Beyond The Basics: Obeying, Serving & Growing (part 3)

Our Father, we delight in being able to approach your throne and to call you Father. Father, we delight in your word. We are thankful for this time that we have to gather together and for this land that you have given us, for the freedoms that you have provided us, and Lord, for your word which you have preserved for us.

Would you bless this time, Lord, as we look to what your word says about how we ought to think about ourselves, how we ought to think about you, how we ought to respond to the relationship that exists between you as our Father and us as your children.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Well, as I said, we've been talking about obedience. Is it an option? In fact, we went through what could be called the lordship, non-lordship debate. You know, kind of a funny thing, Dr. Thomas, who was one of my professors in seminary, one of Pastor Mike's seminary profs, and also one of John MacArthur's seminary profs.

That's how long he's been teaching seminary. I mean, here's John MacArthur, you know, getting ready to wind down his 40-plus years of preaching. And I had the same profit he did. What does that mean?

He said to John MacArthur, when this whole debate started, do you have to actually do what Christ says in order to be a Christian? He advised Dr. MacArthur to stay away from the term lordship. It didn't really matter because others slapped the lordship tag on it, and it became a major debate.

But I decided it was kind of funny. You know, Dr. Thomas is like, you don't want to call it lordship. You just don't want to do that. And then it got named that anyway. And so there you go. It doesn't really matter.

Anyway, we talked about that. And do you have to obey? And the answer is yes. I mean, clearly, again and again and again, we see the scripture calls us to obedience. I mean, what sort of child who loves a parent says, well, I love that father or mother, but I am never going to obey them or obey them when I feel like it.

As obedient children, we want to honor our father. We've also talked about spiritual growth. We started talking about it last week. You know, there are things that, you know, you might say, well, that's legalism.

Mike sent me an email. I think it was the end of last week. There's a Christian music artist that I really like. And he has, over time, moved more and more towards a kind of, what would you call it? He's more concerned with hunger.

What is that? Social justice. Seems like he's more concerned with social justice than he is with the gospel. And on his latest album, he says something, and I haven't heard it because, you know, I probably won't buy it, but he says something like, you know, what's more horrible?

The fact that someone is a homosexual or the fact that people are starving. I don't even know how to address that. And then he also, just for the shock value, goes on to throw in some language that's not appropriate.

So some might say, well, you know, if you're more concerned about language than you are about other things, you know, then you're a legalist. But the Bible is very clear that what we say reflects what's in our hearts.

God is always after our hearts. Obedience from the heart. Daniel. Right. Daniel says, notes rightly, that Jesus said, we'll always have the poor with us. That is not a sin. Is it a sin to be poor? No.

But Bible's unequivocal on homosexuality. So it's like, you know, I you know, there's the old apples and oranges things. I prefer to go for apples and hand grenades or something. I mean, two extreme opposites.

You can't get more opposite than that. I see that hand, brother Bruce. And that's where he's heading is, you know, this idea that, you know, our concern should be here. We've got, you know, all these things in America.

How can we think of ourselves as good Christians when there are, you know, people dying of hunger in Zimbabwe? Well, that's really the issue, isn't it? Do we want to get caught up in worrying about it?

Is it? Would it be great if we could feed everyone? Everyone could have a house. Yes. But what if we could do that? What if BBC got together tomorrow? We all said, you know what? Let's pull all of our resources in between us.

And this might be a stretch. But between us, we could feed, clothe, shelter the entire world. Would that be a good thing? Yes. And when those people got to hell, they would be so thankful for all the sacrifice that we went through.

Wouldn't that be great? I mean, it completely misses the point. Is it good to help people who need help? Yes. What is the number one thing that you can help them with? The gospel. The gospel. The poorest man who knows Christ is rich.

And the richest man apart from Christ is poverty stricken. So that is a completely off message. But that is the problem with the social gospel. That's the problem with trying to save the world, you know, green the planet up.

I don't want to even talk about green Bibles or, you know, planting trees in Germany so that we can pollute here in the United States. I don't even understand all that stuff. It has nothing to do with the Bible, so let's get back to the Bible.

Increased Holiness of Life and Conversation

Talking about increased holiness of life and conversation. Again, it's not what we do on the outside that saves us, but it does reflect what's in our hearts. Increased faith and love towards Christ. Become more careful about your temper, words, and actions.

The more you grow, the more you are aware of your sinfulness, the more you're thinking, I want to please the Lord in what I do, then you're more prone to say, you know, here's something that people say sometimes.

