Why We Don't Give Up | Kingsmen

Welcome to the Kingsman podcast where we are reclaiming biblical manhood by training and equipping men for the work of the kingdom. I'm John Moffitt. I'm your host and pastor of Grace Reform Church in Springhill, Tennessee and also one of the hosts of Theocast, a podcast about reform theology.

You can find that anywhere you listen to a podcast or on YouTube. Okay, so last week we left off and I know it was like I didn't complete everything and a lot of this is I wanted to give you some time to really contemplate your weakness.

Weakness, Dependence, and the Purpose of Life

Guys, just evaluate your life this last week. Where do you find your strength? And if you find your strength in your own wisdom and if you find your strength in your own physical capacities, it is a matter of time before you have an epic fail.

And I don't want that for you or for anyone else. So hopefully you took to heart a lot of what I was saying. Go read Ephesians chapter 4, Colossians chapter 3. Those are great. Second Peter chapter 1.

These are all great examples of where our dependence is on the power that's outside of ourselves. Now let's talk about the purpose of our life, okay? At the end of your life you have to ask yourself this question.

Did you actually live for anything worth fighting for? We don't live a neutral life. We are told we're in a battle. We're in a war. So you have to ask yourself this question. Are you in the war or are you taken out and you're pursuing, as it says in 2nd Timothy, you know, no soldier entangles himself in civilian pursuits.

Is that you? Because if you are, then you're second Peter. It says you are ineffective and you are unfruitful. And that is where a lot of men live. They live ineffective unfruitful lives who are entangled in things that they should not be entangled in and their life is meaningless.

Listen, we're not here to gain God's praise. We're not here to gain his attention. We already have it. That's what's so amazing about the gospel is that the gospel tells us that in Christ you have all of his love, you have all of his rewards, there's nothing else for you to earn.

We aren't left here to earn. We're not playing this little chess game where God's got a mousetrap for us and you're either gonna get through and get the reward or you're gonna get trapped. That's just not what we're doing, okay?

God, in his amazing benevolence, says I'm going to let you represent me, which is... that terrifies me. To represent God? I don't know if I want that. I don't think I want to sign up for that because what if I represent him wrong?

What if I misrepresent him? He's so powerful and wonderful. He's so beautiful. He's so, you know, outside of the realm of this world. How do you recruit me to represent that? That's just...that's crazy.

But that's what he says. Like, you are now an ambassador for me. And there's a sense where it makes sense when God says, hey, live a holy life because you're representing me. You know, like, take this serious.

I love it how he says in Ephesians 4, walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called. He's like, I called you to be my ambassador. I've called you to liberate slaves, to bring people from death to life, right?

And he's like, no, I need you to walk in a way that reflects that. And the way that it reflects that is through Ephesians 4, verse 2. He says, with meekness, gentleness, patience, and kindness, eager to maintain the bond of unity.

When I think about it that way, I'm like, okay, I can focus on that. I can do that, right? To be gentle and kind and to really make sure that there's nothing that comes in and disrupts the unity of our church.

If that's what representing you means, then Father, I will do my best to do that. And that would mean that that's going to start from the top down. It has to start in my head and in my heart because then my priorities change.

If the priority of my life is my own power, prestige, and pleasure, gentleness, kindness, and meekness doesn't work, right? What do they say? Nice guys finish last. It's true. It's true, right? You look at people who are very successful in the eyes of the world, they're very narcissistic people typically.

They're not very generous. I was watching, if you've been watching this show, Full Swing on Netflix, it's interesting. There's this new breed of golfer. Tiger Woods has always been known as a narcissistic person.

Like, he doesn't care about anything else or anybody else but himself. And the guy is the greatest golfer who's ever lived, right? If you ever listen to Jack Nicklaus, he's the same way. They're kind of jerks, to be frank.

They're just mean. And there's this new breed of golfers that are coming through. They're a little bit more humble. And they're like, yeah, it's hard because if you actually want to be successful at golf, you have to be selfish.

