Latest / HBCWestminster / Nathan A. (August 15 2018)

Transcript

Nathan A. (August 15 2018) · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  And I pray there have been things that you have connected with that have built into you a greater understanding of what it means to be a man of God. To be a man that truly stands out in the crowd. You know, as David taught us in the second week after the introduction, he taught us about our identity. And I pray that you guys have a greater understanding, a greater understanding of the value you have.
• 0:30
  someone who is created in God's image. A greater understanding of Christ's example to us is Jordan brought us Philippians 2. A greater understanding of what Christ did for us, what he set aside for us, and what that should challenge us to do in terms of seeking unity and living humbly. Chris Lawrence did a great job of bringing and challenging us on the topic of being a dad.
• 1:02
  not to provoke our kids easily, to be gracious with them. Brian challenged us. We must understand that the greatest spiritual gift that we can ever possess is love. We can do nothing better really in this life than to love well in terms of standing out. When you look at the world around us, when you look at all of what is happening in our society as a whole, one of the easiest ways...
• 1:30
  for us to stand out as men, is to love well. Love our families well. Love our children well. Love our co-workers well. Love our friends well. I had the opportunity to follow up Brian, and we talked about the killers, right? Not the band, for you younger guys. Yes, thank you Adam. But the killers, the things that...
• 1:56
  are going to kill our ability to follow through on Christ's desire for us to extend love out. Right? Those things are, do you guys remember the three things that we talked about that are the killers of love? Huh? No, that was the first week. Anger, selfish living, and lust. Right? The things that are just a blast to talk about. Anger, selfishness, and love will kill our ability to...
• 2:30
  To love well. Sam talked to us about the importance of words. Words matter. He talked to us about three different things that we kind of naturally do. Aggression, bluntness, and cluelessness. Do you guys remember what the cures to those were? Aggression, bluntness, and cluelessness. Aggression was gentleness, graciousness, and understanding.
• 3:07
  That's how we combat those natural things that we would do and the way we communicate. Last week, Philip challenged us to love our wives as Christ loved the church. He told us to study our wives. I loved that. He said, study them, know them well. He asked if we just tell her or if we show her. He talked about our responsibility to cleanse our wives with the word. And that can only happen if we know the word, right?
• 3:40
  How are we to cleanse our wives with the Word if we do not know the Word? And my favorite and most challenging thing that Philip brought out to us in his teaching last week was Christ, after he had stated that he knew all of who he was, right? He has come to full knowledge. He knows that he is God's fullness in man, right? At that very moment, it says because of that, he chooses.
• 4:08
  To wash the disciples' feet. Do you guys remember what Philip, what conclusion he drew to that? He drew a conclusion to that that said, if Christ, the almighty God taken on in human flesh, is willing to serve these men and the lowliest thing, washing the feet was disgusting. They're walking around in sandals all the time. Not only did he choose to do the lowliest job, but he washed the feet of the very man who was going to betray him on the cross. And Philip took that and he said,
• 4:38
  Should there be anything too low for us in serving our wives? Should there be anything out of the realm of our willingness to love and serve our wives? That, brothers, has been challenging me as I've thought about that. I don't know about you, but I certainly have felt convicted about that. There are things that I don't like to do around the house. There are things I don't like to do. This week, as we end our study,
• 5:09
  we are going to look at one more topic, one more thing that I think is going to encapsulate all this. These are all great things, right? These are all wonderful things for us to look at. But if they end here, kind of missed the point, right? So the question is, how do we take these things and how do we utilize these as men in the church, men at high...
• 5:31
  Island Baptist Church, what do we do to make sure that these things continue on, that we take these and we really live them out, we really live differently. And so tonight's message is going to be titled, Live Deeper. Live deeper or courageously open with one another. As we end this summer study, I not only want to draw our attention to what we have covered, like I have, but also tonight to challenge us of what we should be doing going forward.
