Doing It God’s Way
11:00 1/10/93 Text Philip 2:12-17 Proverbs 16:1-9 Luke 18:18-30
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Some people live in a manner in which they do things their
own and the only time they even consider God is during a tragedy
or an emergency. The story is told of a farmer who had three
sons: Jim, John, and Sam. No one in the family ever attended
church or had time for God. The pastor and the others in the
church tried for years to interest the family in the things of
God to no avail. Then one day Sam was bitten by a rattlesnake.
The doctor was called, and he did all he could to help Sam, but
the outlook for Sam’s recovery was very dim indeed. The three men
decided now would be good time to call in the minister to pray.
The pastor was a man who did not mind speaking the truth. He
came and laid hands on Sam and began to pray, " Lord we thank you
that in your wisdom, you sent a rattlesnake to bite Sam. He has
never been inside the church, and it is unlikely that He ever
prayed or acknowledged your claim on His life. We pray that
this experience will be a valuable lesson to him and lead him to
genuine repentance. And now oh God, will You please send another
rattlesnake to bite Jim and John, and another really big one to
bite the old man. For years we have done everything we know how
to get them to turn to You, but it all failed. It seems that
what our combined efforts could not do, this rattlesnake has
done. So Lord, keep sending this family bigger and better rattle
snakes. Amen.
There is a lot of Jim, John, Sam and old man in us. We do
not even consider doing things God’s way, until some rattlesnake
comes and gives us a good bite and we can’t handle it by our
ð 7 3 Šselves.
The Bible says, there is a way that seems right to a person.
Just because it seems right, doesn’t mean it’s okay. God told
Moses to speak to the rock and water would come out. It seemed
okay Moses to strike the rock and water came out. But God told
Him, because of that Moses, you will never enter the promised
land. God told King Saul, to wait for Samuel to offer the sacri
fice on the altar. It seemed okay to the King to offer the sacri
fice himself since Samuel was late. He offered it. But God told
him, I have now rejected you from being King over my people. Many
people say, "well I serve God in my own way." There is a way
that seems right, but the Bible says at the end of every way is
death.
What seems right to us is not going to count for much. The
issue is what is it that God requires of us. The rich ruler in
our New Testament reading was a good, honest and upright young
man. He had high moral values, and it seemed to him that He was
pleasing in God’s sight and ready to go to heaven. But Jesus let
him know that, because he was not willing to live the way Jesus
wanted him to live, he could not be a part of the kingdom of God.
"I did it my way" may be a great title for a song, or a
book, but it’s not the way to live if we want to know the full
ness of life that Jesus wants us to have. Our desire as Chris
tians ought always to be, "I did it the way God wanted me to do
it." I guarantee you now, that if you do that, there’s going to
be a lot of times, you will not have done it your way.
We are going to continue to look at Philippians chapter 2 at
verse 12 & 13. The apostle Paul is writing to a small and struggling church in Philippi. Paul is currently confined to a Roman
prison and he’s not sure what the future may hold for his life or
his death. Whatever the future brings, it is Paul’s desire to
handle it in God’s way.
Verse 12 says Philippians 2:12 "Therefore, my dear friends,
as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much
more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear
and trembling,". One of the things you should notice is that the
Philippians were consistent Christians. They did what God wanted
them to do in the way God wanted whether the apostle Paul was
present or not.
Some of us are like little kids. As long as our parents
have their eyes on us, we are like angels. The moment our par
ents are out of site, we turn into one of the demons of Satan. We
can pretend to be so nice to each other at church. Get home, and
call each other names, treat each other with contempt, and refuse
to even consider the way God would have us live at home. Not so
with the Philippian believers. Paul says, it didn’t matter if I
was present or not, you still obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We so often forget that hymn that is filled with fantastic
wisdom that we learned as a child. It had verses like be careful
little eyes what you see, be careful little ears what you hear,
be careful little feet where you go, be careful little mouth what
you speak for the Father above, He is looking down in love. The
same is true about big eyes, big ears, big feet and big mouths.
The Bible puts its this way, behold the eyes of the Lord are
everywhere, looking at the good and the evil that we do. Turn to
ð 7 3 Šyour neighbor and say, God saw what you did all weekend long.