You have to think more about yourself than other people because golf is a Lone Ranger sport in general. And we are intrigued by that, but that's not good. When you think about what God calls you to, he calls you to the exact opposite, right?

Humility, gentleness, meekness, and patience. The definition of wisdom, according to James, is someone who's humble and meek and kind and open to reason. That's the definition of wisdom. We in the world think of wisdom as someone who has, like, a lot of business savvy.

You know, they know how to make a lot of money or they know how to make the right decision strategically. Wisdom equals strategy. Not according to God. He says, a wise person is one who understands their weakness.

That's humility. Who understands their lack of knowledge, right? That's open to reason. Wisdom is someone who actually knows how to rightly understand who they are. Okay? So that's a little bit of review from last week.

Gentlemen, the more we can embrace the reality of our self-awareness, the more effective we're going to be. So then this king who says, I want you, 2 Corinthians 5 .20, I want you to be my representative.

And so then how do we do this? How is it that we can find the most significant meaning for our life that we can wake up every day and say, it doesn't matter what I do. I can flip burgers or I can be a millionaire, right?

I can have 10 children. I cannot be married at all. It doesn't matter. The significance of my life is based upon who I am in Christ and what I am doing and reflecting that. A simple way of this. I love this.

This is Jesus. He simplifies it for us. This is John 13 .35. He says, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. You know, to love according to Christ's definition, he says, the greatest example of love is to lay your life down.

Selfish ambition and laying your life down are the opposites, right? Humility and arrogance are the opposite. Humility means I have nothing, therefore, you can't take anything from me. Self-ambition means anything that's in my way of self, I'm going to take it out.

We end up killing other people and other...yeah, we end up killing other people, not literally, but metaphorically, instead of killing ourselves because we're not convinced that Jesus says the greatest joy that we can have is to love other people.

The greatest joy is to live for his kingdom, right? We can...Jesus describes his kingdom this way, and I love this. He says that peace, joy, and righteousness are found in his kingdom. That's what we're pursuing, right?

Peace, joy, and righteousness. But we're not convinced of that. And the reason we're not convinced of that is that we actually think we're smarter than God's word. I mean, guys, when Jesus says, seek first the kingdom of God, and that'll be the greatest thing you ever experienced in your life, and you don't do it, you don't actually seek first his kingdom, it's because you've decided your wisdom is greater than God's.

I'm just going to be blunt, that's exactly what you're saying. If your life is not reflecting one that is seeking first God's kingdom, you told God, my idea of life and the significance of my life is better than yours.

I'm just going to let that sit there for a moment, because I'm talking to myself, guys. I struggle every day to understand what does it mean to seek first his kingdom? Because I seek first my own kingdom every day.

Do you know what helps me out? The body of Christ, they come in, they preach to me the gospel. John, shame on you. You didn't love God with all your heart this week. You didn't love your neighbor as you should.

You didn't seek first the kingdom of God, but you can come and get his mercy. With boldness, come into the Father's presence, and he has mercy waiting for you, no judgment. He has grace waiting for you.

You see? That's where power is found. That's where power is found. If you're feeling guilty about not seeking first the kingdom of God, I don't want you to do it out of guilt. I want you to do it out of this amazing thing called grace, right?

We feel the guilt of our sin, we receive the grace of God, and out of gratitude, we go and let the world know you too can have your guilt removed. You too can experience his grace, and you too can understand what does it mean to obey out of gratitude.

That's where our life is. So I want you to ask yourself, if God is sufficient to save your soul from your sin and death and eternity and torment, do you not think he is sufficient to gratify and satisfy your soul here by giving you your purpose?

Like, he can. He can save your soul, and he can also give you the significance of your life if you let him. Come to him and trust him that he will give you the significance of your life, and he's already told you what it is.

