INTRO.- Who doesn’t want a better life? More peace. Greater joy. Contentment. Fulfillment. Love.
ILL.- The story is told that Abraham Lincoln was surprised one day when a rough-looking man drew a revolver and thrust it in his face. "Abe" figured that debate or argument was out of the question.
"What seems to be the matter?" asked Lincoln, with all the calmness and self-confidence he could muster.
"Well," replied the stranger, who did not appear at all excited, "some years ago I swore an oath that if I ever came across an uglier man than myself I’d shoot him on the spot."
A feeling of relief came over Lincoln at this point. "Shoot me," Lincoln said to the stranger, "for if I am an uglier man than you, I don’t want to live."
Brothers and sisters, I don’t know if this story about Lincoln is true or not, but Lincoln certainly wasn’t the best-looking man in the world!
I think we all realize that looks have nothing to do with the quality of a person’s life. It could at certain stages, such as in youth. For example, we know that kids can sometimes be cruel and pick on other kids because of their looks or perhaps poor dress. But generally, as adults we know that it’s what is on the inside that really counts and can make a difference in a person’s life.
Some so-called beautiful people are often ugly, as far as their actions are concerned. They are so stuck on themselves that some people can’t stand to be around them.
If good looks or the clothes we wear are not the way to a better life, what is?
ILL.- A man named Jackson Brown suggested various ways to have a better life. They are:
- Believe in miracles but don’t depend on them.
- When you hear a kind word spoken about a friend, tell him so.
- Spoil your spouse, not your children.
- Remember, it’s not your job to get people to like you. It’s your job to like people.
- To help your children turn out well, spend twice as much time with them and half as much money.
People have all kinds of rules to live by in order to achieve a better life. Principles that are Bible-based are generally always good. Those that contradict the Scriptures are not good.
ILL.- Someone said, "The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it." I think this is true for most people. Most of the time it seems like we’re 50 years old or older before we realize what really makes like worth living and what adds "worth" to our living.
ILL.- In Florence, Italy, a young artist labored long and hard over a marble statue of an angel. When finished, he asked Michelangelo to examine it. No Master looked over the work more carefully than Michaelangelo. It appeared perfect in every way. The young artist waited. His heart nearly broke when he heard, "It lacks only one thing." But the great artist didn’t tell him what it lacked.
For days the artist could not eat or sleep, until a friend called on Michelangelo at his studio and ask him what he thought. He said, "It lacks only life."
Brothers and sisters, this could be true for a great many people. They live from day to day, but they lack life. They may go through the motions of life, but they lack real life which only the Lord can give to a person.
John 10:10 "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
How can we make the best out of life? How can we acquire a life that is truly alive and full?
Previous sermons included these thoughts about how to make the best out of life:
1- Walk by faith (everyone does, but our faith should be in the Lord)
2- Focus on people (living for, serving, and loving people pays great dividends)
3- See the positive (we are always looking down at things, because we are not looking up to the Lord. Looking up helps us to have the “uplook” in life)
4- Always be thankful (griping may get you some attention, but it’s not the kind you really want)
5- Work at peace (A good fight may be worth watching, but it’s not worth living)
6- Watch your speech (speeches can be powerful, but more powerful is the love behind the talk)
PROP.- More ways to make the best out of life:
1- Pull self down
2- Put Satan down
3- Place the Savior up
I. PULL SELF DOWN
ILL.- Theodore Roosevelt, sometimes known as Roosevelt the First, was a President who thought highly of himself. One of his children said, "Father always had to be the center of attention. When he went to a wedding, he wanted to be the bride. When he went to a funeral, he was sorry that he couldn’t be the corpse."
ILL.- Someone said, "Far too frequently in this life we are interested in only three people: me, myself and I."
ILL.- Actress, Shirley MacLaine said one time, The most pleasurable journey you take is through yourself...the only sustaining love involvement is with yourself..."
ILL.- A woman said, "My husband and I have managed to be happy together for 20 years. I guess this is because we’re both in love with the same man."
Brothers and sisters, I don’t have cancer, but I have a cancer. It works on me quite often and sometimes gets completely out of hand. IT’S CALLED "SELF."
We all are infected by this great cancer called "self." And it is a malignancy in the eyes of God and is often uncontrollable. It is a malignancy because God doesn’t want us to live this way. It is perfectly acceptable as far as the world is concerned, because it is the way of the world, BUT IT IS NOT THE WAY OF CHRIST!
ILL.- A woman named Sheila said, "I believe in God, but I can’t remember the last time I went to church. But my faith has carried me a long way. It’s ’Sheila-ism.’ Just my own little voice."
Sometimes this cancer called "self" demonstrates itself in the way we worship the Lord. We tend "to do our own thing," regardless of what God’s Word says or what we have been taught. It’s more "I think" than "the Bible says." Or some might say or think within, "I don’t care what the church or the Bible teaches, I will do whatever I want."
