LOOKING THE LORD'S WAY

#1 · August 28, 2007, 11:33 am

Quote from Forum Archives on August 28, 2007, 11:33 am
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
LOOKING THE LORDS WAY

August 26, 2007

Text: Philippians 2:1-11

George Sweeting, former president of Moody Bible Institute, told graduating seniors at Taylor University that they live in a self-serving age. To illustrate, he told of a single farmer who wanted a wife. He took out an ad in a newspaper that read, Man, 35, wants woman about 25 with tractor. Send picture of tractor. (Dennis J. De Haan, The Outward Look, Our Daily Bread, August 21, 1997) Clearly, this bachelor intended to look out for his own interests more than the needs of the other person in the relationship.

Dr. Sweeting made his observation about a self-serving age to the graduating class of 1997. In the ensuing decade, I do not observe it getting any better. Selfishness in many forms remains alive and well and growing. Indeed, we have even more goods and services available to us now that we have come to believe that we desperately need. And even though many of these goods and services do contribute to our ease and comfort, they also cause us to direct our resources away from others and toward ourselves. Another illustration is found in the fanciful tale of a lawyer who was excited to show off his new Lexus to his colleagues. No sooner had he parked along the street and opened his door than a truck driving too close to the parked cars ripped the drivers door right off. A policeman nearby witnessed the accident and came right over. Before he could get his first words out, the lawyer went into a rant. I dont believe it! My new Lexus! Itll never be the same! No matter what they do to it in the shop, itll never be the same. I just dont believe this! And on and on he went, as the policeman just stood there and let him vent his anger. Finally, after the lawyer wound down, the policeman said with sadness and shock, I cant believe how materialistic you lawyers are. Here youve been going on all this time about your new car, and youve completely ignored that your left arm has been torn off in the accident. Looking down and seeing that the policeman was right, he cried out, Oh my goodness! Wheres my Rolex?

One of the realities of original sin, that sin into which all of us are born because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, is that we are all infected with selfishness. Indeed, when we analyze the disobedience of Adam and Eve, it is easy to discover that they succumbed to the temptation offered them because they sought to benefit personally from their disobedience. It is sad that all of us suffer as a result of their actions, but that is the nature of sin. It is nearly impossible to find any sin to God that does not cause others to suffer. In spite of this reality, men and women today continue to demand that society confirm their immoral behavior with no regard to who else is hurt by their selfish disobedience.

Because we are often so intent to look our way, we find it a challenge to look the Lords way. There is much in Scripture that is easy to understand. Philippians 2:3-4 are two such passages: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. When we follow these verses and implement them into our lives, then we are looking the Lords way.

Immediately we find reasons to fail to do these verses. Immediately coming to my mind is the fear of being taken advantage of. And I have been taken advantage of before. There are people who have deceived me and gotten away with it. When it happens, I feel angry and foolish and hurt for being cheated. I want to immediately look to my own interests and forget about anything that Paul wrote to Christians in Philippians 2. While I certainly do not think that these verses are an open invitation to be ripped off time after time, I still have to believe that they apply even if I have been deceived.

After all, look at the overall testimony and promise from Christ himself. Nowhere in Scripture is there any indication that Jesus withholds his promised salvation from anyone just because someone else lied to him and used faith to deceive others. There are many people who believe they can get their own way by deceiving the Lord. In reality, they deceive themselves, not God. Anyone who has been following the case of Michael Vick, the Atlanta quarterback who was arrested for dog fighting, knows that he has decided to enter a guilty plea. He at first denied any guilt, but too much evidence stacked against him, so his first deceptions crashed. The other day, one of his attorneys issued a statement on behalf of Vick who expressed his sorrow for hurting anyone and appreciation for any prayers being said on his behalf. It would be nice to believe that such sentiments are honest, but I do not see the evidence for it. Nowhere in this case where Michael Vick has been in the public eye has he shown any evidence of seeking salvation from God by confessing his sin and receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. So what exactly is the value of any prayers that Vick so eagerly covets? They seem to be for his selfish devices and not for any purpose of looking to the interests of others.

I dont mean to pick on Michael Vick exclusively; this is exactly the kind of attitude seen on any given day on any given street and in any given household around the world. Its not hard to find examples of folks becoming real spiritual after getting caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar so that they can attempt to use faith to lessen or eliminate their punishment. My point is that, even though belief and confession are abused, God does not withdraw His salvation and love.

Neither should we. Even when we are deceived, we cannot use it as an excuse to look out only for number one. Now we can become more wary about how we are going to help. Sometimes catching the other person in his deceit and revealing his sin is the best help that can be given. But regardless of our personal experience, Philippians 2 still stands. Considering others better than ourselves and looking out for the interests of others continue to be valid Biblical instruction for the Christian. It applied to the fellowship of believers in Philippi, and it applies to the brothers and sisters in Bunker Hill First Baptist Church.

One example of living these verses comes from Watchman Nee, a Chinese Christian evangelist. One of the many Christians he knew was "a poor rice farmer, and his fields lay high on a mountain. Every day he pumped water into the paddies of new rice. Every morning he returned to find that a non-Christian neighbor who lived down the hill had opened the dikes surrounding the Christian's field to let the water fill his own. For a while the Christian ignored the situation, but at length he became desperate. What should he do? His own rice would die if this continued. How long could it go on? The Christian met with his brothers and sisters in the faith, and they came up with a solution. The next day the Christian farmer rose early in the morning and first filled his neighbor's fields; then he filled his own. Watchman Nee tells how the neighbor subsequently became a Christian. His unbelief had been overcome by a genuine demonstration of a Christian's love for others" (Rev. Timothy E. Spring, Judson Bulletin Service, 9142).

Without a doubt, the neighbor was a thief who stole another mans water and labor. The incident could have likely provoked some very nasty confrontations. But seeking direction from the Holy Spirit instead of human impulse, this Christian sought to live out passages like Philippians 2:3-4. The result was far different than results left totally to the desires of man.

Obedience to Gods Word was not without cost. It certainly cost the Christian more labor and time. It may have cost him financially as well; I dont know. I like to think that his Christian brothers and sisters helped him to be an active witness, too. The result was not just that a cheating neighbor got what he wanted. The result was that an unbelieving neighbor came to know the Lord as Savior.

Paul laid out the reason for developing this attitude very clearly. It is captured in verses 6-11, which many scholars believe is a portion of a hymn or reading of the early Church. It captures quite effectively, like many hymns and poems do, the nature and purpose of Jesus who, made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross! It does us well to remember this at those times we feel inconvenienced by service opportunities for God.

Even though we find this teaching in the New Testament, this is a continuation of the nature of God. Instructions to look the Lords way are found also in the Old Testament. Leviticus 19:18 teaches Gods people to not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but to love your neighbor as yourself. A few verses earlier, 9-10, Gods people were instructed, When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. The reason, of course, is so that others can be cared for: Leave them for the poor and the alien.

Jesus Christ is the greatest example of how we are to be looking the Lords way. Even though he is God, he humbled himself as a man and became obedient to the Father in all ways, even to the point of death on the cross. He did not need to do any of that for his own sake; Jesus did not need salvation. But we do, and we cannot attain it ourselves. We cannot even attain it through our own sacrifices, for those become tainted and corrupt. Left to human devices and motivations, we take matters into our own hands for selfish ambition and vain conceit the very antithesis of what Paul writes to the Philippian believers. So God did for us what we could not accomplish. Through His only Son, Jesus Christ, we are given salvation and life. We need only accept, believe, and confess that Jesus is Lord. Thats looking the Lords way.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com
-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org   

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

LOOKING THE LORDS WAY

August 26, 2007

Text: Philippians 2:1-11

George Sweeting, former president of Moody Bible Institute, told graduating seniors at Taylor University that they live in a self-serving age. To illustrate, he told of a single farmer who wanted a wife. He took out an ad in a newspaper that read, Man, 35, wants woman about 25 with tractor. Send picture of tractor. (Dennis J. De Haan, The Outward Look, Our Daily Bread, August 21, 1997) Clearly, this bachelor intended to look out for his own interests more than the needs of the other person in the relationship.

Dr. Sweeting made his observation about a self-serving age to the graduating class of 1997. In the ensuing decade, I do not observe it getting any better. Selfishness in many forms remains alive and well and growing. Indeed, we have even more goods and services available to us now that we have come to believe that we desperately need. And even though many of these goods and services do contribute to our ease and comfort, they also cause us to direct our resources away from others and toward ourselves. Another illustration is found in the fanciful tale of a lawyer who was excited to show off his new Lexus to his colleagues. No sooner had he parked along the street and opened his door than a truck driving too close to the parked cars ripped the drivers door right off. A policeman nearby witnessed the accident and came right over. Before he could get his first words out, the lawyer went into a rant. I dont believe it! My new Lexus! Itll never be the same! No matter what they do to it in the shop, itll never be the same. I just dont believe this! And on and on he went, as the policeman just stood there and let him vent his anger. Finally, after the lawyer wound down, the policeman said with sadness and shock, I cant believe how materialistic you lawyers are. Here youve been going on all this time about your new car, and youve completely ignored that your left arm has been torn off in the accident. Looking down and seeing that the policeman was right, he cried out, Oh my goodness! Wheres my Rolex?

One of the realities of original sin, that sin into which all of us are born because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, is that we are all infected with selfishness. Indeed, when we analyze the disobedience of Adam and Eve, it is easy to discover that they succumbed to the temptation offered them because they sought to benefit personally from their disobedience. It is sad that all of us suffer as a result of their actions, but that is the nature of sin. It is nearly impossible to find any sin to God that does not cause others to suffer. In spite of this reality, men and women today continue to demand that society confirm their immoral behavior with no regard to who else is hurt by their selfish disobedience.

Because we are often so intent to look our way, we find it a challenge to look the Lords way. There is much in Scripture that is easy to understand. Philippians 2:3-4 are two such passages: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. When we follow these verses and implement them into our lives, then we are looking the Lords way.

Immediately we find reasons to fail to do these verses. Immediately coming to my mind is the fear of being taken advantage of. And I have been taken advantage of before. There are people who have deceived me and gotten away with it. When it happens, I feel angry and foolish and hurt for being cheated. I want to immediately look to my own interests and forget about anything that Paul wrote to Christians in Philippians 2. While I certainly do not think that these verses are an open invitation to be ripped off time after time, I still have to believe that they apply even if I have been deceived.

After all, look at the overall testimony and promise from Christ himself. Nowhere in Scripture is there any indication that Jesus withholds his promised salvation from anyone just because someone else lied to him and used faith to deceive others. There are many people who believe they can get their own way by deceiving the Lord. In reality, they deceive themselves, not God. Anyone who has been following the case of Michael Vick, the Atlanta quarterback who was arrested for dog fighting, knows that he has decided to enter a guilty plea. He at first denied any guilt, but too much evidence stacked against him, so his first deceptions crashed. The other day, one of his attorneys issued a statement on behalf of Vick who expressed his sorrow for hurting anyone and appreciation for any prayers being said on his behalf. It would be nice to believe that such sentiments are honest, but I do not see the evidence for it. Nowhere in this case where Michael Vick has been in the public eye has he shown any evidence of seeking salvation from God by confessing his sin and receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. So what exactly is the value of any prayers that Vick so eagerly covets? They seem to be for his selfish devices and not for any purpose of looking to the interests of others.

I dont mean to pick on Michael Vick exclusively; this is exactly the kind of attitude seen on any given day on any given street and in any given household around the world. Its not hard to find examples of folks becoming real spiritual after getting caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar so that they can attempt to use faith to lessen or eliminate their punishment. My point is that, even though belief and confession are abused, God does not withdraw His salvation and love.

Neither should we. Even when we are deceived, we cannot use it as an excuse to look out only for number one. Now we can become more wary about how we are going to help. Sometimes catching the other person in his deceit and revealing his sin is the best help that can be given. But regardless of our personal experience, Philippians 2 still stands. Considering others better than ourselves and looking out for the interests of others continue to be valid Biblical instruction for the Christian. It applied to the fellowship of believers in Philippi, and it applies to the brothers and sisters in Bunker Hill First Baptist Church.

One example of living these verses comes from Watchman Nee, a Chinese Christian evangelist. One of the many Christians he knew was "a poor rice farmer, and his fields lay high on a mountain. Every day he pumped water into the paddies of new rice. Every morning he returned to find that a non-Christian neighbor who lived down the hill had opened the dikes surrounding the Christian's field to let the water fill his own. For a while the Christian ignored the situation, but at length he became desperate. What should he do? His own rice would die if this continued. How long could it go on? The Christian met with his brothers and sisters in the faith, and they came up with a solution. The next day the Christian farmer rose early in the morning and first filled his neighbor's fields; then he filled his own. Watchman Nee tells how the neighbor subsequently became a Christian. His unbelief had been overcome by a genuine demonstration of a Christian's love for others" (Rev. Timothy E. Spring, Judson Bulletin Service, 9142).

Without a doubt, the neighbor was a thief who stole another mans water and labor. The incident could have likely provoked some very nasty confrontations. But seeking direction from the Holy Spirit instead of human impulse, this Christian sought to live out passages like Philippians 2:3-4. The result was far different than results left totally to the desires of man.

Obedience to Gods Word was not without cost. It certainly cost the Christian more labor and time. It may have cost him financially as well; I dont know. I like to think that his Christian brothers and sisters helped him to be an active witness, too. The result was not just that a cheating neighbor got what he wanted. The result was that an unbelieving neighbor came to know the Lord as Savior.

Paul laid out the reason for developing this attitude very clearly. It is captured in verses 6-11, which many scholars believe is a portion of a hymn or reading of the early Church. It captures quite effectively, like many hymns and poems do, the nature and purpose of Jesus who, made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross! It does us well to remember this at those times we feel inconvenienced by service opportunities for God.

Even though we find this teaching in the New Testament, this is a continuation of the nature of God. Instructions to look the Lords way are found also in the Old Testament. Leviticus 19:18 teaches Gods people to not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but to love your neighbor as yourself. A few verses earlier, 9-10, Gods people were instructed, When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. The reason, of course, is so that others can be cared for: Leave them for the poor and the alien.

Jesus Christ is the greatest example of how we are to be looking the Lords way. Even though he is God, he humbled himself as a man and became obedient to the Father in all ways, even to the point of death on the cross. He did not need to do any of that for his own sake; Jesus did not need salvation. But we do, and we cannot attain it ourselves. We cannot even attain it through our own sacrifices, for those become tainted and corrupt. Left to human devices and motivations, we take matters into our own hands for selfish ambition and vain conceit the very antithesis of what Paul writes to the Philippian believers. So God did for us what we could not accomplish. Through His only Son, Jesus Christ, we are given salvation and life. We need only accept, believe, and confess that Jesus is Lord. Thats looking the Lords way.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

http://www.bhfirstbaptist.com

-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org