Guarding the Affection of Great Worth

Introduction

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Today is Palm Sunday.

Next week, Easter.

Annually, a time set aside to more purposefully and diligently reflect upon the cross.

The older I get, though, the more I wonder....why should this day ONCE a year be any different than EVERY DAY, every church gathering every other day of the year?

Should not EVERY DAY and EVERY gathering be a supreme celebration of the gospel?

Should not the GOSPEL, the reality of Christ death and resurrection be EVER PRESENT in our thinking, our prayers, our worship, our moment to moment lives?

Truth is, it should be right?

I understand the purpose but sometimes I feel that the “formal” and traditional celebrations distract from the reality that EVERY day should be a remembrance and celebration of gospel truths.

Much in the same way that our monthly communion services can become routine and lose their significance, so too, we fall into a trap that we only really live with a deep sense of reflection over the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus at Easter celebrations.

In a sense, this time of year, Easter, should look no different than any other of our church gatherings. For in truth, the resurrection should be being reflected upon, celebrated, and meditated on DAILY and that meditation ought to be COMPELLING a LIFE that is changing because of that reality.

So, as we reflect deeply upon the gospel, striving to make 2022 a gospel year; every day a gospel day, I believe God has led us to Matthew 21 this morning for a few moments.

As we consider this familiar passage of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem the week prior to his death and resurrection, I want to connect this to our pursuit of a growing and deepening vision for the gospel.

God is the gospel.

God IS THE GOOD NEWS.

“Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel.” ― John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself

Protecting GOD as THE affection of great worth in our hearts requires us to guard with all diligence the values and affections of our lives.

Outline

Big Idea: Protecting GOD as THE affection of great worth in our hearts requires us to guard with all diligence the values and affections of our lives.

Four values we must guard...

Guard the value of time: Be available to God - Matthew 21:1-5.

Guard the value of your gaze: Don’t miss the spectacular - Matthew 21:6-11.

Guard the value of your passions: Don’t value the wrong thing! - Matthew 21:12-13.

Guard the value of faith: Protect the simplicity of childlike faith Matthew 21:14-17.

Sermon Body

Big Idea: Protecting GOD as THE affection of great worth in our hearts requires us to guard with all diligence the values and affections of our lives.

First, we need to guard the value of our time.

Guard the value of time: Be available to God - Matthew 21:1-5.

Matthew 21:1–5 ESV

1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”

Luke’s account of this event adds...

Luke 19:33-35.

Luke 19:33–35 ESV

33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.

The owners did, in fact, question it.

What was their response when they were told the Lord needed it?

NOTHING. (that is recorded)

But they still have the colt and Jesus rides it, which means they consented.

I called this valuing their time because they were available to be used by God when God needed them.

They were ready and available, willing to serve, to give when called upon.

Time is a valuable.

It has to do with priorities, values, and passions.

Time is money.

At this point in my life, TIME is more valuable to me than even money. I am willing to spend more money at times if it will give me more time or save me time.

How we spend our time and energy says a great deal about what we believe, what we value, what we hold dear.

The owners of this colt are a mystery to us. We know very little about them. What we do know is that they were READY and AVAILABLE to be used of God. No question or objection is recorded for us about this exchange, which because we know scripture is inspired, is not on accident.

Why were they ready and prepared?

Though we are not told, let me speculate....

Their relationship to and love for God was intimate enough to recognize God’s call to serve and deep enough to lead them to sacrifice for Him.

Guarding our time, to be available for God comes in at least two primary ways....

Time WITH God.

Time to serve God.

If God is to be as THE affection of great worth in our hearts, are you GUARDING AND PROTECTING YOUR TIME ALONE WITH GOD? Are you guarding and protecting your time WITH THE BODY WITH GOD?

Are you actively pursing GOD as the object of your highest affection by guarding your time with Him?

“The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life, their dwelling place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honor and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God, he is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and is the 'river of the water of life' that runs, and the tree of life that grows, 'in the midst of the paradise of God'. The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will forever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them.8” ― John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself

DO YOU AND I LOVE AND DESIRE GOD like this?

How often do you talk to God?

How often does scripture come to mind?

How often do you intercede for others in prayer?

How often are your choices impacted, affected, even altered by scripture, by eternity, by conscious thought of God’s will and desires?

How often do you pause in decision making to consider God’s will?

How often do you evaluate your desires, choices, and thoughts for scriptural conformity?

How often do you make radical life changes to ensure that GOD is THE affection of great worth in your hearts?

How often do you go through an entire day with little to no mindfulness of God and do not even realize it?

How often do you place TV, sports, social, work, computer, video games, sleep, food, etc BEFORE God and only as an afterthought make time for God?

How often do you have to be REMINDED to make time for God?

How often do you spontaneously give praise to God or give thanks for the God Sightings in your life?

How often do you give thanks even for rebuke and correction because you value how it presses your towards God and makes you more like Him?

How often are you found joyfully serving others when the need arises, even when it is inconvenient and annoying?

How often are you found sacrificing of your time and energy, your resources with joy and thankfulness when God asks?

Point is…how is the value of your time revealing that GOD is THE great affection of your hearts....

AND

How are you seen to be valuing and prioritizing it in your life to ensure it remains that way and grows ever more so?

The evidence of such a love WILL be evidenced IN HOW we spend our time, how available to God we are and HOW we spend our resources for His sake.

One more thought before we close for today....

All of these examples I have given are gospel opportunities.

And many of those opportunities may even afford you the chance to share with others who God is and what He has done for them.

Are we prepared for when those opportunities present themselves?

