Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] I'm going to have you turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans, and we're going to look at a message I've entitled Experience the secrets of a Healthy Life. How many know that? That's very important that we do, that we experience health.
[00:00:16] It was in 1911 when a Carolingian ruler of France secured the services of a Viking named Roland to safeguard the coast of what was now Normandy. The slides are not moving, guys. They're not up.
[00:00:31] He was successful in warding off other Viking attacks. And really he became so integrated into the life of the people of that period. The King of Paris, basically, of France, was a lot smaller then.
[00:00:46] He hired this guy to protect his coast from his other Viking raiders that he became so integrated. He became a follower of Christ and eventually embraced the French language as well.
[00:01:00] He became a Christian.
[00:01:02] So this area became known as Normandy because obviously the French Vikings, I mean, this Viking originated from the north.
[00:01:12] Eventually he was so successful at it that they turned their rating to actually England.
[00:01:19] And in 980, Ethelred, who was one of the leaders of one of the counties or the provinces or groupings, there's probably about seven or eight different groupings in England at that time, created an alliance with the Normans. And so to seal that agreement, he agreed that his for his daughter to marry the Duke of Normandy.
[00:01:42] This decision had an impact not only in that moment, but it had a continuous impact, not only in France, but even unto this present day. As a matter of fact, in 1066, the Anglo Saxon king, Edward the Confessor, died, and he left no heir. And so Harold had Raade, King of Norway, Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex, and William, Duke of Normandy, who was a descendant of that union between Ethelred and his Norman wife, later became known as as William the Conqueror. They contested for the throne of England. Harold Godwinson was actually already there in England. So he defeated an invasion by the King of Norway, the other Harold.
[00:02:28] But unfortunately for Harold Godwinson, he had to defeat another opponent within a few months. And so he had to march his army from the north of England all the way down to the south of England at a place called Hastings, where he himself was killed in battle. And William eventually not only conquered that part of England, but all of England. And he placed the Norman aristocracy over land holdings in England. And the language of court in England became French. And today the English language now is embedded with French words. I don't know if you realize that a lot of the roots of our own language come out of this time. And the reason I'm bringing all this up, you're going, well, this little historical lesson, you obviously know I like history, but it just goes to show you how disgusting decisions impact people's lives. And it can impact people's lives for all of eternity. And so decision making is extremely critical. And God gives us the ability to make decisions. How many are happy about that? But decisions have consequences, and you can make good decisions and they end up having great consequences, you know, or you can make bad decisions, and eventually they have consequences as well. And so I'm so grateful for. For God's grace, because sometimes God can temper our bad decisions. It doesn't necessarily mean he eradicates all consequences, but he does bring forgiveness and grace into our lives. And what I want to focus in on today is the whole idea of decisions and how it impacts us and our family.
[00:04:01] Do you realize that Christianity, the introduction to meeting Jesus, is actually a prayer way that's so powerful to me. It's like being introduced to a person. You get introduced, and that's great. We start the Christian journey by an introduction. We pray, we ask God to forgive us. We're turning away from our past life. We're turning towards God. But what begins to happen is we're now on a journey. And I want to just say that what really brings change in our lives, and Patty and I were sitting down chatting about this the other night, and we were just talking about our own conversion experience and our concerns, our deep concerns about people and what's happening in people's lives. And you know, when you've been a Christian for a long time, some of you, I've known you for decades, and you and I know what's happened. We've had many, many people over the years, and some people start out really well, and then pretty soon they're just not doing well.
[00:04:56] And we're just trying to figure out, like, why does that happen? Why does that have to happen in people's lives?
[00:05:01] And we're having that discussion. And I think one of the reasons, number one, is why people struggle in their Christian life, and this is probably one of the big reasons, is they allow the past to define, find them. In other words, we identify with our past sin. In other words, we see ourselves as a sinner. And we sometimes. We have all these labels. We're really good at labeling problems. How many know? We're probably the most sophisticated society to label problems that we've ever existed. We have a name for everything.
[00:05:31] And I'm going to just really mess with your heads today. Let me just do say this, that a lot of what we label, and it somehow, somehow takes away a little bit of the pressure. But. But a lot of it's just sin. Why don't we just call it for what it is? Because I think someone has given us an answer to the sin problem. His name is Jesus. And we don't have to live identifying as this is what I was.
[00:05:54] You see, we now become something other than what we were. And I love how Paul even writing to the Corinthians, he says, you know, such were some of you. He lists these names of sins. Some of you did this, some of you did that, some of you did this. Such were some of you. Past tense. But now you are God's.
[00:06:13] I think we need to understand the identity that God wants to convey upon our lives. We are not defined by our past sin. Yes, we may be tempted in that area. Yes, we may have a propensity towards that, but we don't have to act on it because there's now a new power in our lives to help us live the Christian life. So we got to stop making excuses for ourselves. Okay?
