MY WAY OR THE HIGH WAY
I Thessalonians 2:13
S: Bible
Th: Seeing the Unseen Christ: How His Presence Transforms Life
Pr: WE ARE TO SURRENDER TO THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD (AND BE CHANGED).
?: How?
KW: terms
TS: We will find in our study five ways to accomplish our surrender so that we can be changed by the Word of God.
The _____ way we can accomplish our surrender is to…
I. LISTEN (I Samuel 3:10)
II. MEDITATE (Psalm 119:97)
III. MEMORIZE (Deuteronomy 11:8a)
IV. STUDY (Ezra 7:10)
V. DO (James 1:22)
RMBC 3/25/01 AM
INTRODUCTION:
DRAMA: “Trends”
1. Have you ever noticed that people have a disconnect with the truth?
It is something that we are seeing more and more of in our culture today.
As the drama humorously proposed to us today, especially at the end, standards of truth are not evenly applied.
In fact, as truth loses its absolute status, we find that people can say whatever they want, when they want, to get what they want, and still rationalize that they are being rational.
For example…
ILL Truth (aquarium)
The aquarium shop where Dave Billington worked had been in business for more than 20 years. One Sunday a customer called wanting to buy a larger aquarium. "And by the way, I’ve spent a lot of money at your store over the years," he said. "I think I should get a discount." "Only our owner can give a discount," Billington explained, "and he won’t be in until tomorrow." When the customer said that he’d come in the next day, I asked him if there was anything else I could help him with. "Sure," he said. "Where is your store located?"
Now there was an obvious disconnect, right?
Yet, it wasn’t to the person.
How does that happen?
Well, we are finding more and more that…
2. Truth is too often a casualty.
We need to recognize out there and in here (both in us as a group and in us individually), the heart is deceitfully wicked.
That is the testimony of Scripture.
Now, that may be hard for us to hear, but it is a reality that we must come to grips with.
Just as we often hear what we want to hear, we also tend to believe what we want to believe.
TRANSITION:
But along with this, I have to believe this.
That…
1. If Christ were bodily present with us today, we would hang on His every word.
Don’t you think so?
If He were to step up to this spot here, we would eagerly listen to everything He had to say.
We would be delighted that He cared so much about us that He came to tell us the things we needed to know in person.
That would be marvelous, wouldn’t it?
But you know…
2. If we are willing, we can hear what God wants us to hear.
When we use our imagination about what it would be like if Jesus were standing here, this is not so much a dream, as reality.
Jesus is here!
He’s here literally.
He’s in this sanctuary right now.
And though you can not see Him with your physical eyes, your eyes of faith are seeing His true presence more clearly.
And with those eyes of faith, you are realizing that Jesus is speaking.
He is speaking to us through His Word, which He has blessed us with.
He did this because He wanted us to know what He has to say about life.
Yet, how many of us have a casual attitude toward this book.
Our attempts to hear what it says are done in a hit-and-miss fashion.
But, if we consistently approach it as Jesus’ words to us, something happens to us.
3. The Word produces positive results in our lives (I Thessalonians 2:13).
And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
I want to key into this last phrase especially this morning, that if you believe, the word of God is at work in you.
The word is full of energy.
It is effective.
It is efficient.
It is productive.
When we welcome God’s Word into our lives with obedient faith, God’s power goes to work.
So, if you came today with a prepared heart as our journal directs us to, God is ready to go at work in you.
Because with a prepared heart, you are searching and listening attentively for His Word to you.
And you have been willing to pray, “God, I want to hear what You have to say to me.”
You know, that is a dangerous prayer, because more often that not, it will probably mean change.
For that’s what God’s Word does.
It constantly challenges us to know Him better and become like Him.
You see…
4. WE ARE TO SURRENDER TO THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD (AND BE CHANGED).
But how do we do that?
Well…
5. We will find in our study five ways to accomplish our surrender so that we can be changed by the Word of God.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first way we can accomplish our surrender is to LISTEN (I Samuel 3:10).
One of my favorite stories in Scripture is the story of Eli and Samuel when God calls on Samuel out of his sleep.
Samuel, the boy, keeps thinking Eli the priest is calling.
It finally hits Eli that the boy is not dreaming, but it is God calling and tells him to answer God the next time He calls.
And this is what happens…
The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
Isn’t that a wonderful response?
Don’t you wish you said that?
Yet you can.
The next time you are impressed that God is saying something to you, it is time for you to say, “Speak for your servant is listening.”
