Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Hope Beyond Extremism Marching Orders for Soldiers of the Cross Msg 1217

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Hope Beyond Extremism Marching Orders for Soldiers of the Cross Msg 1217 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: When the time is short, things get urgent, and I've
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  Speaker 1: also noticed that they get simplified. There's something about the
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  Speaker 1: brevity of time that adds urgency and simplicity. Think, for example,
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  Speaker 1: of a time in your life when a loved one
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  Speaker 1: you know has discovered that he or she hasn't long
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  Speaker 1: to live. Your visits are often much more urgent, and
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  Speaker 1: your discussions are Simple to the point, basic. When you
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  Speaker 1: are only minutes from a hurricane or the arrival of
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  Speaker 1: a tornado that you can see in the immediate distance,
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  Speaker 1: you usually don't pull out a Monopoly game and sit
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  Speaker 1: down to play for a while. You don't set up
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  Speaker 1: plans for an exotic meal or some lengthy opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: serve your guests. You boil things down to survival. because
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  Speaker 1: the hour is short and there's urgency. There's the need
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  Speaker 1: for survival and simplicity. If you're driving home from church
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  Speaker 1: and you discover the moment it happens an accident occurring
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  Speaker 1: in the other lane and you are the only one
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  Speaker 1: there to assist, you don't worry about your clothing getting
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  Speaker 1: dirty or bloody. You're there to help. There's an urgency.
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  Speaker 1: There's a simplicity in the mission. The shortness of time
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  Speaker 1: requires both. I noticed when I come to the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: that Jesus himself modeled that particular fact. As long as
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  Speaker 1: there was time, he took time to eat with his disciples,
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  Speaker 1: to train his disciples, to minister to individuals spontaneously. And
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  Speaker 1: at their need, in the hour of their need, he
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  Speaker 1: would linger over a meal with friends. He would sit
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  Speaker 1: back and enjoy relaxed moments with individuals like Mary and
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  Speaker 1: Martha and Lazarus. But when the hour of the cross
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  Speaker 1: came near, there was urgency in his voice. And it
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  Speaker 1: seemed as though his attention was directed to those particular
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  Speaker 1: simple events that were in front of him. The same
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  Speaker 1: is true regarding his return. Let me show you, for example,
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  Speaker 1: from the gospel by Matthew over in the 16th chapter,
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  Speaker 1: the chain of events that led to that urgency and simplicity.
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  Speaker 1: Matthew 16, verse 21. Peter has just made the great
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  Speaker 1: statement regarding Jesus' identity. Verse 21, chapter 16. From that
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  Speaker 1: time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he
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  Speaker 1: must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the
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  Speaker 1: elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and
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  Speaker 1: be raised on the third day. Now the same one
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  Speaker 1: who has just given this wonderful statement of faith rebukes
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  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus for that statement. He's bothered by it.
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  Speaker 1: He's planning on a kingdom. He's not planning on a cross.
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  Speaker 1: He's looking for a crown, not suffering death. So Peter
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  Speaker 1: took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, saying, God
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  Speaker 1: forbid it, Lord. I mean, can you imagine someone saying
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  Speaker 1: that to Jesus? I was watching a television program the
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  Speaker 1: other evening on the public television channel. It was entitled
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  Speaker 1: Ethics in America. Some of you may have watched it.
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  Speaker 1: It was an interesting program in that people like a
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  Speaker 1: four-star general that was in charge of the Vietnam War
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  Speaker 1: was there in civilian clothes. And right alongside him was
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  Speaker 1: a member of the House of Representatives. And alongside him
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  Speaker 1: was another individual, high-ranking officer. And they were all together
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  Speaker 1: in that scene. And as the hour intensified and as
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  Speaker 1: the issues grew, it became obvious that no one was
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  Speaker 1: worried about anybody's rank. And everybody got urgently involved in
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  Speaker 1: the issue that was being raised. And someone looked at
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  Speaker 1: General Westmoreland and sort of rebuked him. I wonder how
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  Speaker 1: many times a four-star general in the army has been
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  Speaker 1: rebuked by somebody else. But at that time, rank was stripped,
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  Speaker 1: and it was the issue that was at stake. Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: right now, in Peter's mind, has lost rank. And Peter
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  Speaker 1: goes at the issue saying, how could you say such
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  Speaker 1: a thing? God forbid it, Lord. And I'll tell you,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus doesn't back down. He turned and said to Peter,
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  Speaker 1: get behind me, Satan. Can you imagine being told that?