[00:06:41] You know, when you do that, when you stop making excuses for yourself, you can kind of actually move forward. This is not who I am. This is now who I am. I'm a child of God. He's forgiven me. I have a new future. And then I think another struggle we have is that we follow Jesus from a distance.
[00:06:57] You know what I mean by that? You know, we're not really totally 100% in.
[00:07:02] We were chatting the other night and we just said, you know, when we became believers, we were 100% in. We just went for it. And I want to just encourage you right now. Some of you grew up in the church. You know, it's just kind of like I grew up around it. But you got to give yourself to it. You know, you don't earn salvation. But the Bible says we should make every effort to add to our faith certain virtues. So we have to make an effort, and we need to cultivate this Christian life that we have. Listen to what happens. You know, you think about Peter. Let's pick on Peter for a minute. On the night he betrayed Jesus, his faith was challenged. And what did he do? He faltered and failed. Why? Because he was. Bible says he was following from afar.
[00:07:43] He really wasn't following closely to Christ.
[00:07:46] He was depending on himself. This is where a lot of us are. We depend on ourselves. Peter says, hey, you know, everybody else is going to let you down, Jesus. I'll be there for you. He didn't realize how weak he really was. And let me say this, that trials are designed to show you exactly where you're at in your faith. Are you depending on yourself? Are you depending on others? Or are you depending on God? That's what it's about, you know.
[00:08:10] So we can expect that each of us are going to be tested in our lives. How many know that's true?
[00:08:16] And our faith is going to be challenged at different moments in life. And the question is, will we deny him? And how can we move past living an inconsistent lifestyle and walk in freedom and become spiritually healthy? So really the focus today is how can I experience spiritual health? How many want to be spiritually healthy?
[00:08:35] And by the way, what's going to happen as a result of spiritual health? You're going to find out that you're going to be relationally healthy. You're going to start becoming emotionally healthy, mentally healthy. All of those things, I think come into play when we become spiritually healthy. In Romans chapter 12, we discover the nature of a healthy life. And it's a person who's humble, which means we're like God. God is other than what human beings are like.
[00:09:02] I'm gonna challenge you right now. A lot of Christians, you're trying to make God in your image rather than discovering who God is and allow him to make you in his image.
[00:09:12] And the moment you start to say, look, God is unlike me, I wanna get to know him. As I get to know him, I become more like him. Rather than trying to pull God down and make God seem more like where I'm coming from. In other words, you know, God loves me.
[00:09:27] I know he wants me to do this because he loves me.
[00:09:32] You know, God's very tolerant of sin. I'm going to tell you right now, God is intolerant of sin. How's that? He's intolerant of it. That may be shocking to some of you. You know, it's not because God doesn't love you. I would argue that no matter how deeply embedded sin is in your life, God will love you anyways.
[00:09:51] That's not the issue.
[00:09:53] What God does is loves you so much he doesn't want to leave you there because he knows how self destructive that is in your life. He wants to address those things in all of our lives.
[00:10:04] So you'll notice that this holy life, this humble life, which just simply means a dependency on God, it's not a self diminishment of myself, it's A deep dependency on God creates a healthy life. And as we're about to see, a healthy life is a life filled with divine love.
[00:10:23] And that's what we're going to pray for at the end of the service.
[00:10:26] Now surrender will only come. I think I've thought about this. Only comes when we experience love.
[00:10:32] You know, what changes us is love. Love changes people. By the way, genuine God given love will change you and you will become now a channel of his love. That's what we want to be, a channel of God's love. Notice in chapter Romans chapter one, you find people on a downward spiral.
[00:10:52] And I'll let you read that on your own time. It's a distortion of thinking. If you read the chapter that leads to a whole bunch of sinful activities In Romans chapter 12, we're going to go the other way. Romans chapter 12, we're going to be encouraged to reverse that process by change of mind.
[00:11:09] It'll call it the renewing of our mind or the change of our mind and a lifestyle where our thinking is renewed and we become like what we worship. And by the way, all of us on this planet are worshipers. We're all worshiping something.
[00:11:24] Most people don't even realize it. Some people are worshiping themselves.
[00:11:28] Some people are worshiping, you know, icons and idols, movie stars, sports people. You know, I want to be like this person. Whoever it is that you aspire to be like, that's the person you begin to emulate and become like.
[00:11:43] And so, you know, the best person, if you want to emulate someone, the best human being on the planet that's ever lived, his name is Jesus. Take a look at his life. Begin to emulate that and you'll become like Him. That's powerful.
[00:11:55] So listen to the text I'm going to look at today. It's found in Romans 12, 1, 2. And then we're going to skip down to verses 9 through 13.
[00:12:07] Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercies. Now, the first 11 chapters talks about the great salvation, how Jesus provided for us, how we can come to freedom. I think I'm going to speak on that next week on how to become free to offer. Now he says, in view of what God's done for you, present your bodies, offer your bodies as living sacrifices.
[00:12:30] This is our response to God. We have to give ourselves fully to him in our entirety. Our minds, our will, our emotions, the future.