ILL.- Steven Roberts, writing in the U.S. News and World Report, Aug. 23, 1993, wrote, "In this Age of Self, the language is filled with phrases that glorify personal choice above all other values...Priests, like precinct captains, have lost authority. The same voters who talk back to their political leaders on call-in shows and town meetings are talking back to their religious leaders.
"The phrase ‘cafeteria Catholics’ describes those who pick and choose among church teachings. But in religion, as in politics, the more appropriate analogy for modern mores is to fast food rather than to cafeterias; as the slogan for one hamburger chain puts it: ‘Have it your way.’...How do leaders lead when followers don’t want to be led?"
Brothers and sisters, I’m not so much concerned about respect for my authority as respect for the Lord’s authority. And cancer eats away the Lord’s authority in our lives.
And how does this cancer called "self" affect our daily lives? How does it affect us at home and at work? And in the world?
ILL.- Someone wrote a brief article on "How To Be Miserable." It reads, "Think about yourself. Talk about yourself. Use ‘I’ as often as possible. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. Listen greedily to what people say about you. Expect to be appreciated. Be suspicious. Be jealous and envious. Be sensitive to slights. Never forgive a criticism. Trust nobody but yourself. Insist on consideration and respect. Demand agreement with your own views on everything. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them. Never forget a service you have rendered. Shirk your duties if you can. Do as little as possible for others."
Did any of these thoughts hit you over the head? Remind you of yourself in some way?
There may not be a cure for cancer, but there is a cure for the cancer of self. It’s found in God’s Word.
Gal. 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
In order to kill the cancer of "self" we need to be crucified. Not literally, but spiritually.
ILL.- In March of 1995, I was in pain, terrible pain. I could barely walk. I limped all the time. I went to my doctor who X-rayed my right hip area. He said, "Steve, you have to quit running. You have osteoarthritis. Your hip is nearly wore out."
I cried, but I quit. I quit running. Three years later I went under the surgeon’s knife and had my hip replaced because I was tired of the pain and limping.
Are you tired of the pain and limping of your cancerous spirit? People who live for self, live in pain. Their spirits limp. It’s a terrible kind of life. PERHAPS YOU NEED TO GO UNDER THE SURGEON’S KNIFE!
Rom. 6:4 "We were therefore buried with him (Christ) through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
Do you struggle greatly with that cancer "self"? Perhaps you need to be buried with Christ in baptism! This could be the thing that will eradicate your cancerous self. This could the "surgeon’s knife" that you need to make life better.
Think about it. Consider it. Submit to it. By pulling self down, you’ll experience a better life. It’s God’s plan.
II. PUT SATAN DOWN
ILL.- Joe Page, who played for the New York Yankees in the 1940’s, said he dreamed one night that he was in heaven, and was assigned the task of forming a baseball team of all the great stars available there. "But who’ll we play against?" he asked.
Just then the Devil telephoned and challenged him to a series. "Four games out of seven," suggested the Devil, "and no miracles on either side."
"What chance have you got?" scoffed Page. "Every great ball player goes to heaven when he dies!" "I’m not worrying," the Devil told him. "I’ve got all the umpires."
First of all, I would question that all great ball players go to heaven. Playing great ball is not an entrance requirement for heaven. PLAYING BALL WITH JESUS IS, HOWEVER. Playing His game, His way.
And the devil may not have a lot of umpires in the world today, but he certainly has a lot of demons working for him. And I’m sure that some ball players think that most umpires are demonically influenced.
Demons are very real. They are referred to in Scriptures as "the devil’s angels" in Matthew 25:41. They are the devil’s messengers, his workers. They help to carry out the wicked plans of the devil. They are wicked, deceitful, immoral, invisible, and they are very intelligent.
If demons are bad news, then Satan, the ringleader, is even worse news! He is evil. He is our enemy. And he is out to get us anyway he can! He must be put down in order to experience a better life!
ILL.- An old deacon who used to pray every Wednesday night at prayer meeting always concluded his prayer the same way: "And, Lord, clean all the cobwebs out of my life." Week after week he would pray, "Lord, clean all the cobwebs out of my life."
Finally, It got to be too much for one man at the prayer meetings. He heard the old deacon one time too often. So when the he heard that prayer again, he jumped to his feet and shouted: "Lord, Lord, don’t do it! Kill the spider!"
Satan is a big spider who’d love to weave his cobwebs into our lives. His business is to give us the business! Satan’s business is to trick us, to deceive us, to lure us away from Christ and the church, to make us hypocrites, to cause us to fall and sin any way he can!
We need to kill the spider, put Satan down! In one sense, he already has been put down.
Is. 14:12-15 "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven: I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit."
God put Satan down a long time ago. He put him down and cast him down to earth. And eventually, God will put him down again and it will be his final put down.
In meantime, we must do our best to put Satan down in regard to our lives. He’s a pest who won’t leave us alone.
James 4:7-8 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you."
