INTRO.- ILL.- "The hardest thing about milking cows," observed a farmer, " is that they never stay milked."
This is true for many things. Many things in life have to be done over and over, again and again. The job is never really done.
ILL.- It’s like the two mothers who were discussing their household duties and one said, “Do you feel that housework is below you?” The other said, “NO, I FEEL IT IS BEYOND ME.”
I’m sure that’s how some mothers feel about life especially when they have four kids and it seems like all they ever do is wash clothes. IT’S A NEVER-ENDING PROCESS. And so is cooking and cleaning house. It’s never a “done deal.”
Most things in life require continual maintenance, upkeep or work.
ILL.- Several months back I trimmed the bushes in front of the church. It did a number on my back, but I was glad to get the job done. I figured that would take care of those bushes until this fall. WRONG! Boy, was I wrong! It was just a couple of months and they were sprouting all over the place. And thank God, during our VBS, Ray Sandy trimmed those bushes again.
DON’T YOU JUST LOVE THE SUMMER MONTHS? Continual trimming, mowing, pruning, watering, etc.
Maintenance is a part of our lives. Always will be. And if certain things are not maintained they will break down.
ILL.- Some years ago I drove a 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with over 100,000 miles on it. One time I told Shane that my motor was making noise. I said it sounded like the valve tappets were rattling. Shane said, “Dad, did you check your oil?” I said, “No, it doesn’t use oil.” However, I went out and checked my oil and it didn’t even register on the dipstick. I could hardly believe it. I just happened to have some oil and put two quarts in the engine and it just barely showed on the dipstick. Later, I discovered that I had an oil leak that I didn’t know about.
I learned something from that deal. Check my oil occasionally. Regular maintenance is vitally important! If I had not checked my oil and discovered how low it was I could have possibly burned up my motor. Regular maintenance can save a person lots of heartaches, headaches, time, energy, and money.
Phil. 2:12 “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” I don’t believe that anybody can work their way into heaven. This is what God’s grace is all about. We can never do enough to save ourselves, but as saved people we must work!
Eph. 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Even though we are saved and headed for heaven, we must continue to work “at” our salvation.
John 5:17 Jesus said, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."
If both God the Father and God the Son are working, what makes us think that we shouldn’t work?
Brothers and sisters, it seems like our work is never done in life. That is, our spiritual work should never be done. We should constantly maintain what we have so we don’t lose it and even work to build on it.
ILL.- In the course of their conversation at a dinner party, Albert Einstein’s young neighbor asked the white-haired scientist, "What are you actually by profession?" "I devote myself to the study of physics," Einstein replied. The girl looked at him in astonishment. "You mean to say you study physics at your age?" she exclaimed. "I finished mine a year ago."
Einstein never stopped working at what he did. The same must be true of us in the spiritual realm. We all must continue to work at our salvation, maintaining, keeping at it, etc.
PROP.- In this message I want to talk about three important areas of life that must be maintained or worked at.
1- Maintaining the body
2- Maintaining the faith
3- Maintaining the church
I. MAINTAINING THE BODY
ILL.- Baseball pitcher Dizzy Dean was the first to admit that he wasn’t that smart. On being enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953, he said, “I want to thank the good Lord for giving me a strong right arm, a strong back, and a weak mind.”
Brothers and sisters, no matter what you’ve been given: a strong arm or a weak arm, a strong back or a weak back, a strong mind or a weak mind, it still comes from God!
Ps. 139:13-14 “For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
The human body is a wonderful creation of God.
- The average human heart pumps over 1,000 gallons a day, over 55 million gallons in a lifetime. This is enough to fill 13 super tankers. The heart never sleeps, beating 2.5 billion times in a lifetime.
- The human body contains enough DNA that if it were stretched out, it would circle the sun 260 times.
- The human body uses energy very efficiently. If an average adult rides a bike for 1 hour at 10 mph, the body uses the amount of energy contained in 3 ounces of carbohydrate. If a car were this efficient with gasoline, guess what kind of gas mileage it would get? 900 MILES TO THE GALLON. Amazing body! No, awesome Creator!
Brothers and sisters, regardless of the body you have it is an incredible creation of God. Praise Him for it! And please maintain it the best you can. Why? Because there will come a time when it will slow down, age, and get diseased. I don’t like this, but I know it’s true and you do too.
ILL.- One lady said, “Sometimes you get tired of fighting and decide to let nature take its course. For instance, about ten years ago I stopped coloring my hair, and quite enjoy having it silver-white. My hairdresser was dismayed, no doubt due to a loss of revenue. He never stops trying to persuade me to change my mind.
