Sermons – Page 4

Php 4:10-13 | Secret of Contentment

Text: Philippians 4:10-13

I want you to open your Bibles again tonight to the letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, and I want to read verses 10 through 13:

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. (He is referring to the gift that they sent to Paul by Epaphroditus.) Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Now, Americans especially, are intoxicated by the word secret. Our ears really perk up when somebody says, I have a secret I want to share with you. Of course, you know what a secret is? It is something you tell everybody, one person at a time. The advertising world and the media world capitalize on this. All the tabloids at the grocery store checkout are advertising or proclaiming some secret–the secret diet of the stars or a secret pill that will cure cancer. Of course, I never would buy one of those things, you understand. But I do read pretty quickly while I’m in the checkout line. And I’ve heard sermons on the secret of power, the secret of prayer, and the secret of building a great church. It has been overused and abused so I never use the word secret in the titles of my sermons—except tonight, because Paul used it. He said, I have learned the secret, to be content whatever my circumstances.

I want to speak to you tonight on this subject, The Secret of Contentment. Contentment is a very interesting word. It means to be satisfied, to be at peace with your self. I think one of the characteristic marks of our day is the discontent of people. Of course, discontent goes along with covetousness. The truth of the matter is that everybody here tonight is either covetous or content. When I use the word covetous, and the Bible uses the word, it doesn’t simply apply to money. That is how we apply it most of the time. Being covetous means simply that you are not satisfied with what you have, and you are trying your best to get more. Most people I know and come in contact with are discontented with their lot in life, —maybe in their home or in their job. Discontent in a home can cause strife and anger and hostility, and bring about separation and divorce. Discontent in a person’s life can create such strife within, and such tension and disharmony within, that it can almost give you ulcers.

Discontent is a curse upon man. Adam lost paradise because he was discontented. God had given him everything. He and Eve had everything there was to have. Well, there was one tree that they couldn’t eat of, but they didn’t need to. But they weren’t content with what God had given them. So because of discontent, Adam and Eve lost paradise and plunged the human race into sin. Angels who sinned fell from their first estate because they were discontented—not satisfied. Lucifer fell because he was discontented.

I have to say, honestly, that about half the pastors in the churches where I go are discontented and looking for something else. You can tell it in the way they talk, and in the way they comport themselves, and in the conversations we share. I’m not joking when I say that I have arrived on the scene and the first thing the pastor has done is given me a resume, asking me to pass it on. Now, that is a discontented man; therefore, he is not doing his best for the Lord, or for the church.

So the great pearl is contentment. I believe every person, whether they call it that or not, long and yearn for contentment. Well, Paul is a man who found it. He said, I have learned to be content whatever my circumstances. I have three simple things I want to share with you tonight.

1) There really is a secret of contentment.

There really is a secret of contentment, and Paul found it. He said, I have learned to be content whatever my circumstances. That word content is a very picturesque word. It literally means to be self sufficient, or self contained, needing no outside assistance. I want you to notice how he states it. In verse 10, he is saying, I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. I am rejoicing in the Lord for the gift that Epaphroditus brought from you. Then he immediately says, not that I speak from want. In other words, he doesn’t want any misunderstanding. He is rejoicing that these Philippians have given him a gift, but he wants them to know that the joy comes from his contentment, not from the gift. He doesn’t want them to misunderstand when he says he rejoices at their gift and think he was worried and going to the mailbox three times a day to see if the check was in the mail. He said, not that I speak in respect of want. Why? For I have learned whatever my circumstances to be self contained, self sufficient, needing no outside assistance.

In the ancient world, that word was used for cities that were self contained; in other words, they had their own water and food supplies. In the ancient days, when an army went to war against a city, they would surround that city to cut off every supply route. They would wait and starve them out. If that city was a contented city, that had its own food and water supply, they couldn’t be starved out. They were independent of outside circumstances. That is what Paul means. He says, I have learned that I am self contained, that I have within me everything that I need to make life livable, and I am not dependent upon outside circumstances. Whatever the circumstances, whatever the situation, it doesn’t affect me one way or the other. I maintain my equilibrium through any kind of circumstance. Now, wouldn’t that be a good thing for all of us to be able to say? Are we as quick to praise the Lord in bad times as we are in good times?

One night I was sitting on the front pew waiting to preach. There were two women talking behind me, and I couldn’t help but hear what they were saying. Evidently, one of the mother’s boys had been in a terrible car wreck, and another boy in that car had been killed. This one woman said to the mother, oh, I’m so glad your boy is all right. She said, yes, God is so good. Well, he is, but I couldn’t help wondering what that other mother was saying at the same time. Do you think the mother of that dead boy was saying, God is so good. I couldn’t help wondering if that mother’s son had been the one killed, if she would have been saying, God is so good. You see, there is something about maintaining your equilibrium no matter what the circumstance—that you are the same in bad times and in good times.

This is what Paul is saying, the outward circumstances have no effect upon me. The world can say to me, Paul, if you don’t bow down and worship us and go our way, we are going to take away all your possessions. Paul said, oh, no, you can’t do that because I am self contained. I have within me everything I need to make my life worth living. So, he can say no to the world, and no to those temptations. Why? Because everything I need is within me. I am self contained. What a tremendous thing to be that way, to not be dependent upon favorable circumstances, and to be independent of unfavorable circumstances–maintaining that equilibrium. Paul had learned that secret.

Now, I say this carefully, and I’ve thought a lot about it. If your joy depends upon how your kids are doing, you’ve not learned to be content It is hard for you to have joy when your teenage son has run off, or when there is rebellion. You let that circumstance rule your life, dominate your every thought. You can’t be happy, and you can’t experience joy unless everything is perfect in your life. If your joy depends upon the conditions of your job, then you have not learned to be content. As a pastor, if my joy depends upon what my church is doing, I have not yet learned to be content. Contentment is discovering the sufficiency within yourself so that you have all that you need within yourself.

2) Not only is there a secret of contentment, but it is a secret that must be learned.

I was afraid you were going to say that. Notice, Paul didn’t say, I have heard the secret, or somebody told me the secret. He said, I have learned the secret. Now, he uses two words here, one in verse 11, and one in verse 12, and they are different words. In verse 11, he says, I have learned to be content, and the word learn there is the ordinary word for learn. But when he comes to verse 12, he says, I have learned the secret, and he uses a different word, an unusual word that was used by the mystery religions of that day. It meant to be initiated into some great mystery. It reminds me of the Masons. They have secrets. If you are a Mason, you cannot divulge the secrets of Masonry to anybody else. But when you join the Masons, there are certain degrees. As you learn and move up the ladder, you are initiated into certain secrets. That’s the word Paul is using. It always implied a long, difficult process. You don’t get contentment by saying, Lord, give me contentment, and then God zaps you with it. I wish it were that way, but that’s not it. It is a secret that must be learned, and it is a slow and difficult process. You don’t learn it overnight, and you can’t cram for the final exam.

Now, what school did Paul attend? Let’s look at the curriculum of this school. Notice in verse 12, he says, I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. Notice the opposites, the extremes. Paul says there had been times when he had been abased, had nothing; and there had been times when he had everything, when he had lived in abundance. There had been times when he had been hungry, and times when he had been so stuffed he thought he would never eat another bite of food. He said he had gone to the extremes.

He learned that having nothing didn’t diminish him, and having everything did not enhance him. You could take away everything from Paul, but you didn’t take away from him. You could give everything to Paul, but you didn’t add a single thing to him. Do you understand what I’m saying? I don’t think that you and I can learn to be content until we have gone through the extremes of life. All of us have had those good times. And all of us have had those “hit bottom” times, the dry times, the hard times. We’ve gone to the extremes in our lives. We’ve known joy, and we’ve know heartache. We’ve laughed, and we have cried. It is in the extremities of life, you see, that God is teaching us.