Well, you know, I say these things, I don't mean them, but I just have an Irish temper. And I can say that because Cooley is a fine Irish name. You know, well, I can't help it, you know, it's the environment in which I was raised.

Well, you don't understand, you know, she says this, and it just makes me mad. Are those valid reasons for doing what we do? I've been talking to various people about repentance over the last couple of weeks, and I think I went on for several weeks and hear about it.

But, you know, it's this idea that somehow repentance can mean coming to someone and saying, you know, as long as you will acknowledge that, then I'm willing to repent. And that's not repentance, and that's not how we should think.

Our responsibility is us, ourselves. I'm responsible for me, what I do, what I say, not for what someone else does or says. As you grow in Christ, you are not content with your old holiness levels. You know, as I read that, I'm just like, I got a picture of a gas tank.

I don't even know what that means. You know, what do you put in more holiness? No, but it means that you see a growth in Christ-likeness. You see yourself growing in the faith, growing in maturity, in spiritual maturity.

Obviously, you become more troubled about sin in your life. We mentioned how Paul wrestled with sin. And you have an increased spirituality of taste in mind, the ways, fashions, amusements, and recreations of the world have a continually decreasing place in your heart.

And what's the opposite of that? The things of God have an increasing place in your life. You want more of those things. You love good music, good art, good books, good conversation, good preaching. I just had to throw that in.

And here we are on page 3 or page 49, depending on whether or not you have my handwritten notes in the bottom corner of your thing, which no one has except for me. So it's just page 3 for you. And we're midway down looking at Subjection D, paragraph Roman numeral 7.

Increased Charity and Love for Others

Increased charity and love for others. That longing to see social justice occur everywhere. For people, no, that's not right. Increased charity and love for others. The yearning that increases to see people come to salvation in Christ.

I don't know who wrote that, but he's fired. We long to see people come to salvation in Christ. How is that charitable? How is that loving? Peggy. Peggy says, yeah, it's like you see somebody drowning.

You just say, well, hi, drown. I could throw you a life preserver, but I won't. How is it charitable? Because you're giving what you can do. Let's read Romans 9, verse 3. See what Paul's attitude is here.

I would often say to my kids when they were growing up, if you don't know the answer to something and it's in the Bible, look at Romans chapter 9 because it's probably there. So they would always go, Romans chapter 9?

All right, who has Romans 9, verse 3? Deb. Okay, that's Paul wishing that he were accursed. Why? Does he really want to be cursed? What's his point? His heart is broken for those who are not saved. He's willing to do anything, including, hyperbolically, be cursed himself so that he could see others come to faith in Christ.

He does not want them to continue on the path that they're on. He has a longing, a deep... I think it goes beyond charity even. He says, I would give anything to see them come to Christ. And it really brings up a challenge.

What are we willing to suffer to see others come to Christ? We don't have to wish ourselves a curse. We might be able to wish ourselves embarrassed. What are we willing to do? How far are we willing to go to see people come to faith?

Roman numeral 8. Decreased criticism of others in light of God's grace to you. Now that one I like. I really like the way that one was written. I yell at myself enough, but I like that one. Spiritual growth.

Decreased criticism of others in light of God's grace to you. If we fully see what God has done for us, in spite of who we are, then are we more likely to be critical of others, or are we more likely to be charitable, forgiving, forbearing?

Obviously, it's the latter. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 15, verses 9 and 10. Ms. Cooley, if you met Paul, recognizing, I guess, from his other descriptions of himself that he may not have been physically imposing, but do you think he'd kind of just stand before you and give you a spiritual flex?

You know, check out my spiritual muscles? Read that. I mean, he's like, he goes, I can't even believe it. I am not worthy to be an apostle. And if you think about it, this applies to each and every one of us.

I'm not worthy to be a Christian. There's nothing, I didn't bring anything to this. And he talks about how he persecuted the church. He's like, I don't deserve to be an apostle. I was chasing after the church.

I was trying to put them all in jail. I would have killed them if I could. And the things that I have done, I have not done by my own spiritual prowess. I've not done because I'm so slick. I've not done it because I'm so smart.

It is by the grace of God. By the grace of God, I am what I am. Now, that is a good bumper sticker. By the grace of God, I am what I am. No one has reason to boast. Why? Because if there's anything good in you, it's not you.