[00:12:41] What I aspire to.
[00:12:43] I'm going to argue with you that at the very beginning of creation, God Decided to create our world. And this is going to shock you. He decided to create you and decided to create me.
[00:12:54] Isn't that amazing?
[00:12:56] You were in the heart of the mind of God before he created anything.
[00:13:00] And then he decided to put you in this segment of human history.
[00:13:04] You're not here by accident. He put you exactly where you need to be and he wired you up a certain way and, and he has an assignment for you.
[00:13:13] Most people never figure it out. They're too busy living a self absorbed life.
[00:13:19] But I'm gonna argue with you. I cannot think of a better life than the one that the creator and originator of your soul designed for you.
[00:13:28] And when you and I discover that, we can begin to live out his purposes. Listen, when he says, you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, which means a set apart life pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. That suggests to me there's a lot of people today that are having false worship and improper worship. Because he says you're going to do what God wants in your life. You're going to be a worshiper. Worship doesn't just happen on Sunday morning, folks.
[00:13:57] Do you know worship is a 24 7, 365 day a year activity. You are worshiping at every minute of your life.
[00:14:06] You were a worshiper.
[00:14:08] Now we're going to find out what this worship looks like. He goes, do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed or changed.
[00:14:19] You know, when Jesus was changed, remember in the mountain of transfiguration, that's the same word. He became metamorphosed.
[00:14:25] You know, in science, that's the idea of this caterpillar becoming a butterfly. How many know that's a pretty significant change?
[00:14:32] They may think being a caterpillar and then a butterfly is a big change. How many think that might be a big change?
[00:14:39] Can I explain something to you? That is a picture of becoming born again. That's the kind of change God wants to do in your life. He wants to transform your nature from an earthly creature to a heavenly one. God, really? That's what he does. When we become born again, his spirit comes inside of us. Whoo. All of a sudden. Now. We were once crawling around eating leaves. Now all of a sudden we're flying into the heavenlies. It's a powerful thing. We're seated in heavenly places. That's the born again experience.
[00:15:07] Then he says here, then you will be able to test to prove what God's will is. His good, pleasing and perfect will. He's just Giving, definite, you know, describing God's will. God's will is good. God's will pleases. God's will is perfect.
[00:15:23] And God wants that for our lives.
[00:15:25] And he desires that. He's a loving father.
[00:15:28] So only those who are humble and holy can actually live a healthy life.
[00:15:35] As I said, I'm not just talking about physical health here.
[00:15:39] I'm really focusing in on the emotional, mental, spiritual and relational health to be healthy. Because the word holy and whole are synonymous terms. God wants to integrate us. God wants us to become holy, which means healthy. So the holy people are the healthy people. The unholy people are the unhealthy people. How's that? I've just said it. I'm summarizing it, but I think we need to understand that.
[00:16:05] So now let's take a look here at expressions of a healthy life, which, by the way, is a loving life. We're going to find out. God's way of health is love.
[00:16:17] God is love. So if we're going to become like him, we're going to become loving.
[00:16:21] And so he begins by saying we must have, you know, a healthy life is discovered in its sincerity. Now, it's interesting, that word sincerity is a very fascinating word in the Greek language. You say, where did it come from? Well, this is where it came from. It come from pottery. And what they would do is, the pottery people, when they made a mistake, when they maybe a fracture or kind of a hairline fracture in a pottery piece, in order to make it seem like it was a perfect piece, they would melt wax on it.
[00:16:53] So they would put wax to fill the little hairline fracture so you couldn't see there was anything flawed.
[00:17:01] The only way you could discover that the piece was flawed is if you held it up to the light.
[00:17:06] Okay, now watch what happens. What he's saying is be without wax.
[00:17:11] He's saying is don't try to conceal the flaws.
[00:17:16] See, that's what we try to do as human beings. We try to pretend we're okay. We want to hide. We don't want people to know the secret parts of us that are not quite right. And so we, you know, many times we pretend to be something we're really not. Listen, God already knows what's going on.
[00:17:31] Can I tell you that God even knows the intent of your mind?
[00:17:36] You know, God knows everything about you. You can't hide anything from God, so you might as well not do that. You might as well just come to God and say, God, I'm really struggling. And these are the things I'm struggling with. And just tell them, you know, I don't want to be struggling with this. Maybe I'm insecure, maybe I'm fearful, or maybe I'm anxious or whatever it is, I'm worrying God. Or, you know, I struggle with impure thoughts or I struggle with, you know, food addiction or you know, just go down the line. You know, I'm greedy, I'm materialistic. Just keep calling it out. Just say, God, listen. But this is not my identity.
[00:18:09] This is the temptation. Your spirit now lives inside of me. And I know that you want to empower me to help me to become victorious and live a healthy life.
[00:18:19] Actually, God wants to turn our self centeredness into unselfishness. Isn't that beautiful? He wants to give you a meaning and a purpose that goes way beyond you. We're going to look at that here. But this, I really, I think deep down inside.
