Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Three-Proofs-of-Growth-Msg-8-16

Transcript

Three-Proofs-of-Growth-Msg-8-16 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

0:01
Speaker 1: Did you know that you can download Chuck's messages to
0:04
Speaker 1: your phone or device in our Insight for Living app.
0:07
Speaker 1: Even when you're not connected, you can have Chuck's sermons
0:10
Speaker 1: at your fingertips. Search for Insight for Living in your
0:14
Speaker 1: app store today.
0:16
Speaker 2: I once heard a great line about mountain climbers. You
0:21
Speaker 2: know why mountain climbers tie themselves together? The answer is
0:27
Speaker 2: to keep the sane ones from going home. Is such
0:31
Speaker 2: a great line, there, isn't it? I love that statement,
0:35
Speaker 2: to keep the sane ones from going home? And frankly
0:38
Speaker 2: I agree. If I'm going to risk my neck to
0:42
Speaker 2: scale a jagged mountain face, I'd rather do that tied
0:47
Speaker 2: to someone I trust than attempt to go it alone,
0:51
Speaker 2: wouldn't you? In many ways that applies spiritually. In all
0:56
Speaker 2: my years of ministry, I can count on one hand
1:00
Speaker 2: the times I've successfully accomplished anything significant climbing solo. But frankly,
1:08
Speaker 2: I've lost track of the times I wish I had
1:11
Speaker 2: sought wise counsel, solicited trustworthy supportive partners, or brought along
1:18
Speaker 2: much needed reinforcements for my journey, especially when taking on
1:24
Speaker 2: those more arguous and risky treks my ministry mentor and
1:31
Speaker 2: longtime friend, the late Howie Hendrix, used to say this
1:36
Speaker 2: there ought to be no loan rangers in ministry, and
1:41
Speaker 2: he was right. He usually was sadly, as most of
1:46
Speaker 2: us have probably witnessed, that go it alone approach to
1:50
Speaker 2: ministry and life proves not only foolish, but it can
1:55
Speaker 2: be downright dangerous, as we shall discover. One is essential
2:00
Speaker 2: to growing up in God's family is developing a genuine
2:05
Speaker 2: willingness to serve and work alongside others. The reason we
2:11
Speaker 2: tie ourselves to one another, as it were in the
2:14
Speaker 2: Body of Christ, has nothing to do with sanity. It
2:18
Speaker 2: has everything to do with humility and embracing the biblical
2:23
Speaker 2: truth that God has bound us in Christ to labor
2:27
Speaker 2: together for His glory and the spread of His name.
2:32
Speaker 2: In today's message, I hope to demonstrate for you what
2:36
Speaker 2: that mark of spiritual maturity looks like, along with a
2:40
Speaker 2: couple of other marks I'm calling them proofs of spiritual growth,
2:46
Speaker 2: by seeing how each one was operational in the early Church,
2:52
Speaker 2: both by first looking closely at the ministry strategy of
2:56
Speaker 2: Christ's first disciples, and then second by zooming in on
3:01
Speaker 2: the vibrant, spirit filled expansion of the Church, which is
3:06
Speaker 2: underscored all the way through the Book of Acts. In fact,
3:10
Speaker 2: that's where I'd like us to turn to get things started.
3:14
Speaker 2: The Book of Acts, chapter four, beginning at verse thirty
3:18
Speaker 2: two from the New Living Translation, Acts four thirty two
3:23
Speaker 2: to thirty seven, and I want to urge you please
3:28
Speaker 2: listen carefully. Acts four thirty two begins. All the believers
3:36
Speaker 2: were united in heart and mind, and they felt that
3:41
Speaker 2: what they owned was not their own, so they shared
3:45
Speaker 2: everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection
3:51
Speaker 2: of the Lord Jesus, and God's great blessing was upon
3:56
Speaker 2: them all. There were no needy people on the life
4:00
Speaker 2: among them, because those who owned land or houses would
4:05
Speaker 2: sell them and bring the money to the apostles to
4:09
Speaker 2: give to those in need. For instance, there was Joseph,
4:14
Speaker 2: the one the disciples nicknamed Barnabas, which means son of Encouragement.
4:23
Speaker 2: He was from the tribe of Levi and came from
4:25
Speaker 2: the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned
4:32
Speaker 2: and brought the money to the apostles. No two homes
4:38
Speaker 2: are ever the same. That is not exactly I'm not
4:42
Speaker 2: referring to structure because you may live in a home
4:45
Speaker 2: that is, if not identical, very very similar to the
4:48
Speaker 2: one nearest you. I'm talking about what goes on inside
4:53
Speaker 2: inside a home. There are not only different sites, but
4:57
Speaker 2: even different smells. Have you noticed every family has its
5:01
Speaker 2: own smell, and along with that, different appointments and different decorations.
5:08
Speaker 2: And that's sort of what makes life rich and full
5:11
Speaker 2: of variety and reward. I've often thought that if we
5:15
Speaker 2: were blind, we would appreciate that all the more, we
5:18
Speaker 2: would realize just how different homes are. This is especially
5:23
Speaker 2: true when it comes to relationships that go on between
5:26
Speaker 2: the members of a family. However, I have noticed in
5:32
Speaker 2: most homes, for sure, ninety to ninety five percent of
5:35
Speaker 2: those homes, there is the same thing present, especially in
5:40
Speaker 2: homes that have been involved in rearing small children. This
5:45
Speaker 2: little thing that's the same in all homes is found
5:48
Speaker 2: in different places in the homes. Sometime it's on the
5:51
Speaker 2: back of a closet door, Sometime it is in the
5:56
Speaker 2: kitchen on the wall, or maybe it's in a bedroom
6:00
Speaker 2: along the wall. It may be in your home in
6:03
Speaker 2: the garage along the wall of the garage. I'm referring,
6:07
Speaker 2: of course, to a growth chart. Now most families have
6:13
Speaker 2: to interpret their own growth chart. They're usually rather scary
6:18
Speaker 2: looking because they're non professionally done. There are a lot
6:21
Speaker 2: of horizontal lines that run close together, and there are
6:24
Speaker 2: different names, and sometimes there are various comments that appear
6:29
Speaker 2: along the wall. I've seen comments like Amazon in the making,
6:33
Speaker 2: or King Kong on his way, or these names will
6:37
Speaker 2: appear of different nicknames, but all along you'll see these
6:41
Speaker 2: markings that represent the growth of the people in the family.
