INTRO.- ILL.- W.G. Blaikie says in his Life of Livingstone that when David Livingstone was sent as a student to preach at Sanford Rivers, he stood up in the pulpit and completely forgot what he was going to say. Although this incident would have signaled the end of public speaking for many, Livingstone knew he must not give up. When God called him to be a missionary, he was ready to go. Later he wrote, "I am still a very poor preacher and have a bad delivery; and some say that if they knew I was to preach, they would not enter the chapel."
I suspect we’ve all heard a few preachers like that. And I must admit that I have preached some sermons that weren’t worth listening to.
ILL.- Preacher J.R.W. Stott, Between Two Worlds, wrote: “Some preachers are like the Chinese jugglers. One stood against a wall and the others threw knives at him. They’d hit above his head, close by his ear, under his armpit, and between his fingers. They could throw within a hair’s breadth and never strike.” In other words, they never hit what they were aiming for.
Some preachers can never hit the nail on the head, hit the mark, or hit a homerun in their preaching. I know the feeling.
ILL.- Samuel Clement (Mark Twain) attended a Sunday a.m. sermon. He met the pastor at the door afterward and told him that he had a book at home with every word he had preached that morning. The minister assured him that the sermon was an original. Clement still held his position. The pastor wanted to see this book so Clement said he would send it over in the morning. When the preacher unwrapped it he found a dictionary and in the flyleaf was written this: "Words, just words, just words." Some sermons are just words. No real message, just empty, lifeless words.
ILL.- I remember taking a deacon from my church with me to an area men’s meeting one time. I don’t remember the name of the preacher and for good reason. When we left that meeting my deacon friend said, “His sermon must have been good because I didn’t understand it.”
I said something like, “No, it wasn’t. I didn’t understand much of it either.”
If a sermon is not understandable, no good can come from it.
Col. 4:3-4 “Pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. PRAY THAT I MAY PROCLAIM IT CLEARLY, AS I SHOULD.”
Clarity in preaching is vitally important. If the Biblical message is not clear then the people cannot learn from it and be blessed.
However, the sermon is not the only thing that makes a difference in our learning! What we do to learn also makes a difference. Hence, taking notes.
Why take notes? BECAUSE TAKING NOTES HELPS US TO LISTEN, LEARN AND RETAIN! Now admittedly, I don’t always take notes when listening to sermons, but I sure did when I was in college and wanting to become a better preacher! And taking notes helped me to learn a lot!
Taking notes is a good thing to do when in church. TAKING NOTE IS ALSO A GOOD THING TO DO.
Phil. 3:17 “Take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”
It pays to “take note” of certain people and certain things in life. It’s educational. It’s informative. It’s interesting. And it can be quite helpful in living the Christian life.
It’s similar to what Peter said in I Pet. 5:8 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around…”
All Christians need to “take note” of certain things in life. We need to “take note” of both the good and the bad and discern the difference in order to please God.
Eph. 5:15-17 “Be very careful, then, how you live – not unwise but as wise (taking note), making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (or take note of it)
Taking note of what is happening in our world can make a difference in your life. Take note. Be alert. Be watching. Be discerning and seek the Lord’s will.
PROP.- In our text, I think Paul suggests that we “take note” of several things.
1- Take note of the brothers
2- Take note of the enemies
3- Take note of the life
I. TAKE NOTE OF THE BROTHERS
V. 17 “Join with others in following my example, brother, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”
- Take note of those who lead by example.
Paul said, “Join with others in following my example.” Do you think that was a bold statement by Paul? How many of you would say, “Follow my example”?
It might be more like, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
I Cor. 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” That little verse of Scripture got Paul off the hook and us too. All of us could say, “Follow me like I follow Christ.” We all do some Christ-like things, which we would like for our children to imitate…and perhaps others to imitate. But just to say, “Follow me,” would not always be the best advice.
ILL.- Mark Twain once said, “Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.”
I wouldn’t say that a good example is an annoyance, but certainly something of revelation to us. We don’t always see a good example, do we? We hope to. We want to. And hopefully, we all want to be a good example for others to follow.
We all should “take note” of those who set a good example.