You and I need to understand that for the believer nothing is incidental and nothing is accidental. God has a purpose for everything that he is doing in your life. Right now you may be going through a hard time. God is trying to teach you something. You may be going through a prosperous time, a boom period in your life. God is trying to teach you something. In other words, he is trying to say to us that if we are self contained, if we are content, that having everything doesn’t add anything to us, and losing everything doesn’t take anything away from us.

Now, of course, this is exactly opposite of how the world believes. The world believes the more you have, the more you are. They believe that having is being, that what you have constitutes who you are. It is hard to get away from this. You judge a person by the car that he drives, the house he lives in, which side of the tracks he lives on.

When I was a teenager, I worked in a men’s clothing store. I was told by those who had been there for 40 years, that the last thing a man takes care of in his dress is his shoes. He may go out and buy an expensive suit, a silk shirt, a silk tie, and wear old scuffed brown shoes. So I fell into the habit of looking at the shoes of everybody I met. Half the time I didn’t get their name because I was busy looking at their shoes. I found myself judging a man by his shoes. If he was wearing brown shoes with a black suit, or a blue suit, and they were scuffed up or anything–and especially if he was wearing white socks–I knew that man really didn’t know how to dress.

You know, we judge people by simple things, don’t we? We judge them by what they have and what they do not have. When you go to apply for a job, you don’t go in blue jean cut-offs and a tank top, do you? When you go to apply for a job, you try to look as prosperous as you can because they are going to judge you by how well dressed you are. The problem is that the church has fallen into that, and we think the same thing. I go to churches, and the pastor will brag about how many millionaires he has in his church. He will say we’ve got five millionaires in our church. I was in one church where the pastor said, we have twelve doctors in our church. I don’t know how many bricklayers he had. He didn’t seem to mention it. I don’t know how many bag ladies he had in his church. That would not enhance his church in any way. So we have adopted the way of the world. It is a secret that must be learned, and you learn it through the extremities of life. You see the world’s way to contentment is increasing your possessions; God’s way of contentment is decreasing your desires.

3) The secret of contentment is Christ.

I love Paul because he always comes back to Jesus, doesn’t he? He was a Christ-focused man. Notice in verse 13 that he says, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. I think at times we have perhaps misunderstood that and taken it out of context. We’ve used that sometimes to mean I can do anything. I can do any job. I can move mountains. I can cause miracles to come to pass. I can do all things through Christ strengthens me.

If you take it out of its context, then you are going to be sorely disappointed. What Paul is talking about is the extremities of life. He says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The word do is a very interesting word. It means to be in full health, or to be vigorous. I like the Phillips translation best of all here: I am ready for anything through Christ who pours his strength in me. Paul says, bring it on. I’m ready for anything that the world throws at me. I am ready for anything that the devil throws at me. Why? Christ is constantly infusing me with his power, his strength. So through Christ I am ready for anything. Christ is the secret. You say, oh, I’m disappointed. I was hoping there would be some formula you were going to give us, some twelve step program you were going to give us. But, you see, it’s not a formula. We have to keep coming back to this again and again in the Christian life. It’s not a formula; it is a person. That person is Jesus Christ. Paul says, the Christ who dwells within me is continuously and constantly (and that is the idea of the word) pouring strength into me like a dynamo—so I am ready for anything.

I thank you for your gift, but the truth of the matter is that I would have been all right without it. I appreciate it, but you see I have learned to be self contained, requiring no outside assistance. The secret of this is that Christ who lives in me, by His strength, makes me ready for anything.

Dr. George Duncan, a great British preacher who is now in heaven, told me a story. When he finished, I asked him if it was the truth or just a preacher story. He said it was the truth. He knew this man personally. He told of an old man who had one son. That son was a pilot and was killed in World War II. Eventually, this wealthy old man died. He had no heirs so his estate was to be auctioned off. A part of this wealthy man’s estate was a fabulous art collection. One of the auction houses in London undertook the task of auctioning off these paintings, many of them by masters. On the day of the auction, people had gathered there from all over the United Kingdom because they wanted a chance to buy into this great art collection. The auctioneer came up and put a portrait on an easel that was there. It was a portrait of somebody they didn’t know, painted by someone they didn’t know. Actually, it was a portrait of the old man’s son. The buyers thought it was valueless because nobody knows the artist who painted it, so it is of no worth. So no one would bid on it. But there happened to be in the audience one of the old man’s lifetime servants, and he had known that son from the time he was born until the time he died. He thought to himself that it would be nice to have the portrait. Nobody else is bidding so I can probably get it cheap. So he bid. Now, the auctioneer had said that the will stated that before any of the other pieces of art could be sold, this one had to be sold first. So it stood as a barrier because you couldn’t auction off the other great masterpieces until this simple portrait was sold. The old servant bid and got it. Everybody was relieved as they could now get on to the good stuff. Then the auctioneer got up and said that the auction was over. Everyone was stunned. The auctioneer said, the will further stipulates that whoever gets the picture of the son gets the whole lot. I asked Dr. Duncan, is that true? He said I know the man. And then he said, remember, son, whoever gets Jesus gets the whole lot. The secret of living a contented life is Christ as he is constantly infusing us with his strength.

Php 1:20 | One Purpose

Text: Philippians 1:20

If God is going to use you, Sunday School teache, deacon, Christian, you must choose one great purpose in life. I think the great purpose that every Christian ought to have for his life is the purpose that Paul revealed in the twentieth verse of Philippians, chapter one.

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

What is the one absorbing purpose? That Christ shall be magnified in my body. To me, I cannot think of any greater purpose in life than that. That ought to be the sole and chief purpose of any Christian, no matter his calling. I hope you understand that I am not talking about a preacher, a missionary, an evangelist; I’m talking about you—the Christian. The one great purpose of his life should be: Christ shall be magnified in my body.

What does it mean for Christ to be magnified in my body? Notice he is talking about in my body. The body refers naturally to the everyday life, to my conduct, to my behavior. He doesn’t say that Christ may be magnified in my preaching. He was, and he ought to be. In 1 Corinthians 2, he says, I determine not to know anything among you save Christ and him crucified. Christ was magnified in his preaching but that’s not what Paul is talking about here. He doesn’t say that Christ may be magnified in my writings. He was. What Paul says is that Christ may be magnified in my body—my everyday life, the way I talk, the way I eat, the way I behave myself, the way I work. When Paul was making tents while living in Ephesus, he said, I want Christ to be magnified in my body—even while I am making tents. The physical, everyday life—not just the religious life. I heard a young evangelist say a remarkable thing after he came to the realization of some deeper things in his life. He said, I lived in Sunday in the Spirit, and I lived Monday through Saturday in the flesh. He said, I had more sense than to know that I couldn’t preach by himself. I had to have the anointing and filling of the Holy Spirit to preach. He said I would preach in the power of the Spirit on Sunday, but Monday through Saturday, out of the pulpit, I was living in the flesh. That’s what Paul is talking about. He says, I want Christ to be magnified in my body when I’m preaching, witnessing, or doing anything else—whatever it is. Monday through Sunday, Christ magnified in my body.

The Greek word means that Christ should be made great or conspicuous in my body. Do you like to be conspicuous? I don’t like to be conspicuous. Have you ever gone to a dress up affair, and you’ve got on your best T-shirt. When women will be invited somewhere they will call up and ask, what are you wearing? If everybody else is going to have slacks on, she doesn’t want to come in a dress. And if everybody is going to have a dress on, she doesn’t want to come in slacks. But we don’t like to be conspicuous. Paul said, the one purpose of my life, the one sole, absorbing passion of my life is that in my body Jesus shall be conspicuous, made great.

