and gives the right answer, and wins a million dollars, we all get excited for them.
But I want to confess to you that I am glad when good things happen to others, but I am even more glad when good things happen to me.
For example, I rejoice when others come to know the Lord. I am happy for them. But I rejoice even more because the Lord saved me, and gave me this LIVELY HOPE that we have in Christ Jesus.
Look at Col. 1:27 “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY.”
Christ is in others, but Paul said He is in us Gentiles also. He said, “…Christ IN YOU, the HOPE OF GLORY.”
The truth of the indwelling of the believer is something wonderful. The Lord is IN US!
• HE IS NOT JUST IN THE WORLD
• HE IS NOT JUST NEAR US
• HE IS IN US
Oh how we PERSONALLY REJOICE that we have in us the ETERNAL SON OF GOD.
Romans 5:17, we read, “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in LIFE BY ONE, Jesus Christ.”
From Adam we all receive DEATH, but from Christ we all receive LIFE. And that hope is this; we are IN CHRIST and He says “Because I live, ye shall live also.”
Death could not keep Him in the ground! Hallelujah! It also can not keep us.
This LIVELY HOPE IS A:
• PURIFYING HOPE
• PERSONAL HOPE
We REJOICE IN OUR LIVELY HOPE. But also, we-
II. REJOICE IN OUR HOME
When people move into a new home, it is an exciting time in their life. But listen, one of these days we are going to move into our new eternal home in heaven.
Look at 1 Pet. 1:4 “To AN INHERITANCE incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”
HOW DID WE GET THIS NEW HOME?
• It certainly is not something we purchased
• The Bible says it is something we inherited
You see, people receive an inheritance, not because they worked for it, but simply because of someone else.
Illus: In Columbia, South Carolina, a man was pastor of a small congregation. He loved his people and they loved him. One of the few families he had was an elderly couple, and they were very wealthy, and when the both of them died, they left their large beautiful home to this preacher and his wife.
Because of the goodness of these people’s hearts, they inherited this beautiful home. They never worked for it one day, but because of someone else, they inherited it.
The same can be said of us, the children of God. We have never worked for salvation a day of our lives, but because of Him, we have inherited our NEW HOME in heaven.
WHAT KIND OF HOME DID WE INHERIT? Look again at
1 Pet. 1:4 “To AN INHERITANCE incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”
The scripture says it is one that:
• Is Undefiled
• Fadeth not away
• Is “…reserved in heaven for you”
God’s people should greatly REJOICE IN OUR NEW HOME. It is a glorious inheritance because of the -
A. PERSON
Our heavenly home will be glorious because the Lord will be there in all His beauty!
1 Pet. 4:13 “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, WHEN HIS GLORY SHALL BE REVEALED, YE MAY BE GLAD ALSO WITH EXCEEDING JOY.”
REJOICE that one day you will see the GLORY OF THE LORD!
Illus: Years ago when Elvis Pressley came to Columbia, South Carolina, people literally camped out for days before the ticket office began to sell tickets. They wanted to make sure that they could see him.
And when he arrived and came out before a packed out Coliseum, that crowd went berserk.
That reception is nothing compared to what it is going to be like when folks see the Lord for the first time.
Illus: The songwriter had this in mind when he wrote that beautiful song, “It will be worth it all!” Some of the words are, “One glimpse of his dear face, all sorrows will erase!
The reason heaven will be heaven, is because of the PERSON of the Lord Jesus, who will be the center of attention.
We rejoice because of this GLORIOUS PERSON, but also we rejoice because it is a glorious-
B. PLACE
The Lord will be the center of attention, no doubt about that! But when men and women arrived at that GLORIOUS PLACE, they are going to understand what the word “Awesome” really means.
Our heavenly home will be glorious because the Lord prepared it for us.
Rev. 21:10,11 “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;”
Rev. 21:22,23 “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
John 14:2,3 “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
As Christians WE REJOICE IN OUR HOPE, and OUR HOME, but also we-
III. REJOICE IN OUR HELP
Look at 1 Pet. 1:5, we read, “Who are KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Sometimes you can ask people if they are saved, and they will tell you, “Preacher, I am trying to hang on!” Let me assure you, as hard as you may try, you can not hang on!
Illus: Suppose you had a three year old son on your back, and you are going to have to walk across a river that is about 4 to 5 five feet deep. The water is very swift, and you turn to your three year old son and say, “Son, hang on, because if you do not, you will perish!”
No, you would not put that responsibility in the lap of that three year old, you know they could not hang on. You would take the responsibility and you would hang on to them.
Notice what Peter said, “Who are KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD…”
We all can rejoice in OUR HELP because we are in the arms of almighty God. We can not hang on, but he can hang on to us.
Look at the word “Kept” in 1 Peter 1:5. This is the word, phroureo, (froo-reh'-o) which is to be a watcher in advance, to mount guard as a sentinel, to hem in, protect:--keep (with a garrison).
Conclusion: God is so good, and there is so much to rejoice about. You see when it comes to our eternal rewards, the Lord tells us to “Purify ourselves, even as he is pure.”
But when it come to our salvation, we are kept by the Power of God.
Phil. 4:4 says clearly “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
I. REJOICE IN OUR HOPE
A. IT IS A PURIFYING HOPE
B. IT IS A PERSONAL HOPE
II. REJOICE IN OUR HOME
A. PERSON
B. PLACE
III. REJOICE IN OUR HELP