ILL.- One Sunday morning in 1865, a black man entered a fashionable church in Richmond, Virginia. When Communion was served, he walked down the aisle and knelt at the altar. A rustle of resentment swept the congregation. How dare he! After all, believers in that church used the common cup. Suddenly a distinguished layman stood up, stepped forward to the altar, and knelt beside the black man. With Robert E. Lee setting the example, the rest of the congregation soon followed his lead.
Thank God for such a good example. And we’ve all seen good examples in our lives, both men and women of God who were faithful and fruitful. We have thought, “I’d like to be like that, etc.”
ILL.- For example, our own Elmer Schilly. I’ve never heard a bad word about him. It’s always been good. And, of course, one of the main things I’ve always heard about Elmer is what a sweet spirit he’s always had even in the light of his physical infirmity. I think Elmer’s accident happened something like 52 or 53 years ago and he’s been paralyzed from the waist down ever since, but he’s always had a smile and loved to chat.
What a good, godly example for us all!
May God help us to “take note” of such people and imitate them!
- Paul said to “take note” of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. What pattern? The Lord’s pattern, which is found in Scripture.
We should “take note” of all godly people in life and learn from them. The Elmer Schillys, the Billy Grahams, the Max Lucados, etc.
ILL.- When I was a student at Ozark Christian College in the mid 60’s one of the most popular professors was Don DeWelt. He was an excellent preacher. He would walk the pulpit area and even down the center aisle. He would have you “rolling” from laughter one minute and the next minute he would cram God’s truth down your throat, so to speak. But he always did it with grace and graciousness.
Don’s preaching, however, may not have been his best attribute. I remember that every time you would meet Don and say, “How you are brother Don?” He would always respond with, “Happy, on the way to Heaven.” NOT MANY I KNOW RESPOND THAT WAY!
And I remember there were a few occasions when I had a problem that I would take to Don. And do you know how he would respond? He would first listen and then he would say, “Let’s pray about this.” WHAT A GREAT EXAMPLE FOR A YOUNG PREACHER TO LEARN FROM! What a great example for us all! Listening and prayer.
Brothers and sisters, please “take note” the good that you see in other Christians and imitate that good. We can learn good stuff, Christ-like qualities, etc. from one another.
II. TAKE NOTE OF THE ENEMIES
V. 18-19 “For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.”
Paul is saying that we should also “take note” of the bad stuff in this world, the bad people, so as to avoid them. Take note the “enemies of the cross of Christ.”
ILL.- Madalyn is dead. Madalyn Murray O’Hair is dead. When David Travis arrived for work on Aug. 28, 1995 at the headquarters of American Atheists in Austin, Tex., he knew something was wrong: The door was locked and a note was posted on it: "The Murray-O’Hair family has been called out of town on an emergency basis. We do not know how long we will be gone at the time of the writing of this memo."
As Travis, a 50-ish former Army sergeant, stood there reading the note, he felt the anger welling up. He couldn’t say he was surprised that his employers were gone, and by the looks of things, so was his job as a proofreader. He’d been suspicious that the Murray-O’Hairs were up to something ever since he had opened a letter from New Zealand last spring and discovered a bank statement for an account he had never heard of, for almost a million dollars. And this was when Madalyn Murray O’Hair, his cantankerous boss, was always crying the blues about money and warning him that she might not be able to meet payroll.
O’Hair was always extremely secretive about the financial affairs of American Atheists, which she had founded in 1963 and dominated ever since.
One of her ex-employees said, “She went through people like popcorn," said one. Her son Bill accused her of preying on the lonely, the confused, and the misfits -- as long as they had money -- with the same kind of remorseless hypocrisy that some evangelical Christians are accused of. She was the atheist flip side of the religious con artist: "She was just evil. She stole huge amounts of money. She misused the trust of people. She cheated children out of their parents’ inheritance. She cheated on her taxes and even stole from her own organizations."
Madalyn Murray O’Hair once said, “There is no God. There’s no heaven. There’s no hell. There are no angels. When you die, you go in the ground, the worms eat you."
WRONG, MADALYN. I’m quite sure she’s discovered her error now. Heb. 9:27
Brothers and sisters, we need to “take note” the Madalyn’s of this world. She was/is not the only enemy of the cross of Christ. They are all around us: on TV and radio, in the media, the newspapers, at the movies, in politics, etc.
ILL.- C.S. Lewis wrote, "The greatest evil is not done in those sordid ’dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint...it is conceived and...moved, seconded, carried, and minuted...in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices."
