Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / While Laughing, Keep Your Balance! │ Msg 614

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While Laughing, Keep Your Balance! │ Msg 614 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: There are a lot of things that are tough in life,
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  Speaker 1: but the thought of trying to live up to someone
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  Speaker 1: else's impeccable example is overwhelming, to say the least. We've
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  Speaker 1: all learned that our lives will be one frustration after
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  Speaker 1: another if we try to follow Christ's example through the
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  Speaker 1: hypocrisy of faking it, or the immaturity of hurrying it,
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  Speaker 1: or worse, the legalism of striving for it. We need balance,
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  Speaker 1: don't we? We need the balance that can only come
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  Speaker 1: through Christ's power, which enables us, working within us to
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  Speaker 1: accomplish the impossible. We're going to read about that today,
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  Speaker 1: and we're going to learn about it in our time together.
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  Speaker 1: Turn with me to the letter to the Philippians once again,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 2, where we will learn how to lean on
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  Speaker 1: Christ alone, and in doing so, discover that very truth,
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  Speaker 1: by following Him. He will bring a joyful, satisfying balance
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  Speaker 1: to our lives when we do that. So, got your
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  Speaker 1: Bible open? Here we are in the New Testament book
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  Speaker 1: of Philippians chapter 2. I'll begin reading at verse 12,
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  Speaker 1: and I'll read down to verse 18. Philippians 2, 12.
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  Speaker 1: So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed,
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  Speaker 1: not as in my presence only, But now much more
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  Speaker 1: in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
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  Speaker 1: For it is God who is at work in you,
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  Speaker 1: both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
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  Speaker 1: Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you
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  Speaker 1: will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of
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  Speaker 1: God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and
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  Speaker 1: perverse generation. among whom you appear as lights in the world,
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  Speaker 1: holding fast the word of life, so that in the
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  Speaker 1: day of Christ I will have reason to glory, because
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  Speaker 1: I did not run in vain, nor toil in vain.
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  Speaker 1: But even if I am being poured out as a
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  Speaker 1: drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith,
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  Speaker 1: I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too,
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  Speaker 1: I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share
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  Speaker 1: your joy with me. Examples are wonderful things. People who
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  Speaker 1: have gone before us and have lived lives that are
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  Speaker 1: admirable and exemplary are so valuable to all of us.
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  Speaker 1: We who are students of biographies have in our libraries
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  Speaker 1: a number of books about great men and great women
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  Speaker 1: who have lived these exemplary lives and have set the
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  Speaker 1: stage or set the pace for us to do the same.
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  Speaker 1: At some time, however, their lives are so significant we
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  Speaker 1: feel frustrated rather than motivated when we read of them.
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  Speaker 1: I'm thinking of an article I read several years ago entitled,
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  Speaker 1: Advice to a Bored Young Man. I want you to
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  Speaker 1: hear what this writer has to say. Died age 20,
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  Speaker 1: buried age 60. The sad epitaph of too many Americans,
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  Speaker 1: mummification sets in on too many young men at an
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  Speaker 1: age when they should be ripping the world wide open.
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  Speaker 1: For example, Many people reading this page are doing so
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  Speaker 1: with the aid of bifocals. Inventor, Ben Franklin, age 79.
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  Speaker 1: The presses that printed this page were powered by electricity.
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  Speaker 1: One of the first harnessers, Ben Franklin, age 40. Some
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  Speaker 1: of you are reading this on the campus of one
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  Speaker 1: of the Ivy League universities. Founder, Ben Franklin. age 45.
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  Speaker 1: Others are in a library. Who founded the first library
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  Speaker 1: in America? Ben Franklin, age 25. Some got their copy
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  Speaker 1: through the U.S. Mail. Its father, Ben Franklin, age 31. Now,
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  Speaker 1: think fire. Who started the first fire department? Who invented
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  Speaker 1: the lightning rod? Who designed a heating stove still in
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  Speaker 1: use today? Ben Franklin, ages 31, 43, 36. Wit, conversationalist, economist, philosopher, diplomat, printer, publisher, linguist,
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  Speaker 1: spoke and wrote five languages. Advocate of paratroopers from balloons
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  Speaker 1: a century before the airplane was invented. All this until
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  Speaker 1: age 84. And Ben Franklin had exactly two years of
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  Speaker 1: formal schooling. It's a good bet that you already have
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  Speaker 1: more sheer knowledge than Franklin ever had when he was
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  Speaker 1: your age. Perhaps you think there's no use trying to
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  Speaker 1: think of anything new, that everything's been done wrong. The
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  Speaker 1: simple agrarian America Franklin's day didn't begin to need the
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  Speaker 1: answers we need today. Go do something about it. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I'm trying to hear those words through the ears of
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  Speaker 1: a mother of three or four small children who does
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  Speaker 1: well to get dressed by 11 o'clock in the morning.
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  Speaker 1: Or the busy husband and father of three or four
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  Speaker 1: who does well to keep his sanity working six, sometimes
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  Speaker 1: seven days a week just to put bread on the table.
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  Speaker 1: I'm trying to read a schedule into those words like
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  Speaker 1: most of us live with, with hardly enough time to
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  Speaker 1: even read about inventions to say nothing of discovering them.