"I think I look distinguished," I argue. "No my dear" he said, sighing heavily, "You merely look extinguished."
Brothers and sisters, there may come a time when we will feel nearly extinguished even if we don’t look it!
ILL.- My mother had Parkinson’s disease for 12 years, from age 70 to 82 when she passed from this life. One time while she was still living at home, she said to me, “I hope you don’t get this.” I said, “Mom, I might get it and then I might get something worse.”
It seems like everybody gets something: mom had Parkinson’s disease, my dad died with a heart attack at the age of 72, and my older brother Larry just went through prostate cancer surgery at the age of 63. And I have read that the chances of me getting it are 1 out of 3. My twin sister Sharon is the healthiest of the bunch.
Six years ago I had my right hip replaced. Now I’m broken down in my back. I’ve had pain continually for five years and it’s only gotten worse.
We all tend to think, “What next?” Regardless of how good our health is or how bad it is, we must make the best of it. We must try maintain it or improve it with a proper diet, exercise, lots of laughter, etc. Laughter is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22.
I Cor. 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
ILL.- Many dads have their names on the title of the car that their child drives. The child may be 16 or 18 or even 20, but dad’s name is on the title. And I’ve known of some dads to say to their child, “If you don’t take care of that car. Or if I find you doing something that you shouldn’t be doing, I’m going to take your car away from you, like it or not. And there is nothing you can do about it.”
Right on, Dads! Sometimes that’s the only way to get some kids to straighten up. THREATEN TO TAKE THEIR WHEELS AWAY FROM THEM. Most teens today would die without their wheels.
Brothers and sisters, whether you realize it or not, God has the legal title to your body! He paid the price for your body on Calvary! And you have no legal right to do with it whatever you want!
God wants us to enjoy our bodies and at the same time He wants us to use them to honor Him and serve Him. We need to take care of our bodies as best we can!
II. MAINTAINING THE FAITH
ILL.- The following conversation took place between a church member and a minister. The minister asked, “Are you interested in going to heaven?” The church member replied, “What a question to ask me, preacher. Of course, I am interested in going to heaven. That’s the reason I was baptized by old Brother Faithful over at Poney Slab Holler back...well, I just don’t remember when it was.”
The minister said, ”Where are you attending church?” The church member said, “What’s that? Where am I going to church? Why, I go once in a while over to Coal Holler where Brother Smoothit preaches. You say he’s been gone from there for three years. Well, I didn’t know it had been that long since I had been to church! Of course, the weather’s not been the best. And I’ve been busy and I haven’t felt too good. But I’m really interested in heaven.”
The minister said, “Where does your family attend church?” The church member said, “Why, they don’t go anywhere. You know how my wife is. Oh, you ain’t never met my wife. Well, that woman just won’t hear anything about church. She won’t get the children ready and take ‘em to Sunday School. And you know it’s not a man’s place to do that. I tell you, I just don’t know how I’ve stay interested in heaven and lived with that woman. I’ve put up with more from her than Sodom ever put up with his wife Gomorrah.”
The minister said, “How much money have you given to the church?” The church member said, “What’s that...how much money have I given to the church? Now wait just a minute preacher! You can ask all the questions you want to, but when you ask about money you’ve gone a mite too far. It’s none of your business how much I give to the Lord. It’s no body else’s business either. That is one thing I never do, go around bragging about how much I give. And when people ask me, like you did, I ain’t going to tell ‘em. Just makes me glad that I don’t give anything. The very idea asking me if I was interested in heaven, and then trying to find out how much I give to the Lord.”
James 2:26 “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
Brethren, that so-called church member didn’t go to church and didn’t give back to the Lord. HIS FAITH WAS NOT ACTIVE AT ALL. He was not building on his faith nor was he maintaining it.
II Pet. 3:18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ….”
Jude 20 “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith….”
It is obvious that we are challenged in Scripture to maintain our faith and make it grow.
Proverbs 26:20 “Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.”
If you don’t fuel a fire it will go out. It’s as simple as that. Some fires need to be maintained and others need to be put out. The fires of gossip, bitterness, hatred, and unforgiveness need to be put out. In other words, stop fueling them. REFUSE TO THINK ABOUT THEM OR TALK ABOUT THEM.