It is like his body becoming a microscope. You can take something that is small, something that is naked to the natural eye, and place a powerful microscope over it, and suddenly it looms large. That is what Paul is saying. Paul is saying to a world that looks upon Jesus as somebody small and insignificant, I want my body to be a microscope. When people look at my body, they see Jesus large and conspicuous. That’s the way our bodies ought to be. You ask the average man on the street what he thinks about Jesus. If he is honest with you, his conception of Jesus is somebody small and insignificant. Have you ever noticed a Christian who has only one absorbing purpose in his life, and you look at that man’s life and Jesus looks big. Paul says I want my body to be a microscope.

I want my body to be a telescope. A telescope is something that takes an object that is far, far away and brings it closer and closer and closer. Paul says, in my body I want Jesus Christ to be close. When people see me, talk with me, come around me, I don’t want them thinking of Jesus as someone far off, unreachable, inaccessible. I want my body to be a telescope that brings Jesus close so that they can see him–Christ magnified in my body. That is the all absorbing purpose, and it bends every circumstance to its purpose.

Here is the key. You have to be right in your purpose. I’m talking about the absorbing purpose in your life. Many of us have lesser purposes, of lesser degrees, and lesser grades. We have to have these, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I am talking about the all absorbing purpose in your life, because whatever that all absorbing purpose is, that purpose takes every other circumstance and bends it to its service. It makes every other circumstance a servant of the purpose.

For instance, if a person’s all absorbing purpose is to make money, then he is going to look upon every situation as to how he can make a buck. He is going to take every circumstance and try to make that circumstance serve his purpose. If a fellow’s primary, chief absorbing purpose is to gain an education, then he is going to make every circumstance of life submit to that purpose. He is not going to let circumstances contradict that purpose. I guarantee you that the football coach of your high school has only one absorbing purpose in his life, and that is to win. He had better have a winning season or we’ll get somebody else. You think being a preacher is a shaky business; I wouldn’t be a high school football coach for all the money in the world. I wouldn’t coach Baylor University Bears for a million dollars. Boy, you better make it all the first year or you may not get a second chance. Only one purpose. If you go to that coach and say, we’re having a little get-together in our home, and we would like for John to be excused from football practice today. Would you mind excusing him? Do you think that coach is going to do that? It doesn’t matter if it is raining, snowing, sleeting, or what other demands there may be on that boy’s life, every other circumstance, every other need, every other claim must submit to that one all absorbing purpose.

Do you know the reason so many other things can knock us out of our service for Jesus Christ? Paul says to be instant in season and out of season. That means to serve the Lord when it is inconvenient—even when it’s out of season. Do you know why some people let a little rain keep them out of the house of God on the Lord’s Day? Because their all absorbing purpose is not that Christ shall be magnified in their body. They are at the mercy of circumstances. I can tell you something about yourself. If Christ being magnified in yur body is not the all absorbing purpose in your life, you are a slave to circumstances. Your Christian life is dictated by circumstances.

Paul dictated circumstances. If he was put into prison, hee made that prison experience submit to his purpose, and he used that even as a place to magnify Jesus. One night he and Silas were thrown into the Philippian jail. Remember now that he has one absorbing purpose. What does he do? He makes that bad circumstance submit to that purpose, and he wins the jailer and probably every prisoner there. He gets on a ship. The ship is wrecked, and they are cast on an island. What does Paul do? He uses that as an opportunity to glorify Jesus. If you follow the life of the apostle Paul, you will find he would preach at the drop of a hat. It made no difference what the circumstance was, he had one all absorbing purpose and he made certain that every circumstance submitted and was the slave and servant of that purpose. I will tell you right now. It is the only way you are going to make it in your Christian life. It’s the only way you are going to be consistent. You need to look upon every circumstance and situation in life, whether it is good or bad, and say the one purpose of my life is that Jesus can be magnified in my life. How can this circumstance serve that purpose? It will make a difference. I can tell you right now that God is not going to be able to use you until you come to that place. Lord Jesus, just use my body as a magnifying glass, a telescope. I don’t care what you do with it. I don’t care how you use it. I don’t care what the circumstance. All I want to say is that Jesus is magnified in my body.

Now, this is to be done in a certain manner. I want you to notice verse 20. He is to be magnified in our bodies at any place. Look at what Paul says in Philippians 1:20:

Underscore two words: now also. Paul says, I have always had as my supreme purpose that Christ shall be magnified in my body. Now also–let’s identify that now also. Where is Paul? What is Paul’s now also? He is in jail, in prison. A lot of people would say, how unfortunate. That will stop Paul’s ministry. That put the quietus on Paul’s preaching. That destroyed Paul’s purpose of life. You say you want your purpose in life to be Christ magnified in your body. We’ll just put you in jail and see what you do. Paul says, every other place he has been magnified in my body. At every place, and any place, this is what I want. Now also Christ is going to be magnified in my body even though I’m in jail. Let’s see the result. When you have this as your purpose in life, it will work. You will find it true that once you submit your body to the Lord Jesus Christ for this purpose, he will be magnified at any place—even in jail.

Look at what he says in verse 13: so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace. That Greek word palace means Caesar’s court. Think about it. Caesar’s court. The magnificent opportunity that Paul had. They wouldn’t let him come in and preach though he did the next best thing. He went to jail in Caesar’s court. He says, now since I have this all absorbing purpose of life, the bonds of Christ are manifest in all the palace and all other palaces. Do you see the result? At any place, and also at any price.

Notice what the apostle says: so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. At any price I want Christ magnified in my body. He says, Jesus is going to be magnified in my body if it kills me. That’s what he is saying. Whether by life or by death is immaterial, inconsequential; Christ is going to be magnified in my body at any price.

Let me read in 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, how this worked out in Paul’s life. Some of us might make this kind of decision. In times past I have heard some fireball evangelist say ask if I am willing to suffer for Christ and I raised my hand, saying that I’m willing to suffer for Christ, knowing that I will never be called on to suffer for him. It is easy for us to say at any price Christ is going to be magnified in my body. In the back of our minds we never think it is going to cost us anything. Let me read in 2 Corinthians 4:7-11. This is Paul’s personal testimony.

But we have this treasure (What? He’s talking about Jesus.) in earthen vessels (that’s His body), that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us; we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.; (The Williams translation there says “knocked down but not knocked out.” Always getting a knock down, but not knocked out. I like that.) always, in every place, at any price, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, (He says, you look at my body and it is just like the body of Jesus. My body is bearing the dying of the Lord Jesus. I am suffering. I am paying the price. Why?) that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in my body, for we which that live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Paul says, I am always at the door of death. My body has been handed over to Jesus, and no matter what it cost, Jesus is going to be magnified in my body. If it means I have to leave friends I don’t want to leave, if it means I have to suffer persecution, if it means I have to be ostracized from this little clique or group, if it means I don’t get this promotion, if it means I don’t get this raise, if it means I have to forfeit this sale, it doesn’t matter. At any price, Christ is going to be magnified in my body. I want Jesus to be conspicuous. When I walk into a business meeting, into a salesroom, I want the conspicuous part of my life to be Jesus, no matter if it offends, goes against the grain or causes me to be ostracized, Jesus is going to be conspicuous in my body. I don’t want people to have to search and ask questions to find out if I know Jesus. You don’t meet too many people that you can just naturally tell they know Jesus.

