To the Quitters Like Me
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever wanted to just give up?
I think about a teacher. The day has not been going well. Those troublemakers are just not listening to reason and the rest of the class are beginning to follow. I can imagine that a point is reached where the teacher just wants to give up. What’s the use? Let’s scrap the day and start over tomorrow. Let’s give up.
I think about marriages. Your marriage has been on the rocks for years. You’ve tried different things. You’ve been to counselors, read books. You’ve done everything you think you can, and nothing has changed. And now, you sit in the living room, and you just want to give up.
I think about ministry. Whether someone is a pastor like me, or a congregation member. You’ve done a certain ministry, had a certain passion, year in, year out. And nothing seems to change. No fruit. No new people coming. No new volunteers. You’re sitting in A stagnant pool of blah. And you just want to give up.
Have you been there?
I have. Boy, have I.
I’ve sat in my office, wondering what I am doing, wondering why I am doing, and how long I need to keep doing.
I’m not planning on leaving. I’m just being real and trying to relate.
I’ve come up to Saturday nights, and thought about preaching the next morning and wishing I didn’t have to, because I knew the effort and the emotional pain I would go through, for what result?
And, there have been times, sitting there, when I have wanted to give up.
Have you been there?
If you haven’t, you will.
The Corinthians, by their actions, by their beliefs, where giving up.
At the beginning of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul worries that they will give up.
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
They were forgetting. They were not holding firm. So, he reminds them throughout this chapter of what is true. And then, tells them in our text for today, don’t give up.
Don’t do it.
Live right now, tenaciously, according to what we know.
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, 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.
Don’t give up! Let’s Pray.
1. What We Know
1. What We Know
For us to not give up, to live tenaciously according to what we know: we must know something. Yes?
When I graduated college, I worked two jobs: I worked McDonald’s in the evenings and then in the mornings, I got a job through a temp agency, at a factory that made plastic privacy glass blocks.
That was a fascinating job. My job was to monitor a machine that injected liquid plastic into a mold, cooled the result, and kicked it out onto a conveyor. As I talk about, I can still smell that hot plastic. The place didn’t have any air conditioning, so everything was hot, sticky, and smelly.
When the blocks slid down the conveyor, I was supposed to inspect each block, trim off any excess plastic, and stack them on a pallet. One block would drop every 5 seconds or so. Oh, and I was supposed to watch for jamming in the machine and fix the jamming.
At the beginning, I had no idea what I was doing. They had to train me in everything. By the end of the summer, I could do pretty much everything, except change the molds for different blocks. I was never trained on that.
We cannot be expected to do what we don’t know. We can’t hold firmly to a cloud of nothingness.
Paul reminds the Corinthians of what they know. The resurrection is coming!
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Every single person who has turned from their sins and their false faiths, and turned to Jesus alone for salvation will be changed. They will be resurrected, given their new bodies. They will live forever.
In that day, death and its sting will be done away with. In that day, our victory through Jesus Christ will be realized.
In that day, we will not be subject to the power of death, we will not be defined by sin. We will enter into an eternity of bliss, in a place where there is no sin, pain, death, or anything that is against the awesome plan of God.
We have been talking about eternity for almost a month, so if you want more, listen to the past 4 sermons.
That will be an awesome day. And it is a day that we know is coming. Paul calls it our “blessed hope.”
That blessed hope, what we know, affects how we live. Our blessed hope urges us to not give up.
2. Let Us Live
2. Let Us Live
Paul in Titus, says basically the same thing that he says in 1 Corinthians:
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Paul says: Don’t give up! Live right now, tenaciously, according to what we know.
Now, by the end of the sermon, I expect everyone to have memorized the last verse in 1 Corinthians 15, because I am going to be repeating it over and over again for the next 20 minutes.
Paul urges the Corinthians and us to live...
A. Standing Firm
A. Standing Firm
Standing firm
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, 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.
Stand firm pertains to what we believe. Paul refers to this in Colossians:
But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Fact: The resurrection is coming and the only person who allows someone into the resurrection is Jesus Christ, through faith in him. That is the teaching of the Gospel.
We are to stand firm on that. We are to be firmly in place on that truth.
Last year, a huge windstorm came through the area. Huge chunks of shingles pealed off of my roof. Another house in the neighborhood lost their whole roof. Just flipped off. We had a very heavy cast iron glider on our back patio. It flipped over and broke.
What didn’t break: my flagpole. We put that pole in cement 3 ft deep. Ain’t nothing is going to move that flagpole. The light brook. The flag tore. But that flagpole stayed firm.
When we are ready to give up on the work of the Lord, we are to plant ourselves firmly on the truth of the Gospel, cementing our whole selves in, heart, mind, everything. Saying: this is what we know. I am going to be firmly in place on it.
So when storms of life come, when discouragements attack, when it feels like the work we are doing is useless, when other things in life pop up as more important, we say: “nope! I know the Gospel, I know the resurrection because of the Gospel. This is my foundation, nothing else.”
This foundation will affect our conversations with others. It will affect our time priorities. It will affect how we react to farming or ranching timelines, and the pull to serve our work, or exalt our family, over Christ. It affects whether we are willing to stay the course and not give up on what Christ has called us to do.
Paul says: don’t give up. Instead live standing firm.
He urges the Corinthians to live....
B. Immoveable
B. Immoveable
Immoveable.
This is intricately related to standing firm.
Paul says:
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, 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.
Let nothing move you! Immoveable.
Standing firm is from our perspective or action. We remain firmly in the Gospel. Immoveable is related to someone else’s perspective or actions.
Consider the Colossians passage again:
But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
We continue in our faith, established and firm. That is steadfast.
Do not move from the hope held out in the Gospel. That is immoveable.
It’s been a long time since I have asked for a volunteer. So, let’s do it. I need a volunteer. Preferably someone who thinks that they are strong.
Thank you very much!
Immoveable. We have truth. We have what the Bible says. We have our hope of eternity, that the resurrection is coming.
People come up to us and say: There are other ways to eternity. You don’t need to go through Jesus alone! And they try to push us off our foundation. But, we are to live immoveable.
“But, sure, Jesus is our savior, but if we just do a bunch of good works, isn’t that enough.” Nope, salvation is by grace alone. Our good works are like filthy rags. We must turn to Jesus. Immoveable.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
“I hear that you are a Christian. But, you don’t really need to follow what the Bible says. Who cares about those standards, just lower them!” But, I need to live according to eternity today. What will be should effect my now. Immoveable.
“Why do you want to go so often? Your team needs you. Your studies need you. You can skip.” But, my priority is having a relationship with God. This world is going to pass away. Eternity is forever. So, I’m not only going to reserve time each week to spend with God and his family, but I am going to reserve time every day. Immoveable.
Paul writes:
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ
The world is constantly coming against us to leave our secure foundation, our belief in Jesus Christ and our actions because of our belief. And they are very convincing, using everything against us.
Which is why Paul wrote to the Ephesians about the Armor of God:
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
If the resurrection is true, we will live standing firm and immoveable.
Paul says: Don’t give up. Instead live...
C. With 100% Focus
C. With 100% Focus
With 100% focus.
Our passage:
I’ll let you read it:
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, 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.
Paul says for the Corinthians to always give themselves fully to the work of the Lord.
Do you know what always means? It means at all times. I don’t want to beat this concept to the ground, but sometimes we forget it. Goodness knows, I do.
This word is used for Jesus’ intercession for us.
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Jesus is always interceding for us. I don’t know about you, but that is a comfort to me that he never stops doing it.
How would we like it if someday we got a note in the mail:
Dear Peter, I’m tired today and the Satan is really scaring me, so I’m taking a day off of interceding for you. You’re on your own. Love, Jesus.
But, Jesus, you said that you were always going to be interceding. And, plus doesn’t this stop the work that you said you were going to do?
“Yeah, but always doesn’t have to be always does it?”
I’m grateful that Jesus never says that. When he says “always,” he means “always.” He never gives up on his work. He always gives himself fully to it.
Now, he turns around to us, holds out his hand, and says: join me in that focus.
If we are standing firm on the truths of the Gospel and the realization of the resurrection, not letting anyone move us off of that foundation, either in our belief or our action, we will have a focus to our lives.
Instead of our life being about getting through the day, checking things off our list, keeping our kids in line, avoiding conversations with our spouse, etc, etc., our life, if we are standing firm and immoveable, is about the work of God, because everything else pales in comparison.
What worth is our life if we have gained everything, but lost our soul?
What worth is our life if we have done everything that we wanted to in this life, but in the next, we stand before the judgment seat of God and he asks: what have you done for me? How did you join me in the work that I am doing and in which I graciously asked you to join?
And we stand there with empty hands, ashamed, because that which was important... we willing moved our focus away.
If we stand firm, immoveable on the Gospel and the resurrection, we will have 100% focus to make that our passion. The work of Christ will go on. He has asked me to join in, because lost are dying around me, so I will always give myself fully to that work. I know the Gospel is true. I know the resurrection is coming. So, that is my focus. That is my passion. That is my priority.
I stand here ashamed, because the last few months, though God has been convicting me about it, I have found so many excuses out in the community, during my week days, to make excuses, to forget the always and the fully. I ask your forgiveness. And I ask you to join me to pick up this charge and to live with 100% focus.
That’s why we have the county fair ministry, because of our focus. That’s why we have outreaches to the Willows and the nursing home, because of our focus. That’s why we have our prayer meeting, because of our focus.
We need each other, to help each other with that focus, as we remain standing firm and immoveable.
Paul says: Don’t give up. Instead live:
D. With Confidence
D. With Confidence
With confidence.
Let’s read the passage together:
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, 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.
When we are standing firm, immoveable, on the truths of the Gospel and our responsibilities to it, when we live with 100% focus on doing the work of the Lord, our labor is not in vain. We can have confidence in our lives, because our life has meaning and worth.
Which means the opposite is true. When we do not live with 100% focus on doing the work of the Lord, all the things that we are filling our time with has no meaning.
All the things that are not tied to the work of the Lord is in vain. We can be the most successful athlete, but if we are not doing the Lord’s work through it, our success is nothing.
We might have a full bank account, have a successful farm or ranch, but if we are not doing the Lord’s work, the things we have done is empty.
Solomon wrote:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
Everything in life is empty. He tried everything on this earth that could bring happiness or purpose. Everything. Fill in the blank, and he tried it. And he found out that everything was meaningless, empty, vain.
Everything except for one thing:
Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them”—
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
There is a joy that comes when we say: God, my life is yours. And I want to have 100% focus on your work. When I am at my job, I want to work for your kingdom. When I am with my kids, I want my interactions to be colored by your work in their souls. When I am on the farm, handling my finances, dealing with my spouse, volunteering in the community, I want eternity to color everything, I want your mission to color everything.
When we have that focus, there is a joy, a satisfaction, a peace that is found in nothing else in life. We have confidence that what we are doing is worthwhile. It is not in vain.
When we feel like giving up, that is the signal that we have forgotten our focus. We have placed our priorities, our fulfillment, in something other than the work of the Lord. We’ve got to come back to God, repent, reassess, and refocus.
Paul says: Don’t give up! Live right now, tenaciously, according to what we know. Live, standing firm, immoveable, with 100% focus, and with confidence.