It is not you. We ought to have a decreased criticism towards others as we fully and more fully understand grace. Increased zeal and diligence in trying to do good to others. Let's look at 1 John 3, 16, 18.

And who has that? Bruce. Okay, so in the form of a question, is John suggesting here that the way we show love is by feeding and clothing the world? The coffee room will be open momentarily. Go ahead.

Okay, so Pam's point is it's more of a one-on-one thing, the people getting together and doing huge feed-the-world things. Yes, Brian. Okay, truth must be proclaimed. Otherwise, what do we wind up?

We're no different than some kind of, sorry, United Nations effort to go out and feed the world, end hunger, end all these other things. It's like the old proverb, you can give a man a fish and you feed him for a day or you can teach a man to fish.

Now is it, and he'll feed himself, but is it good to tell someone be warm and be filled? No. Is it good to tell somebody the truth? Yes. Is it good to tell somebody the truth and to help them with a physical need that they have?

Absolutely. I'll tell you what's difficult for me, and maybe some of the rest of you feel a little bit guilty when you drive by these people who are out there, I'm a veteran, homeless, have 27 kids to feed, please help.

Have you ever had the experience of going by and saying, I'd like to buy you something to eat? I think of the number of times I've tried that. I've only had ever one person say yes, and I took them and gave them something to eat and preached the gospel to them.

I don't know what happened after that. I have no way of knowing. But typically people are out there for other things. They're out there for money to continue living as they are living, whatever that condition might be.

But it is a good thing to... Yes. Yeah, you might actually... That's a good point, Daniel, where you actually might aid them, abet them in the lifestyle in which they are sinfully comfortable. Even to the point of death, you might be helping them kill themselves.

So something to think about. Well, here's a couple dollars, and they go and they buy drugs. They go and they buy alcohol or whatever. You might actually be contributing to their physical harm. But it is a good thing to do good to others, especially those in the household of faith.

I mean, it is a delight to me to see needs pop up in the church and people willing to meet those needs. That is a great thing, and it happens all the time. It's a good thing, especially within the household of faith, but it's a good thing to do good to others, period.

Contentment and the Sovereignty of God

Number 10, contentment. And I'm pretty sure I didn't write this, but I didn't credit it either. A sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit which freely submits to and delights in God's wise counsel and fatherly sovereignty.

And here's the part I like, in every condition. I mean, I like all of it. But sometimes we think contentment is, we're happy when things are going pretty well. We're happy when God is giving us mostly what we want.

Contentment is to be happy, to freely submit. Maybe not happy is the right thing, but to submit to and delight in God's wise and fatherly sovereignty in every condition. Let's look at Philippians 4, 11 and 12.

And I think Paul might have known something about being content. Who has Philippians 4, 11 and 12? And by the way, it's okay to cheat and go to the verses ahead of time. I don't really mind, Brian. You know, I probably should have put 13 in there too.

Would you read that? Now, why would I want to add 13 to it? It's what? It's the means. And it's also one of the more abused scriptures around, right? Well, how do you do what you do on the football field?

Well, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Let's have a little context to that. How does he learn? How did he figure out that he needed to be content in whatever circumstance he was in?

Well, he can do it all through him who strengthens, through Christ who strengthens him. How do we get to be content whether we're hungry, whether we're full, whether we're rich, whether we're poor? By relying on Jesus.

By knowing that he is faithful even in the most difficult of circumstances. By fixing our eyes fully on the future and not being concerned about our present. Number one down there. You can be content and yet sense affliction.

Pray to God concerning your afflictions and seek deliverance legally. What does that mean? What is seeking deliverance legally? Prayerfully, okay? Well, how about this? Let's make it really legal. Can you be afflicted and sue?

Is it wrong for a Christian to sue someone? It depends. I yield to the judge. Oh, yes. Yeah, not to take your family to court. I'm kidding. I don't think there's any problem with that. I mean, it's not discontentment.

Is that a word? Discontentment to, I guess it's better than uncontentment. Discontentment to sue in some situations. Content means, basically, is to have that kind of inward sense that God is in control, to be looking to him, to be trusting him completely.

Even as it says here, with submission and holy resignation of spirits. And listen to that last part. To be delivered when God wills, as God wills, and how God wills. We know that he will deliver us out of all situations, but we don't know how he's going to do it.

We don't know when he's going to do it. When's the ultimate delivery? Death. Yes, Wes. Good point. Yeah, they violated the law with Paul. Excellent. And he pointed it out. There was no problem with that.