Now, one last thing I want to look a is the alternative, or the motive. I wonder if you caught it as we read that twentieth verse. According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but (there’s the contrast) that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. Notice the word but. That in nothing I shall be ashamed but on the contrary, Christ shall be magnified in my body. Paul says, the only alternative is either disgrace, shame, or Christ magnified in my body. That’s the motive, the alternative. Christian, there is only one alternative. Either Jesus Christ is magnified in your body, or you are a disgrace to him. There is no other alternative, no other outlet. That’s it. Either I am ashamed of Jesus, ashamed of my faith, or Jesus is magnified. That is the very reason that in some of us Jesus is not being magnified in our body: because we are ashamed of him. That is the very reason why in the life of a teenager, the life of a man who goes to work,or the life of a woman taking care of her house, if they don’t make Jesus conspicuous in their, they are ashamed. Either you are ashamed of Jesus or Christ is magnified in your body.

The first step for being useable; meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work is to have but one great purpose in life. That one great purpose is always Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.

Eph 4:07-13 | The Gifts of the Spirit

Text: Ephesians 4:7-13; Romans 12:3-8; I Peter 4:10,11; I Corinthians 12:1-31

When the Holy Spirit enters the believer, He doesn’t come empty-handed! He comes bearing gifts. These gifts are God-given abilities to perform certain tasks necessary to the body of Christ. It is the existence and exercise of these Spirit-Gifts that lifts the Church out of the ordinary into the extraordinary, out of the natural into the supernatural.

If the ministry of the Church isn’t supernatural, it’s superficial.

Spiritual Gifts is one of the most marvelous and, at the same time, one of the most misunderstood truths of the Bible. Paul said he didn’t want us to be ignorant concerning spiritual gifts — but most of us are! We are engaged in a warfare against the spiritual powers of darkness and nothing less than supernatural weapons will suffice, therefore it is imperative we understand this vital truth.

When Paul says, “Now concerning spiritual gifts. .(I Corinthians 12:1), he uses a Greek word that signifies that which comes fromi the Spirit. So these gifts are from the Spirit.

I. THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT ARE SALVATION GIFTS

At the moment of salvation the believer receives one or more gifts. There is no exception —every Christian has a gift.

This means that gifts are bestowed regardless of the spiritual condition of the recipient. One of the gravest errors surrounding the Spirit-Gifts is the idea that they are given as rewards of spirituality or as visible proof one has been filled with the Spirit. Such an idea is built upon the sands of speculation rather than the rock of revelation. The Bible simply doesn’t teach it. To the contrary, the Bible teaches that even a carnal Christian can exercise spiritual gifts.

For example, look again at the Corinthian Christians. They had every gift in the book. “So that you are not lacking in any gift. . .“ (I Corinthians 1:7), yet Paul says to them, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh (carnal). For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly (carnal), and are you not walking like mere men (acting like lost people)? (I Corinthians 3:1-3).

The proof of the Spirit’s fullness is His fruit, not His gifts. You may speak in tongues, work miracles, win hundreds to Christ, but if you are rude, critical, selfish, touchy, irritable, unable to control your temper — you’re not filled with the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” (Galatians 5:22,23).

If you’re saved, you have a spiritual gift. Why don’t you bow your head right now and thank God for it — even if you don’t know what it is

The Gifts of the Spirit differ. “And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. .(Romans 12:6). In I Corinthians 12, we read, “For to one is given . . . and to another . . .“ Just as there are different members in the same body, so within the Body of Christ there are a variety of gifts.

Here’s another point that is often misunderstood. Some pick out a certain gift and claim that all believers must have it. Nowhere is this taught in Scripture. Diversity is the mark of God. There are no two fingerprints alike, no two snowflakes alike, no two blades of grass alike.

That’s the way the Creator planned it.

Look at your own body, Paul suggests, as an illustration of this. What if all your members were alike, or had the same function? What if you were all thumbs? Chaos and confusion would reign. What if your toes were eyes? All they would see is the inside of a sock!

God isn’t the author of confusion and He’s planned and gifted everyone of us to bring the greatest glory to Himself and the greatest good to the Body of Christ. To covet another’s gift is to grumble against the goodness of God.

II. THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT ARE SUPERNATURAL GIFTS

The Gifts of the Spirit are not natural talents or abilities. A beautiful singing voice, for example, is not a gift of the Spirit. To be sure, it is a gift of God, but it doesn’t fit into the category of Spirit-Gifts.

The abundance of ability doesn’t qualify us, nor does the absence of ability disqualify us! This eliminates boasting and assures God of getting all the glory — and all the credit.

Don’t measure your effectiveness for Christ by your own resources. Whatever you have isn’t enough. God is saying, “I’d rather do it myself. . . through the Spirit- Gifts I have given you.”

No matter who or what you are, you are a gifted person! You are a SUPERHUMAN with a SUPERNATURAL ABILITY!

These gifts are sovereignty bestowed. “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as he wills.” (I Corinthians 12:11). Our part isn’t to seek or pray for a specific gift but to discover what gift we have and exercise it in the power of the Spirit.

We are neither commanded nor encouraged to seek a certain gift. The only thing we’re ever commanded to seek is “the Lord.” When a believer surrenders his will to seek an “experience” or a certain gift, he is giving Satan an engraved invitation to deceive and enslave with a false spiritual experience.

What about I Corinthians 12:31, where Paul says to covet the best gifts? There Paul is speaking to the church as a body, not to Christians as individuals. The Corinthians had magnified a minor gift to the neglect of others. Paul admonishes them, “But you must earnestly continue to cultivate your higher spiritual gifts, ‘ (I Corinthians 12:31 Williams) and every New Testament Church should do just that.

God doesn’t bestow His gifts in response to our desires or prayers. Hebrews 2:4 makes this clear: “God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”

“God always gives the best to those who leave the choice with Him.”

III. THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT ARE SERVICE GIFTS

“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (I Corinthians 12:7).

“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (I Peter 4:10).

These gifts are for practical service, not personal satisfaction. They are never given for self-glory or self-seeking, but for the profit of the Body of Christ.

Jesus Christ intended that His Church be self-contained — by that I mean the church need never look to the financial world or the entertainment world or any other world in order to get along and stay in business. With the gifts of the Spirit operating, every local church has all it needs to fulfill the commission of its Lord.

Money? If every member with the gift of giving recognizes and exercises that gift, there’ll always be enough to do what God wants done.

Conversions? If every member with the gift of evangelism recognizes and exercises that gift, the Lord will add daily those who are being saved.

Miracles? If those with the gift of faith recognize and exercise that gift, the world will stand open-mouthed and wide-eyed before a power they can no longer ignore or explain away.

At His return, Jesus will judge and reward believers according to their faithful stewardship of God’s grace. Peter tells us the Gifts of the Spirit are a part of this stewardship. That means that God is going to hold each of us accountable for the use of our gifts. What a challenge for us to recognize that God has given us a spiritual gift and to exercise it in the power of the Spirit.

HOW MAY I KNOW WHAT MY GIFT IS?

1. By Personal Inclination. Simply by “doing what comes supernaturally.” Your desire will lie in the direction of your gift. A Christian with the gift of evangelism will want to witness and win people to Jesus. The gift of teaching will create within you a desire to share with others the truths you’ve discovered in the Word of God.

What do you want to do for God? Your personal inclination is the first clue to discovering your spiritual gift — but not the conclusive one. Your personal inclination may be nothing more than a carnal desire God has not yet refined and purified.

2. Public Recognition. This involves two things: the church will use it and God will bless it. God will see to it that you have an opportunity to exercise your gift.

The important thing is this: don’t worry if you don’t know what your gift is. Don’t sit down and say, “Well, I don’t know what my gift is, so I’m going to do nothing till God shows me.”

