One of the greatest problems facing the Church, today, is
that far too many of us are comfortable.
A. If a person is satisfied, there is no challenge or
drive to go any further or do any more.
1. This satisfaction can show itself in many
areas....in almost all but one, it is not good.
a. It’s O.K. to be satisfied with what God’s
will is for us.
1.) This is the only one that is good.
Psalm 63:3-8 - 3 Because Your lovingkindness
is better than life, My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift
up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul shall
be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And
my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
6 When I remember You on my bed, I
meditate on You in the night watches. 7
Because You have been my help, Therefore
in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.
2. Some are satisfied with where the local
congregation is.
a. In number and in spiritual strength.
1.) As a matter of fact, they might
worry if the congregation became
a little too “radically involved”.
a.) It would force them to go
beyond where they are,
spiritually.....and I just told
you....THEY ARE
SATISFIED WITH
WHERE THEY ARE...
SPIRITUALLY!
3. Some are satisfied that they are doing enough
for the Kingdom.
a. This is amazing.....especially when we
see that their.....”enough”.....really comes
to the fact that they do NOTHING for
the Kingdom of God.
4. Then there are those who think that they
hold the things of God in a high priority.
a. They are satisfied with the duration and
the frequency, as well as the quality of
their prayer life.
b. They study the Bible enough.
c. They meditate on the things of God.......
once a week........around the Lord’s
Supper table.
As a matter of fact, they may be satisfied with everything
and everyone.........EXCEPT GOD!
A. Being satisfied is a very dangerous thing.....
especially when it comes to the things of God.
This morning I preached a message which should have
been a challenge to everybody......including myself.
A. This is what we assume, anyway.........but such
may not be the case.
1. Sometimes people don’t feel properly
challenged by the preaching......they may
not feel challenged because they are satisfied
with things as they are.
a. Are you satisfied with things the way
they are?
I. Are we, individually, satisfied with our diligence.....with
the demonstrated dedication and actual work that we do
in the Church?
A. There are many things that need to be done and
demand our attention.
1. Door-to-door calling cannot be completed
by one man or even three or four men.
a. Each one of us needs to take this
responsibility seriously.
1.) We cannot be satisfied if we never
do it.
a.) Do we understand........not
doing something can never be
construed as ACTUALLY
DOING IT!
2. Teaching the young people’s classes and the
adult classes needs to happen.
a. I have seen that some people are quite
satisfied with letting, “George do it”.
1.) It may not be our favorite pastime...
perhaps we are very busy and it’s
hard to squeeze in the time to
prepare a class...........but does that
mean that the burden should fall
on the backs of only a few?
a.) Can we be satisfied with what
we are doing to help
to spiritually feed the
immature.......if this is the
case, it is quite possible that
we ARE the spiritually
immature.
Heb. 5:12-14 - 12For though by this time you ought to be
teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first
principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to
need milk and not solid food. 13For everyone who partakes
only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for
he is a babe. 14But solid food belongs to those who are of
full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their
senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
3. The Church will always have with it, the
sick....the shut in’s......the ag-ed......those
in hospitals........those in nursing homes.....
and others.
a. Are we satisfied with how we are
showing our care and concern for these
people?
1.) How can doing little or nothing
for these folks satisfy us as
showing genuine care and
concern?
Matt. 25:41-46 - 41“Then He will also say to those on the
left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting
fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42‘for I was
hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you
gave Me no drink; 43‘I was a stranger and you did not take
Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison
and you did not visit Me.’ 44“Then they also will answer
Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not
minister to You?’ 45“Then He will answer them, saying,
‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to
one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46“And
these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the
righteous into eternal life.”
** There are many other things that can and should be
done by those who are in the Church.
1. How can we be satisfied with what we are doing
in the Kingdom of God......IF WE ARE DOING
NOTHING!?
II. Are we satisfied with the amount of faith that we have.
A. How have we displayed this powerful faith, lately?
1. Christians make far too many excuses for
not operating on faith.
a. We whine and complain that we don’t
have a lot of faith..........but we aren’t
willing to test and try our faith.....we
won’t step out on faith and build a
greater faith.
Mal. 3:10 - 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in
this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the
windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
Eccl. 11:1 - 1 Cast your bread upon the waters, For you
will find it after many days.
1.) It is my observation that many are
waiting for this thing called “faith”
to fall on them, from heaven.
2. We, as Christians..........for the most part......
are satisfied with the lack of faith that we
have, because we don’t challenge ourselves
any further than we have gone.
a. If moving faith is compared to a mustard
seed......how much faith (or a lack of it)...
must we have?
3. Nobody said that exercising our faith would
be easy........but, this should not be an excuse
to exercise NO FAITH!
a. I am afraid that many Christians “walk
by sight, and not by faith”........and they
are content and satisfied to stay in this
dangerous state.
III. We spoke, this morning, of growing in spiritual
knowledge.
A. Do we have a hunger and thirst for the spiritual
things......enough that we would feast at the
table?
Matt. 5:6 - 6 Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, For they shall be
filled.
1. Far too often Christians are satisfied with
being spoon fed what they should believe.
a. This has been the cause of a great many
weak and insipid Christians.
1.) There was a time for milk and
strained vegetables......but at some
time, we need to grow up,
spiritually, and cut our own meat.
B. It is the knowledge that we come to from God’s
word which causes us to set the right standards and
to form the proper convictions.
1. When someone lives on the standards set for
them and the convictions of others.........they
are not established in the faith.
Prov. 4:26 - 26 Ponder the path of your feet, And let all
your ways be established.
a. A person might be satisfied with living
off the standards and convictions of
others, but you will swallow the mistakes
along with what is good.
1.) It may be easier, but there is no
commitment and involvement in
in this course.
a.) Indeed, in the animal world,
we would label this kind of
individual as a leach.
** We cannot be satisfied with living off of the knowledge
of others.
1. As Christians, we need to hunger and thirst for the
truth and make the effort necessary to find it.
IV. Self-control was mentioned in this morning’s sermon.
A. We need to practice self-control in every aspect
of our lives.
1. It’s far to easy to excuse ourselves and be
satisfied with NO self-control.
a. We always seem to have “reasons” why
we can’t exercise self-control........and
we expect everyone to accept these
“reasons”.
B. We need to stop with the “reasons” and start
practicing what the Holy Spirit of God has
enabled us to do.
1. Self-control at the diner table.
2. Self-control at the traffic lights.
3. Self-control in the home.
4. Self-control in our spiritual walk.
5. Self-control with our fellow Christians and
the people of the world.
a. They call this patience.
** There can be no basis of satisfaction for our self-control
if we don’t display any.
1. Just admitting that we don’t display it isn’t enough,
either..........admitting it is just the first step.....we
need to make the effort to put self-control in our
lives.
V. Another attribute of a Christian is, endurance.
A. Do we give up way too soon?
1. Do we give up on others?
2. Do we give up on our selves?
3. Do we give up on God?
B. People can become resigned to what they believe
that they cannot do.
1. Being resigned to anything is the same as
being satisfied with what that thing is.
a. I wonder what the “long suffering” of the
Bible would allude to?
1.) We, as Christians, need to work on
our “spiritual pain threshold”.
2. We weren’t resigned to never drive a car when
we flunked the first driver’s test.
3. We weren’t resigned to never be able to type
because it was so hard, at first.
4. We didn’t resign ourselves to the fact that we
would never roller skate because we fell the
first time.
** AND ALL OF THESE THINGS HURT, TO!
1. Why, then do we quit so easily on others......on
ourselves........and on God?
a. I don’t think that anyone has started to bleed,
yet..........in spiritual walk.
Heb. 12:3-4 - 3For consider Him who endured such
hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become
weary and discouraged in your souls. 4You have not yet
resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
VI. Lastly......are we satisfied with the amount of love that
we show?
Matt. 22:37-40 - 37Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and
with all your mind.’ 38“This is the first and great
commandment. 39“And the second is like it: ‘You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40“On these two
commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
A. What about the love that we have for God?
1. This love should compel us to push ourselves
......to maybe suffer........certainly to sacrifice
our time, our talents, our lives for the one
that loves us so.
a. Let us not delude ourselves........if we
won’t sacrifice, or suffer for the cause
of Christ...........If we refuse to suffer
or sacrifice for the cause of Christ..........
HOW CAN WE SAY THAT WE
LOVE HIM?
B. When it comes to our fellow man......how much
are we willing to put up with..........how far will we
go in doing and sacrificing for others?
1. How can we say that we love our fellow man
and yet shun him.
a. For the color of his skin.
b. For the mental capacity of his brain.
c. For the limp.
d. For the size of his wallet.
e. For the clothes he wears.
f. For where he lives.
g. For how he smells.
h. For his words and thoughts which are
so far from our words and thoughts.
** According to a song that Don Francisco sang, many
years ago..........”LOVE IS NOT A FEELING, IT’S
AN ACT OF YOUR WILL.”
1. How much are we willing to give to God and
our fellow man.
a. Are we really satisfied with what we have
done.........or is there room for a growth spurt?
CONCLUSION:
Let us not be lulled into a sense of satisfaction and
complacency.
A. There is a constant challenge for us all to go
forward......to go upward......to do better.......to
improve.
1. Until we draw our last breath, we cannot be
satisfied in anything but God.
Knowing what we should do is not the same thing as
doing it.
A. We should never feel satisfied with something
simply because we know what to do......let us
strive to do God’s will.
Admitting that we fall short or that we fail to do something
or cease from doing something............this also is not the
same as correcting the problem.
A. Sure, admission of the problem is the first step to
repentance......but the next step is to make the
adjustment or correction.
We cannot and should not be satisfied with anything short
of doing the will of God in any and every given situation.