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  Speaker 1: Get behind me, Satan. You're a stumbling block to me,
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  Speaker 1: for you are not setting your mind on God's interests,
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  Speaker 1: but man's. And that calls for such a rebuke. And
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  Speaker 1: then Jesus said to his disciples, let's get down to
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  Speaker 1: simple basics. Let's get down to the essential, simple requirements
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  Speaker 1: of discipleship. If anyone wishes to come after me, let
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  Speaker 1: him deny himself, take up his cross, And follow me
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  Speaker 1: and whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it.
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  Speaker 1: Whoever wishes to lose his life for my sake shall
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  Speaker 1: find it. We're down to urgent, simple demands. Why? Because
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  Speaker 1: the hour is short. He hasn't long. Same gospel, chapter 24.
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  Speaker 1: You'll see a similar scene or at least a similar urgency.
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  Speaker 1: Matthew 24 says, As Jesus was sitting on the Mount
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  Speaker 1: of Olives, verse 3, with the disciples, they came to
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  Speaker 1: him privately saying, tell us when will these things be
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  Speaker 1: and what will be the sign of your coming and
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  Speaker 1: the end of the age? And Jesus immediately gets down
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  Speaker 1: to basics. He doesn't sit around. He doesn't talk leisurely
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  Speaker 1: about what's in front of them. He goes right to
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  Speaker 1: the essentials. In verses 4 through 8. In fact, the
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  Speaker 1: whole balance of the chapter. He answered and said to them,
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  Speaker 1: see that no one misleads you. Many will come in
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  Speaker 1: my name saying, I am the Christ, and will mislead many.
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  Speaker 1: You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars,
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  Speaker 1: so see that you are not frightened. Those things must
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  Speaker 1: take place, but that is not yet the end. Nation
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  Speaker 1: will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. In various places
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  Speaker 1: there will be famines and earthquakes. All these things are
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  Speaker 1: merely the beginning of birth pangs. This doesn't mean that
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  Speaker 1: we have come to the ultimate end, but it means
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  Speaker 1: the beginning is over. I don't know if you remember
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  Speaker 1: the words of Winston Churchill. I believe it was while
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  Speaker 1: he was speaking to Parliament, and London had just about
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  Speaker 1: been bombed to smithereens, and the Britishers were losing heart.
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  Speaker 1: It seemed as though Churchill never did. I'm sure he
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  Speaker 1: must have had low moments, but his speeches don't reveal it.
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  Speaker 1: And he said to those people who sat in parliament
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  Speaker 1: as they were, I'm sure, quaking in their spirits. And
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  Speaker 1: he looked out the window and he saw the ruins.
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  Speaker 1: And he said, this is not the end. This is
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  Speaker 1: not even the beginning of the end. Ah, but it
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  Speaker 1: is perhaps the end of the beginning. I think that's
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  Speaker 1: what Jesus is saying. When you see these things occurring,
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  Speaker 1: it isn't the end. It may not even be the
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  Speaker 1: beginning of the end, but it is the end of
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  Speaker 1: the beginning. By the way, did you notice some things
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  Speaker 1: that were very relevant to where we live these days?
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  Speaker 1: Nations rising against nations, kingdom against kingdoms, famines, earthquakes. Just
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  Speaker 1: thought I'd mention that in case one happens tonight. Just remember,
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  Speaker 1: we're getting close. Look at Romans 14. From the words
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus, turn to the warnings of Paul. Romans chapter 14.
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  Speaker 1: Once again, the hour is short. Therefore, it's urgent and simple.
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  Speaker 1: 14 of Romans, verse 10. But you, why do you
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  Speaker 1: judge your brother, asks the apostle? Or you, again, why
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  Speaker 1: do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall
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  Speaker 1: all stand before the judgment seat of God. By the way,
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  Speaker 1: that was a thought never very far from the apostle's mind.