Just make yourself available to God, take whatever opportunities He sends, and in the midst of serving you will come to recognize your spiritual gift.

Ron Dunn, LifeStyle Ministries, 2003

Eph 1:15-23, 3:14-21 | Great Expectations

Text: Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:14-21

Open your Bible to the book of Ephesians, chapter 1. I am going to read verses 15-23:
15Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

And then Ephesians, chapter 3, beginning with the verse 14, reading through verse 21:
14For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Let me read again verses 20 and 21 of this third chapter because they are a doxology. The Apostle Paul was a man who just could not keep from bursting forth in praise and doxology when he began considering the power and might of our Lord. As he prays such a mind-staggering prayer for these believers, and he considers what God is able to do, he closes that prayer with a tremendous doxology.

20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Those two verses are the key to the message this morning. God always meets his people at the level of their expectation. God always meets his people at the level of their expectation. I am finding it increasingly true that God rarely, if ever, disappoints me. He usually does for me and gives me exactly what I expect. God is constantly meeting me on the level of my expectation.
The month of October is the month of anniversaries, and it occurred to me this morning that this month is my 20th anniversary as a preacher. Twenty years ago this month I actually began preaching. I think that I can safely say that if I had to go back and evaluate those 20 years of preaching and ministry, my evaluation would be that for 20 years I have aimed too low. That is the greatest failure of my ministry. My level of expectation has never been up to God’s level of performance. If I look back and say that there are many things that God did not do, many problems God did not move into and solve, many areas where God did not bring showers of blessing, I have to say I never was surprised when he didn’t do it. Most of the time in my life God has met me at the level of my expectation.

Years ago a young preacher came to Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle. He had just come back from his weekend preaching stint, and the preacher was complaining a little bit to Mr. Spurgeon. When Spurgeon asked him how it went that Sunday, he said it went all right, but no one was saved. Mr. Spurgeon looked at the young fellow and said, son, do you expect people to be saved every time you preach? The young preacher replied, “No, sir, I don’t expect people to be saved every time I preach.” Mr. Spurgeon replied that’s why they aren’t, because you don’t expect it.

As I study the New Testament and remember the words of Jesus, I come away with this idea or awareness that God is always trying to get me to raise the level of my expectation. Every promise Jesus made to me, every encouragement Jesus gave to me, every command Jesus uttered to me was really, if I understand it properly, a command, an encouragement, a promise for great expectations.

Listen to what Jesus says in John 14:12 to these disciples who are wallowing in the mire of discouragement because Jesus is about to be taken from them. Jesus says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, (anybody, everybody) He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father.

Over and over again, Jesus, as he would encourage us to pray, would use language like this: ask and ye shall receive; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; everyone that keeps on seeking finds; and everyone who just keeps on knocking, that door will be opened. Do you know what Jesus was saying? Jesus was saying I will meet you at the level of your expectation.

He only gave us two parables concerning prayer. One is found in Luke 11, and the other if sound in Luke 18. I really believe in both those parables Jesus is trying to get us to raise the level of our expectation. He says if a fellow comes to a friend at midnight and says somebody has stopped by; they are hungry; I don’t have anything to set before them. I am going to bang on the door. I don’t care if you are asleep. I don’t care if it is midnight. I don’t care if I awaken the whole family and disturb all the children. I am going to stay here and keep knocking on this door. Jesus said that though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity (that word means shameless stubbornness), his persistence, he will rise and give him as much as he needs. Jesus is saying that he will meet you at the level of your expectation.

In Luke 18 he tells about a widow who went to a judge that feared neither God nor man and asked the judge to do right by her and avenge those who had cheated her. The judge didn’t want to be bothered with her. But the Bible says that she kept coming again, and again, and again. The judge was afraid that lest by her continual coming she weary me, he met her need. Do you know what that Greek word weary means? It means unless she beats me violently. The judge was afraid the next time this widow came to see him she was going to bring a baseball bat and hit him over the head with it. That’s what the word means. Lest by her coming she weary me—that means she would do violence to me. Jesus was saying I will meet you at the level of your expectation. Therefore, men ought always to pray and not to faint.

I love the prophet Jeremiah because I identify with some things he went through. Times were bad, and Jeremiah had just stepped out on faith. You can read it over in Jeremiah 32. It is a tremendous story. Jeremiah is in prison, and he has bought a farm. It is a step of faith. By that he is saying that God is going to deliver Israel from all its enemies. No matter how black it gets, no matter how desperate the situation, God is going to restore the land.

As a proof of his faith in the future, he buys a farm that is right at the present time held by enemy hands in enemy territory. He buys that farm as a proof to the people that God is going to restore the whole land. After the transaction is made, and Jeremiah is in jail at the time—not a very good place to do business—he begins to think I’ve spent all my money, bought this farm in enemy territory. I better pray about it. Too many times we pray about things after we’ve already done them.

So he begins to pray. Here is the way he begins his prayer. He says, Lord, there is nothing too hard for Thee. Then he begins to express all his doubts in that prayer. When he finishes, God comes and preaches back to him what he has just prayed. God answer Jeremiah and says, Jeremiah, is anything too hard for me? Do you know what God was doing? God was saying, Jeremiah, you insult me. You blaspheme my name. You’ve just said nothing is too hard for me. Didn’t you really mean it?
Do you know what I think God wants in MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church? I think he wants men and women who will stop insulting God by their low level of expectation. What do you expect God to do in your life? What do you expect God to do in your home life? I don’t care what the situation is; God will meet you at the level of your expectation. What did you expect God to do this morning when you came to church? Here is where it is so true. You will get exactly what you came expecting. If you came expecting God to speak to you, and Jesus to confront you, he will do just that. But if you came expecting little or nothing to happen, I promise you that you probably will not be disappointed. God meets us at the level of our expectation.

Talking about this expectation, I want us to look at verses 20 and 21. Until you and I come to expect from God as we ought to expect from God, it is useless for us to pray, useless for us to organize, useless for us to preach, useless for us to plan and witness because expectation is nothing more than faith breathing. Your body of faith is not going to be able to live any longer than your expectation puts breath into it. There is a very close relationship between what I expect God to do and what I believe God to do.

Jesus, when he went to one city, came away saying he was not able to do much there because of their unbelief—because of their low expectation. Friday night we talked about the great way God has blessed us with his increase, and it is not just a small increase but it was a large increase, over everything that God had done last year, in every area. But I know that God wants to do so much more. Next Sunday when we begin our revival meeting, and as we launch out into the new year, I think what God wants us to do is raise even higher the level of our expectation. Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think—that’s the key. I want to say two things about our expectation.

I. The level of our expectation ought to be measured by God’s ability.
How much am I to expect God to do?—my home situation, my personal life, these habits, these things that bind me, my school situation. There is a need, a problem. What can I expect God to do? How much can I expect? What should be the determining factor in what I expect God to do? Notice what he says: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

Let me say, first of all, that your expectation is not to be measured by what you pray for, or even by what your mind can conceive. This is the way most of us give life to our expectation. We expect God to do only that which we ask him to do, and sometimes we don’t expect him to do that much. Paul says that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask. You come to God and ask him anything you want to ask him. Is that the measure of what God can do? Not at all! Many times we come to God asking him for something, but all the time in the back of our minds there is really something we wish we could ask him for. The mind races with that. Our mind can conceive so many things we wish God would do, but we don’t have the boldness or audacity to express that in prayer. So our thoughts, our imaginations, our conceptions of what God would do is even greater than what we actually ask him to do.