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  Speaker 1: Kind of makes me agree with Mark Twain, who once said,
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  Speaker 1: Few things are harder to put up with than the
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  Speaker 1: annoyance of a good example. And so what do we do?
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  Speaker 1: Surrounded by these great examples, these exemplary people, how do
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  Speaker 1: we pull it off? Well, we have techniques nowadays. One
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  Speaker 1: is called faking it. And I'm thinking of the music
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  Speaker 1: industry right now. If you don't read in that area,
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  Speaker 1: you don't know about the scandal that's revolved around Milli Vanilli,
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  Speaker 1: who won the Grammy Award for the album Girl, You
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  Speaker 1: Know It's True. Problem is, it wasn't. And they lip
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  Speaker 1: synced the entire musical piece, which resulted in the disgrace
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  Speaker 1: of having to give the award back. to which the
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  Speaker 1: president of Capitol Records Nashville named Jimmy Bowen replied, you
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  Speaker 1: have to remember that music is a mirror of the times.
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  Speaker 1: And when the mirror is close to what's happening, that's
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  Speaker 1: what sells. The times we live in are very plastic.
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  Speaker 1: There are a lot of phony things happening in people's
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  Speaker 1: daily lives. So Milli Vanilli is just playing the game,
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  Speaker 1: which says something about the times we live in. And
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  Speaker 1: another in the same article writes, as technology allows music
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  Speaker 1: producers to use increasingly sophisticated electronic trickery to make albums
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  Speaker 1: and videos, the Milli Vanilli scandal will only repeat itself
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  Speaker 1: unless audiences stop valuing image more than content. Well, we
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  Speaker 1: can fake it. We get that great example, we hear
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  Speaker 1: those great voices, and we see those great images, and
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  Speaker 1: we can fake a recording, like we can fake a life.
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  Speaker 1: Another common technique when facing a great example is hurry
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  Speaker 1: it up. I find more and more in this generation
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  Speaker 1: want more and more earlier and earlier. Don't slow me
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  Speaker 1: down by making me pay a price or go through
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  Speaker 1: the pain of process. Don't make me wait. I want
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  Speaker 1: it now. I want it now. Let me just hit
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  Speaker 1: the high spots and ultimately I can look like you
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  Speaker 1: look or sound like you sound or in some cases
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  Speaker 1: have a ministry like you have. I just want it quicker.
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  Speaker 1: I just want it quicker. I don't want to be
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  Speaker 1: in my 50s and 60s or 70s. I want it
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  Speaker 1: in my 20s. him or not, you have to agree
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  Speaker 1: that the late pianist Liberace was one of the most
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  Speaker 1: popular pianists of the latter half of the 20th century.
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  Speaker 1: I was interested in reading his self-confessed style recently, and
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  Speaker 1: I quote My whole trick is to keep the tune
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  Speaker 1: well out in front. If I play Tchaikovsky, I play
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  Speaker 1: his melodies and I skip his struggles. Naturally, I condense.
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  Speaker 1: I have to know just how many notes my audience
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  Speaker 1: will stand for. If there's time left over, I fill
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  Speaker 1: in with a lot of runs up and down the keyboard.
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  Speaker 1: It looks like, it seems like Tchaikovsky, but we don't
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  Speaker 1: get too heavy with it. Just add a few runs.
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  Speaker 1: And the most common method used in Christian circles when
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  Speaker 1: we get an example that's laid before us and we
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  Speaker 1: can't live up to it is to strive for it.
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  Speaker 1: Work harder. The familiar song, Living for Jesus, a life
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  Speaker 1: that is true, also says, striving to please Him in
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  Speaker 1: all that I do. Is that the Christian life? If
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  Speaker 1: it isn't faking it and if it isn't hurrying it,
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  Speaker 1: is that it? You want to live the rest of
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  Speaker 1: your life striving to please Him in all that you do?
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  Speaker 1: Some of you say, I'm doing my best. I'm trying.
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  Speaker 1: I'm trying. I'm exhausted. What is true of all other
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  Speaker 1: examples is not true of Jesus. Now listen to this.
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  Speaker 1: All other great examples, whether they be some president or
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  Speaker 1: statesman or woman, whether they be some inventor or novelist
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  Speaker 1: or athlete, whatever, all the other examples may inspire but
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  Speaker 1: they cannot enable. They may motivate us, but they don't
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  Speaker 1: have any power to give us. There's nothing of Ben
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  Speaker 1: Franklin left over to make me the inventor he was.
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  Speaker 1: But when it comes to Christ, it's different. He says,
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  Speaker 1: you want to live my life? Here's my power. You
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  Speaker 1: want to please my Heavenly Father? Here's the enablement. I
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  Speaker 1: don't leave you as orphans. I give you my Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: And I live on through you by His power. I
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  Speaker 1: find that very encouraging. Having failed far more than I've
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  Speaker 1: succeeded at most of my dreams. And I think you'd
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  Speaker 1: say the same thing. Having been plagued by sin all
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  Speaker 1: my life. And struggling to find my way to the
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  Speaker 1: top of the water to breathe, I find great hope
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  Speaker 1: that He gives me the ability to breathe regardless. In
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  Speaker 1: Philippians chapter 2, for example, I come across another example.