This Scripture suggests three key words to putting Satan down: fall, fight and flee. We must fall down before the Lord in order to overcome Satan. Second, we must fight. We must put up a fight against Satan. He won’t roll over like a dead dog. He’s a fighter and we have to fight against him if we expect to put him down. Third, if we fall down before the Lord and fight against our enemy, HE WILL FLEE FROM US! Fall, fight and flee.
ILL.- An elderly woman had just returned home from church and found an intruder in the act of robbing her home. She yelled out to the man, "STOP! ACTS 2:38!" (you know, repent and be baptized) The burglar stopped dead in his tracks. The woman then calmly called the police and explained what she’d done. As the officer cuffed the man, he asked the thief, "Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a Scripture at you."
"Scripture?" replied the thief, "SHE SAID SHE HAD AN AX AND TWO 38’S!"
Brethren, there is power in the Word of God even if some people don’t understand it. There is power in the Word to defeat Satan. BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT WORD TO USE IT AS A WEAPON AGAINST THE ENEMY!
Matt. 4:3-4 "The tempter came to Him and said, ‘If you are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Jesus answered, ‘IT IS WRITTEN: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"
When Jesus was tempted by Satan, he quoted Scripture. There is power in the Word, but it won’t do you much good unless you know it and can speak it! The way to put down Satan is to put the Word of God in your heart and mind. And doing this will make life better for you.
III. PLACE THE SAVIOR UP
ILL.- Efforts of Carol Frazer, 17, to have a street named after singer Elvis Presley who died in 1977 were realized. The city fathers of suburban Whitehaven have assigned the name of a subdivision lane as "Elvis Place." Miss Frazer said she was so excited she didn’t know what to do. Probably watch an Elvis movie.
But she has seen them all: Love Me Tender, 107 times, Loving You 110 times, King Creole 91 times, and Jailhouse Rock, 79 times.
Carol who moved from New Orleans to be near Elvis, lives in a tiny Memphis flat with her mother, plus twelve scrapbooks about Elvis, 40,000 pictures of him, and a man-size cardboard replica of him overlooking her bed.
Brothers and sisters, it sounds like Carol Frazer is sold on Elvis. It sounds like Elvis has captured her heart and captivated her life! What she did with Elvis we must do with Jesus!
ILL.- Someone said, "If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer (Elvis perhaps); But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior."
Thank God He sent us a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ! We have only one Savior and He needs to be the dominant person in our lives. He is the person around which our lives MUST revolve.
I Pet. 3:15 "In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord..."
Peter is saying that we need to make Christ the Lord of our lives. We want him to be our Savior, but making him Lord of our lives is a different matter.
ILL.- When I was little I loved it when my daddy was my daddy. I loved it when he was warm and loving, tender and thoughtful. I loved it when he did things for me, took me places, bought me those great hamburgers and chocolate malts that one truck stop.
But I wasn’t as thrilled with my daddy at certain times. I wasn’t thrilled when I came home late after school one day and daddy was standing in the front yard with a stern look on his face. I was even less thrilled when he pulled out his belt and spanked me with it in front of God and my best friend, George Huffman.
I wasn’t thrilled with my daddy on other occasions as well, but nevertheless, he was still my daddy. And I think he’d do almost anything for me. I think he’d probably give his life for me.
And so it is with our Savior. We love Him as our Savior, savoring His love, His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace, and His blessings. But we are not as excited about Him when He disciplines us or asks us to do certain things.
ILL.- Shortly after joining the Navy, the new recruit asked his officer for a pass so he could attend a wedding. The officer gave him the pass, but informed the young man he would have to be back by 7 p.m. Sunday. "You don’t understand, sir," said the recruit. "I’m in the wedding." "No, you don’t understand," the officer shot back. "You’re in the Navy!"
Luke 6:46 Jesus said, "Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"
Jesus is not only our Savior, He is rightly our Lord. He is supposed to be our Lord. And allowing Him to "run the show" will make life better for us.
CONCLUSION-----------------------------------
ILL.- The Pelicano is the world’s most unwanted ship. Since 1986 she has been the hobo of the high seas. Bermuda doesn’t want her. The Dominican Republic doesn’t want her. Neither does the Netherlands, Honduras, etc.
The problem is not the boat. The problem is not the ownership. The problem is not the crew. Then what is the problem? Why is the Pelicano the most unwanted ship in the world?
The problem is trash. SHE IS FULL OF TRASH. Fifteen thousand tons of Philadelphia trash. The trash of Philadelphia’s long, hot summer of 1986. That’s when the municipal workers went on strike. That’s when the trash piled higher and higher. That’s when the owners of the Pelicano thought they would make some quick cash with trash.
The plight of the Pelicano is somewhat similar to ours. Trash sometimes piles up in our lives and we stink. And nobody wants us or wants to be near us.
Life has a way of unloading its trash on us. And it stinks. Trash affects us. It affects our relationships. But there is a way to unload our trash. There is a way to dump it and be cleansed from its stink. There is a way for life to get better.
II Cor. 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
Give your life to Christ. Believe in Him. Believe Him. Trust Him. Surrender to Him. And life will get better!