He didn't have to just say, hey, it's okay. We will be delivered when God wills, as God wills, and how God wills, so that our wills are conformed into the image or into the will of God. When we pray for God's will to be done, again, what we are really praying is that, ultimately, we want God's will to be done, but we want our minds to be adjusted to God's will.

So as we see it unfolding, we're not complaining about it. We are accepting of it, delighting in it, knowing that he is doing exactly what is right, even when it's difficult. Listen to the second one here.

Contentment is opposed to murmuring, worrying, and distraction from the present duty to God. Murmuring. There's a good word. Whispering. Complaining. Gossiping. If you're not happy with something, what do we do?

We tell someone else about it. That's just kind of how we're created. We think, not exactly how we're created, we're created to go to God, but what do we do instead? We go to others. You know, the old Evendrothism, you know, go to the throne before you go to the phone, but our instinct is go to the phone.

Find somebody who will understand. Find someone who's maybe more upset about something than we are. You know? You know, I'm not going to vent, but I'll go find the doctor of venting. You know? I'll present my problem to him and let him just go on a tirade.

Contentment. Worry. Those two things don't... I'm content, but I'm concerned. I'm content, but I'm worried. Discontentment. Not receiving from God's hand what he would give to us. Is that sin? Is it sinful to in essence say, God, I don't think you have this quite right?

I think that's pretty clear. Yes. That's a great point. You know, being content, you know, doesn't mean we instantly understand everything. We may know that something is of the Lord. And what do we do in those situations?

And Dottie's quite right. You know, someone says, I'm struggling with this particular situation. What do we do? We weep with those who weep, and we mourn with those who mourn. We rejoice with those who rejoice.

Don't we do these things? Why? I mean, I was talking to somebody here recently, and I said, you know, one of the best reasons to come to church is because it's one of the few places in the world, I think, you know, we come here to worship, to have fellowship, to hear the word of God preached, all those kind of things.

But it's afterward where we get to bear one another's burdens, where we get to share one another's joys. And I said, it's okay to come here. And then afterwards, you know, while you're mingling, I don't care if you want to cry on somebody's shoulder for a while, because sometimes we need to be bolstered.

I was talking to somebody else who gave me an example of he was sharing a burden that he had with someone else, and he goes, this guy's, you know, basically training to be in the ministry, and he just kind of gave me the, hey, you know, deal with it sort of thing.

And I said, well, you brought that to someone else's attention. Did they handle it perfectly? No. But then you said, well, gee, I don't think you were very encouraging. And they said, you're right, I'm sorry, kind of thing.

And what do you do? You know, you have to drop it. But one of the things that we are to do as brothers and sisters in Christ is to bear one another's burdens, to come alongside one another, to exhort, encourage, rebuke sometimes.

You know, someone's stuck in a rut, and you just go, you know what? Brother, by the Holy Spirit's prompting, I'm going to kick you out of that rut. You know, I mean, sometimes there needs to be a nudge, a push.

I mean, if someone says, you know, this happened to me six months ago, and I've wrestled with it every day, well, it's time to get a new frame of mind. It's time to remember that things are not the same as they were six months ago and that there's something you need to learn in this.

It's not something you need to memorize. You know, it's not something you need to dwell on every single day, and that really is discontentment. This practice of not being content with God is not, it's a sin.

But certainly, I think Dottie's right. You know, you can go through periods of time where you need to be encouraged, and you need someone to come alongside you, and I think that's an important thing to remember.

Other thoughts? Peggy. An excellent point, Peggy. And what she said was, for those of you in the back who couldn't hear that, that's okay, that's why I'm here, is that, you know, there are occasions where we need to do many occasions, most occasions, all occasions, where we need to say more than, you know, what, I feel your pain.

I am weeping with you. We need to kind of flip that around and point people towards their hope, which is found in Scripture, and which is found ultimately in the person of Christ. There are people, you know, true or false, people in the Bible suffered.

True. You know, here's a really good one. Peggy will like this, you know. You think that's something. You should go back and read what happened to Job. You know, now that's compassion for you. You know, you think he got a bad, he lost his entire family and everybody, you know, everything that he had.

Yeah, Charlie. A good point, and, you know, I would differentiate between them this way, discontentment coming from our situation or discontentment coming from kind of the sovereign hand of God in a correcting mode.

And if you've ever had a kind of Nathan to David, you are the man moment where it suddenly strikes you like a bolt of lightning that you are in sin, that you've displeased God, that you've hurt others.