Notice what Paul says, God is able to do exceeding abundantly above not only all that you ask but all that you imagine. The word imagine means what the mind can conceive. Stop for just a moment and let your mind run wild. Loose it and let it go! What do you want God to do? What can you conceive or imagine God doing in the City of Irving? What can you imagine God doing?

I like to play with visions—my own—and just visualize what God could do in this church, what could do in my life, what God could do in the City of Irving. I believe the day is coming, and this is what I am praying for, that such a revival will descend upon the City of Irving that people will stop their cars and get out on the side of the road and get down on their knees calling on the Lord for mercy. That is what my mind can conceive. Paul says, oh, you are aiming too low! God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or can even imagine, even think.

I’m reading this book, The Second Evangelical Awakening. It is a tremendous book and tells about the revival that took place in America 100 years ago. When I read it, I just say, Lord, do it again. Do it again! That was over a hundred years ago. You think if man can do better than he could do a hundred years ago, you know God can do much better than he could a hundred years ago.

All the Episcopalians, Methodists and Baptists got together for an ecumenical prayer meeting. They didn’t know if it would work or not. They all met together in a neutral place, on neutral ground, to pray because God was moving in their city. They didn’t want to miss it. A man who was in charge of the ceremonies stood up and said, I have a prayer request. He read it. It said, my husband is lost and I am praying for him, and I want you to pray for him too. After he read that request, a burly looking man stood up in the middle of that prayer meeting and said, I am that lost husband. I have a fine Christian wife, and she has been praying for me. I know that request must have come from her. I’m that lost husband. Would you pray for me? Another man stood up and said, no, I’m that lost husband. I have a praying wife, and I know that must be her request. Would you pray for me? Another man stood up and said, no, my wife is a fine Christian, and she has been praying for me. I’m that husband. You pray for me. All in all, five lost husbands stood in that prayer meeting and said that’s my wife praying for me.

Can you imagine? I wish I could back and look over that wife’s shoulder as she sat down that day and wrote that prayer request. I wonder if she really knew what God was going to do. Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think!
You’ve got to see what God’s ability is. First of all, it is resurrection ability. If I am going to measure my expectation by God’s ability, I need to investigate that ability and see just what kind of ability it is. It is resurrection ability, resurrection power. What kind of power is he speaking of in verse 20? He says, according to that power that works in us. You have that power identified in verse 19 of chapter 1 when he said: And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead. It is resurrection power. That is plenty of power, plenty of ability.

Think about what God needs to do in your life—your problem, your expectation, what your mind can conceive, what you want to happen in your home, what you want to happen in your life. Let me ask you? Is it more difficult than raising someone from the dead? You say, preacher, I have this habit, and I’ve been trying to overcome it for years. Let me ask you. Do you think it would be easier to overcome that habit, or to raise a man from the dead? You say overcoming the habit would be easier. I can’t think of anything harder than raising a man from the dead. If you can raise a man from the dead, you could do anything couldn’t you? Don’t you imagine if you had the power to raise somebody from the dead and exalt him at the right hand of the Majesty on high that you would have power to do anything you wanted to do? That is what he says. You measure your expectation by God’s ability and his resurrection ability. The greatest demonstration of what God is able to do is when, by the Holy Spirit, he touched that lifeless body of Jesus in that tomb and raised him. He came out holding the keys of death and hell in his hand. God says if you want to know how powerful I am, there it is. You look at it.

You ask why God didn’t use creation as a demonstration of his power. Wouldn’t creative power be an even greater power than resurrection power? There is one thing we forget. Jesus was crucified by the evil of this world. On that cross the devil did his worst. In the resurrection God did his best. The reason God chooses the resurrection instead of the creation is because the devil didn’t bring about the chaos that called forth creation. God decided he would create. There was no opposing power in creation. There was no opposition from the enemy in creation; God just spoke. But there was opposition; the resurrection was needed because the devil had done his worst. God is saying whatever the devil can do when he has done his worst in your life, you remember I have resurrection power. Just as I raised Jesus out of the grips of Satan and broke him from the bands of death, I am able to break you away and liberate you from the worst the devil can do in your life. It is resurrection power.

It is also released power. I am so glad God didn’t keep this to himself. Notice what he says in verse 20: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. This is one of those mind staggering statements. According to the power that worketh in us; God has not confined this power to himself, but he has released this power within me. Did you know that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is living in me this morning and is at my fingertips? God has placed resurrection power at my disposal.

It needs to be recognized power. All of you who are saved have resurrection power released in your life. Do you know the reason you are walking around with your chins on the ground, living defeated lives before the devil and unable to break the chains of habits? It is because you don’t recognize that power. This is why Paul was praying in chapter 1, verse 19, that God might give to us a spirit of wisdom and revelation. The eyes of our heart being enlightened, being opened, that we might know what is the exceeding greatness of his power. While I’m preaching, why don’t you just pray? Lord, open my eyes this morning to see the power that is in me. That is what is needed. It doesn’t do any good to have resurrection power resident within us unless we recognize it. Don’t you know that God has placed this rich deposit in your life? Why don’t you pray right now? Holy Spirit of God, open my eyes that I may see that I have resurrection power released in my life. Recognize it. When you recognize it, three things will happen.

1. You will pray bigger.
I wish we had time to go back to this prayer that Paul is offering in this third chapter. Let’s just take two or three things. Notice what he prays for these Christians:
a. they might be strengthened with might by the inner man,
b. Christ may be at home in their hearts,
c. they may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and
length, and depth and height,
d. to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge,
e. that they might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Just imagine! When you get a glimpse of the power of God that is available to you, you will pray bigger.

You’ll plan bigger.
You’ll praise bigger.

Look at verse 21. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Do you know what calls forth the praise of God’s people? It is not when we sit around surveying what we’ve done. To me the gladdest part of my ministry now is not to sit back and see what we have done, but it is to sit back and see the salvation of the Lord and see what God hath wrought. That’s what causes praises to come out of the lives of the people. I promise you this one thing. If God ever opens your eyes so that you can see the resurrection power that is indwelling you, that power which is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think, you’ll come away praising the Lord. That’s point No. 1. The level of our expectation is to be measured by God’s ability.

The limit of our expectation is measured by our availability.

If you will look in that twentieth verse, he says, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (then the most important word in that verse comes next), according to the power that worketh in us. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, BUT what God is able to do is according to that power that worketh in us. Listen, don’t you expect God to do anymore than you are willing to let him do through you. God will do no more than you are willing to let him do through you. You see, God makes himself available to those who make themselves available to him. The only limit of what God will do in your life, in your home, in your school, in this church is your availability. You are wasting your time praying God, save so-and-so if you are not willing to let God save him through you. If you are not willing to shape up, confess sin, repent, go and witness, you might as well stop praying because God is not going to do anymore than you are willing for him to do through you. Has it ever occurred to you that you may be the answer to your own prayer? God may be the means. I hear people pray like this: Lord, somehow, someway. I wonder if it ever occurs that they may be that somehow, that someway that God is looking for. As far as I understand the Scriptures today, God doesn’t send an angel to witness to people. He sends you. He sends me.

The bottleneck, the barrier, the clogged channel is with us. The only limit to my expectation of what God is going to do is my availability. Listen! In proportion to how much I make myself available to God, that is how much God will do. What are you expecting God to do for you? What do you want God to do through you. Are you willing to say, Heavenly Father, I don’t want to put any limit on what you are able to do. I absolutely refuse to put any limits on what you are able to do. As best I know how, I make myself totally, one hundred percent available to you. If there is sin that needs to be confessed, if there is reconciliation that needs to be made, if there is restitution that needs to be made, whatever the price, whatever the cost, Father, I want to make myself absolutely available to you. That simply means that you will be willing today to let God do whatever he wants to do in you, through you, and for you. Are you willing? My willingness meets God’s willingness, and the result is always miraculous.
Let’s pray together.

