Selfishness
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Call To Worship Scripture
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Philippians 4:10
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Sermon Scripture
Sermon Scripture
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Our question in reading through the scripture this morning is why? Why does Jesus live how he lives? Why does He heal on the Sabbath? On whose accord does He act? And not only why but how? How does Jesus determine what He does?
My thesis this morning is that selfishness is not of God’s nature but is wholly and fully of the nature of man. Selfishness is that evil twin to pride and must be thought of correctly for a healthy Christian walk.
Yet with selfishness bing of the full nature of man, the problem or observation sought then is how does Jesus being fully man, refrain from acting in the fullness of the fallen nature of man which is selfishness.
To be selfish is to regard ones own interest either as chief, meaning above all else, or regarding ones own interest alone. Such regard is the influencer of ones actions, regarding to one a private or even public advantage.
To be honest, many would be fine with saying that Jesus acts selfishly and that is to our good. However there is a great distinction here between selfishness and just or righteousness. To act in selfishness for a just or righteous purpose appears to be a great contradiction. For example to make a seemingly wise decision for the benefit of self, in scripture is more closely related to the actions and decision making process of Adam and Eve than that of Christ our Lord.
Let me explain:
We are inherently selfish beings but God is not. Our selfishness is inherent in that selfishness has been passed down to us by Adam. If we go back to the fall of man we see that Satan in his deception deceives Eve by twisting this truth. He seeks to paint God as selfish and thus encourage Eve to step out of “God’s selfishness” in regard for herself and Adam. This is painted as better for them as if being “like God” will enable them to be better than God in not being as so called selfish as God.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Notice the seeing it as good for food, delight to the eyes, the making of one to be wise are not deemed good, just or righteous in any way. As a matter of fact they are wholly not good, unrighteous and unjust, simply because they go against what God has decreed. (But this does not make God selfish, though in the partaking of it, man became innately selfish)
Now move forward to the ministry of Christ.
I would have us look at this, because a renewed understanding of this will profoundly change the how and why we make decisions in our lives.
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath.
John 5:1
This act by Jesus appears to be unselfish, and I would affirm that it is..however, this same act by someone else could be entirely selfish. Yes, the act of caring for the hurt can be rooted in selfishness, just as religious acts can easily be rooted in selfishness.
So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
John 5:10
The three statements by Christ here are huge:
Take up your bed, and walk
See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you
My Father is working until now, and I am working
The first two are profound in how they relate to the Christian walk and life, and the third is just as profound in this sense but also gives us insight to how Christ is oporating. Notice his conection to the Father.
This connection to the Father is what sets the Jews out to kill Him and yet it is the very thing that will display the nature of His unselfishness.
This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Now in verse 19-47 is going to unpack some profound insight into unselfish godly living verse selfish religious masquerading.
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 5:19-
The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but the Son does as the Father does.
The Father loves the Son and shows the Son what He is doing, the Son does them, that we may marvel.
The Father has given judgment to the Son that all my honor the Son
The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him
These words heard and believed are eternal life.
Selfishness or unselfishness is about an inwards relationship between us, the Son of God, and the Father....Listen
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
In Genesis as we just read, mankind sought not God, but sought what looked good, looked pleasurable and seemed wise for life and found death.
In John we read that the Word of God, the seeking of the Father, the honoring of the Son (not self) brings life and that of the resurrected life.
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
John 5:30
Here is the revelation of revelations.
verse 39...
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life”
note: they search because “they think” not because “God said”…belief is absent...
“it is they (the scriptures) that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
why? because it’s not what they think…they can’t see for their thinking.
Now go back to verse 30 and hear what Jesus prefrenced this with:
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.
John
The scribes are using a method for determing the scripture that not even Jesus is using. Jesus is not the Christ because He thinks himself to be the Christ. Jesus being the Christ is dependent upon the Father sending Him as the Christ and the Spirits testifying of Him as the Christ. Jesus has come not in his own name, but in the name of the Father.
However the religious leaders of this time seek to be justified by what they think of the scriptures and their justification is found by what others in the leaders circle feel about their teachings and the glory that they receive. The Word of God because used only as a launching point of their own thought for their own glory...
I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
John 5:41-
So now I return to where we began…we are selfish, God is not. Both truths are just as equally important.
When I say that we are selfish beings, I am not meaning that we are selfish because of our actions.
An action of itself as demonstrated in the interaction between Christ and the religious leaders is not selfish or unselfish.
Rather we are selfish down to every fiber of self which creates a bondage to selfish action and a war within ones own self. This is the war that Christ is addressing within the religious leaders. Ultimatley, even in there study of the Scriptures, they still want the glory, even in the service of others, we still want the credit...
Selfishness does not so much describe how we treat others as much as it prescribes an illness within self that can/is as a result harmful to others and self.
Allow me to illustrate:
The heart seeks to tell us what we feel
The mind seeks to tell us what to think
The Word of God tells us what to know
However our feelings seek to determine our thinking and our thinking our knowledge. (Adam and Eve)
Or...
Our thinking seeks to determine our feeling and our feeling our knowledge (the religious leaders)
Now notice that selfishness (like all diesease) begins by a micomunication from within self.
Wires get crossed.
The heart is jealous of the mind
The mind of the heart
Feelings of thought
Thought of feelings
and both are jealous of what belongs to God.
The message is simple. We are sick. And when left to self, we cannot help but to go astray each to his own way.
Selfishness is a battle within us.
The cure is as described by Christ in
“I can do nothing on my own.”
or the sister passage :
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
This is why we must be so determined to do as we are instructed in , to renew our minds. Our decisions when based on what we think (a phrase far to common today “I think...”) whether purposed for good or bad cannot help but be rooted in selfishness which is of the fallen. However a mind renewed, a word believed is a soul strengthened a self died to and a life began for the work of Christ.
I give this message because I am serious about the work of Christ. Not what we think is good or feel is Christian, but rather what is of Christ, what is not of us and yet accomplished fully through us by the work of Christ for His glory and that of our Father.