Evil does not always take the shape of evil, as we think of it, as in a Charles Manson-type look.
Enemies of the cross are described in our text: their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach (meaning they only live for the flesh), their glory is in their shame (they glory in shameful actions), and their mind is on earthly things. They are only interested in this life. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die! That is their philosophy. They live for here and now. They live for self and for the flesh. They have no desire for doing good in this world. AND WE SHOULD ALWAYS “TAKE NOTE” OF SUCH PEOPLE! Avoid them. Avoid conflict with such. It often does no good. But take a stand for the truth of Christ. Live the faith. Live the life of Christ.
III. TAKE NOTE OF THE LIFE
V. 20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Paul is talking about taking note of the life that God has in store for us.
ILL.- Three men died and went to heaven. Saint Peter asked, “Why should I let you in? What did you do to earn your entrance?” One man said, “I was a policeman, and I helped a lot of people.”
The second man said, “I was a nurse, and I helped a lot of people.” Peter said to these men, “Go right on in.”
The third man said, “I was an executive on the HMO and I got a lot of people out of the hospital real soon.” Peter said, “Go right on in, but you can only stay for two days.”
I think we all realize that heaven will be eternal and that even though doing good is a very good thing, it’s not the entrance requirement.
It’s surprising, however, many people believe that is the only entrance requirement there is. Do good. Be good and you’ll go to heaven.
ILL.- I read about a woman whose husband had passed away. He had given quite a bit of money to some charitable organizations. She said, “If anybody deserved to go to heaven, my husband did.” WRONG. Wrong thinking. Wrong doctrine.
No one rightfully deserves to go to heaven, but we can go, we get to go, because of the grace and graciousness of God demonstrated in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin (and we all do sin) is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
II Cor. 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Eph. 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Jesus’ death on the cross opens the door to heaven for all mankind. But all mankind has to acknowledge Christ as Lord and Savior and surrender to His will as best they can in order to go through that door.
Once we have believed in Christ, trusted Christ and obeyed Christ we have something to look forward to.
Paul said to “take note” of the life that will be yours in heaven.
ILL.- A young man fell into a coma, but recovered before his friends could bury him. One of them asked what it felt like to be dead. “Dead!” he exclaimed. “I wasn’t dead. And I knew I wasn’t because my feet were cold and I was hungry. I knew that if I were in heaven, I shouldn’t be hungry, and if I was in the other place, my feet wouldn’t be cold.”
Paul said to “take note” of your citizenship…that is, that in Christ you are citizens of a heavenly kingdom. And “take note” of what will happen there. WE’LL GET A NEW BODY! Our lowly bodies will be transformed to be like His glorious body!
Most of us don’t like the bags and sags, the aches and pains of these earthly bodies. God made them this way so that we will look forward to something better.
ILL.- One day when George MacDonald, the great Scottish preacher and writer, was talking with his son, the conversation turned to heaven and the prophets’ version of the end of all things. "It seems too good to be true," the son said at one point. A smile crossed MacDonald’s whiskered face. "No," he replied, "It is just so good it must be true!"
It is true. It’s the Word of God. It’s the promise of our faithful God. And we should always “take note” of this blessed promise we have and look forward to it.
CONCLUSION-----------------------------------------
Taking note of things will pay off.
ILL.- I was driving home from Cape Girardeau, MO, one night to southern Illinois while working for the Silk Tree Store. It was nearing 10 p.m. and I was just outside Jonesboro, IL. I was tired and had been nodding at the wheel and I was nodding at this particular time. For some reason or another, I suddenly looked up and there was a car just ahead of me. He was stopped, waiting to turn left. I was doing 60 mph and almost on his bumper. I had no time to stop. I headed for the side of the road, barely missing a road sign. In fact, I felt my car bump several times and thought I had hit that sign.
When I went around that car I actually speeded up instead of hitting my brakes for fear that I might slide into him or something else. My house was just down the road. As soon as I got there I jumped out of my car and checked to see if I was still alive and no damage to my car. Safe on both counts. I was “safe at home.” But it was a close call.
Someday we all will be “safe at home.” But it won’t be a close call. Jesus saves surely and securely. However, while in this life we all need to “take note” of good things that can help us down that road, and “take note” of the things that could cause a bad spiritual collision. Taking notes and taking note are good things.