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  Speaker 1: I am told to do nothing by faith. Selfishness or
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  Speaker 1: empty conceit, Philippians 2.3. We've looked at that. We've frowned
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  Speaker 1: our way through it, knowing how selfish and conceited most
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  Speaker 1: of us are at times. And we've also grown when
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  Speaker 1: we read, with humility of mind, let each one regard
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  Speaker 1: one another as more important than himself. And we've all
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  Speaker 1: been selfish. Maybe as early as this morning, you've already
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  Speaker 1: evidenced selfishness. You wanted to be somewhere when you wanted
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  Speaker 1: to get there and you didn't want to wait for anybody.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, look at the command, verse 5. Have this
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  Speaker 1: attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. There's
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  Speaker 1: no getting around it. He not only is the perfect example,
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  Speaker 1: he is the example of perfection. Think of it without
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  Speaker 1: a flaw. Without one moment where he blew it. Without
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  Speaker 1: a wayward thought. Without a disobedient act. He pulled it off.
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  Speaker 1: And we're told to have the same attitude he had
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  Speaker 1: when he emptied himself. When he gave up the adoration
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  Speaker 1: of angels and took upon himself the form of a
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  Speaker 1: little baby in Bethlehem. and grew up to be a
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  Speaker 1: man who was punched in the face and spit upon
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  Speaker 1: and had Roman spikes driven into his palms and into
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  Speaker 1: his ankles and was left to die. Now you live
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  Speaker 1: like that. I can't. And you can't either. All the
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  Speaker 1: striving in the world won't make me like him. I
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  Speaker 1: need help. And I cry out for it in prayer
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  Speaker 1: every day of my life. And the good news is
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  Speaker 1: he gives it. In fact, he not only gives it,
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  Speaker 1: he enables me to keep some things in balance that
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  Speaker 1: I could not otherwise do. Move through this wonderful second
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  Speaker 1: chapter to the center paragraph, verses 12 through 18. And
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  Speaker 1: you will find encouragement, I think. For there is here
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  Speaker 1: not only instruction and command, there is hope that you
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  Speaker 1: can make it happen through his strength. In fact, I
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  Speaker 1: find three different areas to be kept in balance. Please
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  Speaker 1: notice verses 12 and 13. Purpose balanced with power. 14
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  Speaker 1: through 16, attitude balanced with action. 17 and 18, there
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  Speaker 1: it is, seriousness balanced with joy. And it can happen
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  Speaker 1: on a regular basis through the enablement of Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 1: and only through Him. Only through Him. Now let's get
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  Speaker 1: into the particulars. I think until we do, it's all
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  Speaker 1: just generalized motivating talk. We need to see how it
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  Speaker 1: works out. First of all, purpose and power. Let me
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  Speaker 1: read for you these two verses, 12 and 13. So then,
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  Speaker 1: my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as
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  Speaker 1: in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,
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  Speaker 1: work out your own salvation. Work out your salvation with
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  Speaker 1: fear and trembling. For it is God who is at
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  Speaker 1: work in you, both to will and to work for
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  Speaker 1: his good pleasure. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait just a minute.
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  Speaker 1: If I were sitting at the kitchen table with you
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  Speaker 1: and you and I were reading these two verses, one
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  Speaker 1: of us would notice a conflict. Probably both of us.
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  Speaker 1: You and I are told to work out our salvations.
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  Speaker 1: Only to be told, verse 13, that it is God
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  Speaker 1: at work in you. Make up your mind. Which is it?
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  Speaker 1: Who does it? That's a great question. That is in
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  Speaker 1: fact a question that has caused some people to come
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  Speaker 1: up with a wrong answer. Because they've seen only one
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  Speaker 1: and not both. To begin with, understand this is not
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  Speaker 1: a command directed to people to become saved. These people
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  Speaker 1: are already saved. I'll show you. Chapter 1, verse 1
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  Speaker 1: of Philippians. Paul and Timothy bond servants of Christ Jesus
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  Speaker 1: to all the saints in Christ. This is a letter
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  Speaker 1: written to people already in Christ who are living in Philippi. Geographically,
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  Speaker 1: they're in Philippi. positionally and spiritually there in Christ. You
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  Speaker 1: and I are the same regardless of the city we
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  Speaker 1: may live in. Because we have placed our faith and
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  Speaker 1: trust in Christ, we are set apart in Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Look at verse 6, chapter 1. I am confident of
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  Speaker 1: this very thing, that he who began a good work
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  Speaker 1: in you, that's salvation, will perfect it until the day
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  Speaker 1: of Christ Jesus. That's sanctification. We are born again because
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  Speaker 1: the good work has begun, and we are being completed
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  Speaker 1: because the good work continues through the blessing and power
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. And he even refers to them as brethren,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 1, verse 12, and beloved. chapter 2, verse 12.
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  Speaker 1: These are Christians. This section is written to people who
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  Speaker 1: are already in the family, but we are in need
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  Speaker 1: of working out our salvation. Please observe, it does not
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  Speaker 1: say work toward or work for He's saying, work it out.
