Some can live their entire life and never make any difference in a positive way.
For example, God can leave some people on this earth for 90 or 100 years, and when they die, their life has made very little DIFFERENCE!
Illus: God let Methuselah live on this earth for 969 years, and the only thing the Bible says about him was how long he lived on this earth, and that he died.
Isn’t that sad? He lived 969 years, and there is not one thing that the Bible records he did in a positive way.
It is easy to understand why some folks are not looking forward to meeting the Lord. Why? Because God left them here on earth for so many years, and they lived each year he gave them for themselves.
But on the brighter side, others can live a short time on this earth and their life will make a major difference.
For example, some have made a tremendous difference:
• IN SPORTS - They have set new records that will exist for years after they have departed from this life
• IN POLITICS - They have done things for this country that will affect the economy and the morals of this country for years to come
• IN ENTERTAINMENT - When the Warner Bros. dad sold a horse to start his sons off in the entertainment world, they made a difference. It was during this time that they started making talking movies, and they were told that this would never be successful. They started, and the movie business has never been the same since that time
• IN RELIGION - Look at the great heroes of the faith. Luther, Spurgeon, Wesley, Moody. What a DIFFERENCE they have made
• IN MUSIC - Think of Fannie Crosby, that little blind girl who loved the Lord, who grew up to write beautiful Christian music that we enjoy singing today
As we go through life, there are always those that seem to just stand out. THEY HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE WITH THEIR LIVES, FOR THE BETTER OR THE WORSE! But none has ever made such a difference as the Lord Jesus Christ made when He was here on earth.
Illus: Someone said, “He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.”
“He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.”
“He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave.”
“Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race, and leader of mankind's progress.”
“All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the kings that ever reigned, have not affected the life of man as much as that One Solitary Life.”
No one has ever had such an impact upon humans as the Lord Jesus. ABSOLUTLELY NO ONE!
But whether it is in church, or school, or on the ball field, or on the job, there are always those that shine a little brighter than others.
But none of us here today want to live a wasted life. We would like to make a DIFFERENCE with the one life God has entrusted us with. We realize we do not get a half a dozen shots to MAKE A DIFFERENCE, we only get one chance! And we would like use the one life we have to make a DIFFERENCE for the good.
HERE IS THE PROBLEM WE ALL FACE. The fact is, we could spend our entire life trying to make a difference in politics, sports, entertainment, music and etc. and probably not make very much difference.
SO WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO? We need to find out where we can make a DIFFERENCE.
In this sermon I want to show you one way we can make a difference. Then, in the next sermon I want to show you two more ways of HOW WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
HOW CAN WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
I. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR CHURCH
The church today needs Christians who can make a difference. Our churches are filled with professing Christians who can pass from this life, and when they are dead and buried it will not affect God’s church in the slightest, other than the little space they take on the pews on Sunday morning.
The reason their life did not MAKE A DIFFERENCE was because the whole time they were on the face of the earth, they got side-tracked and got involved in everything but God’s Work.
99% of the life God gave them was spent doing things that did not MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the Kingdom of God.
One of the greatest needs of the church today is to find MEN and WOMEN that can MAKE A DIFFERENCE. That is, they do not want to fit in with the crowd, they want to MAKE A DIFFERENCE, and they want to be DIFFERENT!
We have too many:
• CARBON COPY DEACONS
• CARBON COPY SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS
• CARBON COPY CHRISTIANS IN THE PEWS TODAY
They make you think of our young people today in one way. For example, something can become fashionable, and every kid in the school has to:
• WEAR THE SAME KIND OF JEANS
• WEAR THE SAME KIND OF TENNIS SHOES
• HAVE THE SAME KIND OF HAIR CUT
• LISTEN TO THE SAME KIND OF MUSIC
• DRINK THE SAME KIND OF DRINKS
It’s like they don’t want to think for themselves, it is much easier just to follow the crowd! Our society is filled with these carbon copies. They are a dime a dozen.
Illus: I say a dime a dozen, because if they could be bought, they could be bought for a dime a dozen.
But God has always sought for MEN and WOMEN who were not carbon copies of everyone else, who lived the Christian life unlike others, and who MADE A DIFFERENCE!
What is sad about this situation in the church today, is that many can not see the need to be DIFFERENT. As far as they are concerned, everything is FINE!
Illus: Dr. Vance Havener recognized the sad condition of the church today. He said, “I asked a preacher, How are you getting along?" He said, "We are living in idolatry--just sitting around admiring our new church. We (ACT LIKE) we have arrived; we have it made--no more worlds to conquer. What ought to be a milestone has become a millstone. We have run out of goals. (Vance Havner, from The Vance Havner Quote Book/On This Rock I Stand. Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 16.)
Today we have all these idol worshippers that know how:
• TO WORSHIP A BUILDING
• TO WORSHIP A CROWD
• TO WORSHIP ENTERTAINMENT
• TO WORSHIP PROGRAMS
God is trying to find some men and women of God today who want to MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
We have churches all over this nation that are doing everything they know to do to MOVE WITH THE WORLD. But God is trying to find men and women who will MOVE THE WORLD!
