Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / Building a Resilient Church Culture: Part 5 - Sacrificial Hospitality

Transcript

Building a Resilient Church Culture: Part 5 - Sacrificial Hospitality · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
I invite you to take your copy of God's Word and join me in John chapter 13.
0:08
!
0:30
I've made this case in a broadest of sense in an introduction.
0:36
We've talked about it in brief each week leading up to now.
0:38
For the sake of time, I'm trying not to repeat myself over and over again.
0:42
But your elders think that we are already living in the midst of a time of soft totalitarianism,
0:49
a culture that expresses us to get on board with its directives, its truths,
0:54
and that it's going to find us increasingly uncomfortable living in the days in which we live,
1:02
particularly concerning issues of sexuality, gender, gender roles, etc.
1:08
I think you know what I'm talking about,
1:10
and this won't be the only assault against the church in the coming years.
1:16
If you are new to this study, I think you'll be well served going back and listening to the recordings of it.
1:21
Those should be available on our website.
1:23
We're glad to have you catch up to where we are in our thinking together.
1:27
But each week I've begun with three prerequisite statements.
1:30
I think that they need to be repeated.
1:31
Once again, as I've already stated, sermon series are not our normal practice.
1:36
We typically preach verse-by-verse expositional sermons.
1:41
This means that we take, for the main point or points of the sermon,
1:44
the main point or points of the text.
1:47
And it helps us to avoid error, to just walk through a text together.
1:53
I think men who are being really honest with themselves know that they're given to error.
1:59
It's altogether possible to come up with ideas and be thinking off in a direction that's not biblical.
2:05
And so it's good for us just to walk through the text together.
2:10
So that's what we do as a general habit, as a health for the church.
2:15
But from time to time, it's helpful to think about something topically,
2:18
to have some thoughts and to look to the scripture for it.
2:21
But it's altogether possible to read what we want to into a text.
2:25
And so I just want to caution you.
2:27
Anytime you're hearing topical preaching,
2:30
anytime you're hearing preaching at all, be discerning,
2:32
but especially when you're hearing topical preaching.
2:34
Secondly, I'm not trying to be an alarmist,
2:39
but we do think that there's some work to be done here.
2:42
Back when we originally preached just a single sermon on this,
2:46
it actually felt a little alarmist at that time,
2:49
and much less so now, just a few months later.
2:55
But we love you.
2:57
We want your good.
2:58
We want the glory of God in our church.
3:00
And so we believe this is important for us to be doing this work of thinking about these things together.
3:07
And then lastly, the week that we're able to spend on this,
3:10
frankly, the amount of time I'm comfortable spending to topical preaching,
3:13
is not nearly enough.
3:15
And so we need to be talking about this,
3:17
pressing at each other's thinking,
3:19
working on it together,
3:21
ask questions,
3:22
go to the Word.
3:24
This is not the last time we need to hear this
3:27
and be exhorted in these directions.
3:31
So how do we build a resilient church culture?
3:33
We've covered a number of things.
3:35
We've said that it's going to be a work.
3:37
We're going to have to be the secondary means
3:39
in God's primary work in our lives.
3:42
We're going to have to be a strong church.
3:44
We're going to have to stand against the tide of soft totalitarianism.
3:48
It's going to be destruction.
3:49
It's going to have to be ingrained in who we are.
3:53
We've already talked about our need to define and hold
3:57
to the clear mission of the church.
4:01
The church's mission is to make disciples
4:04
and then as members of the church to be disciples
4:07
in the places that God sends us.
4:10
And we've talked about our need to do robust theology,
4:13
knowing what God has commanded and what He has promised,
4:17
and carefully doing the work of theological triage
4:20
in order to maintain unity in the church,
4:23
for the sake of standing firm and unified
4:26
on matters of first importance.
4:29
I think the enemy would do a good work,
4:32
and I mean that from his perspective in the church,
4:35
to get us highly distracted from matters of first importance,
4:40
that we would turn and devour one another.
