Foundations 2

Matt 7:24-27 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

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Last time we talked about Jesus as our foundation and chief cornerstone...

And today in this series on “The Foundation That Doesn’t Fall,” I want to talk about VALUES:

One of the things found abundantly in Jesus’s teachings are VALUES.

DEFINE: VALUES are simply the guiding principles we build our lives around.

Our “VALUES” reveal what we consider most important, what has worth to us.

We’ve all heard the term “CORE values.”

A CORE value is what springs out of your bedrock belief system...What you have decided is true about life, God, eternity, yourself, relationships, and so on.

Your core values are important because they guide your decision making, and the kind of lifestyle you choose to lead.

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Now here’s where I’m going with this today:

If we don’t get our CORE values from Jesus and the Bible, we will get them from the Christ-rejecting world surrounding us.

Have you noticed?—The society we live in is actively and intentionally teaching its values through television sitcoms, movies, books, talk shows, late night comedy, and so on.

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Now, the truth is that every person listening to me has one of 2 options for where you will get your values—from the CULTURE or the KINGDOM.

FACT: I realized long ago that you can be SAVED and still live by CULTURAL, unbiblical VALUES.

When you’re saved but still hold to cultural values, you are a CULTURAL Christian as opposed to a KINGDOM Christian.

And Jesus said when this happens, you lose your saltiness as a kingdom representative and are useless as a world changer.

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This is why Paul implored believers, “Be not conformed into this world’s mold of thinking and doing, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (focusing on godly values and attitudes).” (12:1-2)

Clearly, a Christian can be CONFORMED to this world, or Paul would not have told Christians to avoid it!

So—If we want a victorious, fulfilling Christian life, we must allow the Word of God to transform our VALUES!

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Now, let me show you a few differences between cultural values and kingdom values:

First, some CULTURAL values:

Careerism—My career comes first,

Individualism—I am the center of my world,

Consumerism—I live to feed my wants,

Materialism—I live to acquire things,

Relativism (truth is what I decide it is), and

Pluralism (there is no ‘one way’ to God or heaven).

Did you notice that all CULTURAL values revolve around me, my, and I!

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On the flip side, here are some KINGDOM values:

-The Kingdom of God comes first, not me.

-Jesus is the center of my world, not me.

-Spiritual riches are more important than material things.

-There is only one way to heaven, not many.

-God’s Word is truth, not what I decide is true.

-I honor what God honors, and I value what He values.

Notice how Kingdom VALUES revolve around Him, not me.

So here’s a question: How can we as Christians impact a society when our VALUES are just like theirs?

We can’t! It is Christians with KINGDOM VALUES that are the true SALT AND LIGHT.

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So, let me share with you 3 key kingdom values Jesus taught that we must embrace in order to live a life that pleases Him, and impact our society for Jesus:

First,

What you honor

When Jesus taught the Lord’s prayer, He began with the words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (6:9).

The word “Hallowed” means, “to make holy, treat as holy, set apart as holy; to regard something as special and sacred.

“Hallowed” be your name is a phrase about HONOR.

Jesus taught that our highest honor should go first to God the Father, and everything He stands for.

And listen: What you HONOR reveals your core VALUES every time.

What we HONOR we will also defend, protect, and even risk our life for.

ILLUS: Video of Marine veteran who couldn’t handle watching the flag desecrated, so jumped in and seized it.

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Jesus talked often about how He “honored the Father.”

One day He said to a hostile crowd, “...I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me” (John 8:49).

He’s saying, “Your dishonoring of God has led you to dishonor Me,” but I, on the other hand, “Honor the Father.”

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Honoring God above all else matters, because when we HONOR Him we will also honor what He honors!

For instance, the Bible commands us to, “Honor your father and mother” (Matt. 15:4).

We may not respect who God commands us to honor, but we will do it out of honor to God.

Jesus said in John 5:23 “...everyone should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.”

Notice how Jesus connects honoring Him with first honoring God!

What do you HONOR most in life?

Whatever it is reveals just how deeply God has been able to transform your VALUES!

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So the first kingdom value is, what you HONOR.

The second kingdom value is:

II. What you serve

Jesus said to the devil in the wilderness:

“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Matt 4:10)

He later taught in the Sermon on the Mount, “No one can serve two masters, For you will hate one and love the other, or else the other way around” (Matt. 6:24).

We’re all hardwired to serve just one God, Jesus said...

And if we serve something other than God, we will eventually turn away from Him in our hearts.

So one of the most important kingdom values Jesus taught is about—what you serve.

You may say, “Well Jeff, right now, I just wanna do my own thing, go my own way, and stay free from this SERVING God business.”

Well, okay, but if you think you’re a free agent in the game of life, and that you’re only serving what you want, the Bible says otherwise

Did you know the Bible teaches that every human being on earth is serving either sin and Satan, or the Lord Jesus Christ, but NO ONE is free from serving one of the two?

“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil...” (Eph. 2:1-3).

but...being made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness” (Ro. 6:17-18).

So which are you serving today? Sin and Satan? Or the Lord Jesus Christ?

I can promise you this, Jesus’s “yoke is easy, and His burden is light,” but “the way of sinners is hard” (Matt. 11:30; Pr. 13:15).

Say with Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will SERVE the Lord!” (Joshua 24:15)

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So—what you honor, what you serve, and a third kingdom value is:

III. What you pursue

Jesus said, “Seek FIRST the kingdom of God...”

This value is all about your primary aim in life...

What is your life aimed at as a whole—your walk with Jesus, or something else?

What does your heart have passion for above all else?

What sits on the throne of your heart?

Jesus said, “Whatever your treasure is, that’s where I’m gonna find your heart.”

Placing the kingdom of God and the King of the kingdom FIRST is a CORE KINGDOM VALUE.

If we put anything else in that position we’ve stepped away from Kingdom Values.

ILLUS: Wagon Wheel

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So 3 life-changing kingdom values are: what you honor, what you serve, and what you pursue.