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  Speaker 1: One of the reasons we do not judge one another
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  Speaker 1: is that we must all stand before the only one
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  Speaker 1: qualified to judge. And in light of his coming and
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  Speaker 1: our appearance before him, keep your judgment to yourself. We
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  Speaker 1: must all stand before the judgment seat of God. As
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  Speaker 1: I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me.
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  Speaker 1: Every tongue shall give praise to God. So then, each
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  Speaker 1: one of us shall give account of himself to God.
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  Speaker 1: You can see this in every one of the epistles.
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  Speaker 1: I'll not take the time for each, but look at
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  Speaker 1: the next one. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. and just one verse,
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  Speaker 1: verse 5. 1 Corinthians 4, 5. Therefore do not go
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  Speaker 1: on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the
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  Speaker 1: Lord comes, who will both bring to light the things
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  Speaker 1: hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts,
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  Speaker 1: and then each man's praise will come to him from God.
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  Speaker 1: If you will live in the light of Christ's return
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  Speaker 1: every day of your life, it will do wonders to
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  Speaker 1: your habit of judging. It will silence your lip from gossip.
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  Speaker 1: If you realize that you must give account for every
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  Speaker 1: idle word and action when you stand before the Lord Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: it will do wonders to your conduct. It will also
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  Speaker 1: make you realize how many needless things we get involved
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  Speaker 1: in on this earth. Sort of like rearranging the deck
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  Speaker 1: chairs in the Titanic. Don't bother. Don't get lost in
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  Speaker 1: the details. He's coming soon. You see the urgency and
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  Speaker 1: the simplicity of the hour? I have many other references,
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  Speaker 1: but I won't take time. Look at 1 Peter chapter
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  Speaker 1: 4 as we return to this wonderful study we're engaged in.
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  Speaker 1: The apostle over in the Timothy letter refers to us
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  Speaker 1: as soldiers, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. And here
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  Speaker 1: are some marching orders for soldiers of Christ. 1 Peter
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  Speaker 1: chapter 4. Now remember, Peter has been dealing with the
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  Speaker 1: suffering saints. those who were being taken advantage of, those
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  Speaker 1: who could see no relief in sight. And when Peter
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  Speaker 1: came to the middle of this fourth chapter, he decided
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  Speaker 1: to remind them that this is all temporary. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: he says at the beginning of verse 7, the end
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  Speaker 1: of all things is at hand. Now remember what I
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  Speaker 1: said earlier? When there is brevity of time, things get
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  Speaker 1: urgent and things get simple. Look at the urgency and
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  Speaker 1: the simplicity in Peter's pen in the words that follow.
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  Speaker 1: Let me read the verses for you. The end of
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  Speaker 1: all things is at hand. Therefore, be of sound judgment
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  Speaker 1: and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all,
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  Speaker 1: keep fervent in your love for one another because love
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  Speaker 1: covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another
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  Speaker 1: without complaint. As each one has received a special gift,
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  Speaker 1: employ it in serving one another as good stewards of
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  Speaker 1: the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak,
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  Speaker 1: as it were, the utterances of God. And whoever serves,
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  Speaker 1: let him do so as by the strength which God supplies,
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  Speaker 1: so that in all things God may be glorified through
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever
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  Speaker 1: and ever. Amen. Now here we are in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of a letter and he's already saying amen. It is
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  Speaker 1: like a preliminary benediction. It's like a brief doxology of
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  Speaker 1: praise to God right in the middle of this letter.
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  Speaker 1: What I find in these verses I just read are
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  Speaker 1: four commands and one goal. Take the time to notice
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  Speaker 1: the commands to begin with and observe how urgent and
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  Speaker 1: how simple Peter keeps things. Command number one, verse seven,
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  Speaker 1: be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose
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  Speaker 1: of prayer. Let me paraphrase it this way. Use good judgment,
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  Speaker 1: stay calm in a spirit of prayer. You know how
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  Speaker 1: to live in light of Christ's immediate return? To begin with,
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  Speaker 1: follow this command. Use good judgment. Stay calm in a
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  Speaker 1: spirit of prayer. Let me spend a few moments analyzing
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  Speaker 1: those words. First of all, be of sound judgment. Be
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  Speaker 1: of sound judgment. Today we would say keep cool. Stay cool.