4:43
Last week we considered our need to know accurate histories
4:46
so that we will have knowledge of how we arrived at where we are,
4:50
and especially how God orchestrated that arrival.
4:55
And today we are going to consider the church's need
4:58
to practice sacrificial hospitality.
5:03
I have not said to this date in our study,
5:06
but I want you all to know
5:07
that these five things that your elders believe
5:10
that we need to be working on are not foreign to you.
5:13
We've already been working on these things
5:16
because they are entirely biblical things.
5:20
And isn't it wonderful when you submit yourself to God's Word
5:24
how He will work out the details?
5:27
We don't have to come with some brilliant sociological perspective
5:31
and be extremely aware of all of the things going on around us
5:35
to just pick up the Word
5:36
and do the things that the Word has commanded us to do.
5:41
And so I'm grateful for that,
5:42
that we've already been about these kinds of things.
5:46
But we do think we'll have to do them all the more.
5:52
The particular activity of sacrificial hospitality,
5:56
broadly speaking, you all excel at.
6:01
And so don't hear this as a rebuke of any kind,
6:03
but as an encouragement to press on.
6:07
Keep loving one another sacrificially.
6:12
So the word hospitality,
6:14
and I do promise we're getting to our text,
6:16
but there's a lot of setup here.
6:18
The word hospitality in the English Standard Version
6:21
translation of the New Testament
6:22
appears four times in the noun form, hospitality,
6:27
and two times in the adjective form, hospitable.
6:31
In Romans 12, 13, we are told to seek to show hospitality.
6:38
And in Hebrews 13 and verse 2,
6:42
the author of Hebrews exhorts us to not neglect
6:45
to show hospitality to strangers,
6:48
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
6:53
I'm thankful that ESV left the word unawares in there for us.
6:58
Likely, the author of Hebrews is referring to Abraham's hospitality in Genesis 18
7:03
and Lot's hospitality in Genesis 19,
7:07
both instances where angels were unknowingly hosted,
7:12
or they were hosted unawares,
7:15
and as we'll see later, of great importance,
7:18
their feet were washed as part of that hospitality.
7:22
One of the prerequisites to enroll a widow in the care of the church
7:27
recorded in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 10
7:30
is that she has shown hospitality
7:33
and has washed the feet of the saints.
7:38
And in 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 9,
7:41
we are instructed to show hospitality to one another
7:45
without grumbling.
7:47
So a heartfelt, unbegrudging display of hospitality.
7:54
Then in 1 Timothy 3.2 and Titus 1.8,
7:57
Paul states that a character requirement for an elder
8:01
is that he is hospitable,
8:04
gives leadership in this kind of welcoming.
8:09
Hospitality in the Greek literally means friendship to the stranger.
8:15
It's a compound word and it means friendship to the stranger.
8:21
Hospitality seeks to welcome in those who may not feel welcome otherwise
8:27
and give them a sense of belonging.
8:32
And I say that our hospitality will need to be sacrificial
8:36
because sometimes loving people in this way will be easy.
8:40
You may find that you easily connect with someone,
8:42
you may have similar likes and dislikes or just easily get along.
8:49
But often loving people in this way will be hard.
8:53
It requires sacrifice on your part.
8:56
It's not always so easy to get along with people
9:00
and to show them love.
9:02
As a very minor example of this,
9:05
and please hear this as a minor example,
9:09
Clay Naylor is one of my best friends.
9:10
And when we first met, we had very little in common.
9:15
It's been growing, I think, as I've become more manly.
9:19
But when I first met Clay, I didn't hunt.
9:22
I rock climbed and whitewater paddled.
9:24
And Clay was a hunter to the core.
9:27
Drove a big Chevy truck with pipes.
9:31
I was uninterested in things like that.
9:34
He wore big belt buckles.
9:38
I think he's still got some big belt buckles.
9:40
I think he's wearing cowboy boots this morning.