6:47
Speaker 2: In fact, during the twelve to fifteen, sixteen seventeen year
6:50
Speaker 2: period of our lives, we grow the most rapidly. One
6:55
Speaker 2: authority writes it, this way to adolescence. The growing up
7:00
Speaker 2: is a wonderful and an interesting event. It's all controlled
7:04
Speaker 2: by a tiny organ near the center of your brain
7:08
Speaker 2: called the pituitary gland. This little organ is only the
7:13
Speaker 2: size of a small bean, yet it's called the master
7:17
Speaker 2: gland because it tells the rest of your glands what
7:22
Speaker 2: to do. It's the big boss upstairs, and when it screams,
7:27
Speaker 2: your glandular system jumps Somewhere within your own pituitary gland
7:33
Speaker 2: is a plan for your body. At just the right time,
7:38
Speaker 2: it will send out chemical messengers called hormones which will
7:43
Speaker 2: tell the rest of the glands in your body get moving.
7:47
Speaker 2: It's time to grow up. Now. That's that's true physically.
7:54
Speaker 2: In fact, you can do nothing to stop that gland.
7:59
Speaker 2: It's gonna do its thing. You may discover your six
8:03
Speaker 2: feet nine in the eighth grade and a girl at that,
8:11
Speaker 2: and you can't do a thing about your height. You
8:15
Speaker 2: may worry, you may pray, you may work and plan
8:19
Speaker 2: all kinds of things to stop that, but you can't.
8:22
Speaker 2: It's automatic. It's built into that little mid brain gland.
8:30
Speaker 2: Would that the same were true spiritually, Would that we
8:36
Speaker 2: could say to our spiritual lives, just take charge and
8:43
Speaker 2: all of the growth would be automatic. But we cannot.
8:49
Speaker 2: That's where the analogy breaks down. I've often thought how
8:54
Speaker 2: interesting it would be to have a growth chart somewhere
8:59
Speaker 2: or along the wall of the church that we attend,
9:06
Speaker 2: with names along the way marking spiritual growth. By the way,
9:13
Speaker 2: if you could measure your growth in inches spiritual growth,
9:17
Speaker 2: that is, how many inches would you have grown during
9:23
Speaker 2: the last three four years? How much taller are you
9:32
Speaker 2: standing today than you were standing spiritually speaking three or
9:38
Speaker 2: four years ago. You say, well, that's not fair, Chuck
9:41
Speaker 2: I don't think three or four years is really very
9:44
Speaker 2: much time to give a person to grow very far.
9:48
Speaker 2: You know. One of the reasons I am attracted to
9:50
Speaker 2: the story of the Gospels in the early Church. Now
9:54
Speaker 2: listen to this, because when Christ left the earth, he
9:59
Speaker 2: handed the of leadership to men who were not even
10:04
Speaker 2: four years old in Christ. Think of that. Not one
10:12
Speaker 2: man who became an apostle to lead the early Church
10:17
Speaker 2: was five years old in the Family of God. Now
10:22
Speaker 2: that challenges me, and yet that bothers me. It challenges
10:27
Speaker 2: me because I want to grow like that. I want
10:31
Speaker 2: my adult years to be marked by growth. By the way,
10:34
Speaker 2: interesting thing about growth charts and homes, moms and dads
10:38
Speaker 2: are never on them. Never. I asked my folks why
10:43
Speaker 2: they weren't there one time years ago, and they said, well, honey,
10:47
Speaker 2: adults don't grow. They meant it one way. Today I
10:51
Speaker 2: mean it another. Adults must grow. In fact, one of
10:58
Speaker 2: the most tragic sins means to observe in the Family
11:01
Speaker 2: of God is an adolescent inside an adult body. Why
11:09
Speaker 2: is it that the early Church apostles grew so well
11:18
Speaker 2: and so rapidly. I'm challenged by their growth. I'm also
11:24
Speaker 2: troubled by it in light of today. Either Jesus' method
11:29
Speaker 2: and message and model were so different from today people
11:39
Speaker 2: aren't challenged to grow, or we are not as teachable
11:45
Speaker 2: as the disciples were. I want you to turn in
11:49
Speaker 2: your New Testament, if you have one with you, Matthew
11:52
Speaker 2: chapter ten, and I'd like to lift from the pages
11:57
Speaker 2: of this particular Gods account three very important principles that
12:04
Speaker 2: stimulated the growth of those young believers, because I believe
12:12
Speaker 2: that somewhere in our spiritual life is a plan for
12:16
Speaker 2: our spiritual growth. The difference between it and the pituitary
12:22
Speaker 2: glan is as I said earlier, it isn't an automatic growth.
12:26
Speaker 2: Nothing inside says to me, get moving, grow up, and
12:31
Speaker 2: then I automatically jump in response, jump in obedience. I
12:37
Speaker 2: may feel those nudgings, but I am not automatically obedient
12:41
Speaker 2: to their call. Now I want to read the first
12:44
Speaker 2: ten verses of Matthew chapter ten, and what I do
12:48
Speaker 2: understand that the same account is found over in Mark's
12:52
Speaker 2: Gospel and even in Luke's Gospel, not in John. But
12:57
Speaker 2: this is the first time Jesus put the men of
13:00
Speaker 2: his out into the streets up till now they've been
13:04
Speaker 2: fairly well protected. They've been learning from him, they've been
13:08
Speaker 2: nurtured by him, they've watched him. They have been passive
13:14
Speaker 2: recipients of truth. But now they're getting into the action.