Gal 5:25-6:10 | Imperatives for a Caring Church

Text: Galatians 5:25-6:6-10

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, looking to yourselves, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one shall bear his own load. And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”

A person’s conduct toward others is largely determined by his opinion of himself. Now, Paul is picturing the church here as a caring community…as a family. You’ll notice that chapter 6, verse 1 opens with the word, “brethren,” and that chapter also closes with the word “brethren.” And in between he uses that expression, “the household” or “the family” of believers and what Paul is emphasizing is that we are a family…we are brothers and sisters in Christ. And our conduct toward one another is determined by our opinion of ourselves…and he’s going to talk about the conduct that we should have toward each other. But I want you to notice he is saying in that last part of chapter 5… “if we live in the Spirit” or “since we derive our life from the Spirit” let us keep “in step” or keep in line with the Spirit.

And then he says, “Let us not become conceited” or “boastful”…the idea is somebody who has a false illusion of himself…puffed up. That person is always doing one of two things…provoking or challenging someone and envying one another. Now, it’s interesting…here is a person who is conceited…I mean, he’s filled with pride…he thinks more of himself than he ought to think, and he’s boastful about whatever progress he may have made. Now, to those he considers inferior to him, he’s always provoking them…always challenging them in some way or another, always showing them that he’s better than they are and he’s going to prove it!

But, to those that he knows are superior to him, he envies them and is jealous of them. And so, a conceited person, a person who does not understand who and what he really is in Christ Jesus, who thinks more of himself than he ought to think…that he is the better member of the family will always be intimidating those that he thinks are inferior and will always be envying and jealous of those that are superior. And so, he says you’re not to do this…don’t do this…this is not what you’re to do, having been walking in the Spirit.

If you have been born again and you live by the Spirit…your life comes from the Holy Spirit who dwells within, then you ought to keep in step with the Spirit. And he talks about fulfilling the royal law, which is the law of love…which is, by the way, the first fruit of the Spirit as he mentioned there in verse 22… “but the fruit of the Spirit is love.” And so, we could say this…that a person’s conduct toward everyone else ought to be one of love. Now you would agree with me on that, wouldn’t you? Love one another…that’s the new commandment that Jesus gave us. We’re to love one another. He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” You do love yourself…love one another.

But you know, we talk a lot about love. We really do. And it’s easy to talk about loving people in a general, abstract, vague way. But it’s a different matter to put that love into concrete practical expressions. And that’s what the Apostle Paul does in chapter 6. First of all, he paints the picture…here is a family…a family that’s united by their bond in Jesus Christ. They derive their life from the Holy Spirit and deriving their life from the Holy Spirit, then they want to make certain that they keep in step with the Spirit. That’s a good military word…means to keep in step. Well, how do you keep in step? And he tells us in that sixth chapter.

There are four imperative verbs there…four commands that the apostle gives us. And I would call these “the imperatives for a caring community…for a caring church…” what you and I are supposed to do as members of the same family for one another.

Now the first imperative that you find is right in verse 1. He says, “Brethren, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him.” So, the practical mark of love among the brethren is restoring…a restoration. He says, “If anyone is caught in a sin…”, the word “caught” there really means to be overtaken. It has the idea of happening suddenly and he’s surprised at it. It’s sort of like a person who has been walking in the Spirit, by the way the word translated “sin” (trespass) there means “to fall out of step” and so you have this picture of walking in the Spirit and keeping in step with the Spirit…but here’s a man who suddenly steps aside and falls out of step with the Holy Spirit. It’s something not planned…it is not premeditated, but he is suddenly caught, overtaken.

Now, he’s not talking about somebody who is continually living a life of sin. I’m not saying we ought not try to restore someone like that in the fellowship, but primarily he’s saying this, “If you see somebody in the family and you know, suddenly, without warning, they just sort of get out of step with the Spirit…” which may mean they provoke, or they’re envious, or they in some other way are being unloving towards their brethren, he says, “What are we to do?” We are to restore that individual.

That’s a very interesting word, restore. It means “to set a broken bone” and it’s also used in Mark of the apostles when they’re mending their nets…putting them back together. And he says, “You’re a family, you’re a body and when one of the body falls into sin that’s like a part of the net being broken. As long as the net is broken that means you’re not going to catch as many fish.” That’s why they mend the nets every day. They would mend the nets in order to catch the fish. And there is a sense that you and I have to be practicing restoration, mending the nets, restoring these people because we’re not going to catch fish…we’re not going to win the lost. The ignorant lost person knows that the outstanding mark of a Christian is supposed to be love.

I think we’re having a difficult time overcoming today the world’s perception of the church, because the church is seen largely as judgmental of others…and we’re always pouncing on wounded Christians.

I had an occasion two or three years ago…not because I needed it…to sit in on a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. I was there as an observer. And I asked myself, “What am I doing here” because the people in that group were not people that I lived next door to. I mean, there was one boy and his girlfriend. Both of them had long hair and they were in leather jackets and leather pants and their jackets had chains all over and they were wearing boots with chains on them, and they’d been into drugs and alcoholism and everything and here was a homeless person and here was an ex-convict. But there were two or three Christians in that group.

And I sat there amazed at how frank they would be with each other! And they’d get up and tell what was going on in their life and where they were hurting and where they were having a hard time. Afterwards, I talked with one of the Christians and I said, “What you said tonight was so frank and so open and so transparent. Would you ever say that in your church?” He said, “I’d never say this in a church.” I said, “Why not?” He said, “I’m open here because I know there’s nobody here that’s going to condemn me. We’ve all experienced it. I feel like if I were to say some of these things in my church, there would immediately be condemnation and judgment pouncing upon me.”

Now when Paul says that when you see someone caught in a sin, he doesn’t say to judge them and condemn them and criticize them. What does he say? He says to restore them…to bring them back into line…to say an encouraging word…to say something to them to help them to be brought back and be mended as a part of the body of Christ.

Now it’s interesting who is to do this work. Notice he says, “You, who are spiritual should restore him.” Who is he talking about? “You, who are spiritual”? Is he talking about the “spiritual elite?” No, I think you could substitute the word “mature” for the word “spiritual.”

For instance, I want you to turn back to Romans 15:1…
“Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and just please ourselves.” We who are strong ought to bear…put up with the failings of the weak.

You know, I’ve been a pastor and I’ve said this, and I’ve heard other pastors say this, “You know, the problem with our church is these weak people we have…these people who are weak in the faith.” As a matter of fact, in chapter 14 of Romans, verse 1, he says,
“Accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose
of passing judgment…”

I want to tell you something…the problem in the church is not the weak believers. The problem in the church is the strong believers who are not fulfilling their duty of bearing their problems and helping them and accepting them and restoring them. It’s the strong in the church…it’s their responsibility…we keep saying, “Man, if those weak people, if those immature people who really don’t believe like they ought to believe and they’re weak in their faith…if they’d just get strong then our church could do great things!”

Listen, who is supposed to make them strong? Whose responsibility is that? I’ll tell you…it’s those of you who are complaining about the weak! So, he says it is to be the mature…those who consider themselves strong in the faith…they are to do the task of restoration.

But notice the manner in which they are to do it…how they are to do it! He says, “Do it gently…looking to yourselves, lest you too be tempted.” Why do you restore this brother gently? I mean, you don’t come in like a prosecuting attorney and tell him how bad he is and how awful he is…you gently with meekness and gentleness restore him. Why? Because, friend, the very same thing can happen to you!