HOW CAN WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR CHURCH? God’s Word show us how. We can make-
A. A DIFFERENCE IN OUR ATTENDANCE
Heb. 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
The Bible commands us as Christians to be faithful to the house of God.
Illus: It is said that when you intentionally miss a service, you are casting a vote to close the doors of the church.
All over this nation there are churches that are literally shutting down their Sunday night and Wednesday night services. America is becoming like other nations that are getting further and further from God.
Illus: For example, speaking of other nations, I guess everyone has heard or read about C.H. Spurgeon, and how God used him in the Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle in such a mighty way.
He was literally reaching crowds of up to five thousand, and had to ask the Christians to stay home for the evening service to make room for the sinners.
Dr. Odell Belger tells of his visit to that same church on a Sunday morning, and the complete congregation could sit on the first and second pews.
America is following the path of other nations and turning from God. Today, as people get more and more involved in the things of the world, they are telling God their Creator, “WE NO LONGER HAVE TIME FOR YOU!”
It is not because of the devil’s crowd that churches are shutting down, it is because of God’s crowd that refuses to MAKE A DIFFERENCE and faithfully attend the house of God.
They put family, job, recreation and everything that you can imagine ahead of the one they call LORD. He might be their Savior, (might be I said), but He certainly is not their Lord!
But listen, it is important that you ATTEND CHURCH, but also it is important HOW YOU ATTEND.
The Psalmist said in Psalm 122:1, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
Some Christians come into the house of God fussing like they had to ride a mule to church in a hail storm. God the Holy Spirit cannot move in a church service when people come into the house of God fussing and complaining.
God is trying to find people WHO CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, and you can make a difference if you will faithfully attend the church services. We can make a difference in our church ATTENDANCE, but also we can make -
B. A DIFFERENCE IN OUR ALMS-GIVING
Mal. 3:10, “Bring ye all the TITHES into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
God commands us to MAKE A DIFFERENCE by bringing into the storehouse of God, the tithes that belong to Him.
But notice before Malachi gives us the command to tithe in verse 10, he asks a question in verse 8, “Will a man rob God?”
Then he answered the question, he said, “Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In TITHES and OFFERINGS.”
What a tremendous DIFFERENCE we could make if all of God’s people were to tithe as the Bible teaches.
• THINK OF ALL THE MISSIONARIES WE COULD SEND AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE GOSPEL
• THINK OF ALL THE HOMES WE COULD BUILD FOR ABUSED WIVES
• THINK OF ALL THE ORPHANAGES WE COULD BUILD FOR THE ORPHANS
• THINK OF ALL THE HOMES WE COULD BUILD TO REACH UNWED MOTHERS, DRUG ADDICTS, ETC.
• THINK OF ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE WE COULD HELP SEND TO BIBLE COLLEGE
There is so much we can do to make a DIFFERENCE if God’s people would bring the tithes to the Lord that belong to him.
We can make a difference in our church ATTENDANCE, in ALMS-GIVING, but also we can make-
C. A DIFFERENCE IN OUR ACTIONS
For example, when we come to church we ought to come with the ATTITUDE that we have come to worship the Lord.
The reason that some of the church services across this nation are dead, is because the people of God go for the wrong reasons, and they quench the Holy Spirit of God once they get there. But any church can have a lively church service if the Christians are willing to make a DIFFERENCE, and participate in the worship service.
Illus: I like that chorus that we sing that has words like this: “Let’s forget about ourselves and worship Him. Let’s forget about ourselves and worship Him. Let’s forget about ourselves and worship Him. Worship Him! Jesus Christ our Lord.”
• Psa. 95:1, “O COME, LET US SING UNTO THE LORD: LET US MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE to the rock of our salvation.”
• Psa. 98:4, “Make A JOYFUL NOISE unto the LORD, all the earth: make A LOUD NOISE, and rejoice, and sing praise.”
God wants His church to MAKE A DIFFERENCE! We are:
• To EXALT Him as Creator, Savior and Lord
• To EXEMPLIFY him and the values of his kingdom
• To EDIFY his church
• To EVANGELIZE his world
• To ENRICH this culture in which we live
We probably cannot make a big difference in sports, politics, and entertainment, but we can make a difference in God’s church if we have a heart to do so.
Conclusion:
I. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR CHURCH
II. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY (part 2)
III. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR HOMES (part 2)
God is looking for men and women who can MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THESE AREAS OF THEIR LIVES. ARE YOU WILLING TO BE ONE OF THOSE HE CAN USE?
Look at our text again, we read, these words, “And of some have compassion, MAKING A DIFFERENCE: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”
Notice, these words, “of some have compassion.” Look at the word “compassion” this is the Greek word Eleeo, (Pronounced as el-eh-eh'-o) which means word or deed.
That is, they have a tender heart toward the things of God. You can tell them that something that pertains to the things of God needs to be done, and they will do it.
However, there are people who profess to be saved, and you can tell them how much God’s church needs their faithfulness and it will go in one ear and out the other.
There is nothing anyone can do, they have no feelings (compassion) for the work of God, and that is why their life DOES NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