My friend God looks at us, not to hit us, but to love us
back into His will. God cannot bless your life anywhere better
than when you are in God’s will. God’s watching to help us from
trying to hide our sin. God knows that if we thought for a
moment, He had taken the day off some of us would go wild with
sin.
When God calls us into the kingdom, He expects us to grow.
Notice the second part of that verse, "continue to work out
salvation with fear and trembling." In Jr. & Sr. High Pioneers
last week, I put forth the scenario, if you died right now and
was standing before God and God said, "give me 3 reasons you
should be allowed into heaven" what would you say. Alright I’m
giving you 15 seconds to come up with an answer.
Some of them had some good answers. I got back "Because I
respect everybody and what they stand for." "I’m a great person"
"I treat everyone as equal." I come to church willfully and
perform church duties willfully. I praise God on my own with or
without my friends. I tithed. I care for people sometimes.
Because He wants me up there. Because I have a good heart. I
treated people fairly good. Those were all good things, but they
would not get anyone into heaven. Two people did state, because
of their faith in Jesus Christ.
Without having faith in Jesus Christ and a determination to
live God’s way, there is no salvation. When I said that, one
person "what, you mean I’m supposed to have to be good all the
time." When one falls in love with Jesus, being good is not a
chore, it becomes the desire of the heart. Lord, I truly want to be pleasing in your sight.
But notice, once we get saved, it says for us to work out
our salvation. Notice you are to work out your salvation and I
am to work our mine. Now realize that salvation is a gift that
God has given to us in Jesus Christ, but it is only the first
part. Unfortunately it is the only part that some of us want.
But if we are going to do this God’s way, we have to be willing
to do more. The Bible says, we were created in Christ Jesus for
the creation of good works which God prepared in advance for us
to do.
Work means just that work. Too many of us are sliding,
coasting and just plain standing still in our spiritual walk. We
have no desire whatsoever to know the word of God. We can tell
you about the 5 movies of last year and what they are about, but
we can’t name in order the first 5 books of the New Testament. We
haven’t been able to do it for the past 5 years, and we’re not
even planning on doing it in 93. In the book of Hebrews, it says
some of you ought to be teachers now, but you still have not
taken the time to learn basic facts about the Bible.
How in the world can we live for Christ, and not know the
word of God. How is it possible for us to do something God’s
way, and not know what way it is that God has written? There are
a 1,000 reasons for not being involved in Bible Study or Life-
Sharing. It’s like the situation where a farmer came and asked
his neighbor if he could borrow his ladder. The neighbor said,
I’d love to let you borrow but I can’t because I need it to mow
the back yard. The farmer thought, and he said, "You don’t need
ð 7 3 Šyour ladder to mow your back yard. His neighbor said, "yeah
you’re right, but when you don’t want to do something, one excuse
is just as good as another."
We miss out on so much of the joy in life because we do not
know how to receive God’s grace for given situations. We can only
learn it by knowing the word of God. God is not going to speak
to you out of Heaven, when He has already spoke it in His word.
That voice inside of you if it is not constantly bathed in the
word of God, is so contaminated from the things of this world,
that what you claim is God speaking to you, is nothing more than
the voice of the values you’ve accepted from the bombardment of
TV, books, movies, and music that you devote most of your time
with.
God is expecting each of us to be examining our lack of
spiritual desire. Notice, the verse says work out your salvation
with fear and trembling. Now God is not saying to go around
wondering day after day, "am I saved today, did I do enough." No
what He’s saying is that we ought to realize the danger we are
in. When we do not grow in Christ, we start to go back into the
world. Things become more important to us than our love for God.
People mean more to us. Wanting the praise of others, wanting to
be in the in group, and wanting to please ourselves will all rob
us of the life that Jesus intended for us to have.
We ought to fear grieving the Holy Spirit, not out of a sense
that" oh God is really going to get me for this." But it should
be out of a love of not wanting to disappoint the God who has
done so much on our behalf. Parents you know how your heart when
you go out of your way for your children to get something for
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them, only for them to treat as, "oh it really wasn’t any big
deal." When we love Christ, we are concerned with how Christ
feels about our actions. One child told me, "I changed my behav
ior because I could see the hurt in my mother’s eyes when she
talked to me about it." Do we ever think of the hurt we put in
God’s eyes?
Some of us have become like deadwood on a tree. I’m praying
that some of you start doing something just in case you die, I’ll
be able to say something that you did for Christ at your funeral.
There are good reasons we ought to be trying to work out our
salvation and becoming what God wants us to be. The first is
that our own lives are going to be better, which means our fami
lies are going to be blessed, which means our church is going to
be blessed, which means we are going to make a difference in the
lives of others for Jesus Christ.
How do we work out our salvation at home? We do it with our
kids by listening to their side of the story before we tell them
what the punishment is. We do it with our parents by being
honest and truthful with them, showing that we can be trusted.
We do it with one another by asking, am I doing all that I can to
help out in the home? Do I speak with a soft voice or am I sharp
and cutting? Do I lift up the others, or do I put everybody down?
Do I insist on getting my way, or do I constantly yield to what
others want? The most important ministry we have, is to those we
live the closest to. We can only minister effectively to them, if
we know how the word of God wants us to relate to them.
Another reason to work out our salvation is that God loves
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us so much, that He has voluntarily paid the price of the death
of His Son to make our lives possible. God is saying, there is
nothing I will not do, to help you reach your full potential in
the kingdom of God. So often we want to measure our walk with
God by the amount of money we have, or the number of problems we
don’t have, or how much others think of us. That’s ridiculous.
Our walk with God is measured by the sole stick of how obedient
are we to God. How pleasing do we want to be in God’s sight. Do
you realize that God is more concerned with your spiritual life
than he is your bank account. God will wipe your bank account
overnight if He knows that’s the only way he can get your atten
tion.
We are called into self-activity. We are called to the
active pursuit of the will of God. We are called to make the
fruits of the spirit part of our everyday lives. We are called
to make an personal application of salvation. God is tired of
Christians who all they want is to see God do something. God did
more miracles for the children of Isreal in the desert under
Moses than He did for anyone. Yet the New Testament tells us
Nevertheless, God was not well pleased with most of them.
Here’s another reason to work out our salvation and to do it
God’s way. Verse 13 says Philippians 2:13 "for it is God who
works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
If you are saved, you have all the power necessary within you to
change your life. Perhaps the first step is to either recognize
or to admit, "God, I truly don’t want to be changed." Some of
us have lied for years about wanting to be a better Christian.
ð 7 3 ŠOh we may have meant it in our heads, but not in our hearts where
it truly counts.
This verse says God wants to work his good purpose in us.
What is it that you think keeps God from being able to do it?
What is it that keeps you from being faithful to your wife? What
is it that keeps you disobeying your parents? What is it that
keeps you from forgiving? What is it that makes you just have to
be right or get in the last word? What is it that keeps you from
wanting to do things God’s way? It’s that thing in us called
self, that wants to handle situations its own way. God is at work
in us to not only bring self under control, but to kill it as
well. Only Jesus can help us say no to self day after day after
day.
Jesus asked a question one day saying, "What does it profit
a person to gain the whole world, and to lose his or her soul?"
It is possible for you to get everything you want to have and
still come out a loser. Some of us here today got more money and
more things than our parents ever had. Yet they had a kind of
closeness and love that we would give anything to have it.
Proverbs 15:17 "Better a meal of vegetables where there is [love]
than a table full of steaks with hatred." Money cannot buy the
things that mean the most in life. Yet we pursue it as a god,
because for many its the only god that truly serve. There is a
way that seems right to a person, but at the end of it is death.
Which way are you taking. Jesus said the path is broad and wide
that’s leading to destruction. Many people are traveling on that
path because the way seems right to them. They are doing it their
way. Jesus said narrow is the road that leads to eternal life,
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and few are they who find it. We think the Bible teaches that
most people are going to be saved. The bible teaches that by
far, the population in hell will by far exceed the population in
hell. That’s not because of God’s choice. But because, too many
of us want to do things our way. The Bible says it is God’s will
that not a single one of us should perish. God loves us all so
much, He has done all He could possibly do, not only to save us,
but to help us work out our own salvation.
We’ve tried doing it our own way long enough. Can we give
up and say, yes God I need You and I need your help? Lord, from
now on, I want to try things Your Way.