9:41
I've never owned a pair of cowboy boots.
9:45
But we had the Lord Jesus in common, right?
9:48
And that was enough to unite us together.
9:50
And of course, we've become really dear friends across much time.
9:55
We're going to have to be able to give of ourselves
9:58
for the sake of others in a hospitable way.
10:03
So let's look at our Lord's example to make this point further.
10:08
It's John chapter 13.
10:10
I'll begin reading in verse 1, and I'll read through verse 17.
10:14
Before I read, let me remind you, beloved,
10:16
that this is God's word to us,
10:18
written for his glory and our good.
10:21
And so we would do well to listen to it
10:24
in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
10:29
Now, before the feast of the Passover,
10:32
when Jesus knew that his hour had come
10:34
to depart out of this world to the Father,
10:38
having loved his own who were in the world,
10:41
he loved them to the end.
10:44
And I want to read that to you again.
10:47
That last little phrase has struck me again and again this week.
10:53
Now, before the feast of the Passover,
10:56
this is his last meal with his disciples,
10:59
when Jesus knew that his hour had come
11:01
to depart out of this world to the Father,
11:05
having loved his own who were in the world,
11:08
he loved them to the end.
11:11
Gave of himself all the way to the point of death.
11:15
What a precious phrase that is.
11:17
He loved them to the end.
11:21
During supper,
11:22
when the devil had already put into the heart
11:24
of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,
11:28
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands
11:31
and that he had come from God and was going back to God,
11:36
rose from supper.
11:38
He laid aside his outer garments
11:40
and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
11:43
Then he poured water into a basin
11:46
and began to wash the disciples' feet
11:48
and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
11:52
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
11:55
Lord, do you wash my feet?
11:57
Jesus answered him,
11:58
What I am doing you do not understand now,
12:00
but afterward you will understand.
12:03
Peter said to him,
12:05
You shall never wash my feet.
12:07
Jesus answered him,
12:08
If I do not wash you,
12:10
you have no share with me.
12:12
Simon Peter said to him,
12:14
Lord, not my feet only,
12:15
but also my hands and my head.
12:20
Jesus said to him,
12:20
The one who has bathed does not need to wash
12:23
except for his feet,
12:24
but is completely clean.
12:26
And you are clean,
12:28
but not every one of you.
12:30
So he takes a metaphor that's both physical
12:32
and he makes it spiritual
12:33
and goes back to it being physical
12:34
and back to spiritual once again.
12:36
Verse 11,
12:38
For he knew who was to betray him.
12:42
That was why he said,
12:43
Not all of you are clean.
12:46
When he had washed their feet
12:47
and put on his outer garments
12:49
and resumed his place,
12:50
he said to them,
12:51
Do you understand what I have done to you?
12:54
You call me teacher and Lord,
12:57
and you are right,
12:58
for so I am.
13:00
If I then, your Lord and teacher,
13:02
have washed your feet,
13:03
you also ought to wash one another's feet.
13:06
For I have given you an example
13:08
that you also should do
13:10
just as I have done to you.
13:13
Truly, truly, I say to you,
13:15
a servant is not greater than his master,
13:17
nor is a messenger greater
13:18
than the one who sent him.
13:21
If you know these things,
13:23
blessed are you if you do them.
13:27
This is just an astounding text, right?
13:29
What an amazing picture
13:31
on this last night before
13:34
the suffering crucifixion
13:36
of our Lord and Savior,
13:37
Jesus Christ.
13:39
Jesus washed their feet.
13:43
It's our first observation from this text.
13:46
Jesus washed their feet.
13:49
This was a job that was reserved
13:51
for the very lowliest of servant.
13:56
In this day, people wore sandals,
13:59
I think you know,
14:00
and it was a dusty and dry place.
14:03
And probably in our day,
14:04
we're more aware of what sandal wearing
14:06
does to feet
14:07
than maybe in some decades past.