• 6:00
  How do we encourage and challenge one another as brothers in Christ to live these things out? It is so easy for us, right, as men to live on the surface, right? To just talk about those surface things, ask how the job is. Oh, my boss is tough. Yeah, oh, you know, traffic is terrible. We talk about these surface things with one another and we don't ever take another step.
• 6:30
  in our friendships, in our relationships, in our fellowship as men of the church. We need to live deeper with one another. We need to live lives that are open. We reopen our hearts with one another, where we communicate with each other on another level that encourages rejoicing, encourages time, encourages the opportunity to be corrected.
• 7:04
  You know, when I started off this study, I talked about that guy that came up, you know, I was jogging down the path and he saw me off in the distance and he suddenly started to jog. And then I came around and did another lap and he was kind of like, he kind of had that look like I've been, you know, I've been had, like I'm not doing this again. Had no intention of jogging that day, but because he saw me jogging, he decided to do the same. We talked about how we as men really, we want...
• 7:32
  To do things together, right? We want to be recognized for things. We want to share with one another our successful conquests in life, right? We want to share our successes with one another. I've got no problem talking to you about the promotion I got or this or that, right? I like to tell you about my kid who won the softball game or won the track meet or any of those things. We like to share those things with each other, do we not?
• 8:02
  Right? Yes. We don't like to share our failings, our struggles so much. Those moments in our lives that make us tear up inside. We don't want to share those with one another as much. The times where we feel down. The times where we feel let down. The situations that have caused us hurt or harm in our lives. These things we like to pretend are non-existent. I don't have any of those. You don't have any of those.
• 8:38
  we'll just keep it here, right? I want to challenge us tonight to dig deeper into our hearts, into our souls, into our fellowship with one another and change that. No longer to pretend like everything is okay when it's not. No longer to live with the superficial face that we might be able to really truly love one another as brothers in Christ.
• 9:09
  Take that idea as we consider how do we live deeper? How do we live courageously with one another? I believe it takes tremendous courage to take a step deeper in our lives with each other, right? That takes courage with one another because it involves being open. It involves opening a wound that might be in the past. It involves sharing something that might even be rejected by the person who hears it. But I want us to be courageous men. I want us to live deeper.
• 9:39
  As brothers in Christ. I want us to live differently in this church. And outside of these walls. And so I want to encourage you guys. To open up your Bibles to Exodus chapter 18. And as you do that. Chris Jordan asked me tonight. If I was going to give another car illustration. And I said yes. He said will I be able to understand it. I said well it's about brakes. And he said is that by the headlights. So this is not going to be a difficult one.
• 10:09
  It is another car illustration and another one where I got upset. So when I was younger, my parents sent my sister Bethany and I off to my grandparents for 10 days in the summer. Now, I don't recall being informed what that was for. But when I got there thinking I was going on vacation, I realized that this was the idea was.
• 10:36
  My sister was going to learn sewing, and she was going to learn housekeeping, and she was going to learn how to plan for a party and different stuff like that from my grandma. All inside stuff. I was going to learn how to do general maintenance on a house, lawn care, car mechanics, different stuff like this. All outside, in Iowa, in the summer. I didn't really, they may have told me this, I didn't remember.
• 11:05
  When I got there and I found out he had a bunch of jobs, my grandpa was all excited because he had been informed of what was happening. I showed up and was like, wait, what? I'm not going to be playing cards and eating pie all day? I thought this was what grandma's house was. So I didn't start off with a real good attitude at the beginning, but as the week progressed, he had saved. We put up siding. We fixed an old...
• 11:32
  one of those old porch swings where the chain had broken, and we refinished that, and just a bunch of different odd jobs like that. And then he had been saving some car stuff, and so we did a few things, checked out spark plugs, changed oil, all that. But the big one that he saved was a brake job. He saved that for us to do together. So we go into the garage and take everything apart and take the rotors in and go into the auto parts store.