He says, it's my kingdom doing my work, and what does that look like? It's in his church, right? So think about it this way. There's a spiritual kingdom, and within that spiritual kingdom, there's a physical gathering called the embassy, his church, and the people of God go there so they can hear of the goodness of the grace of God week in and week out, because we're weak and we're frail, and we forget.

And you take the light and hope, and you walk out into a dark world, and you liberate them. Let's make it a physical, instead of spiritual, let's make it a physical illustration. Imagine the United States, that 95 of it is all literally enslaved.

Like, they are chained, and they are slaved. They do not live free. They are told what they eat, when to drink. They are abused. They are beaten. They are treated in inhumane ways. Okay? But not you. You're not that way.

You've been set free. You can walk around ignoring it, being like, well, that's too bad for them. But you could also liberate them, not in your own strength, but if you use the strength by which has been given to you.

And that's exactly how the Bible describes the world. The Bible describes people. Do you know why men dress up like women? Do you know why they do that? Because they're trying to find significance. They're trying to put what's in their heart and their soul, which should be God's affection and love for them, God's mercy and kindness towards them.

They're trying to fill it, and Satan gives them everything that is the exact opposite to fill it. And they use it. Drugs and sex and money and fame. The world is grasping onto everything, and it's disgusting to watch, and it's horrifying to watch.

I don't judge these men who do these atrocious things. What does Paul say? Well, if it's not for God's grace opening my eyes, my weak, stupid, sinful, fleshly eyes, if He didn't open up my heart, I would be just like them.

Guys, you have the opportunity. Those men who are making fools of themselves, making a fool of themselves before God, or the self-righteous man who has never done that, and he trusts in his own good morality, he too is under judgment of God.

They're both enslaved. They're both going after things that will perish. And for all of eternity, they will regret what they have done, and you have the capacity to show the light of the King to them by how you love them, and you're patient, and you're kind, and you don't judge, and you sacrifice for them.

It's not always standing on the street corner preaching at people. At times, I think it's fascinating that Jesus was known the friend of sinner. He was known as a drunkard. Why? Because he wasn't on the street corner yelling at sinners.

He was sitting with them. He was drinking with them. That just sounds outrageous, but it's the truth. How do you get the reputation of being a friend of a sinner if you're not spending time with them?

That's how he got the reputation, right? He never once condoned it. He says, I actually have to die for your sin. The Father is going to get angry at me instead of you because of your sin. He never condoned their sin.

Never condoned their sin. But in their sin, he met them because he understood he was the liberation for them. So that's the significance of our life, guys. We'll never reach the pinnacle of what Satan lies.

Enough money, enough fame, whatever body, whatever woman that you think you need. He's got us so distracted. And the people who really need our help, you know what we do instead? We judge them. We put out ridiculous tweets about them.

They don't need to be judged. They need to be liberated. The world is not our enemy. It's our mission field. God will deal with them when he's done evangelizing them. But God's not done evangelizing them.

How do we know when God's going to be done evangelizing them? When he comes back with a sword. He's not here with a sword right now, is he? He is here calling them with a light and salt. So this is why we're called to do this.

Comfort in Affliction and Bearing One Another’s Burdens

Let me put it this way as well. You're not only looking outward, but you're always looking in as well. Because the people in our church, man, we're suffering, aren't we? It's hard. It's difficult being in this war against Satan and trying to liberate people from his slavery.

It's brutal. But we're also fighting a body that's dying. We have a death date, and it is rough. And so I love this. I'll read this to you, and then we'll have a couple of thoughts, and we'll close it down.

But it's 2 Corinthians 1, verse 3. He says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercy and of God in all comforts. All comforts. Which means that there isn't a scenario in your life where God cannot comfort you.

Just think about that for a moment. Wherever you're at, whatever you're struggling with, Paul is saying God can and will comfort you. There's nothing you'll ever experience you cannot be comforted. I just, I gotta stop just to pause for that moment.

