Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ.
Notice the analogy the writer of Hebrew uses. It's what you and I always think we don't have enough of. Money. Need more money. Money. Gotta have money. He said make sure your character is free from the love of money. Being content with what you have.
What do I have? I have God. And what do we say? All I need is more. Just more money.
What I need is more money. I have God. He gives us how God's Word meets our world. Many years ago I read in Desiring God, John Piper said this. John Piper said, God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him.
Let me change that word glorified. God is most pleased when we are most satisfied in him. That's when he's most pleased. That's when I rest in him. You see, no matter what's going on around me, when I rest in him, God says, I'm so pleased he rests in me.
But the circumstances we live in, economic uncertainty in the pandemic, especially this is very unnerving to us. And God says, why don't you just rest? Why don't you just rest in me? And what do we say yet?
But it's really hard. Just please me. You see, no matter whether things are going well or going poorly, I keep saying this over and over again and all these sort of individual messages.
But what God is telling you and I over and over again in the word of God, no matter what's going on in your life, is this. I got it. I got this. No, no, it's going to last. What are we going to do? I got it.
No. But I know what happens. What if the government runs out of money?
You see, what if there's no vaccine for two or three years? We're all what? God says, I got it.
Do you trust me or not? You see, and I think a lot of us don't please God. I don't think that's what we're doing. We're not pleasing God. We're asking whether we realize or not for God to please us. God, get in there and change those circumstances so I feel better. God says, you don't realize this is a test.
I'm testing you. I even whispered the answer. Please, God.
That's the answer. I just want to please God. When I am satisfied in him, I can't be anxious. I can't worry. I can't be fearful. I can't be angry.
I can't be bitter. Not if I'm satisfied in God. You see, that's the whole point. I mean, remember the context of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus knows people go through economic difficulty and they said, what are we going to do? We don't have anything. We're never going to make it.
And what did Jesus say? Yeah, I got you. I mean, have you looked at a bird?
Have you seen a flower? What do you have worried about? I don't know. I don't have enough. He said, how about this? Seek first the kingdom of God and my righteousness.
I'll add all this to you. I got this. You see, I got this. And that's what we keep failing, I think, in this test. We're just not doing it at all. Last week, I talked about this whole idea of repent and rest and quietness and trust out of Isaiah. The message never changed. God's still saying the same thing. It doesn't matter what this storm looks like.
It doesn't matter what you're in. He said, this is what I want from you. So as I began to think about this, I thought, are there some practical ways we can please God? And fortunately for your sake, I probably wrote down and jotted about 50. And I decided that's too many. It's harder to get you to remember one, two or three things.
Fifty would be impossible. So I just wrote down five. How can I please God in the midst of what's going on right now? And the first thing might not seem quite as clear to you, but it is to me. The first thing we can do is to confess our sins repeatedly. I keep short accounts with God. First John 1.9, if I confess my sins to God, he's faithful and just to forgive me my sins, cleanse me from unrighteousness. That's how I relate to God.
In other words, could I be failing through something like this? Yes. Could I get my eyes off of God? Yes. Could I complain and whine? Yes.
Could I become fearful? Yes. I better acknowledge it as sin. Because that's what it is. It's sin on my part. You see, and that word confessed for some of you have a different background. Think confession, something else. The words homologao, homo means single.
So or one. The idea is I say the same thing about my sin that God says. I feel the same way about my sin that God feels. I acknowledge my sin before God. And it says, and he does the rest. He's faithful and just. It's my relationship with him. All my sin and all yours has been forgiven at the cross.
That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about our day to day relationship with God. Keep short accounts with God. Secondly, Paul said this. These are tough times.
So how about this? Pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing. In other words, your life of mine should be as a child of God, a dialog with my Heavenly Father that goes on all the time. I'm not denouncing this.
I'm just saying it. It's given me hesitance to think about it at times. That's why I'm always bothered when someone wants to have a national day. Let's have a special day and then we'll pray.
Really? On that day. We're going to pray. Well, what about the day before the day after the days before the days after the weeks before the weeks after? Why not every day? Because Paul said, pray without ceasing. Why aren't we always in dialogue with God? Not it won't count as much if we have a day. Then God will wake up and say, oh, they're all praying.
I'm going to do now I'll do something. He says, you pray without ceasing. Why? Because prayer drives me to God. That's what prayer does. Prayer drives me to my father.
So why wouldn't I talk to my father all the time? You see, why wouldn't I not? In fact, the writer of Hebrews says, come boldly into the holy of holies. You see, I don't I'm not like the high priest once a year. I can go boldly into the holy of holies. We'll go right up to the throne of God, crawl up in his lap, according to Paul, call him Abba Father, which is daddy. And then tell him what I'm going through.
He said, yeah, that's what I want you to do. You have open access to me. Just come every day. Pray to me. You see, confess my sins. Pray without ceasing.
Be content with my God and my circumstances. Hebrews, I want to show you this verse. Hebrews Chapter 13, verse five.
I'm just going to read it. The writer of Hebrews says, make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have. For he himself has said, I'll never desert.
I'll never desert you nor will I ever forsake you. Notice the analogy writer of Hebrews uses. It's what you and I always think we don't have enough of. Money. Need more money. Money.
Got to have money. He said, make sure your character is free from the love of money. He said, being content with what you have.
What do I have? I have God. You see, and what do we say? All I need is more.
Just some more money. What I need is more money. I have God. I mean, he owns all the cattle and all the hills. The whole universe is his. I can't have more than God. He said, then you need to be content with that. Well, who decides then how much I get?
My father who loves me. He'll decide. I can be content with that. What did Paul say? I've learned a secret of contentment.
What? I've learned how to have a lot, and I've learned how to have little. Having much or having little doesn't make any difference, Paul said to me, at all. I don't care if I'm in a palace or a prison. It doesn't make any difference to me. And then he says in that context, because I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
You see how that worked. He said, I'm content in God. So the idea of be content with my God and my circumstances. Fourthly, be a witness to our Lord, to be a witness to our Lord. This is in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 20.
Listen to what Paul writes. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were making an appeal through us, we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. We're ambassadors for Christ.
What's that mean? We represent him. What do we do? We're the only way people can come to a saving knowledge of Christ. God has entrusted to you and I, his children, the message of the gospel.
He says, yeah, you're my ambassador. That's what you need to do. Now, let me ask you something. If a lot of people are losing their head in the middle of a pandemic and an economic turn down and all the other things going on, might that be a good time to present the hope of Jesus Christ? Yes, but it won't work very well if you're just as panicked as they are. You're complaining just like they are.
You're whining just like they are. You see, that's why Peter said, you don't even learn to give an account for the hope that's in you. God can set those up for us.
He said, we're the ambassadors. What all of us should have thought as soon as this began is, oh, my goodness, because I want to please him. Oh, my goodness, what an opportunity for the gospel of Jesus. I'll admit this.
I've only heard a few people tell me that through the whole thing so far. What an opportunity for us. This is an opportunity unlike any other opportunity we've had. No, what we keep saying is, when is he going to stop and change all these circumstances? Maybe when we pass the test. You see, maybe right now we're not passing. You see, we're not trying to get up every morning and say, how can I please you, Lord?
What can I do? And the last thing, to care for and to love my brothers and sisters in Christ. To care for and love the faith family. I have seen that. And it's been wonderful to see. There are 39 one anothers in the New Testament. That's a lot of one anothering. Our responsibility to each other is amazing. But in the midst of a storm like this, what a capacity we have to encourage one another, exhort one another, love one another, care for one another, serve one another.
You see, what a distinction. Jesus said, if you love one another, by this all men will know you're my disciples. It's a great witnessing tool, the way we love one another.
How are you doing in that area? How encouraging have you been to others? What have you given for other people?
How have you served them? What's going on in your life? You see, just a text that says thinking of you, praying for you, means a lot to a person. Some of us get a pretty good dose of that, mostly because of the friendships we have in Christ. But all of us in the body of Christ need it. This is an opportunity for us to take care of the body of Christ. So confess our sins regularly, pray without ceasing, be content with God and my circumstances, be a witness for my Lord, and to care for and love my brothers and sisters in Christ. Five things that I know will please him. God is watching, and the lost are watching.
What do they see from us? One last passage I want to go to is 2 Peter. 2 Peter 1. And this is where the rub comes. Peter starts out and he says in verse 2, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.
Then notice that word. God has given you and I everything we need pertaining to life and godliness. Does that include a pandemic or not?
Does that include economic downturns or hard times? Yeah. He said, I've given you everything. He said, I gave it all to you.
Why? He loves me. He's my father. He said, I've given you everything you want. He said, through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. He said, for by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises. God says, I'm also going to give you the spiritual food you need to grow. I'll give you all my promises, all of them.
And it's a promise. He said, notice then, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. God says, I'll give you everything you need to grow spiritually. I'll give it all to you.
I'll write it down. These are my promises. Now, you believe my promises, you'll grow spiritually. Then he says in verse five, now for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith. He says, supply moral excellence and in your moral excellence, knowledge. In your knowledge, self-control.
In your self-control, perseverance. In your perseverance, godliness. In your godliness, brotherly kindness. And in your brotherly kindness, love. He said, if these qualities are yours and are increasing, he said, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is impregnated with a few really good thoughts.
The first one is here is this. If you're growing spiritually, you're doing what God asks, two things about you. You're not useless or unfruitful. One of the worst things a Christian can say without realizing this is saying to God, I'm useless and I'm not fruitful. And I've had Christians tell me that. Listen, if you were useless and not fruitful, you wouldn't be here.
You'd be with your father. When you're useless or unfruitful, he'll take you home. But if you're here, that's not true. That's a lie. That temptation to victimize yourself doesn't come from God.
It comes from the enemy. He said, that's not true at all. You're not unfruitful. I decide that no matter what your circumstances are. He said, that's not the way it works.
But what's interesting to me is he says something in verse five that's the key to the whole thing for us of whether we want to please God every day or not. Here it comes. Now for this reason also, applying all diligence. Ah, that's your responsibility and mine. You see, if I don't apply diligence, then all these other things ending up with love, I'm never going to get there. I have to apply all diligence. You see, first of all, I have to want to please my father. Then I have to do what's necessary to please my father. I have to acknowledge my sin. I have to pray without ceasing. I have to share my faith. You see, all these things are important. I need to study the word of God or workman.
It doesn't need to be a same, brightly dividing the word of truth. I need that. I have to apply diligence in my life. Because only when I'm growing and applying diligence will my motive be the same as Jesus's. And I say, look, all I want to do is please him. Every day I get up, I just want to please him.
And so through this whole pandemic and economic uncertainty, I challenge you to just say you have one goal. I just want to please my father. When I get up every day, I want to say, Father, I just want to please you today. When I'm in a conversation with someone else, especially if it's political or economic, are my words pleasing to my father?
Because many of you know that's not true. You know what you're saying isn't pleasing to your father. I mean, remember this. Paul wrote, let no unkind word come from your mouth. You see, do I want to please him every day? Father, use me in any way you can use me because I know it'll please you. And my only goal through this all, I don't know how big it'll be, I don't know how long it'll last, I don't know how deep it'll go, but I know I can please you every day. I want you to say to me what you said to Jesus. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. He's not asking for me the perfection of Christ.
He's already handled all that by forgiving my sins and allowing me to have a relationship with him. You see, from my point of view, when I think of this whole pandemic and economic uncertainty, one word comes into my mind. What is this? It's a detour. That's all it is. All this is is a detour. All of us were going along our way, right?
You're just going along your way, you have it all planned out, how it's going to work, and then all of a sudden, coronavirus. Detour. What is a detour? Well, first of all, it's a delay, isn't it? If you've got a detour, you're now delayed. You're trying to get somewhere and you look up and you go, oh boy, now we've got a detour. It's a delay. Secondly, detours always pop up and you don't expect them. Always. Some of you had a detour when you got a prognosis from a doctor, and from that morning on, you're on a different path.
You're not where you were at all. Thirdly, detours change our plans completely. But you know what? Detours are quite necessary. That's why we have detours. It's quite necessary.
They are designed for our good. How about this? Detour. Bridge up. Oh, I don't want to do this every 25, 30 minutes before I get back here.
Bridge up. The detour can be a good thing in your life. God uses detours so that we can grow spiritually, so that he can test us. I mean, think of Joseph's detour.
Here I am, the prized son of Jacob, the next thing you know. My brothers threw me in a pit and sold me to Egypt. What a detour.
How'd that work out? Worked out well, didn't it? God used that detour. He even told his brothers, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good because he always tests us for the good.
So, we are in a delay. We didn't expect it. It changed our plans, but because our sovereign God, I know that it was quite necessary.
Why? My sovereign God allowed it. And I also know from Romans 8, it was for my good, and it was for yours as well. So, I have one goal, and I pray that you do too now. I just want to please the God who loves me. That's what I want to do. I want to get up and please my Father.
I pray you do too. Just pray. Father, we get so preoccupied with the circumstances. We get so preoccupied with hypothetical solutions. We keep believing that the most important thing is never the most important thing. How does our economy recover?
When will the vaccine be ready? We keep thinking that's the answer, but it will always be something else. You're the answer. And for us to get the answer right, for us to want to live to please you, we need to rest in you and trust you. That's my prayer, Father, for each and every one of us in Jesus' precious name.
Amen. At that website, you will find not only today's broadcast, but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word, we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help this radio ministry continue its broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly or with just a one-time gift. Support for our ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word 4600 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, Louisiana 7006. If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcnola.org.
That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word. .
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-03-17 00:32:11 / 2024-03-17 00:41:58 / 10