• 12:00
  You know, walk right behind the counter. And they let him turn his own rotors because everybody knows my grandpa in Des Moines, Iowa. And buy the rest of the parts we need and come back. And so he sets all the stuff out there on the first one. And he says, all right, you got to put it back together. And I said, okay. So I took the big thing, you know, the big rotor and stuck that on. That was easy. You just had to find the bolt pattern and everything. And so then get that.
• 12:29
  that on and then I'm trying to fix these brake calipers and everything on there and everything is just moving in the wrong direction. I mean, it's just not going well. And I'm muscling with this thing and I'm getting more frustrated and I'm trying to muscle it in the area. And after about, again, if you guys are putting things together, I end up sweating and frustrated when I do car work. So, this is no different.
• 12:57
  About 20 minutes in, I finally sit back, kind of dejected and feeling like this isn't going to happen. And my grandpa was quiet this entire time. Doesn't say a word. He's just sitting right behind me the whole time, right? Just watching me. And he just, after I sat back, he could tell I'd finally given up on doing it on my own and without asking for help or anything. And he said, you know, I find it's best.
• 13:29
  to work smarter, not harder. When you're struggling with something, it's good to take a moment and think what needs to happen. Look at the parts that will help make it happen. And then he reached around me and he went and popped it in place. And then we worked together. I asked questions and we did the next three and it got easier and easier and easier, right?
• 14:01
  My grandpa gave me an opportunity there, right? He gave me an opportunity, spent some time with me. He observed me, and then he corrected me, showed me how to do it, and I got better. I did it differently, and I got better at it. By the fourth one, we got them all back together, and he didn't die later, thankfully, so we did it right.
• 14:32
  I think that idea of being with one another and being there when we need each other and stepping in when one of us needs that support, that encouragement, or that correction is important. Tonight we're going to look at a man named Jethro, not that guy, that I think really vividly displays
• 15:07
  how this can happen, how we can live deeper lives, live courageously, and also how we can encourage one another to find success. So hopefully you guys are in Exodus 18. We're going to read the whole chapter. So here we go. Now, Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses.
• 15:37
  and for Israel his people, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Moses' wife, Zipporah, after he had sent her away, and her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom. For Moses said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land. The other was named Eleazar. And for he said, the God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. Then Jethro,
• 16:06
  Moses' father-in-law came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped at the Mount of God. He sent word to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and your two sons with her. Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and he bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done.
• 16:33
  to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardships that had fallen them on the journey and how the Lord had delivered them. Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel in delivering them from the hand of the Egyptians. So Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now, I know the Lord is greater than all.
• 17:17
  It came about the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses in the morning until the evening.
• 17:25
  Now when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, What is this thing you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening? Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and his laws. Moses' father-in-law said to him,
• 17:53
  the thing that you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you. You cannot do it alone. Now listen to me and I will give you counsel and God be with you. You be the people's representative before God and you bring the disputes to God. Then teach them the statutes of the laws and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do.
• 18:22
  Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people, able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain, and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. Let them judge the people at all times, and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge.
• 18:52
  So it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you. If you do these things and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure and all these people also will go to their place in peace. So Moses listened to his father-in-law and he did all that he said. Jethro comes from a ways off to meet his son-in-law. And I think in this interaction that takes place in Exodus 18, we're going to see three things.
• 19:27
  that Jethro does that I think are good for us to grab onto and consider how we can live them out with each other. The first one is that Jethro rejoiced. Jethro rejoiced with Moses. Exodus 18 contains something of an interlude between the stories of the exodus of Israel out of Egypt and their wilderness wanderings on one side and the giving of the law at Mount Sinai on the other side.
• 20:00
  The moment just before the law is given, Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, visits Moses, worships God with Moses, and gives Moses some very important advice. There appears to be this long-standing relationship between Jethro and Moses. In fact, Moses watched over Jethro's flocks for him until he's called by God by the burning bush. So they had spent time there. But as they come together,
• 20:35
  You'll notice in verse 9, after they greet each other and Jethro hears of all that God has done, he rejoices over all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel. We get a sense there was this high value on the relationship with Moses and Jethro, his father-in-law.
