INTRODUCTION:
A. During this epidemic
1. I have been noticing something about people
Sort of a lesson in human nature
The Pandemic reveals
Two kinds of people
Two extremes
#1 extreme those go to store
- hoard up all the bottled water, toilet paper for themselves
- set at home watching Netflix
- trying to save themselves from the pandemic
- leave everyone else to fend for themselves
#2 other extreme
Medical care givers exposing themselves to infection
By treating those sick with the virus
OR Public servant working to prevent people from getting the virus
2. Obviously selfishness is the motivation for group #1
3. Ever wandered what motivated these #2 guys
Like the emergency workers running into the burning building
While everyone else was running away?
Twin Towers 9/11 will forever symbolize meaning of self sacrifice
4. BUT WHICH DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Most of us are probably not either extreme
We think of ourselves as someplace in the middle
I. YOU KNOW THERE IS ANOTHER VIRUS
A. It is not new
1. It has proven more contagious than the this virus
2. It has infected EVERYONE on Planet Earth
the entire population of the world
3. AND Always fatal
4. For centuries the best human wisdom
has failed to find a solution
B. BUT, the trouble is
1. there IS a cure
2. but hardly anyone will take the treatment
could you imagine that happening with the corona virus???
CDC announcing a cure….a vaccine….
No one wanting to take it???
II. YOU ALREADY SEE THROUGH MY METAPHOR
A. The virus is sin
1. It has proven more contagious than any virus
Romans 5:12 sounds just like something out of a news conference
Doesn’t it
by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned:
2. that is the spread of the virus of sin
B. It has infected EVERYONE
Ecclesiastes 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
1. the entire population of the earth is infected
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned,
2. Always fatal
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death;
3. For centuries the best of human wisdom
has failed to find a solution
Jeremiah 46:11: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.
Just because man can’t discover or invent a remedy
Does not mean it is impossible
Matthew 19:26 With men this is impossible;
but with God all things are possible.
C. There IS a cure…………
Jeremiah 8:22 there Is a balm in Gilead; there is a physician there!
1. We asked this question not too long ago
Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people??
2. The Sad Answer was…no one wants to take the medicine!!
Matthew 9:12 They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
3. There IS a cure…………BUT only one
4. Mankind is looking for love in all the wrong places
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved.
5. The cure is the Blood of Christ
III. WHAT I DO WANT TO DISCUSS IS…….THIS
A. The same qualities of human nature I observe during this pandemic
have revealed themselves In the epidemic of sin too
B. SAME TWO EXTREMES
1. Hoarders who keep the cure all to themselves
never share
2. Those who go try to save others
C. WHAT WE ARE HERE TO TALK ABOUT TODAY IS
WHICH ONE WE ARE
WHAT SHOULD MOTIVATE US
TO SHARE OUR SALVATION
One of the spiritual gifts Holy Spirit endows is evangelism.
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors
and teachers;
someone that is gifted has a greater power to do this than the average Christian.
but there are certain gifts we should all be doing;
Evangelism is one of those gifts.
We should all be sharing our faith.
It doesn't mean we should all be going door-to-door
but we should all be willing to share the gospel.
D. In our text Paul was COMPELLED to preach
He could not help himself
If you are old school
Grew up watching old popeye cartoons
The old ones that were made to show at the movies between double features
You often hear him say “Oh Woe Is ME”
Stole that phrase FROM Apostle Paul
1 Corinthians 9:16 (NIV)
16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe is me if I do not preach
the gospel!
E. How about you?
F. When you , like Jesus
Find yourself are surrounded by the multitudes of humanity
And you know they are headed down the wide road to destruction
or
in our metaphor
infected with the deadly virus
and you have the only cure
IV. Do you feel compelled to share the GOOD NEWS?
ABOUT THE GREAT PHYSICIAN?
THE BALM OF GILIAD?
A. When the opportunity presents itself
For you to share your faith
B. Which end of the evangelizing spectrum
Do you fall into??
Are you more of a HOARDER of the GOOD NEWS
Or do you mostly SHARE
V. WHAT DO YOU FEEL AT TIMES LIKE THAT??
Paul felt compelled….constrained….
Webster's 1828 Dictionary; constrained--“Irresistible urge….”.
Do you feel an IRRESISTABLE urge
WHAT is your MOTIVE?
VI. SENSE OF FEAR??
A. Fear is a powerful motivator
Question is…..what are you afraid of
Self preservation……
Hebrews 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Fear of death will certainly get people moving
There are Christians in this world today
I mean this very moment
Who to share their faith risk their necks
To steal a phrase from Apostle Paul Romans 16:4
NOT US
But even if it’s true
Lots of people risk their lives if cause seems noble Romans 5:7
B. FEAR Not reliable motive
EVEN Fear of eternal damnation
Hebrews 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
Did not motivate the one talent servant
Matthew 25:24-25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth:
Did not work on Felix Acts 24:25 (NIV)
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of FEAR; but … of LOVE,
If you don’t feel fear, maybe you feel something else
Maybe you feel
VII. A SENSE OF DEBT??
A. When JESUS is speaking of guilt of sin
On the surface it seems to me
A Strange choice of words
Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
In Jesus stern warning about forgiveness
Or the lack there of
He Tells the parable of the indebted servants Matthew 18:32-35
One begs for forgiveness from the master
Of huge debt
More money than he could make in a lifetime
And is forgiven
Turns right around and refuses to forgive some penance
owed him by his fellow servant
That same word DEBT gets translated….OUGHT?
. ...OWE……
”….all to Him I owe…” we sometimes sing
1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
WHAT did he OWE again??
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
B. GOD is all about justice
Evening the score
Balancing the scales
So..if JESUS… “laid down his life for us” 1 John 3
Then to even the score/balance the scales
We owe it to… “lay down our lives for the brethren”
When we do we ……..
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive the love of God,
1. SAME with forgiveness
Mark 11:25 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your
Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”.
2. SAME with mercy
James 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy;
3. MAKES OUR MOTIVE A SENSE OF JUSTICE?
Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged:
4. BALANCING THE SCALES Matthew 6:14-15
5. EVENING THE SCORE Matthew 5:7
C. THAT SAME GREEK WORD
In a little different context
Translated into a different English word “DUTY”
SENSE OF DUTY
Hebrews 2:17 behoved
Romans 15:27 duty
D. AS POWERFUL AS THE SENSE OF DEBT & DUTY MAY BE
It is an Inferior motive Luke 17:10
VIII. IN OUR TEXT PAUL DESCRIBES HIS MOTIVE
THE BEST MOTIVE
A. THE HIGHEST CALLING……..LOVE
1. Greater motive 1 John 4:11
2. Higher calling 2 Corinthians 5:14
3. Friendship John 15:14-15; John 3:16; 1 John 4:11
4. Pleasing my friend Hebrews 13:20-21 well pleasing
5. Same Greek word….different English word…..Romans 12:1-2 acceptable
B. Don’t we all want to hear…….Matthew 25:21 Well done, thou good and faithful servant:
CONCLUSION
What's holding you back from sharing your faith?
When Jesus sent out the seventy-two he said this in
Luke 10:1-3, " The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send
out workers into his harvest field.”
One way or the other this is true of us all
1 Corinthians 9:16 Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!
Pandemic reveals Two Extremes of people’s character
Takers and Givers
Hoarders and public servants
These same qualities of human nature have revealed themselves
In the epidemic of sin too
hoarders who keep the cure all to themselves, never share
Those who go try to save others
Which kind of character should we be
THINK ABOUT IT……..
YOU HAVE THE CURE
HOW DID YOU GET IT
Someone….somewhere….sometime,,,somehow shared
TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF JUSTICE
TO BALANCE THE SCALES
TO EVEN THE SCORE
YOU SHOULD
YOU OUGHT TO
IT IS YOUR DUTY TO
IF YOU LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
SHARE THE CURE WITH YOUR NEIGHBOR
KEEP THIS IN MIND THE NEXT TIME YOU CROSS PATHS
WITH A PERSON WHO IS INFECTED WITH THE SIN VIRUS