13:19
Speaker 2: And this is kind of the pep talk before they
13:21
Speaker 2: leave to go out in the streets. Having summoned his
13:26
Speaker 2: twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to
13:31
Speaker 2: cast them out and to heal every kind of disease
13:36
Speaker 2: and every kind of sickness. Now the names of the
13:40
Speaker 2: twelve apostles are these. The first Simon called Peter, Andrew
13:46
Speaker 2: his brother, and James the son of Zebedee, and John
13:49
Speaker 2: his brother Philip, and Bartholomew Thomas, and Matthew the tax gatherer,
13:56
Speaker 2: that's the one who wrote this account, James the son
13:59
Speaker 2: of Altheus, Thaddeus Simon the Canaanean, and Judas Escariot, the
14:05
Speaker 2: one who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out after
14:12
Speaker 2: instructing them saying, do not go in the way of
14:17
Speaker 2: the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans,
14:23
Speaker 2: but rather go to the lost sheep of the House
14:26
Speaker 2: of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying the Kingdom
14:32
Speaker 2: of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead,
14:36
Speaker 2: cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely. You received freely give.
14:43
Speaker 2: Do not acquire gold or silver or copper for your money, belts,
14:48
Speaker 2: or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics
14:53
Speaker 2: or sandals, or a staff, for the worker is worthy
14:58
Speaker 2: of his support. Now, when I read through that account,
15:04
Speaker 2: I find three four five principles. I want to land
15:09
Speaker 2: on three of them because they seem to be the
15:12
Speaker 2: most obvious and the most pronounced. One has to do
15:15
Speaker 2: with unity, another has to do with authority, and a
15:20
Speaker 2: third has to do with generosity. I think, because those
15:24
Speaker 2: three principles are so much a part of growing up,
15:31
Speaker 2: acting adult, living maturely, they are worth emphasizing. Now the
15:38
Speaker 2: first principle I find in verses two through six, and
15:44
Speaker 2: it has to do with unity. Let me give you
15:48
Speaker 2: the principle, and I'll show you why I say it
15:50
Speaker 2: like I do. There is strength in staying close together.
15:56
Speaker 2: There is strength in staying close together. Did you observe
16:01
Speaker 2: as I read that to you that there were twelve disciples?
16:06
Speaker 2: They often were known as the twelve If you took
16:10
Speaker 2: the time to read in Mark chapter six, verse seven,
16:14
Speaker 2: you would observe that he sent them out in pairs
16:18
Speaker 2: two by two. They were never sent alone. I remember
16:23
Speaker 2: in my days in the Marine Corps, when they were
16:25
Speaker 2: equipping us for combat, they made it clear to all
16:28
Speaker 2: the recruits and all the young enlisted men that when
16:34
Speaker 2: you dig a hole for battle, if you can possibly
16:38
Speaker 2: find the time to do it, dig it big enough
16:40
Speaker 2: for two people. There's something desperately frightening about going into
16:46
Speaker 2: battle alone. You go with someone else. You find yourself
16:54
Speaker 2: encouraged when you are surrounded by two, three, four, in
16:58
Speaker 2: this case twelve. And Jesus sent them out not to
17:02
Speaker 2: do a job all alone, but to go together, keep
17:06
Speaker 2: it together. They are named together. You notice that right
17:11
Speaker 2: here in this passage all are named for us, and
17:14
Speaker 2: the twelve verse five he sent out after instructing them
17:19
Speaker 2: in this way. Remember Solomon's counsel from Ecclesiastes four two
17:26
Speaker 2: are better than one. Then he gives us four reasons
17:29
Speaker 2: that's true. Number one, they have a good return for
17:32
Speaker 2: their labor. Number two, if either one falls, the other
17:36
Speaker 2: can pick him up. Number three, if they lie down
17:40
Speaker 2: together and it's cold, they can keep warm. And number
17:43
Speaker 2: four if they are attacked, then it's easier to fight
17:48
Speaker 2: when someone is with you. I remember when our older
17:51
Speaker 2: son Kurt, had his first bike. He decided to venture
17:56
Speaker 2: into the world outside our immediate neighborhood. So he took
18:00
Speaker 2: a ride down the hill and went across a busy
18:03
Speaker 2: intersection and on into another section of the town with
18:06
Speaker 2: which he was not too familiar. Understand, he was young
18:11
Speaker 2: and the bike was shiny. He stood out like a
18:14
Speaker 2: sore thumb in this particular part of the community where
18:17
Speaker 2: he found himself. And he looked up and there were
18:21
Speaker 2: four or five guys who had old, crummy looking bikes,
18:26
Speaker 2: and one yelled at him and said, hey, you stole
18:30
Speaker 2: that bike from us. Kurt didn't stay around in dialogue
18:35
Speaker 2: with them about that particular disagreement. He simply set a
18:39
Speaker 2: new record on a bicycle in Fullerton to get himself
18:43
Speaker 2: back to the place where he could find safety. He
18:46
Speaker 2: needed a buddy, He needed two or three buddies if necessary,
18:50
Speaker 2: to fight with him. The Mormons have learned the value
18:54
Speaker 2: of going two by two, haven't they. So have other
18:59
Speaker 2: religious organizations and cults learned the same. You don't send
19:04
Speaker 2: out raw recruits on their own. You keep them together,
19:09
Speaker 2: preferably in a bunch, because there is strength in numbers.
19:16
Speaker 2: Unity gives strength. When we're all alone, it breaks down.
19:23
Speaker 2: Jesus prayed shortly before the Cross, Father, may they be one,
19:30
Speaker 2: even as we are one. I am them, and thou
19:33
Speaker 2: in me. May they be perfected into a unit. John
19:38
Speaker 2: seventeen tells us literally, may they become a team, working
19:46
Speaker 2: close together. Nothing has damaged the message of Christ more
19:53
Speaker 2: than the breakdown in unity. Nothing the splinter groups, the splits,
20:01
Speaker 2: the scandals that have pushed people into isolated regions, and
20:06
Speaker 2: ultimately all alone in cynicism and bitterness. That has hurt
20:11
Speaker 2: the cause of Christ more than any other issue. There's
20:16
Speaker 2: something significant about remaining accountable. He tells them where to
20:22
Speaker 2: go and where not to go, but he says, in effect,
20:27
Speaker 2: stay together. There is strength in staying close together. The
20:33
Speaker 2: second principle relates to authority. See in verse one. He
20:38
Speaker 2: gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out.
20:43
Speaker 2: He gave them authority over every kind of disease and sickness.