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  Speaker 1: Be sober. It does not mean the opposite of intoxication.
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  Speaker 1: Get this. It means the opposite of living in a frenzy,
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  Speaker 1: in a maddening kind of extremism. For example, don't try
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  Speaker 1: to set dates regarding Christ's coming. That's an extreme reaction
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  Speaker 1: to prophecy. Here's another. Don't panic as if things are
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  Speaker 1: out of control. And another. Don't be filled with anxiety.
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  Speaker 1: Don't quit your job. And wait on some rooftop for
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  Speaker 1: Christ to come back. That's extremism. That's not facing it
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  Speaker 1: in a cool, calm manner. Here's another. Don't think you
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  Speaker 1: have to explain everything regarding the future. I know you
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  Speaker 1: read the works of Warren Wiersbe. I came across in
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  Speaker 1: his little book, Be Hopeful, a couple of interesting paragraphs.
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  Speaker 1: Made me chuckle. I know because I have been right there.
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  Speaker 1: He said, early in my ministry, I gave a message
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  Speaker 1: on prophecy that sought to explain everything. I have since
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  Speaker 1: filed it away. I filed away that outline and will
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  Speaker 1: probably never look at it except when I need to
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  Speaker 1: be humbled. A pastor friend who suffered through my message
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  Speaker 1: said to me after the service, brother, you must be
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  Speaker 1: on the planning committee for the return of Christ.
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  Speaker 2: Ha, ha, ha.
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  Speaker 1: I got his point, but he made it even more
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  Speaker 1: pertinent when he said quietly, you know, I've moved from
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  Speaker 1: the program committee to the welcoming committee. Then he adds,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not suggesting that we not study prophecy or that
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  Speaker 1: we become timid about sharing our interpretations. What I am
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  Speaker 1: suggesting is that we not allow ourselves to get out
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  Speaker 1: of balance because of an abuse of prophecy. There's a
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  Speaker 1: practical application to the prophetic scriptures. Peter's emphasis on hope
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  Speaker 1: and the glory of God ought to encourage us to
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  Speaker 1: be faithful today in whatever work God has given us
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  Speaker 1: to do. I think I want to warn you against
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  Speaker 1: feeling the need to wear a big placard, a big
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  Speaker 1: sign that says, the Lord is returning or doom is coming.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to do that. Peter says, on the
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  Speaker 1: other hand, Be calm. Use sound judgment. And do it
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  Speaker 1: in a spirit of prayer. Men and women, there is
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  Speaker 1: nothing quite like prayer to sharpen our awareness, to keep
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  Speaker 1: us alert, and yet to remind us who has the controls.
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  Speaker 1: When I see people who are all out of sorts,
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  Speaker 1: full of anxiety, On the ragged edge of extremism regarding prophecy,
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  Speaker 1: I'm looking at a person who isn't spending enough time
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  Speaker 1: in prayer. Prayer calms your spirit. It doesn't make you indifferent.
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  Speaker 1: On the contrary, it reminds you he is in control.
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  Speaker 1: He has everything in control. Use sound judgment. Stay calm.
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  Speaker 1: Kenneth Wiest translates this Be calm and collected in a
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  Speaker 1: spirit with a view to giving yourself in prayer. Say,
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  Speaker 1: do you remember Peter who was told by the Lord
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  Speaker 1: in the garden to wait here and pray while I
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  Speaker 1: go over here to pray? Remember the Lord's returning, it's
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  Speaker 1: recorded in Mark 14, and he finds Peter asleep. right
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  Speaker 1: sound asleep and he said to Peter and to John
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  Speaker 1: and to the other he said couldn't you have waited
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  Speaker 1: with me for this hour you think Peter doesn't write
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  Speaker 1: with a sense of urgency he remembers that rebuke I
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  Speaker 1: left you to pray and you fell asleep that's why
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  Speaker 1: Peter would add with a real sense of understanding be
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  Speaker 1: of sound judgment and sober spirit and do it in
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  Speaker 1: a spirit of prayer That's the first command. Here's the second,
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  Speaker 1: verse 8. Stay fervent in love. Fervent is a word
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  Speaker 1: that speaks of intensity and determination. It is an athletic
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  Speaker 1: term for stretching to reach the tape. I don't know
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  Speaker 1: if you've watched these fellows and gals who run the dash.
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  Speaker 1: When they come around that last turn and they're pressing
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  Speaker 1: for the tape, they'll get right to the end and
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  Speaker 1: then they'll lunge forward. I've even seen them fall right
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  Speaker 1: there on the track because they're pushing to reach the
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  Speaker 1: tape before the one they're competing against. It's the idea
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  Speaker 1: of intensity at the tape. Stretching yourself. Those who do
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  Speaker 1: the long jump jump. leap into the air and throw
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  Speaker 1: their feet forward and they, with intensity, stretch every muscle
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  Speaker 1: of their body to reach as far as they can.
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  Speaker 1: The same with the high jump or with the pole vault.
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  Speaker 1: They stretch there to the uttermost to reach the limit.
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  Speaker 1: That's the word fervent. He says, above all, be fervent.
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  Speaker 1: Keep fervent in your love for one another. You know,
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  Speaker 1: if there is ever a time we need to stay close,
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  Speaker 1: it is toward the end times. This is not a
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  Speaker 1: time to fall into the hands of the enemy and
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  Speaker 1: commit mutiny. This is a time we've got to stick together.
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  Speaker 1: Spend less time, less time criticizing other Christians. Don't waste
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  Speaker 1: your time. criticizing another church or some pastor. Don't waste
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  Speaker 1: your time talking about how much better your church is
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  Speaker 1: than another church is. Spend your time building up one another,
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  Speaker 1: staying fervent in love. Look at how the verse begins,
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  Speaker 1: above all, More than anything else. And I think it's
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  Speaker 1: really a compliment. He says, keep fervent. Which implies that
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  Speaker 1: they already were. Doesn't say, be fervent. He says, stay
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  Speaker 1: at it. You're doing it already. Stay at it. And
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  Speaker 1: what is it that reveals true love? Look at the
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  Speaker 1: rest of the verse. Because love covers a multitude of sins.
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  Speaker 1: You know that Peter is quoting from the ancient Proverbs.
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  Speaker 1: He's quoting from... Proverbs 10 verse 12, check it for yourself.
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  Speaker 1: It reads, hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing is more disturbing to the unity of the body
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  Speaker 1: than Christians who stir up and disturb other Christians. Don't
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  Speaker 1: think the unsaved aren't watching. when we bash one another.
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  Speaker 1: They love it when we can't get along with each
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  Speaker 1: other in the family. It makes news. They love to
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  Speaker 1: quote one Christian who is after another Christian. It's as
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  Speaker 1: if the journalist leans back from his typewriter and says, aha, gotcha.
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  Speaker 1: The pacifistic leader of India for many years, Mahatma Gandhi,
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  Speaker 1: once said, I like your Christ, but I don't like
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  Speaker 1: your Christians. He then gave his reason. They are so
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  Speaker 1: unlike your Christ. What a rebuke. I like your Christ,
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  Speaker 1: but I don't like your Christians. They're so unlike their leader.
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  Speaker 1: Above all, keep fervent in your love. And if you
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  Speaker 1: want to prove how fervent, show me in your forgiveness.
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  Speaker 1: Someone has written, we are most like beasts when we kill.
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  Speaker 1: We are most like men when we judge. We are
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  Speaker 1: most like God when we forgive. I have never met
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  Speaker 1: a person Who didn't have the ammunition to blame someone else.
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  Speaker 1: Every person I know can blame somebody for something. And
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  Speaker 1: you're not excluded. I could blame several people for things
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  Speaker 1: that have happened in my life. And you could too.
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  Speaker 1: Don't waste your time. And I promise neither will I.
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  Speaker 1: Moffat states that this is a warning against loving others
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  Speaker 1: by fits and starts. It is a plea, he writes,
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  Speaker 1: for steady affection, persisting through the irritations and the antagonisms
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  Speaker 1: of common life in a society recruited from various classes
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  Speaker 1: of people. Now before I move on, may I say
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  Speaker 1: one more word regarding this matter of fervency and love.
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  Speaker 1: Some people are so easy to love. You just naturally
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  Speaker 1: fall into their arms. Some people are so hard to love.
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  Speaker 1: You can love them, but you just don't like them
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  Speaker 1: very much, if you know what I'm saying. There's something
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: about their nature that's just abrasive and irritating, and they
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: are like opposite magnets. They repel. But even they need
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: your love. Perhaps they more than the others. Did you
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: get it? Love one another. It's very broad. No special classes.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: No special groups. There are two more commands. Verse 9. Simple.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Be hospitable. Are you with me so far? First of all,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: have sound judgment, stay calm, and a spirit of prayer. Second,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: keep fervent in your love for one another. Third, be hospitable.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: And notice this has the same object as the other.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: Love for one another, and now verse 9, be hospitable
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: to one another. Same open end. Without complaint. Peter's a
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: practical man. After all, he's married, probably has kids, maybe
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: by now a few teenagers. He knows what it's like
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: to have a busy home. What do you complain about
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: when it comes to hospitality? When he says, be hospitable
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: to one another without complaint. Well, you can complain about
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: the trouble it is. It takes energy to have someone in.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: It takes effort. It takes planning. They interrupt your privacy.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: But he says, be hospitable nevertheless. What else do you
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: complain about? Well, it takes money. It's a bit expensive.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: It's easier to fix a meal for one than to
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: fix a meal for three or four. It's easy for
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: just the two of you to do well and to
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: get along. But when you add another two or three,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: it's expensive. It also takes time. And it's easy to
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: complain about the time it takes to have people in.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: and to show them kindness. I like the words of
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: John Henry Jowett, true love, however, is a splendid host.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: It's amazing what love does to hospitality. Speaking of Jowett,
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: I have an old book called The Epistles of Peter
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: by Jowett. He says some very quaint things, and he
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: says them in such a way that I don't think
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: any of us will forget them soon. I quote from
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: his work. There is love whose measure is that of
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: an umbrella. There is love whose inclusiveness is that of
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: a great marquee. And there is love whose comprehension is
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: that of the immeasurable sky. The aim of the New
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Testament is the conversion of the umbrella into a tent
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: and the merging of the tent into the glorious canopy
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: of the all-enfolding heavens. Push back the walls of family
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: love until they include the neighbor. Again, push back the
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: walls until they include the stranger. Again, push back the
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: walls until they comprehend the foe. When was the last
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: time you entertained someone who was once your enemy? There
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: is something about hospitality that disarms the enemy. The quality
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: of our love, says Jowett, is determined by its inclusiveness.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: At the one extreme there is self-love, but at the
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: other extreme there is philanthropy. What is the tense, the
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: stretch of my love? What is its covering power, he asks.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: I do not wonder that the apostle proceeds to indicate
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: the magnificent cover afforded by a magnificent love. Love covers
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: a multitude of sins. Not the sins of the lover,
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: but the sins of the loved. Love is willing to
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: forget as well as to forgive. Love does not keep
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: hinting at past failures and past revolts. Love is willing
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: to hide them in a nameless grave. When a man
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: whose life has been stained and blackened by a multitude
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: of sins turns over a new leaf, I love this.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: Love will never hint at the old leaf, but will
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: rather seek to cover it in deep and healing oblivion.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Love is so busy unveiling the promises and allurements of
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: the morrow that she has little time and still less
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: desire to stir up the choking dust on the blasted
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: and desolate fields of yesterday. I seldom address this, so
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: that's why I'm camping here for a few extra moments.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: Are you really hospitable? Do you have room in your
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: life to be interrupted? Can people come close? They often
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: feel the magnet of your personal power because of Christ's presence.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: So many are inquisitive as to the source of it.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: I don't know what it is, but there's something about
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: a cup of coffee with someone or a sandwich for lunch.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: You eat all your meals alone? I know some meals
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: need to be, and you need time alone. But all
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: of them, or even most of them? In the days
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: of Peter, the itinerant evangelists couldn't stay at the inns.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: The inns were often brothels. Places of ill repute. The
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: only place that they could stay when they traveled and
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: preached would be in the homes of fellow Christians. Your
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: home really opened to those in need? I heard the
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: announcement made this evening for these who were coming from
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Multnomah to stay in homes. Did you let it pass
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: by or did you think, you know, we could do that?
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: I have seldom had it fail. When people have told
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: me they've opened their homes, they've loved it after it
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: was over. Often they did it a little uneasy because
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: you've got a stranger in there. For all you know,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: they may snore. Or they may keep you up a
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: little later. They never forget that evening in your home. Never.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: I can remember homes I've stayed in and travels to
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: this day and events and the things that happened and
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: what people said. Think about it. In light of Christ's
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: soon coming, be hospitable to one another without complaint. Now
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: there's one more. Keep serving one another. Verses 10 and 11.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: That's the fourth command. Keep on serving one another. As
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: each one has received a special gift, I love this
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: subject of spiritual gifts. Do you know, fellow Christian, that
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: you have at least one and probably more than one
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: spiritual gift? Are you even aware of the possible gifts?
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: Let me give you a list to put in the
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: margin of your New Testament or of your Bible right here.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: These are the places in the New Testament where the
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: spiritual gifts are listed. Ephesians 4, 11 and 12. Ephesians 4,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: 11 and 12. 1 Corinthians 12. 28 to 30. And
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: Romans 12, 6 through 8. It's a delightful study to
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: take the Ephesians and Romans and Corinthians and 1 Peter 4,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: 10 and 11 passages and compare them and come up
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: with a list of them and then to ask yourself,
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: sort of like working through an application for a job,
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: where would I best fit in this list? You're going
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: to find a spot And if you don't find it
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: right away, keep pursuing. Keep thinking. Ask fellow Christians. Try
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: them out. Put them into action as you serve one another.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: You'll discover what you do well. I will never forget
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: the time, and it finally dawned on me, that I
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: had a gift of teaching. I mean, you could have
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: knocked me over with a feather if you had tried
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: to convince me of that when I was younger. Me?
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: A teacher? Me? Somebody to instruct someone else? It came
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: to my attention very slowly, very deliberately, however. Here he
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: mentions not the gift of.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: Well, let's start with the gifts he mentions. Verse 10.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: Employ it in serving one another as good stewards of
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: the manifold grace of God, whoever speaks. So there is
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: one of the gifts mentioned here called speaking. Perhaps it's
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: the same one called elsewhere the word of knowledge. Or
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: the word of wisdom. Or maybe it would be the
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: same as the teaching gift. Now when you speak for Christ,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: you don't speak your own opinions. You speak his utterances.
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: You represent the word of God. So be a teacher
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: of the Bible. If that is your gift, make the
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: scriptures the basis of your teaching. You will be forever
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: relevant if you do. Furthermore, you won't have to scratch
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: around and get a lot of material from Time Magazine
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: and Newsweek and all the other material that comes, the newspaper,
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: especially not the newspaper, and all the sources of information
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: that are so unreliable. Light years removed from the truth,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: many of them. But go to the Bible and teach
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: the utterances of God. Serve the body by teaching. Some
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: of you maybe ought to be engaged in teaching the young.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: You can teach children. You can teach teenagers. You can
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: teach adults. You might teach people that are working where
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: you work. There might be an opportunity at the lunchtime
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: to do that. Or a special Bible class you could
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: be involved in. Keep serving one another, in this case,
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: through the gift of teaching. And here's another one. Whoever serves,
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: let him do so as by the strength which God supplies.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: Now this might be called the gift of helping. The
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: gift of assisting. The teacher is up front, but the
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: one who serves behind the scenes is not. And the
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: body would be crippled without many people who are able
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: to serve, to help, to encourage. There's a gift of
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: showing mercy. That goes along with ministering to the ill. Now,
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: it doesn't mean they're the only ones that ought to visit,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: but they make the best visitors. They make the best
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: people to go to the hospital and encourage those that
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: are laid aside. Some don't have a gift of mercy.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: And I tell them, just visit rarely. Just get in
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: and out. Just leave that for those that have got it.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: But others have a gift of evangelism. And it's the
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: easiest thing in the world for them to lead people
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: to Christ. And they just do it naturally. It just flows.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: It's part of their lives. Others don't have that gift.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: But we're all to be engaged in the work of
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: making Christ known. There's no week of my life I
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: don't speak to someone about Christ. I don't announce that.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: I don't broadcast it around the country. It's just a flow,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: but I don't think I have the gift of evangelism.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: I don't see phenomenal results in evangelism occurring, but you
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: and I could name people that do. And they're not
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: all the people that lead the crusades. They're individuals that
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: have the most natural way of winning friends, and before
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: you know it, they've turned the conversation to Christ, and
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: they've got that person panting to no more. And before
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: they're through, it seems like they've got a contact, if
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: not at that moment, later to lead them to Christ.
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: Serving other people. Get out of your own little tiny radius.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: As Christ makes these final plans for return, be involved
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: in serving. It does wonders for your depression, for your
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: pity parties, for those times when you sit alone and
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: want to sing, woe is me, woe is me. Woe
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: is me. It's a very dull song. It can be
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: sung over and over and over and over again. Let
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: me give you the goal. It's the end of verse 11.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: So that in all things, God may be glorified through
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. The goal is to glorify God. You say,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: that's so basic. Why even spend time on it? Because
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: without that, listen to me, your teaching becomes a drudgery.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: Your helping leads to burnout. Your evangelism is an intense
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: thing that allows you to never rest. Or you try
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: to get the glory for all the people you lead
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: to Christ. No, when you have the glory of God
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: as your goal, it is amazing what it does to
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: your spiritual gift. It is amazing what it does to
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: your hospitality. It's amazing what it does to your love life.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: Amazing what it does to your balance. All for the glory,
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: the glory of God. Since he gets the glory, we're
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: more comfortable leaving the results with him. Since he gets
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: the glory, our limited umbrella dimensions of love that Jowett
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: described are expanded. Since he's to be glorified, our interest
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: isn't in ourselves. It's in showing courtesy and hospitality and warmth.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: It comes easier. Since he's to get the glory, our
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: spiritual gifts are exercised not as a chore or a duty,
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: But it's a gift. It is my gift to you
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: to teach. It is for God's glory, but it's my
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: opportunity to give. And whatever gifts I may have. You
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: want me to help you know what will make all
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: of this happen? We read over it rather quickly on purpose.
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: Go right back to verse 7. Put quotes around it.
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: The end of all things is near. At hand. I
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: know it sounds like a broken record. I talk about
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: it rather often, but it's in the book. And I
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: can only speak the utterances of God. His coming isn't
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: far away. Some of your and my friends who are
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: at this moment living with terminal diseases may not die.
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: Christ may come before they passed on. I think the
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: only time many people think of Christ's immediate return is
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: when bills come due. They think, oh Lord, usually around
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: April 14, oh Lord, come quickly. We don't have forever.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: He may come before this very night runs its course,
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: this very night. And I'll meet you on the way up.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: As the gospel song says, Jesus may come today, glad day.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: glad day. There's a song that I like even better.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: It's not a song, it's a hymn. I want you
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: to turn to it.
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: Hymn 535.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: There are, believe it or not, 17 to 25 verses
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: or stanzas to this hymn. We will limit it to
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: two this evening. But Take the time to look at
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: the theology of this great hymn of Christ's coming. The
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: sands of time are sinking. The dawn of heaven breaks.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: The summer morn I've sighed for. The fair, sweet morn awakes. Dark,
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: dark has been the midnight, but day spring is at hand.
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: And glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land. The bride eyes
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: not her garment but her dear bridegroom's face. I will
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: not gaze at glory but on my king of grace.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: Not at the crown he giveth but on his pierced hand.
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: Don't you love it? The land is all the glory
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: of Emmanuel's land. Our father we look So forward to
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: that day when we shall see the lamb with pierced
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: hands and pierced feet. And we shall worship him who
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: alone is deserving of all the glory. Worthy is the
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: lamb who was slain. See in our lives and hear
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: from our lips and know from our hearts, as only
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: you can know, how deeply we love you, our Father.
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: Keep us calm and cool in a spirit of prayer.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: Give us a fervency in our love for one another,
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: for that covers a multitude of sins. Find us to
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: be hospitable people who take time, who are accessible, available, caring.
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: And Lord, as our gifts are exercised, may we do
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: that for your glory. For the Lamb is all the
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: glory in Emmanuel's land. May these words we've heard make
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: a difference in the way we live And may the
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: difference be so significant that it is noticed. And we
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: have opportunity to give you the praise before others. We
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: pray in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen.
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2011 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.