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  Speaker 1: Three illustrations come to mind. One, a musician. Two, a
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  Speaker 1: person who is ill, a patient. And three, an athlete.
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  Speaker 1: See if this doesn't make it clear. A musician sits
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  Speaker 1: in a chair and has music placed on a stand
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  Speaker 1: in front of him or her. The music is composed
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  Speaker 1: by the genius who puts notes on the page and
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  Speaker 1: mixes it with rhythm and with style and composes the
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  Speaker 1: sheet of music. But it's incomplete unless it is played
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  Speaker 1: out by the musician, by the soloist who takes the
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  Speaker 1: music and interprets it with voice and style. The composer
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  Speaker 1: doesn't have a complete work until the music is sung
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  Speaker 1: out or played out. You and I are normally healthy.
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  Speaker 1: We go to a physician because we get sick. and
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  Speaker 1: the normal routine doesn't get us well. The physician, through training, skill,
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  Speaker 1: and gift, discovers by diagnosis that we have a certain
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  Speaker 1: disease that must take medication for us to get over.
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  Speaker 1: He writes out a prescription, and he gives you the prescription.
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  Speaker 1: You take the prescription. You didn't write it. You're given
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  Speaker 1: the prescription. But it's up to you now to go
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  Speaker 1: and have it filled by the pharmacist, and to carry
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  Speaker 1: out the instructions of the prescription, or you won't get better.
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  Speaker 1: And his work is in vain. It takes both. No
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  Speaker 1: physician can heal, but he can prescribe medicine that can
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  Speaker 1: be taken, and with the proper dosage in the proper
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  Speaker 1: period of time, health can return. The athlete is the
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  Speaker 1: third that comes to my mind. It's a football game.
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  Speaker 1: You're the quarterback. You're at the 10-yard line. The score
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  Speaker 1: is tied. Four seconds left. Your kicker just broke his leg.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody can kick it. You've got to run a play.
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  Speaker 1: The coach sends in the play. You didn't create the play.
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  Speaker 1: You didn't design the play. You received the play, and
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  Speaker 1: now you and your team must work it out in
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  Speaker 1: order to score. The coach is helpless without the team.
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  Speaker 1: And the team needs the coach with all of his
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  Speaker 1: objectivity to make the thing work. You win the game
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  Speaker 1: because you run the play successfully. That's what this passage
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  Speaker 1: is about. You have been given salvation just as the
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  Speaker 1: musician is given a piece of music. Just as you
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  Speaker 1: have been placed into your hands as a prescription. Just
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  Speaker 1: as a play is run in from the sideline. Salvation
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  Speaker 1: is yours. Now it is our job to work it out.
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  Speaker 1: to run the plays, to sing the music, to carry
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  Speaker 1: out the responsibilities that the physician has designed for us.
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  Speaker 1: And that's what this verse is about. Notice there's pain
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  Speaker 1: in it. You do it with fear. You do it
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  Speaker 1: with trembling. You don't hurry it up. You can't short circuit.
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  Speaker 1: You can't shortcut growth. It's done through fear and it's
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  Speaker 1: done through trembling, through trusting through respecting, through waiting on God,
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  Speaker 1: through his presence, because verse 13 brings relief. It is
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  Speaker 1: God really at work in you, not only in the willing,
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  Speaker 1: but in the working of his good pleasure. If you
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  Speaker 1: and I could see the working of God with our visible,
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  Speaker 1: with our eyes, if we could see it in tangible form,
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  Speaker 1: it would take our breath away. He is the one
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  Speaker 1: who is striving to He is the one who is
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  Speaker 1: at work. He is the one who is empowering. No
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  Speaker 1: spirit of Ben Franklin lingers to make you the man
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  Speaker 1: he was, but the spirit of Jesus Christ is ours
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  Speaker 1: to make us the man he was, our sin notwithstanding.
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  Speaker 1: And notice the ultimate goal, the purpose of it all,
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  Speaker 1: is to will and to work for his good pleasure.
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  Speaker 1: We are in a day where we want our pleasure.
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  Speaker 1: We want our comfort. We don't want God's will nearly
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  Speaker 1: as much as we want to be satisfied doing what
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  Speaker 1: we would prefer to do. It's an ultimate plan where
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  Speaker 1: he does his work and it results in his good pleasure.
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  Speaker 1: You know what that checks? That checks your attitude. It's
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  Speaker 1: an attitude checkpoint virtually every day of our lives. That's
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  Speaker 1: why verse 14 follows verse 13. Do all things without
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  Speaker 1: grumbling or disputing. Now we move into the realm of
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  Speaker 1: attitudes as opposed to actions. Look at those two words.
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  Speaker 1: Some of you may have cut verse 14 out of
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  Speaker 1: your Bible, and so I want to read it for
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  Speaker 1: you again. Do all things without grumbling or disputing. Great words.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes these old Greek words are worth a little stop,
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  Speaker 1: and I think, This is a case in point. Goguzo
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  Speaker 1: is the word grumbling. It sounds like grumbling. Goguzo, Goguzo, Goguzo.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to the meaning of the word. Low-toned, low-toned discontented mutterings.
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  Speaker 1: Isn't that good? Low-toned discontented mutterings. Not loud public statements.