Because if you're not being comforted, you're unplugged. You're not plugged in. Just remember that. The power of the Spirit is not being true in your life. And we have to go find that together. We need to find that comfort.

So he says this, who comforts us in all of our affliction. So which means there's no, there's nothing you will ever suffer that you cannot find comfort for. It doesn't mean I'll be removed. He says he'll comfort you through it, because this is the world that we live in.

But you can be comforted. So that, now there's a reason for our comfort. Not just so that we can be happy. So that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are being comforted by God.

Guys, one of the things that I really enjoy and I've come to enjoy is that I have suffered a lot of heartaches and pain a lot in this life. And I've seen God's comfort. And there's, you know, grown men can cry, I'm about to cry.

There's something about taking the power of God's love and comfort and giving it to another man or woman who is in desperate need of it and watching the Holy Spirit comfort their heart. It's worth more to me than a million dollars.

I've seen it over and over and over again. What a million dollars cannot satisfy is that fact of knowing that person's going to make it one more day because they realize that there's something bigger than their problem.

And it's called Jesus. There's something bigger than their life. And that's called eternity. Comforting people who have lost their children is so hard. This is why we often just say, well, I'll pray for you.

That's not what he says. He says, weep with them. Love them. Galatians 6 .2, you want to know how to fulfill Christ's law? It says, bear you in another's burdens and to fulfill the law of Christ. Guys, that's the purpose of our life.

We need to free ourselves from what distracts us. We need to free ourselves from petty little things that just don't matter. Think about it this way. Hebrews, I'll quote this to you and we'll be done.

Hebrews says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That's what the goal is, right? And then we want to encourage other people, hey, look to Jesus. Hey, you look to Jesus. But you know what he says before that?

He says, there are things that keep us from looking at Jesus. And he just says two things, sin and weight. Think about that for a moment, which means we can get ourselves entangled, not sinful, not evil, but what's it doing?

We're trying to hold this and look to the sufficiency of Jesus at the same time. And Jesus is saying, let it go. I am sufficient for everything. And that whatever you're holding onto, this is why in the prayer, Jesus says, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

What he's saying is that which is good, Lord, help me to set it aside if it's not what I need from you. Lead me in such a way that if there's a weight that's going to weigh me down, let it go. Why? Because I'm on a mission.

I don't need anything in this world. There's nothing in this world that I need. Everything I need is already provided to me from you. And so I am going to keep myself free and agile, right? Because he's using this language of running a race.

I'm going to keep myself free and agile so that everyone around me can know, hey, look to Christ, look to Christ. I've never made this connection before, but I'm going to make it now. I think it's interesting when he says, bear you one another's burdens.

You know why most of you guys listening to this podcast doesn't know the joy of carrying another man's burden? Because you got your own weight. You got your own weight, your own debt, your own ambitions, your own whatever it is.

You got yourself entangled into. You want to know what real joy is? Loving a brother and the capacity to do so because you're not carrying your own stinking weight. You get to carry his and to see his tear-filled eyes, look at you and say, I couldn't do this unless you help me.

There's no way I could make it through. Guys, that's the significance of, you know, it doesn't matter what age you are. It doesn't matter what nationality you are. It doesn't matter what your income is.

It doesn't matter what your body type is. You can carry the weight and you can share the light. It doesn't matter if you can walk, see if you're deaf or dumb, you can do it. And it can be the significantly change the world because it's using God's power.

That is what the rest of this podcast is going to be about. How do we do this every day? We're going to look at every angle possible. We're going to discuss it. I want to take your questions. I want to hear from you.

Okay. Well, John, how does it work like this? And what if I'm not in a good church, right? What about this? What about that? We're going to tackle these every area of our life. How do we find that significance so that we can reclaim what does it really mean to be a man of God, a biblical man, and then find some significance, go do some work that matters for our King so that he gets praise and he gets glory and we receive the joy of doing so.

All right, guys, we'll see you next week.