That can be a very sobering time where you just kind of, you know, I mean, it's almost like you just want to close all the blinds and shut out the light for a while and just go throw yourself on the floor like David did and just go, you know, what a wreck.

And that's entirely different than someone who, for whatever the cause may be, whether it's job, personal situations, whatever, comes to be discontent to the point where they won't move on. And in all things in life, we need to be willing, we need to understand that there is a time to move on.

So anyway, contentment. Does contentment, by the way, mean you have to have a fake, phony smile plastered on your face? And I think that gets back to where Dottie was going. You know, no. I mean, there are definitely times when we are hurting.

That's not necessarily discontentment. Discontentment is, and I don't know what a reasonable period of time is. I suppose it depends on what it is. But we have to be able to see the hand of the Lord in all things, not just the things that we like.

I guess that's the ultimate point. And when it comes to God's correction, God's reproving, ultimately, you know, our attitude needs to be adjusted to conform to the image of Christ and to the thinking of Christ, to Scripture.

Let's move on. Contentment is evident during every condition, whatever affliction, time and duration and variety and changes of affliction. Again, that does not mean that you're always happy. It just means that you trust in God.

In fact, that's the next point on page 50. Contentment is trusting in the sovereignty of God. Is that always easy? Is it easy to say, as the Lord wills? It's easy to say it, but it's not always to believe it.

It's absolutely right. Let's look at Matthew 6, a passage that you all know by heart. Matthew 6, 31 to 34. And who has that to read? Go ahead, Casey. If there is one thing that I think would change the lives of most Christians, it would be understanding the sovereignty of God and putting it directly in this context.

So do not worry about tomorrow. How am I going to do it? I can't afford this. Stop. God is sovereign. You know, everybody wants to... I mean, our lives, and so much more so, I think, in the modern world, we're so wrapped up in figuring out how we're going to cross this bridge and that bridge and the other bridge, and we're thinking four or five bridges ahead of time.

The answer is just stop. Stop worrying. Take a step back. Who's in charge? But who's in control? When we understand that simple concept that God is in control, and as much as we'd like to think that we're in control, we're not.

We can have the best plans ever, and what happens to our plans? God changes them. God changes them. Number five, contentment with godliness is great gain. Is that true or not? Of course it's true. The Bible says it.

1 Timothy 6 .6. Is that a hand, Brian? Okay, go ahead. What's Paul trying to teach us there? Of great gain, meaning you'll be wealthy? Bruce. I mean, that's exactly right. I mean, is there freedom in that or not?

People who pursue other things will do so sinfully, right? Right? Riches and things like that. Is there anything more freeing than being content, knowing God's in control, and thinking, you know what?

I'm not perfect, but right now, in spite of everything that's going on around me, I am content with where I am. Can you go to sleep at night when you think that way? God has me right where he wants me.

Now, there's a good one, too. I'd like to see that on a bumper sticker. God has me right where he wants me. Behind this wheel right now, you know. That's exactly right. It is a great benefit to us. It is a great joy when we are content with where God has placed us.

Yes, Pastor? Contentment is great gain. It is great, you know. The words of Jesus so run through, or the thoughts of Jesus, so run through the apostles' writings. You know, you think even of the man. Jesus described a man who had so many riches that he ran out of room to stuff it in, basically.

And so he tore down his barn so that he could build another one, you know, and a bigger one and stick more stuff in it. And what does he say? Good job. Way to store up for the day of wrath. He says, you fool.

This very night, your life will be demanded of you. You know, we're so worried about the here and now. Even as Christians, we can get caught up in that. We have a Father who will take care of us. And that contentment alone, that knowledge alone is great gain.

It's not, you know, believing and receiving. Name it and claim it. Blab it and grab it. It's not all, not that. Great gain is the riches we have in Christ. God will take care of what we need. Let's go ahead and close there.

We'll get to all the controversial stuff next week. Our Father, we would again thank you for your word, for the clarity with which it sets the parameters for the Christian life. Lord, would you make us a people who delight in your goodness to us, who delight in being content, who long to be obedient children, who understand that it's not what we have physically in which we find contentment, but all that you have given us.

And Father, you've even said that you'll give us the physical things. Lord, I would pray for a peace that passes all understanding for each one here as we consider all that we have and as we don't fret, worry, express discontent, murmur, gossip.

Father, give us hearts that are solely yours, that long to be obedient and fit for your use. In Christ's name we pray, amen.