Living Simple
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
This morning we continuing our Basic Training. So far in our Basic Training we have trained on Talking to God. We trained on Getting into God’s Word. And we have trained on Thinking On These Things—keeping our mind focused on all that is godly.
Today, our Basic Training takes us to a new idea: Living Simple! This idea of living simple can be taken a thousand different ways, so today we want to see what the Bible has to say about how we should live.
Now, as we begin this morning, I want to confess something to you. I make life more difficult that it should be! I’ll bet many of you are just like me! You tend to make life more difficult than it really is.
Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived stated this same thing! In Ecclesiastes 7:29 we read:
This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
God made us upright which means righteous or people of valour. If we were created righteous then why is it that we have such a hard time with simply living out that righteousness? The second part of this verse tells us! “. . .but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
The word schemes means inventions, or devices! Paul echos this idea in Romans 1:29-30 when he writes:
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
Did you catch it? Mankind invents ways of doing evil! Thus, the problem is that our creativity gets us in trouble and it complicates our lives!
Our Handbook for Life
Our Handbook for Life
The Bible is our Handbook for Life. God gave it to us not to restrict us or to be mean to us—rather God gave us His Word to help us. He wanted us to know how to make life simple! God wants us to know how we were designed so that we can get the most out of our lives here on earth.
Obedience
Obedience
The first step in living a simple life is to learn to live obedient to God’s Handbook—His Word. In John 15 Jesus told His disciples:
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
Today, many in the church believe the lies of the world:
1. There is no objective moral standard!
1. There is no objective moral standard!
Moral Relativism is rampant in our world today. Moral Relativism suggests the individual determines what is right and wrong for themselves.
The Bible tells us only God has the authority to define the moral standard for the world. Psalm 24:1, tells us everything belongs to the Lord.
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
The Bible is God’s message to us. His rules not only define morality, it also tells us what is best for us! One of the Key attributes of God is His holiness. We have been created in His image and as such we are to reflect His attributes, especially the attribute of holiness. 1 Peter tells us:
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
2. It only effects me!
2. It only effects me!
I talk to so many people who honestly believe their sins only hurt them! But that is NEVER the case. Sin always has a far reaching effect.
Joshua discovered this when they went to battle Ai. In Joshua 7 we read the story of one man’s sin which caused widespread death and destruction in Israel. Look at the first verse of chapter 7.
But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.
Notice God holds an entire nation responsible for one man’s evil. One man disobeyed God and God was mad at the entire nation!
If you are like me, you want to shout, “That’s NOT fair!” I want to shout this because I am approaching things from man’s perspective rather than from God’s perspective. You see, God made us to live in community—as as such we rise and fall as a community based on how we live individually! Stop and think about that for a minute!
The effectiveness of our church depends just as much upon your faithfulness to God as it does on my faithfulness to God!
Our faithfulness and/or our sin have a profound effect upon the community in which we participate!
3. Things are different today!
3. Things are different today!
Many people read the Bible and they buy into the lie that it really doesn’t apply to life today. They reason that it was written to a group of people that were far less sophisticated than we are. So surely God does not expect our enlightened age to live under such archaic and barbaric rules.
The author of Hebrews actually addresses this very idea. In Hebrews 13:7-8 we read:
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews tells us to look at those around us who have strong faith and imitate their faith. And then we’re told that Jesus. . .is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If Jesus never changes, then I believe it is safe to assume His teachings also do not change.
The truth is I don’t have to assume this, because the writer goes on to say:
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.
The first part of this verse reminds us that we are not to be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings!
Love
Love
Living a simple life, not only centers on obedience to God, but it also centers on loving! Loving God, and loving people!
1. Love God
1. Love God
We love God because He loved us. In 1 John, we read:
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
What an amazing demonstration of God’s love. Paul reminds us of this as well in Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
2. Love People
2. Love People
In 1 John, John goes on to remind us that because we love God, we should love people.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
3. Love Gives Discernment
3. Love Gives Discernment
In Philippians 1, Paul prays a prayer for the church at Philippi.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Paul prays that their love may abound more and more—may grow more and more—in two things:
Knowledge—knowing facts.
Depth of insight—how to use those facts. We might call this wisdom.
Discern what is best—if there is a “best” then by implication there is a good, better, and best. And there is also a bad, badder, and baddest.
Be Pure—this has the idea of without hidden motives, or not mixed with the world.
Be Blameless—this has the idea of faultless, clear, without offense.
Filled with the Fruit of Righteousness—our lives are simple, but filled to the top with all things righteous! And our righteousness comes through Jesus Christ!
Bringing Glory and Praise to God—To put it simply, EVERYTHING in our lives is to bring glory and praise to God. If you think about it, it doesn’t get any more simple than that!
Our Problem
Our Problem
It all comes down to what we seek. What is it that we want to fill our lives with? We are either for God or against God. There is no in between! We need to learn the truth that is found in 1 Timothy 6
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Living a simple life before God is learning to accept whatever He sends your way! As you do, you will learn that He has a plan for you and your life.
Paul told Timothy—his young son in the faith. He continued by telling Timothy to flee from the desire to chase after all that the world has to offer.
SO WHAT?
SO WHAT?
This part of the training for me is hard! Like many of you, the simple life is not an easy life for me to live. It is far easier for me to fill every moment, with stuff to do! My enemy of the simple life is busyness!
Wanting to please people; wanting to help people; and even sometimes believing that I’m indispensable causes me to believe I have to do everything.
Yet, if you and I are going to follow God we must follow Paul’s charge to Timothy.
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
As we do this, we will bring honor and glory to God!