14:10
If you wear sandals,
14:11
your feet get sweaty,
14:12
and dirt sticks to your feet,
14:14
and it gets more sweaty,
14:15
and you end up with kind of a
14:17
smelly paste on your feet.
14:20
And so people would come,
14:21
washed,
14:22
to somebody's home for dinner,
14:24
and the way they were welcomed
14:25
into the home as a servant
14:27
would wash their feet,
14:29
get them totally clean.
14:31
They reclined at table,
14:32
and feet were more prominent
14:34
in the eating of meals
14:35
in this day
14:36
because of the way
14:37
that they reclined
14:38
at table.
14:41
So Jesus makes himself
14:42
the lowliest
14:43
of the household
14:45
to set an example for them.
14:48
Now note,
14:48
they are already reclining at table.
14:50
Their feet have already been washed.
14:52
They didn't have the actual need
14:54
to be washed at this point.
14:56
So he's doing it figuratively
14:58
to show us
14:59
what must be done,
15:00
the way in which
15:01
we ought to serve
15:03
one another.
15:05
It takes great humility
15:06
to serve other people
15:07
in this way.
15:09
I don't think we're meant today
15:11
to literally wash people's feet.
15:13
Perhaps they need that,
15:14
and maybe that was a way
15:15
that you could serve them.
15:16
But more regularly,
15:18
in other ways,
15:19
will we serve others.
15:21
to recognize
15:23
that we are meant
15:24
to be servants
15:25
of all.
15:28
Jesus said in Matthew 20,
15:30
verse 25 and following,
15:33
You know that the rulers
15:34
of the Gentiles
15:35
lord it over them,
15:37
and their great ones
15:38
exercise authority over them.
15:41
It shall not be so
15:43
among you.
15:45
But whoever will be great
15:47
among you
15:47
must be your servant,
15:49
and whoever will be
15:50
first among you
15:51
must be your slave,
15:54
even as the Son of Man
15:55
came not to be served,
15:58
but to serve
15:59
and to give his life
16:00
as a ransom for many.
16:03
The greatest,
16:04
the highest example
16:05
of Jesus' service to us
16:07
was that he gave
16:08
his very life for us.
16:10
But also don't miss
16:11
that he served, right?
16:13
Here he is,
16:14
washing the disciples' feet.
16:16
And so in the kingdom of God,
16:19
the first will be last,
16:22
and the last will be first.
16:25
And we live in an age
16:26
where dynamic
16:27
and big leadership
16:29
is very admired.
16:32
And the type of leadership
16:32
that Jesus seems
16:33
to be blessing here
16:34
is the type of leadership
16:35
that is meek,
16:37
and it is humble,
16:39
and it is service-oriented.
16:43
Notice secondly from the text,
16:44
Jesus did not only
16:47
wash the feet
16:48
of those who loved him.
16:51
Notice how John
16:52
sets the text up
16:53
in verse 2.
16:54
He says,
16:55
to start this whole episode,
16:58
during supper,
16:59
when the devil
16:59
had already put it
17:00
into the heart
17:01
of Judas Iscariot,
17:03
Simon's son,
17:04
to betray him.
17:06
He wants it to be clear to us,
17:08
the intention of
17:09
Judas' heart,
17:11
which Jesus would have been
17:12
aware of,
17:13
and we see some further
17:14
evidence of that
17:15
in the text
17:16
as the chapter goes on.
17:19
He knew full well
17:20
what Judas was going to do,
17:22
and yet,
17:23
I believe,
17:24
he washes Judas' feet.
17:27
Verse 12 says,
17:28
when he had washed
17:29
their feet.
17:32
There's no reason to think
17:33
that he excluded him
17:34
from this act of love
17:36
and of service.
17:38
We are so apt
17:40
to only serve others
17:42
when they receive it well,
17:44
give us the acclaim
17:46
that we want,
17:47
right?
17:47
When it makes us feel good
17:49
to serve,
17:51
rather than us doing so
17:52
sacrificially
17:54
for their good,
17:56
not necessarily for ours.
17:59
But Jesus did not only
18:00
wash the feet
18:00
of those
18:01
who loved him.
18:02
Third observation,
18:06
Jesus washed their feet
18:07
to set for us
18:08
an example.
18:10
Let's not miss
18:11
verse 15.
18:13
He says,
18:13
I did this
18:14
so that you
18:15
would do it
18:16
for one another,
18:17
so that you would
18:18
serve others
18:19
in this way.
18:20
And I think
18:21
it's off of
18:22
texts like
18:24
Genesis
18:25
that's being referred to
18:26
in Hebrews 13,
18:27
verse 2,
18:28
Genesis
18:29
chapters 18 and 19,
18:31
or 1 Timothy 5,
18:33
10,
18:34
that this kind of service
18:35
was meant to be a thing
18:36
that we are to be doing
18:38
for one another.
18:41
We do this
18:42
and we're motivated
18:43
to do this
18:44
out of the hospitality
18:45
we've been shown
18:47
by God
18:48
in Christ.
18:51
All of us
18:51
wants cast off,
18:53
all of us
18:53
wants not welcome
18:54
because of our sin,
18:56
but in Christ,
18:57
God has welcomed us.
18:59
then He gives to us
19:02
this same work
19:03
to be done.
19:05
Paul wrote
19:06
in 2 Corinthians 5,
19:08
beginning in verse 14,
19:10
the love of Christ
19:12
controls us
19:13
because we have
19:15
concluded this,
19:17
that one has died
19:18
for all,
19:19
therefore all have died.
19:20
And He died for all
19:22
that those who live
19:23
might no longer
19:24
live for themselves,
19:25
but for Him
19:27
who for their sake
19:29
died
19:29
and was raised.
19:32
From now on,
19:33
therefore,
19:33
we regard no one
19:34
according to the flesh.
19:36
Even though we once
19:37
regarded Christ
19:38
according to the flesh,
19:39
we regard Him thus
19:40
no longer.
19:42
Therefore,
19:43
if anyone is in Christ,
19:45
he is a new creation.
19:47
The old has passed away,
19:48
behold,
19:49
the new
19:49
has come.
19:52
All this is from God
19:53
who through Christ
19:54
reconciled us
19:55
to Himself
19:56
and gave us
19:58
the ministry
19:58
of reconciliation.
20:01
That is,
20:02
in Christ,
20:02
God was reconciling
20:03
the world to Himself,
20:04
not counting their
20:05
trespasses against them
20:06
and entrusting to us
20:07
the message
20:08
of reconciliation.
20:11
Because we've been
20:12
welcomed by God
20:13
in Christ,
20:14
reconciled to Him
20:15
because of the death
20:16
and life
20:17
of Jesus,
20:19
we've been given
20:20
this same message.
20:22
Therefore,
20:24
we are ambassadors
20:25
for Christ,
20:27
God making His appeal
20:29
through us.
20:32
Ambassadors
20:33
sent into the world
20:35
to declare a message
20:36
from our King.
20:39
We implore you
20:40
on behalf of Christ,
20:41
this is the message,
20:42
on behalf of Christ,
20:43
be reconciled
20:45
to God.
20:47
For our sake,
20:49
He made Him
20:49
to be sin
20:50
who knew no sin
20:52
so that in Him
20:53
we might become
20:54
the righteousness
20:55
of God.
20:59
If the church
21:00
is going to stand
21:01
against
21:02
the rising tide
21:03
of soft totalitarianism,
21:05
it will be true
21:07
as we spoke about
21:08
in the clear mission
21:09
of the church
21:09
that the church
21:10
will advance
21:11
against the gates
21:12
of hell.
21:14
But the question is,
21:15
will this church
21:16
advance
21:17
against the gates
21:19
of hell?
21:20
If we will,
21:22
as a secondary means,
21:23
we'll have to be
21:25
sacrificially
21:26
hospitable.