We need to be listening attentively for God’s voice.
Do you ever wonder if your kids are listening?
Isn’t it amazing how you can say to do something now and somehow, in the translation, it becomes optional and just nothing more than a good idea?
How does that happen?
But how often do we do the very same thing to the Lord?!
We need to possess an attitude of receptivity.
We need to be open and eager to receive the Word with a willingness to hear.
II. The second way we can accomplish our surrender is to MEDITATE (Psalm 119:97).
It is the psalmist that says…
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
We need to spend time understanding God’s Word and relating it to our lives.
If you want Christ’s Word to linger within, you will meditate.
Now, I am not talking about some eastern mystical type of thing.
I think that is something entirely different.
When we speak of meditation in this form, we are talking about taking Scripture, reading it, thinking about it, and perhaps form it into like words that relate to your life.
We need to take the time to ruminate on the difference that this certain verse and text is going to make in our lives.
Meditation, in a very real sense, is conversation.
It is God speaking to us and it is our opportunity to listen, think, and respond to it.
III. The third way we can accomplish our surrender is to MEMORIZE (Deuteronomy 11:8a; Psalm 119:11).
The Lord gives instruction in Deuteronomy to…
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds…
Then the psalmist tells us…
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
These verses together tell us that…
God’s Word is to be permanently attached to our hearts.
Meditation and memorization go together very well.
For when we meditate on a verse, the best way to make it apply to our hearts is to memorize it.
This is especially true if you are dealing with a sin area and the verse speaks to it directly.
Immerse yourself in His Word, because when you do, it is an offensive weapon that wards off the attack of Satan.
When you are tempted to go the wrong direction, it is Scripture that is the tool to use.
It is effective, efficient and productive to help you live a godly life.
Who has memorized this week’s memory verse: Philippians 2:3-4?
We do this, not to show off, but to give God glory.
Speaking His Word out loud is a matter of worship.
(3) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. (4) Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
IV. The fourth way we can accomplish our surrender is to STUDY (Ezra 7:10).
We are told this in the book of Ezra…
For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.
We are to know the Word thoroughly.
ILL Notebook: Detail (tax)
Proud of his six-year-old son’s mathematical prowess, a dad was at a convenience store one day and pointed to some gum. “Each pack costs 25 cents,” he told his son. “How much would 15 packs be?” The child replied, “$4.06.” The doting dad blushed and changed the subject. When they were alone, he asked his son why he had said $4.06 when 15 times 25 cents is $3.75. The boy answered, “You forgot to add the sales tax.”
You know what we learn from that—pay attention to the details.
And that is a good lesson for us.
Because if we are truly concerned about what God has to say, we will do a thorough study.
We will examine the details.
We will seek to understand the context in which it was written.
And just as God has taken the care to communicate to us, we will take care as well, knowing His Word the best that we can—always being a student of His words to us.
V. The fifth way we can accomplish our surrender is to DO (James 1:22).
In James, we are given this wise command…
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Simply…
We need to practice what we hear.
You remember when I was speaking a few minutes ago about how frustrating it is to us when we tell our children to do something and it doesn’t get done.
Sometimes the excuses can get pretty creative, but nevertheless, they are still excuses.
They need to practice what they hear.
And so do we!
I had this experience this week as I began to restudy last week’s memory verse.
And do you know what I discovered—I had done a pretty poor job of applying it.
There was one event during the week that I had the opportunity to apply it, and I did just the opposite.
It was extremely painful for all involved.
Yet, the Lord gave me the opportunity to practice it again, and there was tremendous joy when I did it right.
And I rediscovered an important truth…this stuff works!
When we surrender our will to God’s will, it works!
Perhaps today, a treaty of surrender is what you need.
You need to surrender to the truth of God’s Word and let Him change you.
Sign the treaty of surrender, and discover the joy God has for you.
APPLICATION:
Ravi Zacharias, the contemporary apologist, was telling this story recently on the radio…
ILL Ravi Zacharias, “Hearing God’s Voice”
A few years ago I was speaking at a conference, and an acquaintance invited me to dinner. Although he was cordial, my host seemed noticeably uneasy in my presence, and after dinner he asked if we could take a walk because he had something to tell me. He told me about his son who, while at college, had been tragically killed in an auto accident. He added: "For a long time I was not able to get over my son’s death. There had been many things going on in his mind that I wished we had been able to talk about. I agonized for months over opportunities forever lost."