20:48
Speaker 2: Gorop down to verse eight. They had the authority to
20:51
Speaker 2: heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cleanse the lepers.
20:55
Speaker 2: By the way lepers are never said to have been healed,
21:00
Speaker 2: always cleansed. They cleansed the lepers, they cast out demons.
21:06
Speaker 2: They were men of authority. The principle is this, there
21:09
Speaker 2: is power in doing God's work, just as there is
21:14
Speaker 2: strength in staying close. There is power in doing God's work.
21:20
Speaker 2: Notice there to be unintimidated men. By the way. No
21:26
Speaker 2: other profession is promised this authority. Only ministry. I'm not
21:33
Speaker 2: saying all other professions are not important. I'm saying never
21:37
Speaker 2: in scripture is there set apart a special sense of
21:42
Speaker 2: divine authority like ministry. Few things are more tragic than
21:50
Speaker 2: seeing a person in a pulpit who has lost his authority.
21:57
Speaker 2: Few things more tragic than watching someone try if I'd
22:00
Speaker 2: a minister in the energy of the flesh, it's a
22:04
Speaker 2: study in futility. Now, this is not muscular authority. This
22:10
Speaker 2: isn't a physical power. I've seen some rather small messengers
22:16
Speaker 2: of God sway multitudes of people. The difference is in
22:24
Speaker 2: authority and power. Let me illustrate it. In the parking
22:30
Speaker 2: lot outside the church where we worship. There are two
22:34
Speaker 2: men who have a lot of authority. They all they
22:39
Speaker 2: have to do is put up their hand out in
22:42
Speaker 2: the street and cars hopefully screeched to a halt. That's
22:48
Speaker 2: all It takes, just a thumb and forefingers pushed in
22:54
Speaker 2: your windshield and you stop. They may not be big
22:59
Speaker 2: enough to hold back your large car, but connected to
23:05
Speaker 2: the hand is an arm that's got a uniform wrapped
23:09
Speaker 2: around it, and that uniform says, in effect, you better
23:14
Speaker 2: do what I say. If the Greeks were living and
23:19
Speaker 2: talking today in our midst in giving us the term
23:24
Speaker 2: to describe those men, they would use the word excusia.
23:27
Speaker 2: We get the word exercise from it. Exusion it means
23:33
Speaker 2: the power of one whose will and command must be obeyed.
23:38
Speaker 2: That's the term used in verse one when that uniformed
23:42
Speaker 2: officer puts his hand up, I put on the brakes,
23:47
Speaker 2: or I would wish that I would have, because he
23:51
Speaker 2: has authority. This particular body of men had no authority
23:58
Speaker 2: educationally or physically. The brightest one of the bunch, it
24:03
Speaker 2: may surprise you to hear this was Judas Iscariot. That's
24:07
Speaker 2: why he held the purse. Probably one of the few
24:10
Speaker 2: guys that knew how to handle all the business of
24:15
Speaker 2: the group. Matthew could have, but he was a tax gatherer,
24:20
Speaker 2: so they wouldn't trust him with it, but Judas they
24:24
Speaker 2: would trust. These were ignorant and unlearned men, but when
24:30
Speaker 2: they spoke, they spoke with authority. There is power in
24:37
Speaker 2: doing God's work. Alexander White lived and ministered in Edinburgh
24:43
Speaker 2: for forty seven years, almost five decades, in the same church.
24:50
Speaker 2: He was the assistant pastor, and then he was the
24:53
Speaker 2: senior pastor, and remained until his death. At Edinburgh, he
24:59
Speaker 2: spent from eight o'clock in the morning until two o'clock
25:03
Speaker 2: or more in the afternoon, every day of the week
25:08
Speaker 2: alone with God, no breakfast necessarily to speak of, no
25:14
Speaker 2: lunch time with God. He was respected for that, and
25:20
Speaker 2: it's not surprising to know that his pulpit became a
25:24
Speaker 2: place of magnetism for all of Scotland. After delivering a
25:30
Speaker 2: magnificent message, a friend said to him afterward, you preach
25:34
Speaker 2: today as if you had come straight from the presence
25:37
Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ, to which White replied in all humility,
25:44
Speaker 2: but with the truth perhaps I did. That's authority. Authority
25:54
Speaker 2: is not because the person is clever or well educated,
25:57
Speaker 2: because he is well dressed or well versed. Are naturally
26:00
Speaker 2: eloquent authority comes from the throne, and Jesus says to
26:05
Speaker 2: the twelve, when you go out into the streets, you
26:08
Speaker 2: are invincible. Invincible, don't be intimidated. Take charge, speak the truth,
26:18
Speaker 2: dare them not to believe it. That's exactly what they did,
26:23
Speaker 2: and it must have been a remarkable experience for these
26:26
Speaker 2: men outside themselves, with no sense of high and mighty
26:33
Speaker 2: self respect. These men stood alone and preached the truth,
26:38
Speaker 2: having had it drilled into them by the Savior. It's
26:43
Speaker 2: marvelous to be around someone who speaks with that kind
26:46
Speaker 2: of authority. I love it when I see it in
26:51
Speaker 2: people today, I love it. I see the power of
26:55
Speaker 2: God at work. There is power in doing God's work.
27:00
Speaker 2: Are you doing God's work? By the way, let me
27:02
Speaker 2: just add a little extra here. Do it with authority.
27:09
Speaker 2: Do not do it reluctantly. Do not do it in
27:12
Speaker 2: an intimidated manner. You are a representative of the Savior.
27:17
Speaker 2: Do it in his might. Do it for his glory.
27:22
Speaker 2: Apologized to no one, declare his message. Third principle is
27:29
Speaker 2: relating to generosity, and we just read the beginning of
27:32
Speaker 2: it in verse eight. Freely you received, freely give. There
27:37
Speaker 2: is freedom in giving without restraint. That's the third principle.
27:42
Speaker 2: There's strength and staying close together. There's power in doing
27:46
Speaker 2: God's work. There is freedom in giving without restraint. I
27:51
Speaker 2: was interested in the way he described this. You have
27:54
Speaker 2: received everything freely. There was no tuition, nothing was charged
28:00
Speaker 2: those disciples for the training they learned at Jesus' feet.
