June 12, 2016

should look for me or cuz last week we talked about the rule of life and this morning were talking about the rule of life remix, because I want to continue talking about this theme because I think it's an important theme I think of a verse in 1st Timothy 4:8 where Paul is writing to Timothy and he says this train yourself to be Godly for physical training is of some value but godliness has value for all things holding promise for both the present life and the life to come and so Paul commence Timothy physical training is good is a good thing but don't neglect spiritual training training yourself to be Godly because that's not only good right now. It's good for eternity 2 it's a high-value. And so I want to continue to talk about what we talked about last last week this rule of Life Concept in that context of what it means to train ourselves to be Godly a rule of life is really this principle. It's a practical proactive focus on achieving a goal and its broadest sense. That's what a rule of life is and throughout history. There's been folks who have embraced the concept of a rule of life and they've established these rules because they're practical and their proactive toward getting toward their goal. Inns in Christian history, one of the dominant rules of Life came from a month named Saint Benedict and for hundreds of years folks have read and try to learn from his wisdom. He wrote 73 chapters in this little book and called his rule of life and it was really about life in the monastery. How can we live as monks together in Devotion to God and do the best job we can and it ranged from the incredible interesting. He says in one place absolutely. No where shall age automatically determine rank among the monks. Remember that Samuel and Daniel were still boys when they judged their Elders refers to first channel 3 and Daniel 13

That's right. And then that should not have done that or dad needs to rethink that and so sometimes we need not just assume that age automatically equals Authority or maturity. The medical biblically were challenged to say that really what dictates Authority or maturity is christ-like character and young people can Embrace that later in that pass. This is the passage of Timothy where Paul said don't let anyone look down on you because of your youth but instead set an example in your conduct and your own Godly lifestyle also has the Practical in it to he says that at the door of the Monastery Place a sensible old man, who knows how to take a message and deliver or reply and whose age keeps him from roaming about So it's incredibly practical you want a good solid Dependable trustworthy Elder at that door who can discern and take a good message and get it the right person, but you got to let you know you got to discern you don't want to be Summerhays something and they'll just wondering if you know, I might be in that category. I see something shiny. I'm chasing the butterfly. We left Robbie here to do this task and suddenly he's he's wrong. Off their there's other categories in life and embrace this rule of Life concept. I read once in a book about Cowboy wisdom and it just had all these rules of life for cowboy. And one of them was don't squat with your Spurs on Now that's a good role of life in it. I would say that was learned from experience at some point in life. Somebody mentally filed away. You know what I need to adhere to this rule of life. And so we want to talk about our own rule of life as Christians were following Christ because our goal is to be like Christ in Luke 6. Jesus said look the student is not above the teacher but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. So to be a Christian in the fullness of being a Christian is to be like Christ the reward itself means little Christ. It was used to refer to the early church there like Jesus, they're like these little Christ the way they behave and live their life and so are our goal as Christians as a church is to be this group of people who are striving toward being like Christ and John 13 He says, I've given you an example that you should follow again you find this theme throughout scripture that Jesus says this is the goal for those You were following me who are seeking God to be like me to follow my example and in John 14. He says if you love me, obey my Commandments and so that's our journey as Christians is to be obedient toward christlikeness. We want to follow and Obey in order to be like Christ. That's the ultimate Journey that we're striving toward. It's the last week. We introduced this little rule by a Dutch officer. He says look, this is something he's learned in his life. He said he learned it from a Chinese Pastor years ago. I told you about a pastor in East Tennessee. They had a similar rule that impacted me but it's the Simplicity of this kind of rule of life. Just do the next thing you're reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do and then he has and commit to it immediately in the next 10 seconds before you change your mind. Nice. Not talking about who you're going to marry or what career you're going to pursue. He's talking about daily practical impulses. And so when you're going along You see somebody in need and you feel like the Lord impresses you upon your heart. Hey, you should buy that guy a meal. He says do it because if you procrastinate if you go beyond 10-second, she'll start saying but I'm late for my next meeting and I've only got a little bit of cash and if I use that cash for a meal I've stopped at 8 p.m. Later that's going to make me beat you have to stop during traffic and before you know it hey, that guy is out of sight out of mind. I'm moving along and so the challenge is it ma'am.