Oh we see this brother over here and we say, “My goodness, do you see what he’s done? We ought to kick him out!” You know, you might want to be a little bit gentle in your judgment of him because I tell you something…the same thing can happen to you! The first thing is this, in a caring family we are to restore those who have stepped out of line in the fellowship of the Spirit.

You know they have all of the AA classes and NA classes and all of this and I thank God for them…I think they do a lot of good and everything, but I tell you, it seems to me if there’s any place that people ought to be able to stand and to say, “I’m hurting…I’m failing here” it ought to be in the fellowship of the church. And most of us are scared to death to do it! Why? We’re afraid of judgment…we’re afraid of condemnation from other people!

You know, we’re family! In my own family…my father and mother and brother and wife…if I’m not able to unload myself there and share with them my burdens and share with them the problems that I’m having, then where can I do it? That’s what the family is for! And he says the church is a family. The first command is that we are to restore one another.

The second imperative verb is in verse 2… “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.” Bear or carry one another’s burdens. Now, when we get over here to verse 5, he says, “For each one shall bear his own burden (load).” He’s using two different Greek words. The word in verse 2 is a pressing load.

Here is a person in the church…a person in the family that right now is just so burdened…and it’s a crushing load…so much so that they’re just not able to handle it. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians and he said that he was in a situation where he despaired even of life and of course, what he was doing was trying to make the Corinthians understand because the Corinthians and some of the people who were leading them were criticizing and judging Paul because of the problems he was having. And he said, “I want you to understand that the trouble I had was beyond me…it was out of my hands and it was beyond my ability to handle…so much so that I even despaired of life.”

See, the problem with the Corinthian church is that they wouldn’t bear his load. Now, I want to ask you a question right now. How many of you right now at this moment are going through the greatest trial of your life? Not just going through a trial, but the greatest trial. How many of you right now are going through a trial? You have a burden that’s just about to crush you. You know what? You and I are supposed to bear each other’s burdens. It has the idea of going along and helping that person carry that load…through sympathy and encouragement and doing other things, there are a thousand ways that you can bear one another’s burdens. You see, there are some burdens that I can’t bear by myself. I’ve felt like at times that if I didn’t have somebody to help me in this situation I was despairing of my own life.

Now one of the things that I thank God for is Christian friends through the years who knew me and knew me too well and knew what I was going through and knew the burden that I was under and the trial that I was under and they’d come alongside and they’d say, “Let me help. Let me pray with you. Let me just be there for you.” We’re to bear one another’s burdens. See, nobody can live the Christian life by themselves. You just can’t. You’re not strong enough.

You know, I’m in many ways a very private person. My wife…one of the first arguments we had when we were married was that she used to say, “You know, your problem is that you could live forever without people. You’re so independent, individualistic, so private, you just don’t need people.” Well, she was fairly accurate. You know, I always thought that if anything tragic ever happened in my life, I didn’t want anybody around. I discovered something, folks. I discovered one day how desperately I needed people…Christian people…just to be there to put a hand on my arm or my shoulder just a hug…just to be there…and Paul said, “In doing this, you will fulfill the law of Christ which is the law of love.” Well, what did Christ do? He bore our burdens…right? And He’s still bearing our burdens. First Peter says, “We’re to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us.”

So, there is restoring. There is bearing. There is testing. Now, he says bearing one another’s burdens and this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Verse 3… “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing he deceives himself.” Now, what he means by that is he just said that you’re to bear one another’s burdens, but he said, “Some of you think you’re too good to do it. Some of you think so highly of yourself you think you’re really something! Some of you think you’re really something when you’re really nothing! You’re really something so it’s just beneath you to get down and grovel with somebody else and their problem. It’s just beneath you to go out into some areas and minister to somebody in great need.

Paul says, “Not only should there be restoring and bearing, but there should also be testing or examining.” Verse 4: “…let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.” We’re always comparing ourselves to somebody else, aren’t we? “Well, ‘so and so is not doing that, and I’m doing as much as they’re doing.” Listen, stop comparing yourself with one another. That’s not the test. Test your own work. You know the test there has the idea of exposing, of examining…examine your own work! And if your own work is up to par, then you’ll have something to boast about! Those of you that are too busy to help somebody else to bear their burdens then test your own work.

Then comes that next statement… “for each one shall bear his own load.” The word “load” is used of a soldier’s pack. And a soldier had a pack and it was up to him to carry that pack. It was not an unbearable burden. It was not a crushing burden. It was his task. It was his job! And so what the Apostle Paul is saying is this… “Are you carrying your load? Or are you wanting somebody else to come along and take your load, your task and do it for you?” There’s a load that each one of us is to bear and we’re not to shove it off onto somebody else, you see. There must be a testing of ourselves…an examination of ourselves. Test your own works, before you judge somebody else, before you think you’re doing enough, before you think you’re too good to do certain things…what about the load that God has given you to carry? Are you doing your share? Are you carrying your load? Test yourself!

You know, it would be a wonderful thing if every member of our church would occasionally say, “I’m going to sit down and evaluate my church work…the work that I’m doing for the Lord. Am I carrying my load? Am I carrying my load in praying and visiting and in sharing my faith? Am I carrying my load in teaching? Am I carrying my load?” You know, it would be amazing we would all sit down once in awhile and evaluate our own actions…our own works.

There’s restoring. There’s bearing. There’s testing. And then there’s sharing. He says in verse 6 and following, “And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches.” Now, there’s the basis for the pastor’s salary and a good text for love offerings. It is! I just may just ought to stay there and say a little more about that. But let’s read on… “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to this own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”

There is to be sharing…sharing of our money, sharing of our heart, sharing of our time. As we have opportunity…and this life presents many an opportunity to do good to other people. Amen? As you have opportunity…one translation reads… “as you have time…” I don’t like that translation because we say, “Well, I’m too busy, I don’t have time…” I think the better translation is “…as we have opportunity…”

I never will forget one day I was in a meeting and we had finished the noon service but we were going out to eat and we were kind of in a hurry and we came to a stop light and we were the first ones at the light and so we waited and waited for that light to change and just before the light changed, one of those little Toyota type pickup trucks came along and the fellow was carrying a big old king-sized mattress in that truck bed and it just happened to slip off right there in the intersection. So he stopped his truck right there in the intersection and our light turned green, but we couldn’t go because he was blocking the intersection. So we sat there and watched him while he went around there and I tell you a king-sized mattress is not easy to handle. Here’s this man and he’d get it up here and it would fall down here and he’d go there. And I said, “Why doesn’t somebody get out there and help him?” And nobody did! Of course, I thought the pastor ought to do it.

Now, folks, I had an opportunity to do good and I didn’t take it. I didn’t share my time and my strength with him. Do good to all men. I tell you, some people are discouraging to work with. Some people are discouraging to try to help. Have you ever tried to help somebody and they just don’t come along? I tell you, sometimes when you try to help somebody who is an alcoholic or somebody who has been into drugs and you work with them and you work with them and they don’t seem to be getting any better, after awhile you just say, “Well, let them stew in their own juice.” No, listen to what Paul says, “We’re to do good to all people…” because he said earlier, “let us not lose heart (become weary) in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we don’t grow weary. Therefore,” he says, “as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men…”

So here’s what Paul is saying, “If we want to be a caring community, a family that cares for one another, then we’ll be restoring those who have been overtaken in some sin, who have stepped out of line with the Spirit…we’ll be bearing one another’s burdens…some people have a crushing load…and we’ll in some way try to bear their burdens. We will test your own works…make sure we’re carrying your load and then we will share all good things with all men, but especially with the household of faith.”

That’s what the New Testament church is supposed to look like.