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  Speaker 1: but grousing, complaining. Some of you have that gift. J.B. Priestley,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: a British novelist, wrote, I've always been a grumbler. I'm
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: designed for the part. Sagging face, weighty underlip, rumbling, resonant voice. Why,
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: money couldn't buy a better grumbling outfit. than mine. I
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: love Abraham Lincoln's words, every man after age 40 is
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: responsible for his own face. Isn't that good? You can
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: usually spot grumblers that look like grumblers. Do nothing with grumbling. Oh,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: that's so tough. Long line in the freeway. Hurry up
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: to get to the show. It's a sellout. Preparing this
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: wonderful meal, you burn it. Great plans for the weekend,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: you have to work. This isn't deeply theological, folks. This
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: is everyday living. And you know what happens when we grumble?
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: We poison the other mind, including our own. One man
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: put it very well. We have no more right to
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: put our discordant states of mind into the lives of
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: those around us and rob them of their sunshine and
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: brightness than we have to enter their houses and steal
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: their silverware. Your grumbling steals my silverware. Your down-in-the-mouth comments
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: hurt my desire to be up and about. My grousing
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: makes you negative. Now this leads to disputing. See the
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: other word? Grumbling is something more to ourselves. Low-tone, discontented mutterings.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: But disputing This word means vocal, ill-natured argumentation. Disagreeing, undermining,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: stirring up feelings of a negative nature. I thought this
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: was especially interesting. Those who dispute arouse suspicion and doubt.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: You do that? You don't do that, do you? It's
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: not from the spirit. It's from the flesh, my friends.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Arousing a spirit of suspicion and doubt. Those are the
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: things Jesus never did. Some of you know the ongoing
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: debate that Cynthia and I have with the bougainvillea. Years ago,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: she really wanted us to plant bougainvillea. It's a wonderful
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: plant if you look at just the blossoms. But hidden
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: within the plant are thorns this long. When I look
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: at the bougainvillea, I see thorns. When she looks at
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: the bougainvillea, she sees blossoms. And there is a house
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: not far from our home where we turn regularly to
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: make it to the main drag, and she regularly likes
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: to drive a little slower and enjoy the blossoms. I
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: usually speed up to stay away from the thorns. She
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: will point out at certain times of the year, look
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: how that bougainvillea is blooming. I will say, do you
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: realize it has thorns regularly all over? If you walk
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: by there, you may never get free. It catches you
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: and holds you for half of the morning. She said
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: to me on one occasion, do you realize, honey, that
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: every time I mention bougainvillea, you grouse about the thorns?
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: which led to disputing among us. I gave this illustration
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: several years ago, and much to my chagrin, some dear
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: saint in the church sent me ten five-gallon containers of bougainvillea,
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: which I never told my wife about. We still haven't
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: planted bougainvillea. It isn't God's will that we have bougainvillea.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: You see how it can happen? You fall into a slump.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: You have your own little thing, just like I have
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: my little things. And we wind up saying, well, that's
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: just our little thing. That's just kind of the way
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: we're made. No person is made to be a grumbler.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: We cultivate it. We develop it. And it leads to
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: a life of disputing. Lincoln, whom I quoted earlier, was
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: known to have said, when I'm getting ready to reason
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: with a man, I spend one third of my time
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: thinking about myself and what I'm going to say and
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: two thirds thinking about him and what he is going
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: to say. Very wise counsel. You do that, most of
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: your disputes will stop. It's a matter of attitude. Now,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: why do we live a life free of grumbling and disputing?
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Why is that our goal? Well, next verse. By doing that,
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: we prove ourselves to be different, blameless and innocent, children
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: of God above reproach in the midst of a grumbling
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: and complaining world, crooked and perverted generation. My friend Ray
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: Stedman translates this, Living above reproach in the midst of
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: a world of crooks and perverts. Puts it well, doesn't it?
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: Surrounded by crooks and perverts, surrounded by the audacity of depravity,
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: we are to live lives that are different. You don't
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: have to shout a good attitude. It stands out all
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: over the shop. It's known all over the office. It's
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: the talk in bedrooms of a home. A parent with
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: a great attitude is in much greater demand than one
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: with a negative attitude. The kids naturally gravitate toward that one.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: And so it is in life. And so it is
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: in the world. Look again at verse 15. I find
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: four startling differences between the believer in the world And
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: the whirling in the world. First of all, blameless. The
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: word means a purity of life that is undeniable and inescapable.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: There is a purity of life. There is an honesty
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: of character that the world can't deny. There is an
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: unwillingness to compromise in the realm of right or wrong. Blameless. Second, innocent.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: It means unmixed and unadulterated. I love this one. It
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: means inexperienced in evil. Hey, listen to me. When is
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: the last time you met someone inexperienced in evil? When
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: is the last time you were seeing a film with
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: someone who had to cover their eyes because the scene
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: was too vile to watch? Innocent. Untainted motives untainted integrity.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: And while we're at it, we're children of God who
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: are above reproach. This means free of blemish and it's
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: used often in the New Testament for animals that were
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: brought to sacrifice that were free of any spot or blemish.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: Free of scars. Free of wounds. Free of scabs. Free
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: of filth. It means above reproach. In the midst of,
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: I like that, it's never God's desire that his children
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: retreat behind monastery walls and live our lives apart from
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: the world. We are not to go into spiritual isolation
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: wards and carry on like monks mumbling songs and verses
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: of scripture to one another. As much as we may
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: admire such disciplined living, that is not God's ultimate plan
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: for His children. He puts a smack dab in an
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: ungodly world and says, now, rather than isolating you, I
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: insulate you. You be different. Let your attitude be different.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: Let your actions be different because you are shining. Look
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: at this. You appear as lights in the world holding
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: forth the word of life. Holding fast the word of life.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: I love that. You appear as lights. Did you know
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: that we are not to hide our message of Christ?