I'll be back with your bill. Your bill has been paid. Somebody paid your bill. That's a good thing. I imagine that person I'm at that person might have seen you and thought I should pay her bill and they acted obediently to that impulse. They thought Jesus is leading me to be generous and kind and I'm going to act on it. Now the key is again to discern it and to do it because if you start to procrastinate, well, she'll think it's weird. What if she sees me doing it then she'll feel awkward. So and then suddenly you've talked yourself out of obedient. And so he has this a rule that he tries to live out their life again. It's not for who you're going to marry. It's not for these huge decision. It's for the way you're going to pay on a daily basis. So just do the next thing you're reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do and commit to it immediately in the next 10 seconds before you change your mind. Can you imagine how that would transform Our Lives if we made that are rule of life. On a daily basis and some of us have started doing that last week. We started doing that. We started listing for that for that voice and and deciding, you know, I'm going to do this now. If you're like me, you may have been hit-and-miss this past week you may have had moments where it was 10 minutes after the event that you realize all you know, what the Lord was speaking to me and I totally did not obey or I just didn't discern quickly and properly as he tried to practice his rule he offers some wisdom and and I think of Romans 2:4 when I think about his wisdom Grace is our constant companion and draws us to God Romans 2:4 says it is the kindness of God that draws us to repentance. And so when I say grace is our constant companion I say I don't want to Usher this rule out as some sort of burden on everyone shoulders to say whenever you feel the urge to do something you better do it. If you don't do it, you better drag your heels and drag your head and be like Charlie Brown and just say, no good Christian and just mowed the lawn during that day. The reality is that Grace is our constant companion. When we realized 10 minutes to let you know what I realize now that that person that was interacting with me was somebody I should have helped and I just kind of spaced out and went and now it's too late in that moment. You can still practice the rule you can say. What's the next thing I would have me to do in this moment. Maybe it's simply a prayer of confession and repentance Lord. I'm sorry that I just did not let that click in my brain the way it should have please help me the next opportunity to have eyes that are open. So Grace is our constant companion. And this is the way he words it the 10-second rule gives you a place to begin following Jesus again right now and whenever you find yourself drifting spiritually. So again, it's not this burden to say I better do this or I'm not a good Christian. It's a practical proactive way to say, how do I strive to obey more frequently and even when we fell in her obedience it is the love of God is kindness that turns our heart back to him again and again, The grace understood correctly doesn't cause us to say oh good. I'm just not going to Vegas Grace covers it understood correctly. Grace draws us back to God where we strive to do the best job we can at least point because he meets us with the grace. We need each time. We struggle now the challenge is how do we know that the Lord has given us that impression, you know, we don't want to slip in the mistake of saying what I heard this voice, you know, when and suddenly we're doing things and so we have to be Discerning about how we act on these impulses and strive to obey the more, you know, this is his language the more, you know about the teachings in the character of Jesus Christ the more confident you'll become in following him. That's your guides your emotions are not your guide. Your impulses are not your guide your guide that foundational guide for you that that Foundation that your building on is your knowledge of Jesus Christ and his character. I worded it this way the life and teachings of Jesus as reported in the Christian scriptures are our authoritative Guide to Life. That's the key for us. Jesus talked about this in John chapter 10. He says look, I am the way and the truth and the life. I am is what Jesus says I am. So you pick up your cross. You deny yourself. You deny your own voice to an extent and you listen for me. He says that same chapter I have sheep and they know me they recognize my voice and they follow me and so our journey as a disciple is to learn about Jesus to learn his character to look at him in the scriptures. We