21:28
We're going to have
21:28
to involve
21:29
ourselves
21:30
in each other's lives
21:31
in a way
21:32
that displays
21:33
the love of Christ.
21:34
Again,
21:35
John chapter 13,
21:36
Jesus says,
21:37
they will know
21:37
you are my disciples
21:39
by
21:39
your theology,
21:42
the way you come
21:44
and sing,
21:46
the times you gather,
21:48
the times you don't gather.
21:49
How will they know?
21:51
By your love
21:52
for one another.
21:55
To be a compelling
21:56
community together
21:57
because we love each other
21:58
and we show each other
21:59
this kind of hospitality
22:00
will be something
22:01
beautiful
22:03
for those
22:04
Christ is calling
22:05
to Himself.
22:06
and we will also
22:08
have to display
22:08
this kind of
22:09
sacrificial hospitality
22:10
for those
22:10
outside the faith,
22:12
welcoming them in
22:14
that we might
22:14
share this good news,
22:16
that we might
22:17
herald
22:17
the gospel,
22:19
this ministry
22:20
of reconciliation,
22:22
that we might get them
22:23
to sit long enough
22:24
to see displayed
22:26
before them
22:26
the love
22:27
of Christ,
22:28
that they might hear
22:29
and believe
22:30
the gospel.
22:34
And a book
22:34
that I would commend
22:35
to you entitled
22:36
The Gospel Comes
22:37
with a House Key
22:37
by Rosaria Butterfield.
22:39
She wrote this,
22:41
radically
22:42
ordinary
22:43
hospitality,
22:44
I'm using the term
22:45
sacrificial instead,
22:47
radically ordinary
22:48
hospitality
22:48
characterizes
22:50
those who don't
22:51
fuss over
22:52
different world views
22:53
represented
22:54
at the dinner table.
22:56
The truly hospitable
22:57
aren't embarrassed
22:58
to keep friendships
22:59
with people
23:00
who are different.
23:01
and she goes on
23:03
to make the case
23:04
that these friendships
23:05
are formed
23:05
for the sake
23:06
of gospel
23:07
reconciliation,
23:09
right?
23:09
Not just for the friendship,
23:10
but to share
23:11
the good news
23:12
with people
23:12
who are dying
23:13
without
23:14
this gospel
23:15
of reconciliation.
23:18
So practically,
23:19
this is going to take
23:20
different forms
23:21
to exercise
23:22
hospitality,
23:23
right?
23:24
We're going to have
23:24
to be hospitable
23:25
in our public
23:26
gathering together,
23:27
so come to our
23:28
public gatherings
23:29
to serve
23:31
and not to be
23:33
served.
23:36
So much conversation
23:37
about the church
23:38
is what does it do
23:39
for me?
23:41
We've all heard
23:42
the phrase,
23:43
I just wasn't getting
23:43
anything out of it.
23:46
We ought to be
23:47
asking the question,
23:48
how can I be
23:50
a blessing
23:50
to others?
23:53
I would suggest
23:54
to you that if you
23:55
come to the public
23:56
gathering of the church
23:56
with that question
23:57
in mind,
23:58
how might the Lord
23:59
use me this morning?
24:00
How might I bless
24:01
others?
24:02
How might I show
24:03
sacrificial hospitality
24:04
to others
24:05
that in the process
24:06
you will also be
24:07
blessed,
24:09
served?
24:11
Romans 12.10,
24:13
Paul says,
24:13
love one another
24:15
with brotherly
24:16
affection.
24:18
Outdo
24:19
one another
24:20
in showing
24:21
honor.
24:24
Can you imagine
24:25
a church of people
24:27
and again you do
24:27
this in great measure
24:28
but can you imagine
24:29
if every one of us
24:31
was seeking to
24:32
out honor
24:33
the other?
24:35
We're always going,
24:35
no, no, no,
24:36
I got it.
24:37
No, no,
24:37
let me jump in.