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: In this day of reluctance and resistance to speak openly
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: of Christ, this says we are to appear as lights
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: in the world. You know what that means? Luminaries. Stars. Stars.
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: Where did we get the idea of this little light
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: of mine? I'm going to let it shine. Where is
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: it little? Like it's in a little flickering flame. Watch it.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: You're going to blow that sucker out. Don't get near
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: my light. I've got to hide that thing under a bush. No!
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: You can't put a star under a bushel. It's never
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: meant to be sung. This bold and blazing light of mine,
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: I'm going to let it shine. The Christian living a
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: life like this is describing through the power of the
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit is the talk of the town. He's the
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: contagious spirit of the office. He's the change element in
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: a school. And stars don't talk. They just shine. He's
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: not the one that buttonholes everybody and gives them a
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: tract and embarrasses people with the good news of Christ.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: He or she lives a life that is absolutely inescapable.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: And you've got to know the source. That's when he
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: has the privilege of telling you. I'm going to show
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: you something. Hold your place here and go back to
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Matthew 5. Matthew chapter 5. This is the great Sermon
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: on the Mount. Jesus spoke it. If you carry a
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: red letter edition of your Bible, this is all in red.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: These are the words of Christ. And I want you
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: to notice something here. Verse 14. You are the light
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: of the world. There's no little light. You are the
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: light that floods this world with shining light. You are
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: the light of the world. Now a city set on
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: lamp and put it under a bushel, or bushel measure,
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: peck measure, but on the lampstand. And it gives light
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: to all who are in the house. You light a
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: candle when the electricity goes out, you hold it up
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: so you can see your way through the house. You
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: have a flashlight in a dark night to work on
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: your car, you shine it right down to where you're working.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: You want to flood the thing with light. Now look
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: at 16. Let your light shine before others in such
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: a way that they may see your good works and
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: glorify your Father who is in heaven. That's it. They
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: see your works. They know it can't come from you.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: They know you're only human. And when they probe enough
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: to discover, they find out you've got a power they
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: lack and they want to tap into it. Greatest witness
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: in the world is the magnate. Of a life lived
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: above reproach. Can't stay away. That's what attracted you and
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: that's what attracted me. To the good news of the Savior.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: Back to Philippians 2. I want you to see this
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: thought of stars one more time. Among whom you appear
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: as stars or luminaries in the world. Stars are different
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: from planets. Stars generate light. You know that? This earth
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: isn't a star. It's a planet. doesn't generate its own light.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: All of our light's borrowed light. Borrow it from the sun.
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: The moon's a planet. All of its light is a
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: borrowed light. Moonlight isn't really light. It's sunlight reflected off
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: the moon. Stars are light-giving planetary objects. And think how
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: far away they are. And yet on the darkest night
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: when there is no moon at all, A well-lit sky
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: will give you enough light to make your way down
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: the path. I know I've been there. I was looking
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: out the window this morning as Cynthia and I were
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: having coffee real early. You could still see the moon.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: If you looked out there this morning, you saw it bright,
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: clear moon on a smog-free early morning. It was great.
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: And as I looked at the moon, I thought, if
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: I could travel the speed of light, 186,000 miles a second.
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: First of all, I want to take her with me.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: But if I could travel the speed of light, I
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: could be at the moon if we took a direct
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: shot in one and a third seconds. You know how
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: long it'd take you to get to the first star?
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: Closest star? Four years. Got to take your lunch for that.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: I mean, four years, 186,000 miles a second, and you
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: finally get to the first star. And that's the closest.
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: And this galaxy is, according to some astronomers, only one
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: among thousands. Is that great or what? All of these
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: things shining light, and that's us in this world. Each
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: one of us, stars, shining his light wherever we go.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: How do I do that? Verse 16, holding fast the
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: word of life. You live this book. You walk this talk.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: You fulfill his word by his power. And I'll tell you,
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: you won't have enough time to answer the questions people
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: will be asking you. They can't stay away. The intrigue
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: will drive them nuts. They'll have to know how you
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: live it. Holding fast the word of life so that
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: in the day of Christ I may have cause to
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: glory because I did not run in vain. That's an
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: athletic term. I did not labor in vain. That's a
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: workman's term. Paul loved word pictures. By the way, Now
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: that we're moving into this third balance, the first was
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: a balance in verses 12 and 13. The next was
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: a balance between 14 and 16, a balance of attitude
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: and action. And now this is a balance between seriousness
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: and joy. Paul was haunted, I think, with the possibility
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: of a wasted life. I get that when I read
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: his writings such as 1 Corinthians 9, 27, lest after
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: I have preached to others, I myself should be a shipwreck.