talked last week about reading the Gospel of Luke a great first step in and trying to obey a look at the way Jesus behaves the thing he does feel that our knowledge of Jesus Christ is really the foundation of the acts of obedience and what's happening when we have this impulse we're being reminded of something we know to be true in the scriptures. It'll never be something that's contradicted in the scriptures. It'll always be something that's already in the scriptures for being reminded. Hey, I feel like the Lord's telling me to help this person. What are the scriptures tell us to help people? Absolutely in Matthew. Jesus says As a matter of fact, you need to be aware of this sometimes when you see the least of these when you see the prisoner of the person who needs a jacket or the person who's hungry, you're seeing me. That's me Hebrews even uses the phrase that sometimes there are Angels Among Us in disguise. So could it be that from heaven above on occasion and Angels dips down and shows up in my path as someone that I'm tempted to be annoyed by that someone I'm tempted to step around and say I've got my day planned could that be an angel wondering giving me an opportunity to serve to be obedient? Answer the key is to know scripture to know those troops and and understand we have that impulse. This is something in scripture. So it's never going to be like at 1 or just led me to abandon. My responsibilities are they just gave me this impulsive to do this bad think it's always going to be something that lines up with scripture. The rule doesn't require is another wisdom from are Dutch author. The rule doesn't require that you be absolutely certain and impression is from God before you obey the need for certainty is often. The enemy of obedience as is procrastination, which I mentioned and so sometimes we can we can get Frozen with this since I have to know for sure, but the reality is the more we know the scriptures the more we know Christ and his life and teaching the quicker we can say I know this is something that Jesus would have me do the question is am I going to obey before I talk myself out of it before I procrastinate long enough so that we learn the scriptures to the end of being obedient. In our life of seeing obedience, and sometimes we get in the habit of learning the scriptures just as an end in love itself. Just as I well, I know that and we move on and the reality is the reason we learn the scriptures and that's why studying the Life of Christ in the gospels and his teachings stand as a priority. The reason we are to be student of the Bible students of the book is so that we can increase our obedience. Amen. That's the value of being students of the word that we might obey more fully. Sometimes we slip into the mistake of just memorizing and learning so that we can impress others so that somebody can mention something we can say that's the Lamentations this worse than anybody sometimes we just gather knowledge for the sake of gathering knowledge. The purpose of the gift of the scriptures of God's mine revealed to us so that we could take every thought captive for Christ so that we can meet obedience we learn so that we can obey wish we should really maybe we should I should preach the sermon every week. You know, Echo The store I think before by the preacher who showed up at a church, and he preached the sermon it was his first Sunday. And if I said that was good, they like the next week. He preached the very same sermon and they said well, he's been moving in and unpack and maybe he's just been busy and forgetful and that's okay the third week he preached exact same sermon again, and some people came to liters and said what to do is this guy not got you know full dental in what's going on with him. He's just got so much going on for Sunday. He preached the exact same sermon against to a group came to him after the service and said, what's the deal you freeze the same sermon for Sundays in a row, and he said I'm waiting for you.

I mean, maybe we can permit me to maybe we shouldn't go forward until we reply and I'll bang maybe I shouldn't collect lesson after lesson workbook after workbook commentary after commentary Cricket on after Cricket. I'm on my shelf until I've taken a lesson and put it in my heart. I treasured the word to such a degree that I've let it become the authority in my life and I'm striving to obey and least that sound like a burden. We can't bear remember Grace is our constant companion. Even when we fail God's loving kindness it that's okay. Let's try again. We've got that Grace to help us learn and discern try and fail try and it's that goodness that draws us to keep trying time.