24:38
No, no,
24:38
I'll take the lesser
24:39
position.
24:40
You take the greater
24:40
position.
24:41
Let me serve you
24:42
again and again
24:45
and again
24:46
and again.
24:48
That would be a
24:49
compelling community
24:50
of Christians,
24:51
would it not?
24:52
a group of people
24:53
who love each
24:54
other in
24:55
this way.
24:57
Come to our
24:58
public gatherings
24:58
to serve,
25:00
not to be served.
25:02
I think you'll
25:03
find yourself
25:03
being served
25:04
in the process.
25:06
Open up your
25:07
home
25:07
and spend
25:09
your resources.
25:11
Hospitality
25:12
will cost
25:13
something,
25:14
right?
25:14
It's expensive
25:15
to feed people,
25:16
especially as
25:17
prices
25:17
are rising.
25:19
But all
25:20
that you have
25:21
is the Lord's
25:22
and you are
25:23
meant to be
25:24
a steward
25:24
of it,
25:25
not selfish
25:27
with it.
25:30
I pray
25:31
for myself
25:31
and for all
25:32
of us
25:32
that we would
25:33
have the mind
25:34
of Paul
25:34
as he wrote
25:35
in 2 Corinthians
25:35
chapter 12
25:36
and verse 15
25:37
where he said,
25:39
I will most
25:40
gladly
25:40
spend
25:42
and be spent
25:43
for your souls.
25:46
I don't think
25:47
a single one
25:48
of us
25:48
on our deathbeds
25:49
or for the
25:50
eternity beyond
25:51
will wish
25:52
we just had
25:53
a little more
25:54
for ourselves.
25:55
Who wish
25:56
we just spent
25:57
more on us.
26:00
I think
26:01
that we will
26:01
regret
26:02
the things
26:02
we did
26:03
for ourselves
26:03
and we will
26:04
wish we had
26:05
been more
26:06
sacrificial
26:07
for the sake
26:07
of others.
26:10
Store up
26:11
treasure
26:12
in heaven,
26:13
right?
26:14
Give of
26:14
yourself
26:15
for the life
26:17
to come.
26:20
Charles Spurgeon
26:21
in a really
26:22
wonderful address.
26:23
This is the
26:23
quotation on your
26:24
bulletin
26:24
this week.
26:27
I love that this
26:27
quotation comes
26:28
in a fairly
26:29
strong and long
26:31
address where
26:32
he's talking
26:32
about the
26:34
insufficiency
26:37
of his preaching.
26:38
preaching.
26:40
And if you
26:40
know much
26:41
about Spurgeon
26:41
you'll know
26:42
that even
26:42
in his day
26:43
he was called
26:43
the prince
26:43
of preachers.
26:44
He knew
26:44
this about
26:45
himself.
26:45
People had
26:46
called him
26:46
the prince
26:47
of preachers.
26:49
So in this
26:49
address he
26:50
suggests to
26:50
people that
26:51
you could
26:52
correct the
26:52
errors of my
26:53
preaching if
26:54
you'll spend
26:54
time with
26:54
people and
26:56
you'll ask
26:56
them what
26:57
they thought
26:57
and answer
26:58
their questions
26:58
etc.
26:59
So it's on
26:59
the heels
27:00
of this that
27:00
he said
27:01
this.
27:02
Preaching
27:02
is important.
27:04
Public
27:05
evangelism and
27:06
exhortation is
27:07
important but
27:09
it's often our
27:10
kindness and
27:12
personal relationships
27:13
that helps people
27:14
cross the line
27:15
into faith.
27:18
Now Spurgeon
27:20
was a good
27:20
Calvinist.
27:22
He wrote a
27:22
little book
27:23
called The
27:23
Defense of
27:23
Calvinism where
27:24
he said
27:24
Calvinism is
27:25
the first
27:25
sentence in
27:26
the book.
27:26
Calvinism is
27:27
the gospel.