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: I think he was haunted by that. He wanted so
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: much to be a man of authenticity that the thought
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: of his being inauthentic made him groan. It's like it
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: does anybody who's authentic. Here's an example. I may have
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: caused a glory because I didn't run in vain. or
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: work in vain. See those words repeated, in vain? It
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: means empty, wasted effort. I don't want to look back
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: over my life and look back over those years and say,
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: that was in vain. It was worthless. He didn't want
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: to be like the runner who ran a race for
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: no reason, or like the workman who did work that
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: was busy work for no purpose. My good friend, Dave Roper,
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: pastor now up in Boise, Idaho, was for many years
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: associate pastor to Ray Stedman at Palo Alto Peninsula Bible Church.
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: Some of you know and appreciate the ministry and writings
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: of Dave. I'm one of them, I can assure you.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: Dave says in one of his messages he was ministering
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: on a campus at Stanford when he was up in
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: Palo Alto years ago. He came early before the Bible
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: study gathered and he was standing there sort of looking
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: around that that little courtyard, and he noticed an overgrown
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: area and a stonework sort of tucked away beneath the
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: vines and overgrown brush. He was intrigued by what it was,
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: and he went over and he pulled some vines away
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: and cut back some of the overgrowth, and he saw
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: this birdbath, this sculptured, apparently hand-sculptured out of stone, this birdbath,
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: no longer being used no longer being seen, no longer
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: even enjoyed by the little birds that once bathed in
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: it and sat on its side. And he said with
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: great insight, Lord, keep me from building bird baths with
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: my life. I think that's the kind of prayer that
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: was often on Paul's lips. Very healthy prayer. Lord, I
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: realize I'm not able to pull off a life like
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: a Ben Franklin. I'm not made like that. That's not
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: my calling. I realize that I'm not gifted in areas
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: many are whom I respect. Lord, I don't want to
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: run in vain and I don't want to work in vain.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Serious thought. In fact, the apostle goes on to say
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: that Even if I'm being poured out as a drink
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith. Word
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: picture again. It's the picture of a chalice of wine
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: that pagans poured out before or after many of their meals.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: Some of the families more devoted to the gods than
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: others would do it after or before every meal. It
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: was called a libation. Pouring out the wine to the
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: gods to gain their favor or to squelch their anger.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: But Paul applies it to the Christian life. He says,
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: I may never get out of this prison. I may
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: never get past this turn in my life. I may
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: die in this Roman imprisonment. My life may be poured
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: out as a libation upon the sacrifice and service of
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: your faith. Even though that's true, Look at the balance.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Verse 17 closes, I'm depressed and I share my depression
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: with you all. No, that's not what it says. Even
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: if I'm being poured out as a drink offering, I
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: rejoice and I share my joy with you all. In fact,
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: he says in verse 18, you do the same thing.
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: your joy with me. I've had enough bad news. I've
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: had enough negative information. I've had enough things told me
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: that deal with depression and discouragement and this morally warped
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: world of ours. I've heard enough dirty stories. Share your
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: joy with me. And so he balances out the seriousness
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: of his walk with a plea for joy. I love
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: this letter for that reason. You can't get through one
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: of the four chapters without smiling. Again and again, the
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: man smiles. He doesn't laugh with, but he laughs at life,
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: because life isn't funny. But seen through the perspective of
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: God's lenses, he sees the end as a finishing where
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: God gets the glory, and that makes him smile. One
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: of life's special pleasures is meeting up with veteran Christians
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: who still have a sense of humor. Isn't it wonderful?
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: Isn't it great to be around some of God's best
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: men and women getting up in years. They've walked with
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: the Lord long enough to worry less and less about
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: how they appear externally and more and more how they
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: live internally. And one thing I notice about them, those
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: that really reach me are those that are able to
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: laugh at life. Those who still find joy even in
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: the sacrifice of the service for the king. Now, having
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: said all of this, great information from this paragraph. We've
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: got a problem. We've got a real problem. Self. My
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: mouth wants all of these things to be true. It
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: really does. My mind really wants these things to be true.
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: I really believe them. I really want to live a
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: balanced life. I really want Christ to control me. My
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: problem is I'm shackled in this bag of bones that
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: doesn't want that. There's a self inside me, just as
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: there is inside you, that says, I vote no. I'd
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: rather grumble. I'd rather argue. I'd rather have my way.
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: I don't want to be joyful. I want to be serious.
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: I don't want to have my light shine before men.
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: I want their light to shine on me. I want
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: to I want to make out like a bandit in
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: this life. I don't want to give up anything. I
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: want to get. That's inside ourselves. And it screams to
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: get out. It screams to take control. It screams to
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: get out of control. So I can't address these things
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: without addressing a self. In doing so, let me give
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: you a couple of things that might help you. These
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: things have helped me. And I'm trying to keep it
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: in mind these days so I can live this kind
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: of life. Because there's something inside me that says, look,
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: just trust me, I can pull it off. You got
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: the training, you got the charisma, you got the skills,
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: and you can make it happen. That's self-talk. I want
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: Christ to talk and self to be subjugated and put
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: on hold. So, first thought is this. regarding self. Control
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: its urges to take the credit. Control its urges to
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: take the credit. Self is always ready to smile for
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: the camera. Self is always ready to drop its name
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: to get the credit. John Wooden, former coach of the
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: basketball team at Westwood, UCLA Bruins, in a book called
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: They Call Me Coach, gives this three statement piece of advice,
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: chapter 28. Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given.