Christian character in this is the author's language again is shaped Last by your big dramatic decisions. Then by the cumulative impact of thousands of small Acts of Simple obedience scripture talks about it. This way Jesus says in Luke 16, if you're faithful in the little things you will be faithful in large one. But if you're dishonest a little things you won't be honest with greater responsibilities this another little distraction we can get in our obedience. Sometimes we keep waiting for God to call us and invite us to do Grand and grandiose things. And so we're waiting for Billy Graham, you know the flying and say, you know what I've got. I've got strength and vigor and health back again and I'm doing one last conference one last evangelist cigarettes and Ben I've asked you to be on stage with me to share the gospel with those who need to hear it. Some of us are waiting or Robby. Finally. I've been waiting for Billy Graham to finally safe Robbie's the one I'm passing my mantle to him fantasize about these great acts of obedience these dramatic events. The Lord is singing or what? Maybe you should start with just being kind to your mailman. In hopes of planning a seed of the Gospel. If if we're not obedient in the little opportunities that are right in front of us. Jesus says I know what's in the human heart. The reality is if you're not obedient in those small things. I can't trust you to be faithful or I'll be there with the larger things until those larger things are not going to be brought across our plate. The challenge for us right now is to look for any and every opportunity those small opportunities to be kind and gracious to others to offer a word from the Lord. I kind and gracious quote from scripture or prayer for somebody who needs it to take the opportunities that come before I act and obedience. It starts with those small acts that God's going to work through a sometimes we can be overwhelmed and we think we've got to do grandiose things. We got to change the world. The world is is 2 to the problems are too large. How do we solve those problems overnight? Those who are concerned about the environment have a great saying that kind of handles for those who are worried about the Earth in the environment the sense of being overwhelmed by that they said well think globally act locally and that's a great little phrase there to say instead of being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the needs of the Earth. Think about the magnitude of those needs but then act locally do what you can right where you are. It's a weekend as Christians we could say think eternity and act

Think about the grandest of the narrative the men a narrative that God is seeking to redeem humanity and that we live in a world where people are broken and lost in the kind of things. We prayed about this morning happened on a regular basis. Don't be overwhelmed by that instead think about the grandness of God's plan of his wisdom and his grace that he has provided a way and then act now do what you can to move the kingdom of God Ford in your life. You know, the kingdom of God is simply any place that the rule of God is established. Do you see the logic of that? So where is the kingdom of God on Earth? Where do we see his kingdom where we see goodness and Grace and forgiveness and restoration and healing we see it anywhere that his is established or loud and so each of us become our own little kingdom when we invite God into our hearts and your mind, will you let him direct us and lead us when we seek to be followers and Disciples of Jesus Christ and his way We become a little spot that the kingdom of God is ruling in if I'm giving my heart over to God and I'm letting him be the authority in my life that I'm this little kingdom of God. That's moving to Lacey. And then when I count or somebody I can do what I can do. Amen. I'm an able to solve all the problems in the world, but I can be kind of that person. I encounter I could possibly buy them lunch if they need it or give them a gift card. If I don't have time to buy them lunch or give them some cash or we can never do that. Well, which is better to disobey an Impulse of the Lord in your heart because you know better than him. Or just simply obey. and Trust The hope of the world this is listen.

I don't know. Sometimes we just sit on our hands and we just said well Lord, when you going to fix the world, I've been watching the television all day in the news is horrible. You're really not doing a very good job Lord, you're falling behind. I mean look at all the stuff at the people that are hungry Lord Sanders churches that are splitting and her people and I ain't getting along and there's crime and there's hard egg and their sadness in their fit people in the hospital. They were lonely and nobody's business Lord You're really falling down on the job. And we just sit on our hands and wonder when he's going to do something. Let me tell you something right now. This is God's plan for you, and I to be obedient to him. To belittle Christ in this world so that he does answer prayers through you and I so that that person who's lonely in the hospital. Is a Christian from a church come to visit them come to spend some time with him come to pray with him. So that person that's walking down the street thinking what am I going to eat today? I don't even have any food to eat counter. Somebody who says hey, you know, what? Why don't we eat lunch together? Let me buy you lunch. God seeks to be the answer to this world else to you and I Do us being like Christ again. Don't miss hear it. I'm not laying this burden. You're not responsible for saving the world. What you're responsible for is doing the next thing that you're reasonably certain that God wants you to do. It might be a simple and find somebody lunch. It might be praying with your kids before they go to bed. That may be the impulsive worth putting on your heart. And then I got to be little kids. It might be older kids or might be breaking your heart to call your kids. You know, I'm busy and you're calling me and I got too hard and it lines up with what you know, what scripture that your job is to say that impulse it might be to pray with somebody in your family on a regular basis. It might be the help somebody it might be to apologize to somebody it might need be to restore a broken relationship. Look at what scripture says and I'm going to buy the worship team to come forward will close with this verse Paul says in Colossians 1 to them. God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the Glorious Riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you the hope of glory That's what I'm just talking about. Paul says this is what God is doing. This is his plan to bring the knowledge of his goodness The Riches of his Mercy the knowledge of who we used to bring it to the world through this mechanism Christ in you. That's the hope of glory. That's the hope of the kingdom of God raining as we pray Lord your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven the challenges for us to start to be those little spots where his will is being done the way we treat our spouses the way we treat the people we encounter the way we had no Ethics in our workplace in our job if we're worried about the world crumbling around us with unethical decision. We start by being people who are ethical Restart my ping people who strive to do the right thing at every opportunity we get and when we fail when we will we turn to Christ. We let the knowledge of his love and his grace and his Mercy draw us back to him and we strive again to obey we never give up. We're not down but not knocked out process. We're discouraged but never defeated. because the love of Christ is something we can never be separated from no matter what's going on our life and so we can strive because honestly and so many ways were like little children little babies that are still learning to eat and maybe learning leaving to go to the bathroom babies learn learning how to walk and sometimes we stumble and fall and the only way we're going to go forward is by letting our gracious Heavenly Father pick us up each time we fall Wipe off her chin when we stick the spoon here instead of here and it just runs down. And even if we think well, I'm I'm not a little baby.

The place that God wants to take us in our character to be like Jesus Christ himself. That's a place that almost feels like the distance between a little baby this learning anything. Adult that knows how to function and we're dependent on God to let him work in our lives and in our hearts. It's not something that we push up our sleeves and say I'm going to figure out how to do this myself. Jesus said come to me and take my burden. It is light. It is a light burden. That's what he's that's what he meant. I'm going to help you walk this way. It's the image of to aux where one Ox is linked with another and the other Ops is stronger and wiser and able to know the path and even pull the way to the other one. The other is new and just learning the way until he says Come Share the burden with me and I will help it be like he will show us the way. You'll show us how to battle with their own struggles and selfishness we meet with him in the garden when he prayed father. This is hard. I don't want to go to the Cross but he had the ability to say but nonetheless not my will but yours be done father when we commune with price. He will let us in on that intimacy those Secrets Revelation 3:20 says I stand at the door and knock open the door and I'll come in my father with me and we will have dinner with you. He Longs for us to trust him. To trust him in to accept his grace the million times that we need it and to accept the forgiveness and it is intimacy. and to learn from him to take his yoke and learn how to submit and learn how to follow and allow him to do things in our life that will amaze us to not settle for crawling and stumbling But realize that he has designed for us to run and not grow weary and not even just stumbled when we wait upon him as Isaiah says So this is this is one way to start to say Lord. I'm going to when I know you're saying something to me and I Know It lines up with scripture. I'm going to obey I'm going to do that next thing that I'm that I'm just about sure a reasonably sure that you want me to do. As some of you may have that impulse right now. Where are saying? Our Song of invitation are are closing song to a message time and if you've got it on your heart that you need to come forward then I challenge you to do that because if the Lord is putting it on your heart then it's a good thing it's a good that he wants to bless you if if you got a decision to make and make that decision if you got prayer that you need then come to me we'll have some folks. I'll be in the back of your folks in the front and the back I'll be in the back so that if you have a concern or question or prayer you don't have to feel like you're right up here in front of everybody and come right back there and talk privately with me. I'll pray with you. I'll receive any decision that you have on your heart or your mind or they'll be others men and women both in the front and the back that'll just be here for prayer and you can come to them. And I'd love to pray with you. During this song be obedient to whatever the Lord is leading you to be obedient to As we sing this song.