27:28
He believed
27:29
in first
27:30
order causes
27:31
but also in
27:32
the second
27:33
order causes
27:34
as well.
27:34
The Lord
27:35
uses preaching
27:37
and public
27:37
evangelism and
27:38
exhortation but
27:40
often what
27:42
Spurgeon is
27:42
saying he
27:43
uses our
27:44
kindness and
27:45
our personal
27:46
relationships to
27:47
help people
27:47
cross the
27:48
line into
27:50
faith.
27:51
So we see
27:52
in this text
27:53
Jesus giving
27:54
us this
27:55
example of
27:56
sacrificial
27:57
hospitality.
27:58
Helping
27:59
people,
27:59
welcoming them
28:00
in that they
28:01
might be
28:02
restored to
28:03
God.
28:03
And
28:05
fourthly,
28:06
Jesus gives
28:07
to us a
28:09
promise.
28:11
Verse 16
28:12
he says,
28:13
Truly,
28:14
truly,
28:15
I say to
28:16
you.
28:17
Anytime
28:17
there's that
28:18
repetition in
28:19
Jesus,
28:19
Jesus says
28:19
this again
28:20
and again
28:20
and again
28:20
throughout the
28:20
gospels,
28:21
truly,
28:21
truly,
28:21
he's saying
28:22
not only
28:23
truly but
28:23
really,
28:24
truly,
28:24
he's
28:25
emphasizing
28:25
it.
28:26
The only
28:27
time we
28:27
see a
28:29
triplicate
28:29
in the
28:30
entirety of
28:30
text is
28:30
holy,
28:31
holy,
28:32
holy,
28:32
right?
28:33
But here
28:34
Jesus will
28:34
go twice,
28:35
truly,
28:35
truly,
28:36
right?
28:36
This is an
28:36
axiom.
28:37
This is a
28:37
thing to
28:38
hang your
28:38
hat on.
28:39
I say
28:40
to you,
28:41
a servant
28:41
is not
28:41
greater than
28:42
his master
28:42
nor is
28:43
a messenger
28:44
greater than
28:44
the one
28:45
who sent
28:46
him,
28:47
right?
28:47
So if
28:47
you are
28:48
my
28:48
disciples,
28:49
right?
28:49
If you
28:50
know these
28:50
things,
28:52
blessed
28:53
are you
28:54
if you
28:55
do them,
28:56
right?
28:57
Set aside,
28:58
happy are
28:59
you if
29:00
you do
29:01
them.
29:01
And I
29:02
think that
29:03
Jesus means
29:03
both in
29:04
this life
29:05
and in
29:06
the life
29:06
to come,
29:07
that we
29:08
would give
29:08
of ourselves
29:09
for the
29:10
sake of
29:12
others to
29:13
the glory
29:13
of our
29:14
God.
29:16
We say
29:16
in our
29:17
house often,
29:18
the life
29:19
best lived
29:20
is lived
29:21
in service
29:22
to others,
29:24
right?
29:25
So to the
29:25
degree that
29:25
when my
29:26
boys are
29:26
acting
29:27
selfishly
29:28
toward one
29:28
another or
29:29
to their
29:29
parents or
29:30
to others,
29:31
I say,
29:31
boys,
29:32
the life
29:32
best lived
29:33
is,
29:33
and I
29:34
make them
29:34
fill in
29:34
the blank,
29:35
and they
29:35
know it
29:36
lived in
29:36
service to
29:37
others.
29:37
And they
29:37
often say
29:38
it begrudgingly,
29:39
but they
29:39
know at
29:40
least that
29:41
the life
29:41
best lived
29:42
is lived
29:42
in service
29:43
to others.
29:45
others.
29:47
I will
29:47
most gladly
29:48
spend and
29:50
be spent
29:51
for your
29:52
souls.
29:53
Let that
29:54
be true of
29:55
each and
29:55
every one
29:56
of us
29:56
toward each
29:57
and every
29:58
one of us.
30:00
Let's pray
30:00
together.