[00:18:35] I was reading this the other day and I wrote it in my journal.
[00:18:39] It says, Proverbs 19:22. It says what a person desires is unfailing love.
[00:18:44] So I wrote that down. Every human being desires to be loved unconditionally. Is that true? Don't you want to just be accepted for who you are? Don't you want to just be loved for who you are? And you know, I think we're all looking for love.
[00:18:59] That's what I wrote down. We're all looking for love.
[00:19:02] Every person wants to be loved. Every person wants to be affirmed. Every person wants to be accepted. And I'm going to tell you something. There's only one person that can love you like this. It's not your spouse. It's not your children. It's not your parents or your grandparents or your grandchildren.
[00:19:18] It's God.
[00:19:19] God is the only person that can love you to the degree that you need to be loved. But you know, we do. We look for it in all these other people and we're always disappointed because they're not ever going to match up to your incredible need to be loved.
[00:19:34] But here's what I'm going to say. Why don't we open our hearts and say, God, you know, I am so broken, I am so needy. I'm so desperate to be loved at this level. Would you love me like this? God says, I already have.
[00:19:46] I've already loved you at this level. I want you to understand this.
[00:19:50] No matter what you do, I still love you. Now that doesn't mean God won't discipline us. That doesn't mean God won't address issues in our lives. But God loves us at an incredible level. And it's a level I need to be loved at. But once I experience this love from God and it starts flowing into my life, you know what happens? I now can be a channel of that love. It's impossible for me to love other people if I don't know what love is. And I have never experienced love. How many say that's probably true? How can I love another person if I don't know what love is and I've never experienced it?
[00:20:23] But you see, God says, I love you like that, and I'm going to let you experience this love so that you can become a channel of this very love to other people. And that's what I want.
[00:20:35] So you know what happens? How do we know what love looks like? Well, it was said of a popular 19th century author, William Arnott. It says, well, I'll get back to that verse. His preaching is good, his writing is better, his living is best of all. Isn't that great?
[00:20:56] Would that it could be said of all Christians that their living is best of all. In other words, what is he really trying to say here?
[00:21:03] Being is more important than doing.
[00:21:07] Our character is really going to determine what we're going to do.
[00:21:13] And so if we're living at the highest level, everything else is just, you know, what flows out of that is great.
[00:21:19] But God wants to change the very essence of our hearts. Matter of fact, Jesus himself said by this, everyone will know that you're my disciples if you love one another. So the real test of a believer is our love life.
[00:21:31] And I'm saying that you can't have a good love life unless you're healthy.
[00:21:36] And what I mean by a love life, I'm not about what the world's talking about. I'm talking about the love that we have for God and the love we have for others.
[00:21:45] I'm gonna share something that happened this week. This is so amazing to me. I was working on my elliptical and I'm listening to some lectures called the Long Shadows of the Greek Culture.
[00:21:57] And this professor, he's explaining Greek and law. And all of a sudden he says something. And it just resonated inside of me. He said the Greeks understood law, and the word for law there is nomos. That's the Greek word, nomos. And I knew that because, you know, you know, law when you're interpreting it in the Bible is nomos. He said the Greeks understood it not only as statutes or ordinances, but as a way of life. And immediately my Mind became alive.
[00:22:29] And I thought about the Jewish people. God gave them a law. Why did God give people the law? So they could live within the law. Why? Because that was boundaries that would create a healthy life.
[00:22:39] So it wasn't just keeping the rules. It was actually a way of life. So the Jewish people understood that. But you know what? Think about what the law required.
[00:22:48] The law said you're to love God and to love people.
[00:22:51] It really came down to love. But what happened by the time we get to the first century and Jesus shows up, you know, these guys are just locked into law.
[00:23:00] As a matter of fact, it's just become, you know, what was meant to bring freedom now became an oppressive thing. They were having all of these rules and rigidity to it. They were condemning each other. And that's what happens even in the church when you have legalism. A lot of Christians swing over and say, well, yeah, but God says to do this and God says to do that. And God says, don't do this. And we get locked into that. But we don't understand. It's designed to be a way of life. And Jesus came back and said, you, you don't understand. It's all about love.
[00:23:28] And James tells us it's the royal law of love. And to be healthy isn't that we're trying to do a bunch of things or don't do a bunch of things. It's about learning how to live in a way of life called love. And Jesus is the way, and he's teaching us how. You and I should learn how to love one another.
[00:23:47] Wow.
[00:23:49] Well, the word that's used here is the word agape here in this text in John 13:35.
[00:23:55] This is God's kind of love. It's a love that gives without thought for what it gets.
[00:24:01] It's a selfless, sacrificial love. It's the kind of love that Jesus brought to the cross. Love is always about the other that God brings into our lives.