On the other hand, some fires need to be fueled. Our fire for the Lord needs fuel! High octane fuel! Where do we get it? By reading Scripture. By reading good Christian literature: Max Lucado, Chuck Swindoll, etc. Whoever lights your fire for Christ! IF YOU DON’T GET TURNED ON, YOU’LL GET TURNED OFF. Do something to light your fire for Christ, to ignite your faith!
ILL.- Preacher D.L. Moody once said: “If all the time I have spent praying for faith was put together it would be months. I thought that someday faith was going to come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not come. Then one day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, ‘So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.’ I had closed my Bible, and prayed for ‘faith.’ I now opened my Bible and began to read God’s Word, and faith has been growing ever since.”
We must do whatever it takes to maintain our faith and make it grow: go to church as often as possible and go to God’s Word even more!
III. MAINTAINING THE CHURCH
ILL.- A little girl asked her new neighbor, “Do you go to church?” “Yes, do you?” the new neighbor responded. “We’re Methodists, and I go every Sunday with my mother.” “Doesn’t your daddy go too?” “No.” “Isn’t he a Methodist?” “I’m not sure. MOTHER SAID HE IS A SEVENTH-DAY ABSENTIST.”
I don’t know about Seventh-Day absentists, but I think there are an awful lot of First-Day absentists around, meaning a lot of people who don’t come to church on any given Sunday.
Eph. 4:11-12 “11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
God wants us to build up the church. That can be done in two ways: by bringing people into the church and by encouraging the people who are already in the church.
Have you invited anyone to church lately? Or ever? This needs to be done every week, not just when we have a friend day or some special function. IF YOU DON’T ASK, NO ONE WILL COME.
ILL.- I am reminded of the man who said to his neighbor, “Why don’t you come and have a round of golf with me on Sunday morning?” The neighbor replied, “Oh no, I couldn’t do that. I go to church every Sunday.”
“Well,” said the first neighbor, “I don’t know what your church is, but you can keep it to yourself. I have asked you to play golf a half dozen times, but you have never invited me to your church.”
Could it be that some people just might come to church if we would ask them? Again. If we don’t ask, they certainly won’t come. WE MUST BUILD THE CHURCH BY BRINGING OTHERS.
We must also build the church by encouraging one another in the faith.
ILL.- During quail season in Georgia, an Atlanta journalist met an old farmer hunting with an ancient pointer at his side. Twice the dog ran ahead and pointed. Twice his master fired into the open air. When the journalist saw no birds rise, he asked the farmer for an explanation. "Shucks," grinned the old man, "I knew there weren’t any birds in that grass. Spot’s nose ain’t what it used to be but we’ve had some wonderful times together. He’s still doing the best he can -- and it’d be mighty mean of me to call him a liar at this stage of the game!"
Brothers and sisters, everyone needs encouragement in some form or another. No one hits a homerun in their faith and gets a thunderous applause, but everyone needs some kind of encouragement in their faith. “Glad to see you here today. Keep up the good work. Thanks for teaching. Bless you for being here. Great communion devotion. I appreciated your prayer. I love your smile. You have a great sense of humor. You brighten my day, etc.”
It doesn’t make any difference how we encourage one another, it just needs to be done.
ILL.- Someone said, “If you want the church to go on, then go to church.”
ILL.- Someone else wrote: “I am your church. Without you I am nothing. If you fail to make an investment in me, I cannot materialize. Invest in me or I die.”
Eph. 1:22-23 “And God placed all things under his (Christ’s) feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
If Christ is the head of the church then whenever we neglect the church we are also neglecting the Head, because the two cannot be separated!
In the future we all need to become more committed to the Lord Jesus Christ and to His Church! We need to attend the worship services, the Bible studies, the dinners, the parties, the youth meetings, you name it. And we need to support the church with our offerings. Matthew 6:33 If we don’t support the Lord’s church in every way there may not be a church to support some day.
CONCLUSION--------------------------------------
ILL.- A collector of rare books ran into a friend of his who had just thrown away an old Bible that had been in his family for generations. He happened to mention that some man by the name of Guten something had printed it.
“Not Gutenberg?” he asked. “Yes, that was the guy’s name.” “You dummy! You’ve thrown away one of the first books ever printed. That book was probably worth a half-million dollars.”
He replied, “Na, mine wouldn’t have been worth much at all because some guy named Martin Luther had scribbled all over it.”
Many times we don’t realize the value of something until it is gone. That can be true of family member or a friend. That can also be true of our bodies, our faith and our church. All of these are extremely valuable in God’s sight. Let’s attend to them.