He went on to say that some months later, still in grief, as he was driving somewhere he decided to play some of his son’s favorite music on tape, hoping somehow to reach back into his son’s life. In what had to be a shock to him, suddenly, his son’s voice spoke as clearly as if he were sitting in the back seat of the car.
The voice, of course, was on the tape itself. The father discovered that few weeks prior to the accident, his son had made a fresh commitment to Christ during some meetings at his college at which I spoke. So deep an impact had been made on his heart that he returned home and recorded an expression of his spiritual journey. This was the first time the father heard it recounted on tape. Now as we met, the father wanted to say thank you for the role God had given me in the life of his son, and to tell me how meaningful it had been for him to hear a voice that had passed from his life.
How consoling a voice can be, especially if it is a voice we long to hear.
Friends, there is only one voice that has the capacity to speak on matters of ultimate reality, and that is the voice of God. The Bible reminds us that God has spoken to us in numerous ways. We hear his clear voice in the written Word, in the consummate expression of His own Son. God’s gracious voice has beckoned humanity since the days of our creation, and indeed, it still beckons, even today, calling us to Himself. The question is: Are we listening?
Let us be like Samuel, the Old Testament priest who said to God, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."
With that in mind, we need to remember this important truth…
1. It is not that God is not speaking; it is whether we are listening.
And when we listen, we can change, if we are willing to apply the truth God has for us.
ILL lady and Psalm 23
Dr. David New, a pastor in Oregon relates this experience:
A lady came to the church office for guidance. She was tense, could not sleep, and was dealing with insecurity, fear, and guilt. She had been to her doctor, but the prescribed medicine was not helping. As part of her counseling, I gave her a new prescription: Read Psalm 23 four times before going to bed. "That’s silly," she said, "but I’ll try it if you say so. Though resistant, she complied. She read quickly through the psalm the first night or two, then slowed and read more carefully. After a few nights, she had the verses memorized. She began to think about the words, meditate on them. And to her amazement, she began to relax and to sleep. "Better than a sleeping pill!" she later reported. She had discov-ered the therapeutic value of Scripture memorization and meditation. "If Psalm 23 works like this . . . what about other verses?" she asked. "Try it!" I replied.
I have had similar opportunities as well.
The neat thing about this is that God is even more willing to allow His Word to help us when we are offending Him and hurting ourselves.
You see…
2. It is time to use God’s Word to “reverse self-destructive patterns.”
We need to receive it.
We need to submit to its truth.
And as we get intimate with His Word, we will find it will transform our minds, our goals, and our eternal destiny.
ILL Roman Empire
The founding of the Roman Empire was one of the most incredible political achieve-ments ever accomplished. Have you ever considered what it took to pull off the logistics of this historic phenomenon? The Roman Empire stretched as far north as present-day Great Britain and as far south as Egypt; it went west all the way to Spain, and east to the Caspian Sea. So we’re talking about all of Europe, a por-tion of Russia, and countries like modern-day Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and so forth. Think of it! Communications from headquarters in Rome had to travel as far as 2,000 miles—and that was without telephones, e-mail, radios, trains, or airplanes. How on earth did they manage the far-flung regions? It was done successfully for hundreds of years! But how? I’ll tell you: It was accomplished through well-trained administrators who spent enough time in Rome to capture the mindset of the emperor. Governors were never sent out to the provinces until their conduct and perspectives were thoroughly consistent with those in Rome. The administrators who represented the emper-or spent years in disciplined study, learning to interpret the policies and procedures that gov-erned the empire. This way, when decisions had to be made even in the most remote areas, the governors were able to consistently reflect the wishes of the emperor.
3. How well do you know the One you claim to represent (II Corinthians 5:20a)?
Paul tells us…
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us…
We are to be an ambassador for Christ.
To represent Him well, it is necessary to understand His thoughts, to know His mind, and to be aware of His perspective.
We need to have the same mindset and attitude as Jesus.
Our conduct and perspective must be the same as His.
It is time to surrender to my way, and take the high way!
And we can, for when we surrender to the truth of His word, we will know His mind and we will find out that this stuff really does work!
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are …]
Surrender to the truth…discipline yourself to listen to God, the Source of all truth, for all truth is God’s truth—listen—He is speaking.
Surrender to the truth…discover God’s voice and find that He is speaking, in His Word—spend the time, memorize, study—let it get inside of you.
Surrender to the truth…and do it, for what good is it to know the truth and not do it—and yet, as believers, we fail to love, fail to look out for the interest of others—let now be the time to practice His Presence and do what He says.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