Gospel opportunities do not always come on a perfectly neat and tidy schedule.

Are you ready and prepared to step in, step up at the moment the opportunity and summons comes?

Are we LOOKING for and PLANNING for such opportunities?

The owners of that colt likely had no idea the significance of that moment when they surrendered their colt for Jesus’ use.

They likely had no idea the significance of valuing their time to be available for Jesus.

If I had to speculate, they simply knew God, loved Him, and had made themselves available to God so consistently and deeply that when He called upon them, they willingly and joyfully surrendered FOR THE JOY OF PLEASING THEIR LORD.

Big Idea: Protecting GOD as THE affection of great worth in our hearts requires us to guard with all diligence the values and affections of our lives.

Why is time so valuable?

Because it is so limited.

Because so many things demand or desire it from us.

What are some of the most common time thieves/killers?

Work

Family

Entertainment

Amusement

Comfort/Rest

Sports

Why do we struggle to manage our time and protect our time?

Because there are many demands upon our time

We overcommit

We are not actively engaged in evaluating the demands on our time.

We are not purposeful with priorities and commitments.

The flesh WANTS to commit to certain things and fails to say “no” even to good things.

How do we guard and protect our time with and for Christ?

Limit exposure to influences and things that would distract us or tempt us away from the main priorities.

Set aside a regular time to spend WITH God and guard carefully to ensure nothing interferes with it.

Constantly evaluate where your time is being spent. Keeping a constant eye on it will help you now if you need to eliminate things from your schedule if you find that time WITH God and FOR God are being interfered with.

Ask for accountability to ensure you have encouragement to keep guarding and protecting that time.

Have someone else look at your schedule and help you see areas you may be missing.

How does the use of our time reveal the object of our affections?

We prioritize that which we value most. Since is precious and limited, the things we make time for reveal the desires and passions that are most dear to us.

Guard the value of your gaze: Don’t miss the spectacular - Matthew 21:6-11.

Matthew 21:6–11 ESV

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Could you imagine being here, in this moment?

John’s account goes like this....

John 12:12-15.

John 12:12–15 ESV

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

This account suggests that the actual sequence of things was such that the cries of Hosana and the palm branches began BEFORE Jesus even had the colt and rode in on it.

“The acid test of biblical God-centeredness-and faithfulness to the gospel-is this: Do you feel more loved because God makes much of you, or because, at the cost of his Son, he enables you to enjoy making much of him forever? Does your happiness hang on seeing the cross of Christ as a witness to your worth, or as a way to enjoy God's worth forever? Is God's glory in Christ the foundation of your gladness?” ― John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself

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“This is crucial to see. Many people seem to embrace the good news without embracing God. There is no sure evidence that we have a new heart just because we want to escape hell. That's a perfectly natural desire, not a supernatural one. It doesn't take a new heart to want the psychological relief of forgiveness, or the removal of God's wrath, or the inheritance of God's world. All these things are understandable without any spiritual change. You don't need to be born again to want these things. The devils want them. It is not wrong to want them. Indeed it is folly not to. But the evidence that we have been changed is that we want these things because they bring us to the enjoyment of God. This is the greatest thing Christ died for. This is the greatest good in the good news. Why is that? Because we were made to experience full and lasting happiness from seeing and savoring the glory of God. If our best joy comes from something less, we are idolaters and God is dishonored. He created us in such a way that his glory is displayed through our joy in it. The gospel of Christ is the good news that at the cost of his Son's life, God has done everything necessary to enthrall us with what will make us eternally and ever-increasingly happy-namely, himself.2” ― John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself

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Big Idea: Protecting GOD as THE affection of great worth in our hearts requires us to guard with all diligence the values and affections of our lives.

Guard the value of your passions: Don’t value the wrong thing! - Matthew 21:12-13.

Matthew 21:12–13 ESV

12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Love of money

Valuing the gifts over the giver

“God is not glorified if the foundation of our gratitude for the gospel is the worth of its gifts and not the value of the Giver. If gratitude for the gospel is not rooted in the glory of God beneath the gift of God, it is disguised idolatry. May God grant us a heart to see in the gospel the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ. May he grant us to delight in him for who he is, so that all our gratitude for his gifts will be the echo of our joy in the excellency of the Giver!” ― John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself

We value being served...

Jesus valued serving...

Big Idea: Protecting GOD as THE affection of great worth in our hearts requires us to guard with all diligence the values and affections of our lives.

Guard the value of faith: Protect the simplicity of childlike faith Matthew 21:14-17.

Matthew 21:14–17 ESV

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

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Conclusion

Big Idea: Protecting GOD as THE affection of great worth in our hearts requires us to guard with all diligence the values and affections of our lives.

Four values we must guard...

Guard the value of time: Be available to God - Matthew 21:1-5.

Guard the value of your gaze: Don’t miss the spectacular - Matthew 21:6-11.

Guard the value of your passions: Don’t value the wrong thing! - Matthew 21:12-13.

Guard the value of faith: Protect the simplicity of childlike faith Matthew 21:14-17.

“The ultimate good of the gospel is seeing and savoring the beauty and value of God. God’s wrath and our sin obstruct that vision and that pleasure. You can’t see and savor God as supremely satisfying while you are full of rebellion against Him and He is full of wrath against you. The removal of this wrath and this rebellion is what the gospel is for. The ultimate aim of the gospel is the display of God’s glory and the removal of every obstacle to our seeing it and savoring it as our highest treasure. “Behold Your God!” is the most gracious command and the best gift of the gospel. If we do not see Him and savor Him as our greatest fortune, we have not obeyed or believed the gospel.” ― John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself