Keep sharing good news without ads.
No description available
I'd ask for you if you please turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19 will be the reading this morning for the message. Several years ago, I was sharing this with Elder Lewis Brown last week, that several years ago when I was pastoring in the Brookfield area, I had a difficult span of time in ministry and was super discouraged, super cast down.
What? I thought Christians are always doing well, and everything is just blue skies and green grass all the time. Well, there are times when we do get discouraged, and I remember I was discouraged. I was reading and praying and asking God to just encourage me and restore unto me the joy of my salvation.
I met a young man who had met another person who had an experience meeting Pastor Tommy Nelson in Texas, and some tapes got passed on to me, messages from Tommy Nelson. God used this man from a distance to be able to encourage me, to help me with the things that I heard from his topics.
One of the topics I'm going to share with you this morning was one of the things that helped encourage me. When the message is over, you will think, how did that message ever encourage Pastor Dave? I'll tell you up front that really the whole thing is a charge for ministry and for service, but the whole thing that got me was that, like in the new song, one of the songs that we sang here, the last one, my Jesus, my Savior, Lord, there is none like you.
All of my days, I want to praise, and I was telling the Sunday school class, sometimes when I'm singing a song, I change it in my head. All of my days, I get to praise. I get to be a servant of Christ.
You my brothers and sisters, beloved and loved of the Lord, get to be, privileged to be servants of Christ, called of God, saved by God, and we get to praise the wonders of God's mighty love. And from this message that I heard several years ago, it just encouraged me so that we are allowed to be servants of Christ.
The text, beginning in Luke 19, I'd like to start reading again. I'll be reading from the King James also. Verse 11, and as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
He said, therefore, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. Verse 13, and he called his 10 servants and delivered them 10 pounds and sent them to them, occupy till I come.
But his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying, we will not have this man to reign over us. It came to pass that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
Then came the first saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained 10 pounds. And he said unto him, well, thou good servant, because thou has been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over 10 cities. And the second came saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained 5 pounds.
And he said likewise to him, be thou also over 5 cities. And another came saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin, for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man.
Thou takest up that thou layest not down, and reapest that thou did not sow. He said unto him, out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow.
Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury. And he said unto them that stood by, take from him the pound, and give to him that hath 10 pounds.
And they said unto him, Lord, he hath 10 pounds. For I say unto you that unto every one which hath shall be given. And from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me.
Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we come before the throne of grace, and we ask, O Lord God, that you would remember us here in this place. We've come to another service. We've come to another gathering of Bethlehem Bible Church.
And Lord, it is my desire, and I pray that it is the desire of all those here that are wanting to worship you in spirit and in truth, and to serve the true and the living God, that we would not leave the way that we came in, but that we would be changed.
Lord God, that our hearts would be stirred. Our Father in heaven, that the word of God would be so pressed upon us. And Lord, that our understanding of what it means to be a Christian and to serve God would just be deepened.
Father, we, as your people, can say that we love you. And we know that we can say that because you first loved us. And you demonstrated that love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
We who are the undeserving, we who should have been cast out of your presence, but you have purpose to save a people for your own namesake, and we're thankful to be numbered among them. Help us, oh Lord, this morning to learn, to be instructed, to hear your words, so that we could leave this place better equipped, changed, renewed in our minds, oh God, that we might bring more glory to Christ.
We ask it in his precious name, amen. As I said before, it's always about 10 degrees warmer up here. Those of you that are fanning away, come up here, it's a little warmer. In this text, the Lord calls his servants, his slaves.
And brethren, the message is for us here this morning, as I would like to apply it to us, that we who are the ones that profess to believe and have received the Lord Jesus Christ are now servants of God, born slaves.
Servants who are left in this world to represent our God. And he gave them, he delivers to them 10 pounds, or in the Greek the word is myna, it is a representation of about 100 days, or 3 months worth of wages, and the master goes away, but he will return in a little while, and so he gives them each a sufficient portion for them.
And you notice his words, and really the title of this message is Occupy until I come, because it says that in verse 13, Occupy until I come, or it means to trade, or to make a profit, or in other words, Jesus is saying do business until I come back.
We're not being given this money just to hide it. We see that unfortunate person who did that. We're to take this money, or to take this money and what it represents in our lives, and do something with it.
And it is as if our Lord is saying to us, I want you to do business for me, hear me and be obedient, act upon my command, represent me, be an ambassador for me. And in this message this morning, I believe it's being pressed upon us that we are to conduct heavenly business here upon earth in a very hostile day.
We know it's a hostile day, because as our Lord says it in here, there are citizens that hated him and did not want Christ to rule over him, to rule over them. He's saying to us, I want you to make a profit with this money that I've entrusted you with.
And I will return and receive more from you than what I've given to you. When I come back, I will judge you according to the level of your faithfulness. For we see the words in the end of verse 15, when the Lord does come back, there's going to be an account that he might know how much every man has gained by trading.
That word trading there has the same root word of the doing business of the doing business up or occupying up at the end of verse 13. So the nobleman entrusts all these people with money so they can do business and gain a profit.
He doesn't do this because he needs the money. He's a rich nobleman. As I said in our opening of the message, if God needed something, he wouldn't ask us. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He does not need the money.
It's a test. When he comes back to rule, there will be those who will rule with the Lord. And he needs to make it very clear as to who will rule and what they will rule over. For his servants, there will be a reckoning day for their service while they have been living here upon this earth.
So he gives them this stewardship, this opportunity to prove themselves. And by their faithfulness, they will be rewarded a position of co-ruling with Christ. Our Lord is saying to us in this day, when the world rejects me, they hate me.
And of course we live in that day even today. The world is full of Christ-haters, people who will not bow the knee, people who will not want, do not want Christ to rule over them. They have their own life.
They do not want Jesus to mess it up. In this hostile day, the question comes to us, which of my servants, which of you men and women and children who profess my name, will really believe that I am who I say that I am and that I will do what I said I will do?
Which of you, when I go away, will actually believe that I have been exalted and I am coming back? And who will really believe that I will call you into account? Which of you will believe when I come back, I will judge all men and that I will both reward my friends and punish my enemies?
And which of you, in these dark days, will be willing to identify yourself with me? You see, that is a different gospel that is being preached today. The gospel, a gospel that has been preached quite frequently, and I even heard of it this morning after Sunday school, is the one about a Jesus who has no power.
It is one about a Jesus, meek and mild, he wouldn't hurt a little child. It is one about a Jesus, as I illustrated in the Sunday school class, if there's a door here and we're here and Jesus is over here, Jesus is knocking on the door, would you please let me in?
A weak Jesus, a Jesus that has no lordship, a Jesus that exercises no power, and yet we see in our text here this morning quite a different picture that comes to us in the warning of this text that the Lord Jesus Christ will return and we will give an account for ourselves.
And so it's pressed upon us this morning, who will labor for Christ? Who will live for me, as it were Jesus were to ask us? Who among you will be good stewards? Who will be willing to suffer as I have suffered?
Who will be willing to believe my words so much that you will not take all that I have given you and frivolously spend it upon yourself? What a mark of the, you have a gospel that preaches, is a man-centered gospel.
You get man-centered results. And the man-centered gospel results in people being selfish people, focused on their own appetites and their own desires and not the masters. Far different message that we see here in the text.
Who is going to believe the promise, the promise that Jesus said when he said I am coming back again and that I will own everything and as we wait for his return, what will be our response to the stewardship that God has given to us?
Is there any among us who is willing to live completely for Christ? Who is willing to count the cost while he is gone? Oh, you will be labeled fools if you follow Christ. You will be rejected by other people and because they hated him, they will hate us.
Who will be willing to step out in faith and lose their life for Christ that they might find it? This is the ultimate test of faithfulness. The gospel has its claims upon us, brethren. It has its claims upon our lives.
If there are no claims in the message being taught, then it isn't the gospel. It's easy, is it not, to wear a cross. We see them all the time. And I'm not putting down wearing the cross. It's so easy to wear the cross.
But it is very difficult to bear the cross and that's what we're called to. To bear it and to do something about it in our lives. For every blood-bought child of God, our Lord Jesus Christ has us in this very test this morning and through our lives from this day forth.
We've been given our one pound or our one mina. We have one life to live. We have been called by our God, affectionately drawn to the Savior. We've been given spiritual life in Jesus Christ and dwelt by the Spirit of God.
We've been given a great commission to go and to preach the gospel and to make disciples of the nations. We've been given a revelation of who God is. John put it this way in 1 John chapter 5 and in verse 20.
It says that God has given us an understanding that we may know him that is true and we are in him that is true, even in his son Jesus Christ. This is the true God in eternal life. God has revealed something to us.
This salvation that we have is not something that we educated ourselves in. It's not education, it's revelation. God revealing his son in us. He's given us the truth, the Bible, the holy word of God. He's given us spiritual gift or gifts.
We only have so much time. Our days are numbered and we have a tremendous responsibility and yet a tremendous opportunity also to serve the true and the living God. Some of you have jobs. You go to work.
And what are we supposed to do when we go to work? Work right? I heard somebody say it. We're supposed to work. Now what if you have so-called talents and abilities and schooling and education and you go to work and you don't work?
You're not going to fare very well on your performance appraisal the next time it comes around when they look at what you've done or not done over a period of time. You're expected to work. You're paid for it and you're expected to work.
But somehow in the day in which we live, folks think that we can somehow go to God's grocery store, the shelf, and pick off the shelf the gift of salvation and just receive this salvation and nothing be required of us.
That's opposite than what we're reading here this morning, is it not? Something is required of us. We have a stewardship. We have been saved by the grace of God and we have been saved in such a way that it does say in Ephesians 2 .8 .9, which many of us have memorized, that it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
It's a great gift. It is a wonderful thing that God has done. But it also goes on to say that we have been created in Christ Jesus unto good works. In Titus 3 .8, it is written there by the apostle, this is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.
Now, what kind of a message is it if we say that we've been saved by the grace of God and yet we're not a people who are willing to labor for the master from the dawn to the setting sun? The one who purchased us with his blood, the lamb that we sang about, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, is the one who bought us with his precious blood and yet somehow we can take all of this knowledge?
We can take all of this wonder of this salvation, the gifts, the abilities, the talents, the enabling that God gives, and we can take it, as it were, and we can hide it under a napkin, no one will ever see it, no one will ever know about it, and yet when the Lord returns, all is well.
Not so. We have a responsibility to be faithful witnesses and ambassadors for Christ. The Lord's message to us this morning is to occupy until I come back, or to do business until I come back. Gain a profit from what you've been given, trade, do business, so that there will be an increase, so that there will be fruit that is born out of your lives.
Now here's the piercing question. Who among us who claim to be Christians is going to do this? Or will it be just the opposite? Will we be quiet and live for ourselves and be ashamed of Jesus and not do any labor but be lazy?
Now I'm not trying to preach this message this morning to mess up your day and to put a knot in your stomach to mess up your lunch, but to warn all of us that we live in the light of truth that bears upon our souls, and it is very important for us to act upon what we hear and act upon what we know.
I know, or am mostly convinced, that there are people, and even our Lord says so, in every church, and especially a church of this size, there are those who profess to be Christians. They profess to have a knowledge, a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and yet their mina, their life, their abilities, their gifts, the talents, so to speak, that these relate to are hidden under this napkin.
And it terrifies me. It terrifies me so that there could be people who think they are going to heaven when they die, will wake up to the reality that what they thought they have, they do not have. And the message comes to those this morning to just examine ourselves.
Where are we really at? And the message comes to those who are believers in Jesus Christ, who truly have a work of God within their souls, and we have been transformed, that one day, based upon the grace of God, the favor of God toward us, the labors that we do for the Master, the labors of love, the works of faith, as the Apostle puts it, the ministry that we do by the enabling of God the Holy Spirit will be rewarded one day.
God will reward His friends, and He will judge His enemies. And the message comes to us very strong and clear, and we see the first person, as I was just speaking in verse 16, who comes, the first one says, Lord, your pound has gained ten pounds.
The servant took the one pound and gained ten more, and this took time. There was an effort behind these results. This servant was willing to run the race, to wrestle, to strive, to minister, to do good works, to work in God's vineyard and not quit.
He knew he had a responsibility to be a good steward, and he ordered his life to faithfully discharge his duties for Christ. The nobleman says to him in verse 17, well, well done, well thou good servant, because you've been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
You see, brother and sister, you're not supposed to compare yourself to somebody else across the aisle from you who seems to be better gifted, stronger in the faith, has a more visible ministry. God has you and I where He wants us in the church.
He's plugged us in. We are, there are many members, yet one body, and we're to be accountable to our charge, to be faithful to our stewardship, and some of you, it might be smaller, some of you larger, but nonetheless, we're to be faithful to that charge.
The nobleman says to this person who has been faithful, you've been faithful over a little, have authority over ten cities. This servant receives a full reward, and likewise, in verse 18 and 19, the second servant had gained five pounds, and he was commended and given authority over five cities.
And here we see a biblical principle. Those who trade and keep busy will be gainers. Those who trade and those who keep busy will be gainers, and they will be rewarded. God rewards faithfulness with greater responsibility.
God rewards faithfulness with greater responsibility, and also there's blessing, also there is reward, also there is peace, also there is just a wonderful peace of God that floods the soul of that person who knows that God is smiling over them.
Now let me stop just a moment and ask, do we really believe that this is all going to come to pass? Oh, how we need to grasp the reality of this coming event. Every one of God's children will be judged.
If you are a Christian here this morning, the day is coming, my brother or sister, when we will stand before our God. This is called the bima, the judgment seat of Christ. Now Christians will be judged, not according to our sins.
Thank God our sins were judged in Christ at Calvary when Jesus shed his precious blood to completely pay the sin debt that we owed. Just yesterday I went into a store, a place of business, and I wanted something.
I asked for it. They prepared it for me and gave it to me at the counter. I opened up my wallet and I paid for it, and it's mine. I started to walk out the door, and when I walked out the door they said, hey, you, come back here.
We want you to pay a second time. Didn't do it. Does that happen to you? Usually it does not, unless the person just forgot the transaction. We don't pay for things twice, and you think about it. When it comes to the payment for our sin upon the cross, all of our sins borne by Jesus Christ, who his own self, bear our sins in his body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness.
God loved us and he gave himself for us. Christ died for our sins. He was buried and he rose again. He made our payment, and God is not going to require the payment to be made by Christ and by us. Praise the Lord.
It's paid for one time. It's finished, Jesus said. It's done. All of our sins, past, present, and future, taken care of by the blood of Christ. And some religions will teach, now you have to pay for them yourself.
That's not true. And what a blessed thing that our sins have gone before us. They precede us, preceding our death. So before we die, our sins are taken care of on Calvary by the substitutionary death of Christ.
And by faith in Jesus Christ, all of our sins are forgiven. And that takes place before we die. There are others, you see, our sins go before us. For the Christian, there are others whose sins have not been forgiven, whose sins have not been taken care of by the blood of Christ.
They're lost outside of Christ. They have not received Christ. And when they die, do you know where their sins are? They come behind them. And they will not meet a Savior, like the Christian who meets the Savior, the Lord Jesus, and their sins are taken care of, and they're ushered into the eternity to spend forever with their Savior, who already has taken care of their sins.
These folks, when they die, their sins come behind them. And the judgment, the wrath of God, will fall upon them, and they will be cast out of the presence of God and banished from His presence, but not so for the Christian.
But we do have a judgment that we will face, for it says in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Another text in 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 13, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try or test every man's work of what sort it is.
The works of wood and hay and stubble, or the works of living for self and being ashamed of Jesus Christ and looking, trying to look good in the eyes of men and hiding your mina under a napkin, will be burned up.
These will fail the test, there will be no reward, but on the other hand, the works of gold and silver and precious stones, living for Christ, committed, devoted, spiritually rolling up the sleeves and keeping busy, those will be rewarded.
In Revelation 22 and verse 12, the Lord Jesus is speaking, and he says these words, And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Here's what's going to take place, brethren.
It's as it were, the Lord is going to take all of the things that we have done in our lives as Christians, the good and the bad are going to go into his hands. In our lives of service for Christ. Now, our sins are taken care of, but our service for Christ, those things are going to go in his hands.
Everything, the record of how we have spent our time, our talents, our money, our spiritual gifts, what we have done in ministry, and put it in his hands, and then he's going to, as it were, blow on it, blowing away the chaff, and then reward us for what's left in his hand, so to speak, an illustration.
Reward us for what's left in his hand. And I've wondered if you've ever thought about what is going to be left in God's hands. Based upon the way that we order our lives, based upon the way that we focus in our day to day lives, and I'm not saying that we're super people, super Christians, because we do fail, but what is the tendency of our life?
What is the character of our lives? How are we spending our days? This is going to happen to every believer, and upon completion of this judgment, the faithful will be rewarded. And what our concern ought to be is what business are we doing for the Lord?
How well are we occupying in our lives even today? So you and I, brethren, have a great responsibility and a tremendous opportunity now, and a great test to look forward to in the future. And again, let us never, never, never forget that we have been saved by the grace of God and we get to serve the Lord.
One of the texts that I was looking at in, I believe it was in Colossians chapter 3, I just kind of glanced at it this morning, and it's a wonderful piece, portion of scripture that encourages me sometimes, and I have a tune that I can sing this to, and no, I won't sing it to you.
But it goes, the verse goes like this,. And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men. And it comes from a Greek word that means from the soul. Do it heartily, whatever you do, do it heartily, from the soul, with your whole being, with your mind, and with your will, and with your emotions.
Do it heartily to the Lord, as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For you serve the Lord Christ. We do get to serve Him, and what a privilege it is to do that.
But this is sobering and serious, isn't it? These are words that we cannot afford to neglect. And does this text cause a healthy fear to come over our souls? I hope it will. I believe the text is meant to do just that.
One thing we need to do before we leave the text this morning is we've got to look at this last person who comes before the nobleman. It says in verse 20 and 21 of Luke 19, Another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in the napkin.
For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man. Thou takest up, thou layest not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. Another came. I can hear this last servant speaking, Master. Other people work for you, and you receive all the glory and all the benefit.
And I wasn't sure of that. So I wrapped up what you gave me in a napkin or a handkerchief. I wanted to live for myself and not for you, because you were just going to come and take it anyways. Notice what kind of servant this is.
In the Greek, it's another servant, it says here. In the Greek, there are two words for another. There is another of the same kind. But this word is the word heteros, which is another of a different kind has come.
He's a different type of servant. This person was a different type in that maybe a professing servant, a professing follower, but unlike the others. We don't want to be like this type of servant. The first servants had proof of their occupying or proof of their business.
They had an increase, fruit. They had been faithful to do business for the Master. They laid it on the line. They stood up for Christ when others did not care. They witnessed to and discipled and served and ministered and bought and sold in His kingdom and there was an increase.
They had fruit for their efforts. They lived for God and not for themselves. They thought it maybe in their lives it even made them look so foolish, but they kept going on for Him and they were rewarded and exalted.
But this different type of servant just hid his life. He hid his talents. He hid his abilities. He wasted his time. He shirked his responsibility and did not use his knowledge of the Bible. He hid his so-called Christianity in a napkin.
He had nothing to show. He was disobedient to the call because he didn't want to live for the glory of the Master. Listen to this. I can't remember who penned this, but I wrote it down on the margin of my notes here.
He did no harm to the world, neither did he do it any good. No harm to the world, but no good to the world. He didn't suffer any pain. He was careless with his precious gifts, the knowledge and the abilities that God had given to him and God spare us from that type of life.
He won't deny the Master. He calls the Master as being a prince with authority who is coming with punitive powers. What this last servant wants to say is, yes, I believe He's coming, but I'm going to sit on the fence.
I'm not going to give my Lord anything. I'm not going to give Him anything at all with my life. I'm just going to take this thing He's given to me, this life, these abilities, and tuck them neatly away.
I'm not going to tell people who I am. I'm going to hide myself, and I will hold on to my beliefs of what I do have, maybe as a fire insurance for when He does come. Maybe there will be some identity there, and I'll be okay.
But I'm not going to do business for Him. So Master, here's your minor. This person may be one who has a profession of faith in Christ, but unwilling to get busy laboring for God, in the church possibly, but not in Christ.
They won't reject Christ openly or spurn the Bible openly. They'll just keep the Bible on the coffee table. As I said earlier, they'll wear the cross, but not bear the cross. They might have the Jesus bumper sticker.
They come to church, but you know, it is an effort. I tell you, for those who love the Lord, sometimes it's an effort to come and to be here, is it not? It's difficult. Struggles. You ever notice how sometimes it just gets so wiry around the house on Sunday mornings, especially with children.
It's difficult. There's struggles. There's things that happen. But we love to come because we want to worship the Lord. We want to look to Him and praise Him and give Him the affection that is due unto Him.
But there are some that profess, and yet they come and the service is just so boring. And that guy that gets up there, he just preaches so long. And he just keeps saying the same things over and over again.
And we sing those hymns and those songs. I don't even know what the words mean. And you know, it's something that sometimes I really question. And it's really a reflection. And maybe it's a misunderstanding.
But did you know that there are some people who don't even sing when they are in this building when we're singing? And to me, I could say, well, somebody might say, you know, nobody wants to hear me sing.
I can't carry a tune in a bucket. But the Lord did not say that we're to make a perfect noise or melody unto the Lord. We're to make a cheerful noise as we sing. And it doesn't matter if we're on key.
It is our heart, is it not? That we're to lift up in praise to the Lord. And when someone is not singing, I mean, it seems like it's a reflection to me because the Word of God tells us, oh, sing unto the Lord a new song.
Sing unto the Lord all the earth. And when God saves a person, He puts a song of praise in their heart, doesn't He? And we can't help but sing. So sing unto the Lord. Don't be ashamed to sing. Praise Him, as our brother aptly read this morning, and I didn't ask him to read that text, to praise God and all the earth is going to sing, the mountains sing, the stars sing, the rivers sing, and why not those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ?
But there are some that will not sing. They will not busy themselves with the work of God. You are a hard master, they say, and I don't like it. And the master says, you wicked or you worthless servant, in verse 22.
You know that this is the type of master that I am. And at the least, you could have put the money in the bank so that you could receive some interest instead of hiding it. It's not that the servant lost the money.
The issue was he didn't do anything with it. So the master takes away all that he has and gives it to somebody who has. And Jesus Christ is coming and He longs to exalt the faithful and to reward those who have suffered for His namesake.
We see that in verse 26, for I say unto you that unto everyone which hath shall be given, he's going to reward. But those who do not have it will be taken away from them. No reward, lost everything that they thought was important, blown away at the judgment.
Forfeited everything that that person could have been. What are we going to do about what we heard this morning? Beloved, this is serious and it's heart piercing, this warning from the Lord Jesus. Our day is coming.
The sands of time are sinking. We only have so many days that are numbered and what are we supposed to be doing? Do business, occupy, trade so that there is an increase. Do business for God, witness, disciple, live godly, pour your life into other people.
Do it with an eye toward God and not toward men. Be spent and willing to be spent for Christ on the behalf of other people. Faithful ambassadors, sacrificing for others because you love them, doing everything you can to bring those around you to a knowledge of Christ by telling them the truth.
Because God has purchased us with his own blood, we're no longer our own possession. We belong to Jesus and we have got to redeem the time. We need to love him and to worship him and serve him with our whole being.
Let's go beyond these church services. Do you realize that coming to church and sitting here is the least level of commitment in the church? Oh, it's a level of commitment and I'm saying don't come. Oh brother, Dave said it's the least level of commitment, I don't have to come anymore.
No, it is, you know, when you come in the door, nobody checks your baggage. Nobody gives you a quiz or a test on the way out the door. There's no tests. When you're sitting here and listening, there's basically no responsibility.
Coming to church is the easy part. It's leaving church and going out in the world and bearing the cross for Christ and living for Christ and doing business for Christ that is difficult. And yet by the grace of God, he enables us to do so.
To live for his glory and live in such a way that pleases him. So I would encourage us to go out these doors and live for Christ in our homes, in our marriages, in our relationships, on the job, with our work efforts.
That people will know at work that we're different workers because we have the stamp of God upon us. We go in our neighborhoods and our neighbors know there's something different about us. Strange, yes, there's something different, but we're owned by Christ.
And we are a people who give the praise and glory to him and give him the credit. When I was a teenager, I'd say I was 19, I lived in Westboro and I worked at Westboro State Hospital. I worked on the farm.
I can remember the first day and week working there. It was strawberry week and we picked strawberries from morning to evening. So much so that when I closed my eyes at night and went to sleep, I saw red with these little seeds everywhere.
It was tough work in the heat. One of the things that we got to do, though, was we drove tractors and it was over near Lake Chauncey in Westboro. And we drove tractors around in the back and a buddy of mine that I went to high school with, we loved to swim.
So sometimes as we're driving the tractor back up to the shop, we just jump in there quick and jump out and get back to work. Take a quick break. Well, one time we went around the lake and out in the lake, there's a woman out there and she's just flailing in the water and she's drowning.
So I said to my, she was one of the patients at the state hospital, actually gotten away from the water that she was in and drowning. I said to my friend, I took my wallet out of my pocket and I just jumped in.
I was the fastest swimmer. We knew that because we swam a lot. And I went out and got her and brought her back in. And then he had, since that time, contacted somebody else so that they could get one of the vehicles over to get her up and to get attention.
But, you know, to this day, I don't know who she is. And I'm not trying to toot my horn or anything like that. Just give a poor illustration, you know, Brother Dave's illustrations. To this day, I don't know who she is.
I never got a card from her, not a phone call. And some of you may know where I'm heading with this. Here we are. Sinners who are not flailing around in the water trying to gasp for breath. Sinners who are dead at the bottom of the Lake Chauncey.
Down in the bottom. Dead. Can't save ourselves if somebody throws a life jacket. We can't grab it. We're dead. Dead in trespasses and sins. And God, who is rich in mercy and is great love worthy, has loved us.
For by grace he has saved, reached down, and brought us up out of deadness and into life. He that has the Son has life. He that has not the Son of God has not life. We have life. And Jesus regenerated us, born from above.
And can you tell me that that person who has been raised to life, brought into the family of God, sins forgiven, completely changed, understanding open to the things of God, God has revealed his Son in us, and we have laid hold upon Christ by faith and we're Christians, and we know what God has done, it's marvelous, that we can walk away and never communicate with him, never talk to him, never give him any honor, no praise, but take as it were all of this supposedly that we have and hide it underneath a nice comfortable little napkin and walk away thinking that when he comes back all will be well.
That is not the characteristic of one who has been plucked up out of a horrible pit, as the psalmist said, whose feet have been taken out of the quicksand of sin and been placed upon a rock, Jesus Christ.
That person is one who cannot do anything, but as the psalmist said, he has put a new song in my heart, even praise unto our God, many shall see it and shall fear and hopefully shall trust in the Lord.
When they look at the testimony of a person who has been so radically changed by the grace of God, that type of person, my brother and sister in Christ, beloved, is a person who will so order their life to do business for God so that when he returns he will see that there is an increase and he will reward that faithfulness.
And my desire for you and for me, for all of us who here at Bethlehem Bible Church who claim to name the name of Jesus Christ, that we might have that type of life and not the one where we are ashamed and hide and we don't go public for Christ and we won't do anything.
I'm not saying that you have to be a preacher. I'm not saying that you have to go into the mission field. Do it if that's what God would have you to do. But be faithful right where you are with the little piece that God has given you.
But some of you, if there were a test when you went out the door and someone were to ask you, okay, we've recorded your life on film, just remind us, what is it that you do for Christ? We're going to write it down on this piece of paper.
Some of you might turn white as a sheet because you know that though you say that you have the profession, there isn't anything there. And you need to repent. And you need to call upon the Lord to save you if you've never been saved and to look unto Christ who has died and was buried and rose again so that you might have life in his name.
And be transformed so that you become a person who does business for the Lord. And many of you, I look at your faces as I pan the congregation here, and I just think, I look at a face and I see a name and I think of what they're doing for the Master from the dawn to the setting sun.
That is your heart's desire to do business, to occupy, to press on, to wrestle, to be faithful. And you know what? One day you're going to hear these words, well or well done. Thou good servant, because you've been faithful in a very little, have authority over these cities.
Let's pray. Father, we do want to praise you and we want to thank you for the honor of having your name upon us. Having the name of your Son upon us being called Christians, followers of Christ, those who have been set apart by God and for God.
Saved from the penalty due our sins, saved from the pleasure of them. One day to be saved from the presence of sin too, and we rejoice. O Lord God, we think of just the privilege of being able to serve you.
In the evil day in which we live, in these dark days, you have called out a people to be your very own. And we are to be as lights shining in that dark world. Help us, O God, to do so. Help us to be faithful.
Strengthen us for the labor for this week even. Forgive us where we have failed you. Lord, forgive. And we're thankful your word says that you're of great mercy and that you do forgive. Those who confess and forsake their sins will have mercy.
We praise you for the privilege of being allowed of God to serve you and do it with all of our hearts. Help us to do it more faithfully. Help us to do it with an eye toward you. I pray if there's anyone here this morning that is outside of Christ, O Lord God, would you please powerfully save them to the praise and glory of Christ.
As we leave, O Lord, may your word ring in our ears. Father, may it have pierced our hearts so that we would be changed. For we ask it for alone the glory of Christ, his name to be exalted. In Jesus' name, amen.