• 21:08
  As they come together and they earnestly seek out each other, Moses actually bows down and kisses his father-in-law, which is a sign of respect and friendship. So the bowing down would have been a sign of respect for him as his father-in-law. The kissing on the cheek would have been a sign of friendship between the two of them. Moses initiates this.
• 21:42
  And lets his father-in-law know that he respects him and that he considers him a friend. He sets the stage. Then after this, Moses tells all that God had done. And with all that news that is told to Jethro, he responds as many of us would, right? When a family member comes to us and shares a great triumph or an encouraging time, it's natural for us to rejoice with one another, right?
• 22:12
  I look at Jethro's response, though, and how excited he gets about this. And I think about how we interact with one another at church and how we interact with one another on Wednesday nights. How excited do we get with each other, brothers? How excited do we get when there's good news to be shared with one another? Do we rejoice? I mean, that word rejoice, there's joy there, right?
• 22:44
  there is deep, meaningful celebration that happens. In fact, he goes and it spurs him on to offer sacrifices to the Lord. He is rejoicing with his brother, with his son-in-law. This kind of reaction I don't think can be faked. Like, we can say, oh, praise God, and move on, right? But this like, praise the Lord, that is awesome. What can we do?
• 23:20
  right now to celebrate this? What can we do to commemorate this moment? What can we do that's going to be meaningful to you and meaningful to the Lord for what He has done? We can feign excitement or celebration for a moment, right? But when there are multiple steps to that celebration, eventually that excitement's going to wear off. It doesn't wear off for Jethro. He is excited for what God has done, what He's done through Moses, and he comes and he rejoices with Him.
• 23:58
  Are we as excited? Are we looking for things to rejoice with each other about? You might ask, well, how do we get to that point? In our busy lives, in the few moments we have before worship service, before Wednesday nights, how do we get to that? Well, I want to point out a couple things from Exodus and what Jethro did. And this comes to our second thing. So Jethro rejoiced.
• 24:31
  spent time with Moses to get to this moment. Jethro spent time with him before he celebrated with him. It says in verse 7, end of verse 7, after Moses bowed down and kissed him, they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. And then verse 8, Moses told his father-in-law, all, all,
• 25:08
  that the Lord had done. Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done. This would not have been a quick conversation. I mean, think about this, guys, okay? They have, first of all, Moses' initiation is burning bush, right? And it just gets crazier from there. So, I'm guessing his father-in-law probably knows about their burning bush. But he probably doesn't know about things like
• 25:36
  God telling him to throw down his staff and it turning into a snake. So I mean, I can just picture as they sit down, they ask each other, how are you doing? What's going on? Jethro obviously knows that God has done some amazing things. So they go into the tent and now Moses goes to town and he just starts telling them all this. I can just imagine the run-on sentences that Moses is telling you. So then God said, throw down the staff and it became a snake. And then he said, okay, now go with Aaron and do it again. So we went and did it in front of...
• 26:06
  And so then Aaron threw down his staff and became a snake again. And then Pharaoh was like, well, that's nothing. And he called the sorcerers over and then they threw down their staffs. And you know what happened next? Aaron's snake started eating the other snakes. And so then Pharaoh was, but he didn't believe then. And so then God said, we'll just go send frogs. And so we sent frogs.
• 26:29
  Thousands and thousands of frogs. And then they died and it sunk really, really badly. And Pharaoh was still, he's just going on. I mean, can you imagine how excited Moses, this would not have been a short 10 minute rehashing of all that God had done, right? And then we crossed the sea and then God, you know, the chariots were coming and then God closed the sea. I mean, just story after story after story. Jethro comes, they go into the tent.