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  Speaker 1: Be thankful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. Talent is God-given.
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be thankful. Conceit is self-given.
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  Speaker 1: Be careful. You may be a terribly gifted, capable young
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: man or woman. The sky may literally be the limit
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: for you. That's good counsel to remember. Control self's urges
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: to take the credit. Second, conquer its tendency to take charge.
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: Conquer its tendency to take charge. You need Christ. You
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: and I need the Savior. It isn't just a want to,
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: it's a need. And our need isn't partial, it's total.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: In my travels in the fall of 1990, early fall,
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: I had the privilege with a couple of our colleagues
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: in Fullerton Church to be in Germany. One of my
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: great delights, along with ministering there to the servicemen and women,
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: was a chance to see the old haunts and paths
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: of Martin Luther, the German reformer. It's great being there.
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: It's great touching stones he touched. It's great looking out
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: windows he looked out of and sitting at the table
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: where he wrote and hearing his voice in the woodwork.
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: I stood at the place where he stood at the
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: Diet of Worms. I have a picture in my study
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: now that's a picture of the great cathedral at Worms,
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: stones black with age. the same stones he saw in
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: the same building he stood. And the most significant gathering
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: in the history of the church, the Roman church, gathered
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: there to watch this maverick and hopefully to bring him
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: to his knees and to have him recant in his position,
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: in his doctrinal stand for salvation by grace through faith alone,
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: sola fide, which he did not do. I mean prelates
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: and cardinals and pope and emperor alike. It's the most
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: significant gathering that had ever gathered right there in the
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: heart of Germany. And here stood one lone man like
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: a steer in a blizzard against the wishes of the church.
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: One of his friends pulled on his robe just before
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: the debate began and said, Brother Martin, aren't you afraid?
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: And a wonderful answer He said, greater than the Pope
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: and all his cardinals, I fear most that great Pope. Self.
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: What a way to live. Not to walk into life
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: as though self can carry me through. Like I pull
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: up my own boots and I step on my own
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: way and I pursue my own course. But I say
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: through the power of Jesus Christ, I will accomplish what
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: you wish for me I will work out my salvation
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: with fear and trembling, and I will remember it is
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: you who is at work in me, including those pit
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: stops in the journey, including the handicaps, including the heartaches,
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: including the disappointments. And I will not fake it. I
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: will not hurry it. And I will not do it
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: on my own. For greater than the Pope and all
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: his cardinals... I fear most that great pope. Self. This
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: is a lonely message in a day of self-help. For
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: you're being told you can do it. Just set your
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: mind on it. It's a twisted understanding of a life
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: worth living. The Christian can do it only because God
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: is in it. And the Christian wants to do it
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: only because Christ is empowering it. That's why we must
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: walk so sensitively with our God. Let's bow for a
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: few moments of thought on this. This is one of
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: those difficult messages where you try to communicate the importance
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: of reaching for the stars, but in fact the The
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: motivation for that has to come from the Spirit of God.
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: For we talk about the value of living a life
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: that is above the level of just getting by or
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: mediocre living. But in fact, the Spirit of God has
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: to empower it. There is no shortcut to a life
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: of godliness. It takes time to be holy. It takes
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: the pain of disappointment and the heartache of loss and
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: even ill health at times. It takes the reminder that
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: you are very limited in your strength. And when you
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: are weak, he is strong. I invite you to Jesus
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: Christ today who has the power you need. Without him,
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: there's no hope. please come today there will come a
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: time when the mouth will declare and the heart will
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: make known the work of God in your life but
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: this is much too intimate much too significant a decision
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: lest anyone be given to believe that salvation is a
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: matter of simply public declaration you deal with it in
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: your heart first You will confess with your mouth the
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: raised him from the dead. You will be saved. I
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: invite you to Jesus Christ today who has the power
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: you need. Without him, there's no hope. Lord, in a
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: world of fakery and hurry, in a world of great
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: striving and self-help methods, We find ourselves abandoned to you.
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: It's the only way to live. And we bring ourselves
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: at this moment to an acknowledgement that our trust in
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: you is total, not partial. I pray for those today
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: who have lived lives that have been marked by image
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: rather than substance. who have been in a hurry, unwilling
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: to wait. Lord, do a work in that youthful heart.
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: Quiet our spirits. Remind us that you're in charge. Not
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: only do you have a plan in mind that includes length,
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: but it includes depth. And give us the cooperative spirit
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: to work within your power to do your will. Thank
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: you for those this very day who give their lives
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: to your Son, Jesus Christ. Encourage them and strengthen them
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: as they begin their walk with you. We pray in
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: the great name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen. The preceding message...
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: While Laughing, Keep Your Balance was copyrighted in 1990 and
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: the sound recording was copyrighted in 2008 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide.