Sermon Notes
The Bottom-Line: Love Him with All your Mind
Matthew 22:37; Joshua 24
(Third in the series The Greatest Commandment)
Introduction: We live in an over-stimulated society. Too many things compete for our allegiance. Value systems have shifted; old answers are not easily accepted. The church as an institution no longer commands respect without earning it. But as Solomon wrote, “There is nothing new under the sun.” During Joshua’s final years, spiritual restlessness characterized people’s lives.
Proposition: Choosing to love is so much better than falling in love. For God’s sake, make a decision!
Joshua challenges us to put away our idols! Now, we have a TV show called American Idol, but let me show you some real idols. These were given to my mother by Art & Ruth Morris, founders of South India Church of Christ Mission. What you are looking at are Hindu pocket gods. Hindus have many gods, the sum of which makes up the absolute God.
• Need rain for your crops? Pray to the rain god.
• Need more children? Pray to the goddess of fertility.
I don’t know the purposes of these particular gods you are examining today. I’m sure each of us could make up our own stories! Be sure of this: what you are holding are items carved by people to meet their wants and desires.
Likewise, anything we work for to meet our wants and desires can become our personal pocket gods!
In Joshua 24, Joshua has been presenting the facts of the one true God. Against this backdrop of the God who acts in people’s lives, Joshua challenges us to make a choice.
Five ingredients are required to make a firm decision.
1. Quit straddling the fence
There is something convenient about being a fence-straddler.
We think we can have the best of both worlds.
But in order to make a real commitment to Jesus Christ, we have to weigh our options.
Anyone who has ever struggled with their faith will come out stronger. One of my biggest personal battles occurred during my freshman year at Johnson Bible College. During an evening chapel service, the students were in earnest prayer. I sat there, eyes wide open, looking at the ceiling. “Are you really there, God, or are these words just bouncing off the ceiling?”
Two weeks later, I could not sleep. I dressed and trudged up the hill in the frosty air to “Old Main.” I ascended the steps to the third floor and approached the attic staircase to the building’s cupola. At the top I entered the musty prayer room. How many other JBC students had been in this place, turning to God in anguish or joy? How many hours had Ashley Johnson, founder of the college, spent here?
The room was dimly lit and sparsely furnished; it contained a student desk and chair original to the college, some old framed prints depicting the life of Christ, a couple of bibles, and some notebooks containing the written prayers of many students.
I sat there in silence. I read some of the prayers written by others. I could not help but feel their sense of worship, petition, or distress. I was moved by the tear stains on so many of the pages. My own eyes started becoming moist. A lump built up in my throat. Finally, I spoke out loud. “God, you are here. Forgive me for doubting. Use me.”
I cannot tell you how much longer I was in that prayer room, but by the time I descended the steps and walked back to the dorm, I sensed the presence of an old friend. I was not alone. Returning to my room, I quietly undressed and returned to bed.
From the opposite wall, my roommate spoke. “You’ve been with God tonight, haven’t you, Tom?” he asked. “How did you know?” I replied. “I sensed it as soon as you walked in. It shows on your face,” he answered.
I responded, “Yes Dan, I’ve been with God.” With that, I turned off the light. Since that time, I have failed God; I have not trusted God; I have made wrong decisions. But I have never doubted his love, His presence, or His mercy in my life.
Some people never get off the fence. Change is tough. Repentance hurts. Fence straddling is a habit that needs to be broken. It sets us free to serve the Lord who paid the penalty for our sins.
Quit straddling the fence!
2. Don’t bend to the world’s pressure
How much money and time do people spend trying to stay with the current fashion? My dad laughed when wide bright ties came back into style in the 1970’s. “Should have kept my old ones from the 50’s, he chuckled.
Trying to stay with the current style usually is not harmful, as long as we do not compromise our religious views to fit society’s. God has revealed certain absolutes to us. When Joshua led the people into the Promised Land, they picked up some of society’s religious fashion and mingled it with God’s laws given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The results were disastrous.
Joshua would not be pushed around. He knew where he stood. He stood there for years, faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He could see why the alternatives were appealing. But instead of adapting to them, he exerted his influence on others. “Do what you want to do. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Don’t bend to the world’s pressure!
3. Make a life-changing decision
Why do we always offer an invitation at the end of each sermon? Many churches do not. The reason we exist as a church is to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. He commissioned us to tell others; to baptize them; and to teach them to follow Him.
West Liberty’s mission statement declares that “We exist to glorify God by seeking the lost, teaching His Word, and serving other people, as a nurturing family.” This mission needs to be carried out, not only on Sunday mornings, but throughout the week as we are individually involved in the affairs of life.
What happens here has got to be so much more than just doing church! Jesus Christ must influence our lives. Every day we must make conscious decisions to follow Him. We cannot come to God on someone else’s coat tails or apron strings. We cannot go along with the crowd, accepting someone else’s faith as our own. Doing so does not give us the strong foundation needed to withstand life’s storms.
Joshua was hardened by battle. He bore the scars of a long-term commitment. His choice to follow the Lord was not made lightly, nor was it practiced lightly. Joshua stands out in the Scriptures as a determined follower of God.
Make a life-changing decision!
4. Go public with your faith
Jesus had some pretty tough words for people who were “closet followers;” people who would not publicly demonstrate or share their faith. He said, “He that denies me before men, him will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven.”
God wants our Christianity to be where everyone can see it. We get into trouble when we are secretive about our faith. Don’t make a decision to follow Jesus if you intend to do so only in the presence of other believers. Be ready to identify yourself as Christ’s disciple in your home, your business, your school, and among your friends. He has never denied us; let’s not deny Him!
Resistance to unjust laws and dehumanizing practices may be costly. Those who resisted Hitler’s policy of genocide in Germany often paid with their lives. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor paid such a price. He was hanged on April 9, 1945. The camp doctor who witnessed the execution wrote: “I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer ... kneeling on the floor praying fervently to God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the few steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”
The world still recoils in horror at the reality of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Martin Niemoller, another pastor imprisoned for opposing Hitler, wrote the following:
In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
They came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Go public with your faith: He has never denied us; let’s not deny Him!
5. Follow through; Give Him your all
One of the most fascinating and tragic characters in the Bible is King Saul. He stood head & shoulders above his fellow countrymen, and God selected him to be Israel’s first king. He started off right and did his job correctly. Then something happened. His pride became a problem. By the end of his life, Saul was overwhelmed and depressed. He made important positive decisions early in his life, only to backtrack on them later. A life of hope and promise ended with fear and tragedy.
Give your all to Jesus, throughout your entire life. Let Jesus have Lordship over every aspect of your being. Begin now!
There are reasons some do not make such a clear-cut decision.
• Fear. Some become overwhelmed with the “What ifs.”
• Emotionalism. Many people do not want to be considered religious zealots or Jesus Freaks. But emotion is a basic part of life. Look at those who paint themselves blue for a Colts game! Although we should not try to win people to Christ by sheer emotionalism, we should not be afraid to be emotional about our faith.
• Oversimplification. Being justified by grace is a very complicated subject. Fortunately for us, Jesus reduces his invitation to come to him with child-like faith.
• Being too complicated. Some say they do not want to be Christians until they know everything they can about Jesus. That’s like not marrying until you know everything about your prospective mate. Part of the joy of marriage is discovery!
• The time is not right. They say, “Some day I’ll accept Christ.” Satan has a way of trying to put off the decision. There is no better time than the present!
• Losing my individuality. They do not want to meld into the mass; they perceive being a Christian in a “cookie cutter” faith. God does not deal with us in the same way. We are uniquely made, and our creator knows how to uniquely deal with us.
Conclusion: A decision to follow God must be made with the mind. It must not be flippant, casual, or emotionally induced. If you are struggling to make a decision, it’s because God is working on your heart. The Holy Spirit is probing your heart, soul, and mind. He is making Himself known in your life.
But for God’s sake, and for yours, don’t keep standing in the middle! Indecision freezes us between worldliness and godliness, not allowing us to have the best of either.
• In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we are told how Lot’s wife stood at a point of indecision. As the family fled the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, she stopped, looked wistfully back, and turned into a pillar of salt.
• In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, the apostle John described a fence-straddling church. They weren’t hot; they weren’t cold; they were simply luke-warm. John told us Jesus wished to spit them out of His mouth.
Here’s the bottom line: Choose to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Only then can we get past “just doing church.”