[00:24:10] You know, it was an interesting article that I just saw. You know, I noticed on my little phone, you know, they give you, like, some articles they want you to read. And I noticed one and I was intrigued by, because it says young people today are having a hard time finding love.
[00:24:25] They don't know how to find love. You know, it's really fascinating. So, you know, I opened it up and it was talking about different kinds of things. But, you know, in my mind, I'm thinking about this. I'm going, you know, one of the problems, it's not just Young people, it's a problem in our culture today because we think love is getting, when in reality love is giving. I want you to think about it. You know, God doesn't look around and say, well, you know, I'm going to love you once you love me.
[00:24:50] No, God says, I loved you while you were yet a sinner. I might think that's powerful.
[00:24:55] While you were in rebellion to me, when you had no thought of me, when you were indifferent towards me, when you didn't have any care in the world, I died for you. I loved you first.
[00:25:03] We don't love God. God loves us. And because God loves us, you and I can begin to experience a love so that you and I, in turn, can begin to love God. And then now we can learn to love other people.
[00:25:16] And, you know, if you're waiting for people to love you, and that's where most people are at, I'm waiting for people to do for me, do for me, do for me. And, you know, you're disappointed, and people will never do enough. But listen, God is love, and love is about giving.
[00:25:31] You know, husbands, I want you to think about this for a minute. What does the word of God say to you? It says, husbands love your wives.
[00:25:39] Then it tells you how to love your wife.
[00:25:42] Even as Christ loved the church. How did Christ love the church?
[00:25:46] He gave his life for the church.
[00:25:49] Can I just say, you know, one of the big marriage problems is.
[00:25:52] This is what it is. It says, don't live a selfish life.
[00:25:58] You need to die to yourself.
[00:26:00] Ouch.
[00:26:01] You need to be the focus is loving the other person, giving to the other person, considerate of the other person. It's about giving. It's not about getting.
[00:26:12] This is a getting culture.
[00:26:15] Biblically, it's about giving.
[00:26:18] The world has it upside down, folks. You want to live a healthy life, Listen to what Jesus said. Unless you're willing to lay down your life for my sake and the gospel, you'll never find it. You'll always be a needy person. You'll always be an unhealthy person. You'll always have something missing in your life. But the moment you lay down your life for my sake and the gospel's sake, you're gonna find life.
[00:26:40] And you know what brings real satisfaction is when you start giving, you're just pouring out your life. You say, well, Pastor, you know, if I started doing that, I'll get to empty. No, you won't. Not if you're in touch with God. Not if you're spending time with God as a Matter of fact, the verse that I gave you this morning, Romans 12:1 and 2. I thought about that verse. You know where Paul gets this idea from?
[00:27:00] Psalm 1:1.
[00:27:03] Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. And he shall be like a tree that's planted by the waters, and his leaf will flourish.
[00:27:20] What's it saying to us? Well, listen to what Paul's saying. Don't be conformed to this world. Don't hang out and just fill your mind with garbage.
[00:27:30] And I'll tell you something. There's so much garbage out there today, and people are just sucking it up. And it fills them with anxiety and fear. It fills them with a sense of, you know, longing. We look on the social media and this person's got this, and I don't have it. And there's all this stuff coming at us. You know what?
[00:27:46] Don't let that stuff squeeze you into its mold, but rather be transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind. What does it mean to have your mind renewed?
[00:27:57] Well, you know, to be renewed means it has to come alive. It has to be. Something's got to be happening. It's really a life of continuous repentance. What do I mean by that? It's a life continually considering how God's Word is shaping my thinking. And as I spend time with God day and night, I'm spending time in His Word continuously. My mind is being shifted and it's being renewed and I'm being transformed. I'm moving from that caterpillar to the butterfly. It's something that's happening all the time.
[00:28:28] And I'm looking through a different lens instead of walking around going, oh, poor little old me, and look how bad our world is. And I'm afraid and I'm anxious and all the rest of it. Our minds are changing and my confidence in God is increasing and my purpose in life is developing. And all of a sudden I realize these are the gifts God's put in my life, and I'm using them for the sake of others.
[00:28:51] And I'm finding significance, purpose and meaning to life.
[00:28:56] Okay, well, that wasn't in my notes.
[00:29:00] But time is slipping by. Let me keep moving on. Okay, so a godlike love that loves regardless of the circumstances, a deliberate love that decides it will keep on loving even if it is rebuffed. Wow. That's the kind of love God has for us. It's the kind of love God wants to extend through us. The Bible explains that the mature expression of faith is actually love. Agape. It's the same. That's the Greek word, love. We become like God in that God is love. The goal of the command, it says Paul writing, which comes from a pure heart. The goal of this command, he says, is love. So ultimately, what God is trying to do is make you a more loving person.
[00:29:42] And I'm saying to you today that a healthy person is a loving person, and. And an unhealthy person is an unloving person. Okay?
[00:29:50] It comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. These are the ingredients that brings about this kind of love. And I think there's a misconception of love. This love has real grit to it. It's not a toleration of evil, rather a desire for what's best in the lives of other people. How many know sin will always diminish you and sin will always destroy you, and sin will actually destroy relationships in your life. Sin will destroy things around you. That's the nature of sin. It can't help itself. It says the wages of sin is death. That's always been the case.
[00:30:21] But what happens when we're not sinning? When we're loving instead? Wow. But we're dealing with the sin issue. As a matter of fact, it says here in Corinthians, and Paul's writing to a church that's got a lot of sin problems, right? Corinthians. But they're spiritual. But he says to them, love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth.
[00:30:42] You know, so often we think of hating as the opposite of love, but the reality is that indifference is the opposite of love.
[00:30:51] And when we think that we have no thoughts of others, we don't have any feelings of hatreds. This does not mean that we love them. It just maybe simply means we're indifferent to them, which is a lot different.
[00:31:01] You know, when I'm dealing with a couple, if they hate each other, at least we got something to work with.
[00:31:06] Because I know there's some emotion here. And feelings. But if they actually are indifferent to each other, I know we're in trouble. You say, why is that? Because Jesus said, why do people get a divorce? The hardness of their heart. That's what indifference produces. I mean, that's the fruit of indifference. Is. Or the hardness of a heart is indifference. I just don't care anymore. I Have no feeling.
[00:31:25] I'm numb now. I have no concern about that person. They can do what they want. It's fine with me. I'm not their enemy anymore. I'm done with them. Okay?
[00:31:33] But if we ignore their suffering or their spiritual condition and show no concern for them, no care what happens to them, this is not a loving attitude.
[00:31:43] Love cares for others and what will become of them. Not just in life, but also in eternity. I think that's important.
[00:31:49] You know, when we really love people, we care about what they are involved in. In other words, I'm concerned, I'm involved in their life. There's a connection.
[00:31:59] Love is not soft on sin.
[00:32:01] God has never been soft on sin. How many know God hates sin? Does anybody know that? You say, why does God hate sin? Because he died for it. That's what it cost God to deal with the problem of sin.
[00:32:12] It cost him his life. He gave up his life because of sin. You know, it destroys people, it destroys relationships, it destroys families, it destroys churches, it destroys communities. Sin destroys nations, folks.
[00:32:29] Some have even gone into extinction because of the consequences of their sins. Did you know that God just let them go? He just let them continue on in their sin until they finally self destructed.
[00:32:40] And God's not going to, you know, how can I say this?
[00:32:45] We need to be crying out to God. I have never been so burdened for our country in my entire life.
[00:32:51] Because I just see we're just going in a direction, you know, and God's going to allow us to just reap the fruit of, of our sinful behavior.
[00:33:02] Maybe you don't realize this, but you know, I go back to the law again, I'll use this thing because I was listening to these lectures and this isn't even a Christian. He's just explaining, you know, the Athenians were changing their laws as the culture was changing. And you know, a lot of times a law is created to bring freedom, but eventually it becomes oppressive and it's a removal of freedom. Isn't that interesting that the same tool can be good and could be evil?
[00:33:25] If love is not at the heart of these things, it's destructive.
[00:33:30] That's what we need to understand. But it's not the kind of love that our society understands. It's not tolerance of sin. Love is actually going to deal with sin because we're talking about God's kind of love.
[00:33:42] Doug Moose says love is not genuine when it leads a person to do something evil or to avoid doing what is right as defined by God and his Word. Well, let me move on. The second expression of healthy life is single mindedness.
[00:33:56] There's a devotion to love.
[00:33:58] Love is other focused. We're here to demonstrate that love, particularly to other believers. Love is expressed in self giving, action. Look at verse 10. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Here's the idea of a well being, a commitment to others, well being.
[00:34:17] We need to demonstrate that particularly to our human family and to our church family. It starts here, you know, love always.
[00:34:25] My mother used to say this charity begins at home.
[00:34:28] You know, some people are really good to outsiders, but very poor to insiders. You know, what if you can't love your own home?
[00:34:36] You know, if your children don't feel loved, you're failing.
[00:34:40] I'm going to tell you that right now. That's where it starts. It always starts at home. It starts at me loving Patty and loving Andrea and loving Rachel and then loving my grandchildren. And then it extends to loving my church family. And then it gets beyond that. You see, we're expanding and we have to, you know, and loving means you're giving of yourself and your energy and your time to people.
[00:35:04] So the question I say is, how are we spending our time?
[00:35:07] Are we giving our lives away for the sake of others?
[00:35:11] This is a joyous life. Love moves us away from making ourselves the center of our lives where we begin living for God. And how do we do that? By serving other people.
[00:35:21] You know, the key to being a loving person, a healthy person, is basically spiritual fervor.
[00:35:29] So it's not about wondering who's caring for me, rather it's who am I caring for? Let me move on to this point. Now this is an interesting point. You know, a lot of times he goes on to say in Romans 12:11, he says, Never be lacking in zeal, but you keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. You know, I've been a pastor for a long time now and I can honestly say it grieves me to think of all the people that we have known. Some of you have known me for decades.
[00:35:54] Decades.
[00:35:55] And you know what I'm going to talk about when I look around? Beautiful people have disappeared.
[00:36:00] And some of them, it's, you know, when they change a church or something, that doesn't disturb me as much as when I just see them dropping out and not walking with God. That's what bothers me.
[00:36:09] That's a deep concern for me. Okay?
[00:36:12] So I'm not criticizing anybody going somewhere else. That's not my point. My point is that when they're not walking with God, that's deeply distressing to me.
[00:36:21] Now spiritual passion comes from God and it's a genuine compassion for other people originating from a heart filled with spiritual zeal. Paul mentions this in a context of love. I think that's so important.
[00:36:34] But you know, how often have we seen people who are spiritually zealous but their zeal is misdirected. It's a zeal without knowledge. It breeds fanaticism. And I think fanaticism is generally unhealthy. And you've seen it. These people get really high. They get emotionally high. It's a spiritual high. They're really excited.
[00:36:53] I've seen generations of young people get excited and then a few years later not even serve God. What in the world's going on here?
[00:37:00] Well, I like what Douglas Moos says and this is an important thought for all of us to understand.
[00:37:05] The encouragement to be set on fire by this Spirit is, as church history and current experience amply attests, is open to abuse.
[00:37:14] And what do we mean by that? Christians have often been so carried away by enthusiasm for spiritual things that they've left behind those objective standards of Christian living that the scriptures set forth. In other words, it becomes just emotional, it, they're just excited.
[00:37:28] But you know what, you have to go back to what God's word says and says, what does God expect from me? What does God expect from my life?
[00:37:36] And he goes, it seems that Paul is what his concern is. He seeks to cut off any such abuse by reminding us that being set on fire by the Spirit must lead to and be directed by our service of the Lord.
[00:37:50] And it's not the enthusiasm of self centered display. How many people you've seen, they're really excited and they're, they're gifted and you know, it's all about them and their gifts and you know, blah, blah, blah. And then he says, no, but the enthusiasm of humble service of the Master who bought us, that the Spirit creates within us. So what is he saying? You know, if you have spiritual fervor and passion and zeal, we should see it.
[00:38:14] Sometimes it doesn't even come across as spiritual fervor because they're quietly toiling and working and serving and giving and pouring out their lives for other people.
[00:38:24] That's what he's talking about. That's spiritual fervor. I'm going to say something that's going to shock you. I think I have more spiritual fervor today than I've ever had.
[00:38:33] It's true I feel that way. You say, how do you know that, Pastor? I spend more time in communion with God. I spend more time pouring out my life for others.
[00:38:43] That's true spiritual fervor. It's not like, oh, look at me, look what I'm doing. No, no, no, it's not that.
[00:38:49] It's become other centered.
[00:38:51] That's true spiritual fervor. So when all our young people get all enthusiastic and excited and they go out, you know, I've seen people, you know, blow up after a few years. Can I tell you something? You know what impresses me? A person who runs a race for their entire lifetime, that's what impresses me.
[00:39:09] You want to finish? Well, you know, I want you to start. Well, I was enthusiastic when I first started.
[00:39:16] I'm still enthusiastic.
[00:39:19] I think I'm more enthusiastic, but it's more.
[00:39:25] I'm going to say it looks more mellow, looks more chill, but it's more effective because it's very directed. It's the difference between, you know, in the old days when they used to drill for oil and they had these big derricks and the oil would shoot up. Everybody know you hit oil. But how many know, what good is it if it's just shooting through a derrick? Why do you shoot for oil? No, you want to direct it so it can be used for useful purposes. That's what the work of the Spirit is all about. God wants. Yeah, it's okay to have, you know, moments in your life where you get really excited and emotionally excited about, great.
[00:40:01] But now you got to direct all of that excitement and make it useful in the service and love for other people.
[00:40:08] And to do that over generations or decades, that's impressive. Now I'm impressed.
[00:40:16] Is that making sense to you?
[00:40:18] So you have to decide in your heart, you know, I want to be that kind of person that I want to run this race with perseverance.
[00:40:27] You know, number of years ago, I went through a great trial and I said, God, what are you doing? He says, I'm teaching you. What are you teaching me? Perseverance.
[00:40:35] How many know perseverance is an important quality, endurance, you know, getting through these situations.
[00:40:42] We need to be fervent in our relationship with God as it impacts the lives of other people. I can tell you how close I am to God by simply how I'm treating other people. That's the test. When we truly love God, it'll be manifested in how we treat those around us. As a matter of fact, John says, this is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and our sisters.
[00:41:06] If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother or sister in need, but has no pity in them, how can the love of God be in that person? Wow, what a challenge. Let me move on here really quickly to the third expression, substance.
[00:41:18] When God's love is reigning in our hearts, it's not only manifested towards God and others, but also in our attitude towards life. And it's many challenges and disappointments. How many here can say, I've had many challenges in my life and disappointments? Raise your hand, have you had those?
[00:41:34] If you haven't, you will.
[00:41:37] You say, how do you know that, Pastor? Because James tells me, consider pure joy. When you have all these trials, it's going to produce what ultimately? Endurance, perseverance, and leads to maturity. It's going to happen in your life.
[00:41:52] You know, as a matter of fact, we believe that God loves us regardless of what's happening in our lives. That's a sign of mature love. You know, when God allows a trial to come into my life, I go, God doesn't love me anymore.
[00:42:04] Or is God really good? I'm questioning the goodness of God. Well, of course God's good. He's always been good and he always will be good. That doesn't even listen. God loves me. It was settled when he died for me and called me out of darkness. He still loves me. Just because there's a trial going on in my life doesn't mean God doesn't care about me. Of course he does. But we need to be joyful in hope.
[00:42:25] Isn't that true? How many here right now? You're waiting for something.
[00:42:30] You know, you're waiting. You're waiting and you're waiting and you're getting impatient and you're getting frustrated. You're getting uptight.
[00:42:37] That's when you make mistakes, right?
[00:42:40] You know, God says, I make everything beautiful in my time. I got a phone call the other day from one of my pastor friends.
[00:42:47] Hey, how's the land thing coming along? Because, you know, he's been here, said, we're still working on it, we're still negotiating. He goes, wow, has that ever taken long? I said, yeah, I've been praying and believing for this for over 25 years.
[00:43:00] I'm in the Abraham category now.
[00:43:04] That's where I'm at.
[00:43:06] You know, God just teaches you to be patient.
[00:43:10] People keep coming up, Pastor, how's that coming along? This is where we're at. I'm not excited you say, why don't you get excited anymore? Hey, listen, it's all going to be done in God's good time. I can't make it go faster.
[00:43:24] You know, my excitement is not going to change anything.
[00:43:27] Pressuring people isn't going to work. Manipulating things isn't going to happen. How many times we try to do that stuff, it only gets us into trouble.
[00:43:34] Let's close right now. So I'm going to have you stand as we close the service in prayer.
[00:43:39] I could say a little bit more if you want more information on this message.
[00:43:45] I'm going to say this.
[00:43:47] There's more to this message. I'll put it in the blog. Okay? So if you want to keep going, but right now I want to stop because my time is up. And here's what I want us to do.
[00:43:58] I did this on Tuesday night. I said, you know what, guys? First of all, you need to know God loves you.
[00:44:03] He loves every single person in this room. You're his creation.
[00:44:08] You're someone he loves deeply.
[00:44:11] But you and I have to open our hearts to God.
[00:44:15] And how many here say, you know what? I would love to become a channel of God's love. You'd love to just be a vessel where God could pour his love into you and then pour his love through you. Anybody up for that?
[00:44:27] Okay, so we're going to pray that prayer. Why don't we just lift our hands today and we're going to say, lord, I recognize that in myself I can't love properly.
[00:44:38] It's not in me to love. I'm a broken vessel.
[00:44:42] But I want to love. And I want to love sincerely. And I don't want to, you know, I want to not be not authentic. I want to be authentic. And so I pray right now that your divine love would flow into my life, that I would experience love at a level I've never experienced before, that you would empower me with your love so that I could just become a vessel, a channel where divine love would flow in and through my life. That you would move me from an unhealthy state in whatever area in my life that I'm struggling. And you would empower me to overcome and to allow me to begin to live in freedom and walking in the way of love, which is the way of you, Jesus. I'm following your way. I'm on your path, and I'm allowing love to flow in and through my life.
[00:45:30] Father, I pray today, I want to be set free from this idea of being identified with whatever struggle I've battled.
[00:45:38] I refuse to be identified with sin.
[00:45:41] That's not my identity.
[00:45:43] My identity is I'm your child.
[00:45:46] And you have saved me from my sin. You have given me a new standing in your presence, but you've also given me a new power.
[00:45:54] Help me to stop making excuses for myself, but to tap into that amazing power that's greater than sin. I pray for great grace today for my brothers and my sisters and myself. I pray for great love to flow into our hearts. Lord, I pray your Holy Spirit would come and reveal the depth and breadth of your love to us. I pray that down the road it may be tonight, it may be tomorrow, maybe next week. But there'll be a moment when your spirit will come upon us in such a powerful way that we will experience not just intellectually, but we'll have an amazing encounter with your divine love that will flush out a lot of junk and allow your presence to flow into my life in a way I've never had it happen before.
[00:46:39] So that your love can flow through me and that I could begin to serve in the same capacity and ways that you served others. Lord Jesus, that the assignment that you gave me from all of eternity, I would fulfill it and that I would walk in your will and in your way. That's good, perfect and pleasing.
[00:47:01] And I thank you for that. In Jesus name, amen. God bless you as you leave.