• 27:00
  And Moses tells him all that had happened. Jethro spent time with Moses in order to get to a point where he could rejoice with him at that level. Brothers, we must do the same with each other. The ability to rejoice and celebrate with one another will come naturally as we spend time with one another. Those whom you spend the most time with will have the most impact on your life. Right?
• 27:38
  You will also know the most about them. You'll know. When I come home to my wife, we both know if we're off, if we've had a bad day. You get that sense as you spend time with each other. It's not going to happen just between Sunday and Wednesday. It's going to happen as we choose to spend time outside these walls, hearing of what God is doing in each other's lives.
• 28:07
  As we spend time with one another, it not only gives us opportunity to rejoice and celebrate with one another, it gives us a voice into each other's lives. It gives us a voice into each other's lives. I don't know about you guys, but I don't tend to listen to people who don't spend, I don't give as much ear to people who don't spend as much time with me. Right? They come and give me correction.
• 28:36
  I might listen to it, but it might not have as much weight as somebody who I spend more time with because I know they know me more. They care about me more. Time is vitally important as we seek to live deeper lives and it will give us opportunity to do the last thing when needed with one another. The last thing that Jethro does is Jethro corrected. Jethro corrected Moses.
• 29:09
  We saw from 17 on, 17, his father-in-law says to Moses, the thing that you're doing is not good. He just comes right out and says it. Remember that thing that Sam said that we're really blunt? Jethro is blunt with Moses here. He says, that thing you're doing, it's not right. Don't do that. Stop it. It's not good for you. It's not good for the people. But he comes to this understanding only because he's spent time with Moses.
• 29:43
  I believe Moses responds to his correction because he has spent time with him. He has a value in that relationship. Moses has been judging every dispute in the entire nation himself. So there's, as you can imagine, a long line of people that are waiting. And Jethro sees this and he says, this is dumb. You're going to wear yourself out? The people are going to get annoyed because they're going to be two months before they're ever going to see.
• 30:14
  see you. And what do you think that's going to do to the dispute that happened two months ago? It's just going to get worse and worse and worse. And by the time they get to you, you're going to be tired of hearing everybody's complaining. So when they get to you and they're all amped up because they finally talked to you, you're going to go, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Well, you know, give him a sheep, give that guy a goat, move on. I'm tired. And people are going to get frustrated. You're going to get frustrated. You're going to burn out.
• 30:45
  So he corrects him and instead suggests that Moses share the mantle of leadership with godly, wise men in Israel. He gave very specific instructions of the caliber of person Moses should choose and suggested that Moses should employ these men over appropriate numbers of people based on their skills. So not only does he point out that there's something wrong, but he gives them a solution. Guys, we like solutions, right? Don't just tell me the problem.
• 31:18
  If you've ever sat with your wife, that's half the issues, right? When he's trying to correct a problem they just want you to listen to. But not us. We want you to correct the problem. Moses wanted the problem corrected. He listens. Jethro gives them advice. Very sound biblical advice. In fact, it's very similar to the advice that Christ gives in Matthew 18. And Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 6. That we should go and talk to the person.
• 31:49
  And then you gradually get more and more people. But it's not just a single one-on-one to solve a dispute all the time. Sometimes we must go outside of those. Paul was urging, obviously, for them to seek counsel in the church and not to go outside those walls, right? To fix their issues within the church. Among you, there are wise enough to settle disputes, he says in 1 Corinthians 6.
• 32:19
  rather than dragging each other before the unrighteous courts and spoiling our witness and making a mockery of the gospel. You know, if Moses had continued on in this path, I can imagine that these people might have gotten frustrated enough that they would have started taking their disputes maybe to some of these other nations, these other countries, and people would have seen, well, there's something wrong with Israel. Like, they can't even solve their own problems. Right? So the encouragement there is, again,
• 32:50
  talk to each other, solve those problems before they get big, point out the problems, and encourage each other to correct them. The thing that I find amazing about this, as Moses gets corrected by his father-in-law, a guy who's not been around for all of this, right? He hasn't been around for all the crazy things that Moses has seen. Moses knows there's been a burning bush that has told him, I'm God's chosen leader.