28:03
Speaker 2: They had no place to lay their head. They had
28:06
Speaker 2: no great financial benefits awaiting them at the end of
28:09
Speaker 2: the line. The employee benefits, I'm sure, were few and
28:15
Speaker 2: far between. They had the sky for their ceiling, and
28:19
Speaker 2: they had the earth for the floor. They had the
28:22
Speaker 2: world for their mission. Jesus, however, said to them, don't
28:27
Speaker 2: hold on to it freely. You received freely. Give. In fact,
28:31
Speaker 2: look at how he described it. Don't acquire gold, silver,
28:34
Speaker 2: or copper for your money belts. The Jews in those
28:38
Speaker 2: days wore what they called a girdle, which was wrapped
28:41
Speaker 2: around the waist and tied in the back, and there
28:43
Speaker 2: were folds in it. It became a very practical wallet,
28:48
Speaker 2: if you please, and they tucked their money inside these
28:51
Speaker 2: folds within this girdle. Speaking often of that. In the
28:55
Speaker 2: New Testament, you'll read of tightening the girdle, that is
28:59
Speaker 2: about the waist. That's what they had reference to. In fact,
29:02
Speaker 2: he told them in the next verse, don't even don't
29:04
Speaker 2: even take a suitcase. Now that's the way to travel,
29:08
Speaker 2: isn't it. It's amazing. When we go up to Forrest
29:12
Speaker 2: home for an overnight, takes a pick up and two
29:15
Speaker 2: cars to get there. It's remarkable. I was amazed when
29:20
Speaker 2: the sale Hammer family went over to Europe for a
29:25
Speaker 2: time of several weeks. In fact, about as I recall,
29:27
Speaker 2: about five weeks of travel. Went over there to say
29:30
Speaker 2: goodbye to them, the Stevenson's and I were there and
29:33
Speaker 2: we were bidding them farewell, and I said, let me
29:36
Speaker 2: help you with your luggage. And Paul had a bag,
29:39
Speaker 2: and Sue had a bag, and the two little fellows
29:42
Speaker 2: and their family, James and Michael John had a little
29:47
Speaker 2: packs for their back and one carry on. And I said, well,
29:53
Speaker 2: where is your luggage? They said, well, we decided to
29:56
Speaker 2: travel light. I thought light, you'll have a distinct smell
30:02
Speaker 2: when you were finished with this. You'll fit right into Europe.
30:06
Speaker 2: But I'll tell you, I'll tell you what I just thought.
30:11
Speaker 2: I'd throw that in just for this second I learned
30:15
Speaker 2: years ago that if you travel abroad you need two
30:17
Speaker 2: things a great sense of smell, I mean no sense
30:20
Speaker 2: of smell, and a great sense of humor. And these
30:23
Speaker 2: people travel so lightly. I couldn't believe it. Two little
30:26
Speaker 2: carry ons and a larger carry on in the little packs,
30:29
Speaker 2: and that was it said, It was terrific. We never
30:33
Speaker 2: travel like that. Never. These guys weren't even to take
30:36
Speaker 2: a bag for their journey. They weren't to take an
30:38
Speaker 2: extra tunic, they weren't to take an extra pair of sandals.
30:41
Speaker 2: No staff, the workers worthy of his support. God will
30:45
Speaker 2: provide for you. Just trust me by the way. That
30:49
Speaker 2: gives freedom, That gives freedom to minister when you don't
30:55
Speaker 2: have to worry about all the financial trappings. You don't
30:59
Speaker 2: do what you do for that's what you're going to
31:00
Speaker 2: get out of it. You don't plan ahead on your
31:04
Speaker 2: commitments so that you know you're going to make a
31:06
Speaker 2: bundle when it's over. Nothing wrong with planning ahead. You
31:11
Speaker 2: know better than that. Don't make this thing walk on
31:17
Speaker 2: all fours. He says many places through the New Testament
31:21
Speaker 2: that wise planning is indeed wise. But if you want
31:25
Speaker 2: to be in bondage, you spend your life captured with
31:30
Speaker 2: thoughts of your personal financial future daily. Walk that through,
31:37
Speaker 2: think it through, plan on it. You live in bondage.
31:42
Speaker 2: You want to live freely. Give freely, give of yourself,
31:47
Speaker 2: give of your things, give of your treasure, let it go,
31:52
Speaker 2: release it. There is freedom in that kind of lifestyle. Now,
31:59
Speaker 2: the reason I'm hammering these principles away is because that's
32:02
Speaker 2: what got embedded in their brains. These young recruits in
32:08
Speaker 2: ministry listened to Jesus, and more importantly, they watched his model.
32:14
Speaker 2: They watched his model, and they discovered there's integrity, there's
32:20
Speaker 2: credibility here. What the man requires of us, he's doing
32:27
Speaker 2: so when they were past the scepter of the early Church,
32:30
Speaker 2: guess what Acts Chapter four. That's precisely what they carried out.
32:36
Speaker 2: You're going to see all three of those principles at
32:39
Speaker 2: work right here in this passage we're looking at. Now,
32:42
Speaker 2: let me give you the setting for Acts four. These
32:46
Speaker 2: men and women have already gone through some persecution. They
32:49
Speaker 2: have been ordered to be quiet, not to spread the message.
32:53
Speaker 2: They've ignored that order. Obviously, they've been told not to meet.
32:57
Speaker 2: They ignored that. They've been old not to speak, and
33:01
Speaker 2: they have ignored that they've been with Jesus. Jesus has
33:05
Speaker 2: now left the earth. They're his representatives. It's time to
33:09
Speaker 2: do his business. It's time to live invincible lives. So
33:15
Speaker 2: the young Church has been born. And guess how large
33:17
Speaker 2: it is? Four five thousand people. Some of us don't
33:22
Speaker 2: have difficulty identifying with a church that size. This was
33:25
Speaker 2: in the city of Jerusalem. They never met in a
33:29
Speaker 2: single building. That wouldn't be allowed. They met underground, They
33:33
Speaker 2: met in homes. They usually met every day. They broke
33:39
Speaker 2: bread together, they observed the Table of the Lord together
33:42
Speaker 2: on a daily basis. Life was simple and the message
33:46
Speaker 2: was clear. Thousands of them were meeting. Look at the
33:51
Speaker 2: congregation in verse thirty two down through verse thirty seven
33:55
Speaker 2: of Acts four, and see if you can't pick out
33:58
Speaker 2: right away the same principles work a few years later,
34:02
Speaker 2: after Jesus has gone and they have taken the reigns
34:06
Speaker 2: of leadership. The congregation of those who believed were of
34:12
Speaker 2: one heart and soul. Not one of them claimed that
34:17
Speaker 2: anything belonging to him was his own, but all things
34:23
Speaker 2: were common property to them. There's unity and action. Do
34:28
Speaker 2: you see it? One congregation, one heart, one soul. No
34:37
Speaker 2: one claimed that anything belonging to them was his own.
34:43
Speaker 2: All things were in common. Now critics read that and
34:46
Speaker 2: say that has the roots of communism in It has
34:49
Speaker 2: nothing to do with communism. The economy of this is
34:53
Speaker 2: not the issue. If it were communistic, everyone would have
34:57
Speaker 2: been liquidated of his own funds and it would all
34:59
Speaker 2: go in one great pot, governed by one authority or
35:04
Speaker 2: an untouchable group of people. That's not the issue here.
35:08
Speaker 2: The point is when there were needs, the needs were met.
35:12
Speaker 2: Someone was hungry, food was provided. Someone was out without
35:15
Speaker 2: a place to live, a home was provided or a
35:18
Speaker 2: room for them to stay in. That's Christianity and action.
35:23
Speaker 2: This is unity, Paul would write later. With all humility
35:28
Speaker 2: and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love,
35:33
Speaker 2: be diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in
35:37
Speaker 2: the bond of peace. Do you do that? Do you
35:41
Speaker 2: do that on your growth chart? Are you any further
35:44
Speaker 2: up in your unity? Or are you a peace killer
35:50
Speaker 2: rather than a peacekeeper? You happen to be a minister
35:55
Speaker 2: in a local church. One of your assignments is to
35:58
Speaker 2: keep the unity of this spirit in the bond of peace.
36:01
Speaker 2: You have the authority, or at least the power, not
36:05
Speaker 2: from God but from the flesh, to split that thing
36:08
Speaker 2: right down the middle. You're commanded of God to keep
36:13
Speaker 2: it in unity. That means you give up some of
36:17
Speaker 2: your rights, and you negotiate, and you, with wisdom give
36:21
Speaker 2: as well as take. This congregation modeled unity. It's beautiful.
36:30
Speaker 2: By the way, there are a few things that are
36:34
Speaker 2: less Christian than this ultra independence that has kind of emerged.
36:40
Speaker 2: I live my life and you live your life, and
36:43
Speaker 2: I leave you alone and you leave me alone. A
36:46
Speaker 2: sense of unaccountability. I don't find that. In the early Church.
36:52
Speaker 2: He sent them out in pairs, and I take it
36:54
Speaker 2: that when they met, they began to be perfected into
36:57
Speaker 2: a unit. One of the reasons that we encourage involvement
37:03
Speaker 2: in adult fellowships in our church is that we know
37:07
Speaker 2: the value of meeting in small groups. I know the
37:11
Speaker 2: value of my small group, a pastoral staff of men
37:15
Speaker 2: and women to whom I'm accountable and with whom I'm
37:19
Speaker 2: to spend time. And it never comes easily, I notice,
37:24
Speaker 2: but it's never without its benefits. What group are you
37:27
Speaker 2: a part of? If you suddenly began to slip and
37:32
Speaker 2: started to fall. Would there be anyone there to catch you,
37:36
Speaker 2: to even know that you were so tempted are struggling.
37:42
Speaker 2: Maybe that's when you stop growing, when you just settled
37:46
Speaker 2: for a big worship service and let it go at that.
37:53
Speaker 2: Watch out for that kind of isolation. That's not guarding
37:57
Speaker 2: the unity of the spirit. We need each other. And
38:03
Speaker 2: verse thirty three speaks of authority with great here's our
38:06
Speaker 2: word again, with great authority. The apostles were giving witness
38:10
Speaker 2: to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace
38:14
Speaker 2: was upon them all. I take that to mean favor.
38:18
Speaker 2: There was a mutual respect within the assembly. The leaders
38:23
Speaker 2: didn't look down upon the congregation. The congregation didn't look
38:27
Speaker 2: down upon the leadership. There was a mutual sense of grace.
38:31
Speaker 2: Christ had come. They had repented of their former lifestyle,
38:36
Speaker 2: and they had turned their lives over to the lordship
38:39
Speaker 2: of the Savior. So they decided the way to live
38:42
Speaker 2: was in grace. And the apostles preached with authority the
38:46
Speaker 2: resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Let's put it this way.
38:51
Speaker 2: They were kingdom people, not church people. Kingdom people. One
38:58
Speaker 2: man writes very well of that. I quote the church
39:01
Speaker 2: gets in trouble whenever it thinks it is in the
39:03
Speaker 2: church business rather than the kingdom business. Then he describes
39:08
Speaker 2: it in the church business people are concerned with church activities,
39:12
Speaker 2: religious behavior, and spiritual things. In the kingdom business people
39:17
Speaker 2: are concerned with Kingdom activities, all human behavior, and everything
39:22
Speaker 2: God has made visible and invisible. Kingdom people see human
39:26
Speaker 2: affairs as saturated with spiritual meaning and Kingdom significance. Kingdom
39:32
Speaker 2: people seek first the Kingdom of God. Church people often
39:36
Speaker 2: put church work above concerns for justice, mercy and truth.
39:41
Speaker 2: Church people think about how to get people into the church.
39:45
Speaker 2: Kingdom people think about how to get the church into
39:48
Speaker 2: the world. Church people worry that the world might change
39:52
Speaker 2: the church. Kingdom people work to see the church change
39:57
Speaker 2: the world. It's not good. We want to be kingdom people.
40:02
Speaker 2: We're not in the church business. We're in the kingdom business.
40:07
Speaker 2: That's why this particular huddle we call a worship service
40:10
Speaker 2: is just enough time to get us understanding the plays,
40:15
Speaker 2: and then we run the plays through the week, just
40:19
Speaker 2: a touch to get the spark back, to get the
40:22
Speaker 2: priorities back in order, just enough instruction to spur us
40:26
Speaker 2: into the streets so that evangelism can happen, and edification
40:32
Speaker 2: can take place. These people knew that. That's why there
40:36
Speaker 2: was abundant grace. There was a presence of respect. There
40:39
Speaker 2: was an absence of suspicion. In verses thirty four to
40:43
Speaker 2: thirty seven, I find generosity. There wasn't a needy person
40:48
Speaker 2: among them. Wait a minute, we're talking four five thousand people.
40:53
Speaker 2: If it's true, and indeed it is, there wasn't a
40:56
Speaker 2: needy person among them. All who were owners of land
41:02
Speaker 2: or houses would sell them, and do what bring the
41:06
Speaker 2: proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles feet.
41:10
Speaker 2: That took a great deal of respect, didn't They trusted
41:14
Speaker 2: the apostles, and they would be distributed to each as
41:18
Speaker 2: any had need. One of the greatest things that ever
41:23
Speaker 2: happened in the church happened without much notoriety. Some time
41:29
Speaker 2: ago we finished the Lord's Table serving the Lord's table,
41:34
Speaker 2: and as is our custom, we announced that following this
41:40
Speaker 2: observance of the table, we would have ushers that were
41:44
Speaker 2: at the door, and whatever monies would be given would
41:47
Speaker 2: be used strictly to help those who are needy in
41:51
Speaker 2: our midst Seven thousand dollars were given by the congregation
41:59
Speaker 2: simply as spontaneous over and above gift to the needy.
42:05
Speaker 2: When I heard about that, and I seldom get those
42:09
Speaker 2: kind of specific reports, first because I don't ask for them,
42:13
Speaker 2: and second, I figure the men in charge of that
42:16
Speaker 2: are far more capable than I to direct that part
42:20
Speaker 2: of our ministry. When I heard about that, I thought,
42:23
Speaker 2: that is great. That is generosity, How terrific that we
42:30
Speaker 2: would respond to the needs of our congregation. How easy
42:35
Speaker 2: to keep for ourselves and just give up kind of
42:40
Speaker 2: the leftovers. When my children were small, Cynthia and I
42:47
Speaker 2: had left our roots in Texas to live out here,
42:51
Speaker 2: and so we didn't have any grandparents for our kids,
42:55
Speaker 2: at least not locally, and so there was a lady
42:59
Speaker 2: who lived not far from us named Erna Holmer. Some
43:02
Speaker 2: of you know Erna. She now lives in Idaho with
43:06
Speaker 2: her husband Roulin. And Erna informed our family that she
43:11
Speaker 2: would be the grandmother, and fine, that was great. In fact,
43:15
Speaker 2: she taught them to like pizza and took them on swims,
43:21
Speaker 2: and they had all kinds of fun picnics in the park.
43:24
Speaker 2: And whence she'd get them all fat and messy and dirty,
43:27
Speaker 2: she'd bring them back to us, and we would we
43:29
Speaker 2: would have to do the disciplining and all of that.
43:32
Speaker 2: But what a fun lady. She had given the children
43:36
Speaker 2: pieces of fruit to eat while they finished their swim,
43:39
Speaker 2: and our younger daughter, Colleen had finished her little apple,
43:44
Speaker 2: and she was still hungry. And on the way home
43:47
Speaker 2: that afternoon, Erna tells me this terrific story. Colleen was
43:52
Speaker 2: breathing over her neck as Erna was eating her apple.
43:55
Speaker 2: She wanted to have her apple, you know, and so
43:59
Speaker 2: Colleen's and more and more. Would you share that with me?
44:05
Speaker 2: And Ernest said, well, yes, honey, but you know I
44:10
Speaker 2: want some of it. So she said thank you, and
44:13
Speaker 2: she ate it all up and came down to a
44:16
Speaker 2: tiny little core that you could hold with the stem,
44:19
Speaker 2: and she put it back in front of her and
44:21
Speaker 2: she says, Ernest's, what is that? She said, more more,
44:24
Speaker 2: that's sharing. That's sharing. I love that story. That's our
44:31
Speaker 2: idea of sharing. God. Here's the core. I keep the apple.
44:41
Speaker 2: Cut that apple in two, cut that apple in forths,
44:45
Speaker 2: give three fourths of it away. There's freedom in that,
44:51
Speaker 2: there's joy in that kind of generosity. He'll take care
44:55
Speaker 2: of you, he really will. I've never seen his own
45:00
Speaker 2: begging bread. God didn't bring us into his family to
45:06
Speaker 2: starve us, As Churchill said, I didn't take over this
45:11
Speaker 2: responsible position to watch the liquidation of the empire. You
45:17
Speaker 2: didn't take your part in the family of God to
45:20
Speaker 2: starve to death these people, right down to a man
45:24
Speaker 2: he named barn of Us, who owned a piece of land.
45:29
Speaker 2: He owned a tract of land. I mean that was
45:31
Speaker 2: some nest egg. He was going to cash in on
45:33
Speaker 2: it when he got a little older. But he was
45:37
Speaker 2: suddenly infected with this generosity disease, and he sold it,
45:44
Speaker 2: and he brought the money, and he laid it at
45:46
Speaker 2: the apostles feet. By the way, you see what they
45:49
Speaker 2: nicknamed him, verse thirty six. They nicknamed him barn Abbas,
45:55
Speaker 2: son of encouragement, Son of encouragement. Everett Harrison writes, the church,
46:03
Speaker 2: caught up in the enthusiasm of sacrificial giving, was content
46:07
Speaker 2: to leave the future with God. What a thrilling thing
46:11
Speaker 2: to be in a generous church. What an exciting spirit
46:16
Speaker 2: sweeps over us when we give, as we've never in
46:22
Speaker 2: our lives given. It's not a matter of stewardship, it's
46:25
Speaker 2: a matter of lordship. Remember that that is a discernment
46:31
Speaker 2: about money. This is as sermon about the Master. I
46:35
Speaker 2: have never seen an exception. When Christ is Lord, generosity
46:42
Speaker 2: follows because we become like our savior. Now, how do
46:50
Speaker 2: we put it into practice? What isn't that complicated? I
46:54
Speaker 2: don't have any special magical formula like magic dust that
46:59
Speaker 2: we spread on this scene. You want unity, you have
47:02
Speaker 2: to stay close together. You want authority in an assembly
47:07
Speaker 2: that grows up into adulthood, then we must remember whose
47:11
Speaker 2: lord we want generosity in our midst We have to
47:16
Speaker 2: hold our treasure loosely. I love the words of the
47:20
Speaker 2: late Corey ten Boom. She said, I learned in my
47:24
Speaker 2: later years to hold everything God gave me loosely, because
47:29
Speaker 2: when I didn't, it hurt when He pried my fingers
47:32
Speaker 2: loose and took what he wanted. One of the desires
47:40
Speaker 2: of our financial seminar is help is to help you
47:45
Speaker 2: hold your treasure loosely. This isn't a fly by night
47:52
Speaker 2: afterthought that we've sort of thrown together now that we're
47:55
Speaker 2: talking about getting out of debt. This was planned months
47:59
Speaker 2: before that, a very carefully arranged series of meetings, not
48:05
Speaker 2: just one time, but a series of them designed to
48:08
Speaker 2: help you understand what that treasure is all about, how
48:13
Speaker 2: to invest it wisely, what to do with savings, how
48:17
Speaker 2: to give, how to keep? What seems biblical about treasure?
48:24
Speaker 2: And how does it relate to me today with my money.
48:33
Speaker 2: Churches are like homes. No two are exactly the same.
48:37
Speaker 2: We may look alike on the outside, but when you
48:40
Speaker 2: get inside it's interesting. But unlike homes, I've never seen
48:46
Speaker 2: a church with a growth chart. I think somehow they're
48:51
Speaker 2: known by the person who sits in the pew. You
48:56
Speaker 2: know whether you're growing or not. And a good checkpoint
49:01
Speaker 2: along these adolescent years is unity, authority, generosity. There's only
49:13
Speaker 2: one reason, one excuse for not growing. That is that
49:19
Speaker 2: you're not a Christian. You're not even in the family.
49:26
Speaker 2: Let's start there, Let's bow together. Will you please please
49:32
Speaker 2: close your eyes and set apart, just a few moments
49:37
Speaker 2: of silence, just to think, Just think. As I look
49:45
Speaker 2: back over my life, can I find the point where
49:50
Speaker 2: I personally repented and came to Christ. Was there a
49:58
Speaker 2: point in my life where I turned around spiritually? I
50:03
Speaker 2: was once walking east and now I'm walking west. I
50:07
Speaker 2: was once bound for Hell, and now I'm on my
50:10
Speaker 2: way to heaven have I ever believed in Jesus Christ personally.
50:19
Speaker 2: Jesus paid it all all to him. We owe sin
50:24
Speaker 2: left a crimson stain. He washed it. He washed it
50:30
Speaker 2: with his blood white as snow. There are people dotted
50:35
Speaker 2: all around this world, but the millions who've turned from
50:39
Speaker 2: darkness to light by believing in Jesus. Believing in him.
50:44
Speaker 2: Today is your day. Now do it now. A growth
50:57
Speaker 2: process will begin and it'll never and as Christ becomes
51:02
Speaker 2: the lord of your life. Our father, how thankful we
51:07
Speaker 2: are today for your son, who, in his last hours
51:11
Speaker 2: before he died, prayed in earnest that we, as your children,
51:17
Speaker 2: would be one, that we would be bound together by
51:21
Speaker 2: the inseparable cord of supernatural love, super abounding grace, and
51:28
Speaker 2: spirit born courage, impenetrable to the enemy's assaults. Deliver us,
51:36
Speaker 2: our father, from any remaining tendency towards self sufficiency and
51:42
Speaker 2: self promotion that can and does so easily and swiftly
51:47
Speaker 2: unmind us from each other, and leave us bare and vulnerable,
51:52
Speaker 2: weak and needy. Knowing our enemy, the devil is very
51:58
Speaker 2: active and opportunistic. It is so and relentless prowling through
52:02
Speaker 2: our lives in the midst of our thoughts. I pray
52:06
Speaker 2: that you'd place a guard of your divine protection over
52:10
Speaker 2: each of us, over our families, and around the outskirts
52:15
Speaker 2: of our ministries, so that the cause of your Gospel
52:20
Speaker 2: can continue to advance unhindered, even flourish among us, and
52:26
Speaker 2: in the most difficult and perilous places on earth where
52:30
Speaker 2: the name of Christ, your son is not yet fully
52:34
Speaker 2: known or embraced. Be especially near to those who are
52:39
Speaker 2: in chains for your cause, who serve and preach at
52:45
Speaker 2: this moment in the dark and evil shadows of oppressive regimes,
52:50
Speaker 2: secretly advancing the Gospel in unknown corners of the world.
52:55
Speaker 2: I pray for them especially. I ask that you personally
52:59
Speaker 2: and powerfully stand Mother's sides, comfort them, and protect them
53:06
Speaker 2: from all harm. Our Father, deliver them from the lion's mouth,
53:12
Speaker 2: as you did for the apostle Paul as he suffered
53:16
Speaker 2: alone in a dungeon in Rome. It is to this
53:21
Speaker 2: end I pray and ask all these things, our Father,
53:25
Speaker 2: in the powerful, always triumphant name of Christ, our Savior,
53:30
Speaker 2: Our Lord. Amen.
53:34
Speaker 3: The preceding message, Three Proofs of Growth, was copyrighted in
53:38
Speaker 3: nineteen eighty five, and the sound recording was copyrighted in
53:41
Speaker 3: twenty sixteen by Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights are
53:45
Speaker 3: reserved worldwide.
53:48
Speaker 1: Thank you for downloading this message. Insight for Living Ministries
53:52
Speaker 1: is a listener supported ministry. Messages like these are made
53:56
Speaker 1: possible by generous donations from our listeners. Visit insight dot
54:01
Speaker 1: org for more information.