INTRO.- Roger Clemens. Guilty or not? Is he guilty of using drugs and Human Growth Hormone or not? Clemens insists he is not guilty!
Clemens has won seven Cy Young Awards, two more than any other pitcher. He throws and bats right-handed. On December 13, 2007, Clemens’ name was listed in the Mitchell Report, which alleged that he had used steroids and HGH during the 1998-2001 seasons. Clemens has firmly denied these allegations.
In fact, here’s a recent article I found about the subject. Roger Clemens is either completely innocent or completely stupid. There really isn’t another option, not after Clemens has so aggressively defended himself against performance-enhancing drug charges that he has, perhaps unwittingly, raised the stakes to felony levels.
On Wednesday, 2/13/08, he and his former trainer and chief accuser, Brian McNamee, will (did) testify in front of a Congressional committee. It’s a moment we may just find out what Rocket Roger really is – a man lashing out at false charges or a fool begging for a prison cell.
Clemens may be as guilty of doping as McNamee and a fair amount of common sense say yes. But he is, at the very least, acting like he is innocent, his lawyer all but daring federal agents to take him on.
Time will tell whether he regrets turning a sports controversy into a federal case. Clemens’ defense was slow to start, but now he’s done everything imaginable to assert his innocence.
He’s filed a defamation lawsuit. He’s gone on "60 Minutes." He’s held a news conference. He’s taped a phone call. He’s voluntarily testified under oath. He’s welcomed his day in Washington. He’s met privately with politicians. He’s prepared statistical arguments. He’s challenged the slightest of charges with evidence. He’s had his lawyers make all sorts of crazy comments. At this point, the dice have been thrown, and someone is in a lot of trouble.
That’s the chance he took in his all-out blitz; one more chip he pushed into the pile in his all-in gamble to prove his innocence.
If Clemens is clean, then he deserves credit for fighting this fight and proving it. If not, he’ll have plenty of time in a prison cell to curse his reckless stupidity.
As the writer said, ONLY TIME WILL TELL. And who knows? Maybe not then.
Brothers and sisters, it’s ok to be insistent on something when there is absolutely no question that a person is right about a subject, but when the subject is debatable, he or she had better not be insistent!
IN OUR TEXT, the apostle Paul was rather insistent about some things, some facts and He was right on! He said "I insist on this in the Lord!"
That’s a pretty strong insistence! Some things are worth insisting on and others may not be. Whenever it comes to the Lord and His Word, we should be somewhat insistent, only in a nice way.
Eph. 4:15 "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." We must speak the truth about Christ and the Bible but speak it in love, kindly, courteously, graciously, etc.
I Pet. 3:15 "In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."
Brothers and sisters, we MUST speak for Christ. We be insistent in our speaking for Him. We must speak for Him at every opportunity that comes our way, however, it must be done graciously as one beggar telling another beggar where to find some really good bread. Like, "Let me tell what I’ve found in life that has blessed me."
PROP.- Let’s think about what Paul insisted on in the Lord.
1- I insist that you don’t live like others
2- I insist that you did not learn Christ from the world
3- I insist that the truth is in Jesus
I. I INSIST THAT YOU DON’T LIVE LIKE OTHERS
17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
ILL.- Who in Hollywood would you NOT want to act like or be like, besides Britney Spears? How about Paris Hilton? Any others? I saw an article on the internet entitled the 50 dumbest people in Hollywood.
Here are a few of them.
- Lindsay Lohan. Due to her poor movie choices (”I Know Who Killed Me”), delinquent behavior and bad taste in men.
- Kiefer Sutherland, actor, recurring drunk driver.
- Michael Jackson, former singer, mess.
- Alec Baldwin, actor, verbal abuser, very angry man.
- David Hasselhoff, public disaster, drunk, etc.
These are just a few. Now honestly, would you want to be like or live like some of these people? We might wish we had their money but certainly not their actions and/or attitudes.
Brothers and sisters, it seems like almost "anything goes" in Hollywood; from drugs, to drunkenness, to immorality, to wild parties, etc., etc., etc. You name it and they do it. And if it’s never been heard of, they’ll dream it up and do it.
Now to Kiefer Sutherland’s credit, he did serve his jail term without any problems and as a model prisoner. Sutherland was arrested early September 25, 2007 on misdemeanor drunk driving charges (his second time since another incident in 2004) after failing a field sobriety test. He was pulled over in West Los Angeles, where he tested over the state’s legal blood alcohol limit and later released on $25,000 bail. On October 9, 2007 Kiefer pled no contest to the DUI charge and agreed to complete the 48 day jail sentence in a prison in December 2007, including Christmas and his 41st birthday.
17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
Hey, I tried that drinking and driving bit when I was probably only 18 or 19 years old and discovered quickly that was no way to do or act. I don’t want to do that or live that way! That’s a good way to get killed or to kill someone else.
Paul insisted in the Lord that we not live like the Gentiles do. It’s not just Gentiles either, it’s everybody. How do most people live today? Selfishly, sinfully, and satiatedly (meaning, to excess!).
ILL.- For example, I had a guy write me about his addictions in the past. He wrote: I’ve been addicted to alcohol, chewing tobacco, painkillers, and speed (in the past).
Is that the way we want to live?
The people of our world love to do whatever they want; good, bad or otherwise, but Paul said, "I insist on this in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do." Meaning at one time, we may have sown our wild oats, but NO MORE!
Of course, just because a preacher "insists" that we such and such or refrain from something, it doesn’t mean we’re going to do it. RIGHT? Why? Because we’re a self-willed bunch of people who like to do our own thing.
Ultimately, however, here is what will make a difference in the way we live.
II Cor. 5:14 "For Christ’s love compels us.."
If the love of Christ doesn’t constrain us from doing certain things and compel us to do good things, then nothing else will.
II. I INSIST THAT YOU DID NOT LEARN CHRIST FROM THE WORLD
20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way.
ILL.- Thomas A. Edison, the great inventor, was talking one day with the governor of North Carolina, and the governor complimented him on his inventive genius. “I am not a great inventor,” said Edison.
“But you have over a thousand patents to your credit, haven’t you?” queried the governor. “Yes, but about the only invention I can really claim as absolutely original is the phonograph,” was the reply.
“Why, I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean,” said the governor. “Well,” explained Edison, “I guess I’m an awfully good sponge. I absorb ideas from every source I can, and put them to practical use. Then I improve them until they become of some value. The ideas which I use are mostly the ideas of other people who don’t develop them themselves.”
Brothers and sisters, we’re all sponges. We all learn from one another. Most of what we’ve learned is not original with us. We learned it from someone else.
ILL.- For example, where did most of you ladies learn to cook? Probably from your mothers or perhaps your grandmother. And you guys: where did you learn about checking the oil in your car or perhaps changing the oil and filter in your car? More than likely, you learned it from your daddy like my brother and I did.
We all learn things from others. We learn both good and bad from others.
I Cor. 15:33 "Bad company corrupts good character."
ILL.- When I was 18 years old I dated a girl from Carterville, MO, which is just a mile or so down the road from my home in Webb City, MO. I met the girl at the Foodtown grocery store when she and her mother came in to shop. I thought she was pretty and friendly so I asked her to go to the movie show with me. She did and we dated several times after that. Eventually I met her two older brothers.
One of her brothers had served several years in the Army. I was told that before he went into the Army he was clean-cut, didn’t smoke and didn’t drink booze. BUT HE DIDN’T COME OUT OF THE SERVICE THAT WAY!
What did you learn from this world? Lust, greed, insensitivity, anger, hatred, revenge, bad language, etc.??
I John 2:16 John said that "all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of
life."
Basically, our world is evil. It’s sinful or sin-filled and we learn evil from this world. But the apostle Paul insisted that we did not learn Christ from this world! AND HE WAS RIGHT! We may have learned about Christ in this world but not "from" this world.
From whom did you learn about Christ? From your parents, your mother, your grandparents, a certain church, a preacher, a youth minister, etc.?
ILL.- My son-in-law, Chris Santasiere, was not raised in the church when he was small. He didn’t start to church until he was a teenager and then it was because his parents were separated and going through divorce. My son-in-law is a preacher. How did he get that way? How did he get where he is today? Well, he gives a lot of credit to the youth minister in his church and the preacher both of whom were a good influence in his life. PRAISE GOD!
We didn’t learn Christ from the world but from some mighty good people who live in this world!
III. I INSIST THAT THE TRUTH IS IN JESUS
21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
ILL.- Someone said there are only two ways: one is right and the other is wrong. “About” is always wrong. Don’t tell me it’s about right. If it’s only about right, then it’s wrong.
If you come to a stream five feet wide and jump four-and-a-half feet you fall in and get drowned. You might just as well have tumbled in from the other side and saved yourself the exertion of the jump.
IS THIS TRUE? Does this sound true? I would say so.
ILL.- A little girl came very early one morning to her mother, saying, “Which is worse, Mama, to tell a lie or to steal?” The Mother replied that both were so sinful she could not tell which was worse.
“Well, Mama,” replied the little one, “I’ve been thinking a good deal about it, and I think it’s ever so much worse to lie than to steal.” “Why, my child?” asked the mother.
“Well, you see Mama, it’s like this,” said the girl. “If you steal a thing, you can take it back, unless you’ve eaten it, and if you’ve eaten it, you can pay for it; but a lie is forever.”
Smart little girl. And I would say what she said was TRUE!
ILL.- True of false?
# Most dogs have four legs.
# Schools in America usually begin in September.
# Strawberries are usually blue.
# Airplanes are usually faster than buses.
# Christmas is on November 24th.
# Cars usually drive on the left side of the road in London.
# If you move your arms quickly, you can fly.
# The sky is often blue.
# Carrots are fruit.
# Men usually live longer than women.
Just as these questions were not hard to answer, so this question should not be hard to answer: IS JESUS WHO HE CLAIMED TO BE, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD AND SAVIOR OF THE WORLD?
21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.
The greatest truth in all the world is that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. And whatever Jesus has taught us in His Word is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! Now we may not understand all of His truth, but it’s still truth.
ILL.- William Penn: “Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.”
It matters not if your neighbor doesn’t believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. It doesn’t matter if the President of the United States doesn’t believe! It would be nice, but it doesn’t matter as far as your life is concerned. The truth of Jesus Christ will stand the test of time and eternity!
Mark 13:31 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."
I John 2:22-23 "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also."
I Cor. 15:58 "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
CONCLUSION----------------------
ILL.- One man said: I used to have problems getting my son to clean his room. I would insist that he, “Do it now,” and he would always agree to do so, but then he wouldn’t follow through – at least, not right way.
After high school, he joined the Marine Corps, which is where he is now. When he and I were on the plane together coming home for his leave after Boot Camp, he said to me, “My life makes sense now, Dad. Everything you said and did when I was growing up now makes sense. I really, really understand.” “Oh yeah, Dad,” he added. “I learned what ‘now’ means.”
Brothers and sisters, the Lord is speaking us today through His Word. He’s insisting that we take up His cross and follow Him and do it now!