• 33:29
  I am the one that God has anointed for this position to lead these people. And yet, this guy who has been through all of this stuff, who has seen God work miracles, who knows that he is God's chosen, responds to this correction. Right? What does it say at the end? Verse 24 says, So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he said.
• 34:02
  Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he said. Moses held a pretty high position. Could he have told his father-in-law, I got this. God chose me, not you. I don't need your correction. I don't need your advice. I just led him across the desert. We went across the Red Sea. We got out of Egypt when nobody thought it was going to happen. We're good. Thanks for your advice. We're okay.
• 34:35
  He could have said that, right? I mean, it would have been pretty easy with everything that he had been through, all the work that God had done through Moses, his brother Aaron, to say, no, I got this, right? He doesn't. Moses humbly responds and he doesn't argue. There's no sense of argument here. He just listens to the solid advice of his father-in-law and he corrects the problem. Our pride gets in the way a lot of that, doesn't it? As our brothers come to us and speak truth to us,
• 35:08
  as our wives speak truth to us, as our kids. Man, my oldest drives me crazy because she'll come up to me and tell me something. I'm like, man, you're right, but why do you have to be right? You're nine. I should have this figured out, not you. It takes humility to respond the way Moses did, and it takes humility in us to respond the way that we ought to. Right?
• 35:42
  Brothers, one of the best ways to start all of this is to rejoice with one another. To get there, we've got to spend time with one another purposefully, eagerly spend time with one another. Find somebody who wants to do something, who wants to learn something that you know how to do, or somebody who knows how to do something that you want to do, and go do it together. Go spend time with one another, and you will have opportunities to speak into each other's lives that will lead.
• 36:10
  to deeper living, and encourage us to live courageously with one another. As we end this study, you guys will see on the bottom, concluding. Those are the topics that we have covered this summer. My challenge to you guys tonight, in these final moments, is to look at those things. Think about what we have learned, what God has challenged you with this summer.
• 36:44
  What are the things that you feel God has convicted you about that you want to do differently going forward? Write them down and share them with each other. And then I want to challenge you guys at the tables with one another to look at the faces and talk to each other in two weeks. Talk to each other in two weeks. Find each other on a Sunday.
• 37:19
  Say, how are you doing? How are you doing in this area that you said you wanted to work on? What's it been like? What's been the success? What's been the failings? Write the names down. Take them with you. Pray about it with each other. Pray for one another. And then come back and ask each other how we're doing. That is how we will get to another level with each other. How we will encourage one another. How we will be able to challenge one another. How we will get to a point where...
• 37:51
  We're not 20 years down the road and look back and be like, man, I wish somebody would have said something. Right? I can think of nothing more that I would desire from a friend than to tell me, Nathan, you're doing something wrong in the way you're parenting your kids. I want to encourage you. You're doing these things great. You should try and do this differently. I want friends who are going to encourage me and challenge me to live in my relationship with the Lord.
• 38:24
  That's what we need, brothers. We need this. We need each other. We need these tables. We need this encouragement. We need the accountability. So, look over those things. Think about them. Pray about them. Write them down. Two and a half weeks from now. Two and a half weeks from now. On a Sunday. Find each other. Ask each other how you're doing. Let's pray. Father in heaven, God, we thank you for this evening. Thank you for the opportunity to come and look at your word.
• 38:56
  God, we ask that you would spark in us a desire to live differently, to live in communion with you first and foremost, but also in fellowship with one another. God, that we might spur each other on towards love and good deeds. Father, that we might sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron. That we might be there to rejoice with one another. We might be there.
• 39:28
  to correct one another as is needed. Father, we just pray that you would lead the conversations, guide us through the remainder of our week. Be with us, Father, in your name. Amen.