Are you really living life, or are you like so many other people just drifting along with the tide day after day after day? If you don't have a purpose, how will you know when you have arrived? We are in Search of the Lord's Way to live. We are glad you have joined us.
Thank you, thank you, thank you my friend, for inviting us into your home for Bible study In Search of the Lord's Way to become and to live like a Christian. Oh yes! I really do believe Jesus Christ offers the best way to live this life that mankind has ever known. And that way, His way, is revealed to us only in the Bible, the word of the Holy and Almighty God! And the Bible is the "once for all" revelation of His way. Read it for yourself in the little short, one chapter, book of Jude. Please, friend, please don't accept one of the short-cut, convenient, easy ways of salvation being offered by American fashion "Christianity" today. Oh, I know it isn't "politically correct" to talk about just one way or the only way about anything, but especially about religion. But Jesus said it, Himself: "I am the way;" He said, "the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father, but by Me.” That is John chapter 14, verse 6. So, we want to be extremely careful not to accept a substitute way, don't we?
Well, you and I are among the people who are dependent on translation for the word of God. There are some scholars that can read it in the original languages, but it was written in other languages than we commonly speak. So, someone had to translate it into English, for English-speaking people, into Spanish for the Spanish, into Japanese for the people there-- well you get the idea, don't you? The first translation into English is credited to the Reformer John Wycliffe; and he completed the translation of the New Testament in 1380--1380, a long time ago. And with the aid of some friends, he completed translating the Old Testament in 1384. The most commonly known version, and used version, or translation among the English speaking people for centuries was authorized by the King of England. It was done by a select committee of Hebrew and Greek scholars. It was completed in 1611. It is the "King James Version," sometimes called, "The Authorized Version," because it was authorized, just as I just said a while ago, by King James to be read in the Church of England. Well, the copy you and I have is the final of several versions itself. Now, the reason I went into all that is because I am going to use a modern speech English translation done by an Anglican bishop, named J.B. Phillips in 1958. You may want to call it an interpretation or perhaps a paraphrase, whatever, it is alright with me. I like the way Phillips translates this one verse into English. (And, please, please what I have said about versions is not to be taken as a blanket endorsement of every version that comes along.)
If you think you might want a free copy of the message titled "Live Life to the Fullest," simply mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. The e-mail address is searchtv@aol.com. Or, you may use our toll-free telephone number; that is 1-800-321-8633. We would love to hear from you this week. After Ken Helterbrand leads the Edmond church in a hymn, then I will be back for Bible reading and prayer.
I am reading from the New King James Version today so you can get a comparison of what we are going to be reading out of the Phillips Translation. I am reading from Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 15, 16, and 17. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” And with that reading, now we are going to go to God in prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, we are so thankful to You for the revelation, the work of revelation of the Holy Spirit in giving us the Bible, your word, your inspired word by which we can live today. And we pray your blessings upon our studies of it today so that we may enhance the value of our lives in our own estimates and that we may serve your purpose in our lives here, the purpose You had for putting us here at this time. We pray humbly in the name of Jesus, Amen.
It is a sad, sad story, friend, but it is a true story, nonetheless-- too often repeated in the lives of real people just like you and me. They are really not living life. They are merely coasting through it-- just drifting along, as it were. How can we know when we have arrived, when we don't even know where we are going? What would be the point of the game if we didn't have the goal posts? God had a plan for your life before you were born, if you will cooperate with Him, He will fulfill that purpose. And, it is far more than mere pleasure or wealth or health that He made us and put us here.
Several years ago a Jewish Rabbi, named Harold S. Kushner, authored a book titled, "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People." Perhaps you have a copy of it; it was a good seller. I had it in my library at one time, but it is gone. Someone may have borrowed it and it will be back one of these days. Anyway, he is more recently, Oh I would say in the last five or six years maybe, published another book that sounds just as interesting, and I have ordered it. It is titled, "Living a Life That Matters." I read a brief review of it in which he said, "In my forty years as a rabbi, I have tended to many people in the last moments of their lives. Most were not afraid of dying. The ones who had the most trouble with death felt that they had never done anything truly worth-while in their lives. It was not death that frightened them, he said. It was the insignificance, the fear that they would die and have left no marks on the world."
Now, I don't get from that, that he was talking about people who felt they hadn't achieved "greatness," as the world thinks of greatness. He was speaking of the vast number of people who have merely drifted along through life without ever knowing what they were supposed to be doing here. Perhaps they had enjoyed every day of it, with lots of pleasure and prosperity, and without the slightest idea of what God had brought them in the world to do. No! Life did not "just pass them by." They just missed it. It is kind like the sage who said, "There are few people in the world who strain every muscle in their bodies to make things happen. And others of us watch what happens. But the most of us just ask, "What happened?" While there is a measure of humor in that, sometimes it drives home a truth many of us just might rather not hear. So, maybe that admonition to "Live life" should be heeded, don't you agree? Someday this earthly life will end for every one of us-- you and me also. Must you face death with the dreadful thought of having spent a life time here and done nothing?
Solomon was the third king of Israel. He was the king who brought the nation of Israel to the heights of its glory and led it to being the single world power of its day-- somewhat like America is today. Solomon is said to have been the wisest mere man who ever lived. He was chosen and inspired of God to write much of the Old Testament. He wrote the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. In Ecclesiastes he wrote of his search for the meaning of life. Some have said the book is a revelation of the "emptiness" that he experienced in his efforts to live life apart from God. He sought for life's meaning in wisdom, riches, pleasure, and power. And he found all that to be "vanity." "Vanity" is said to be the theme of the book of Ecclesiastes. It shows the vanity, the emptiness of living life without God. Solomon's conclusion was: "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil." That is Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verses 13 and 14. That is the New King James version, too. The old King James has it: "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." The New King James more accurately conveys the real meaning of the verse. It isn't only "the whole duty" of man, but it is the "whole life of the man" himself-- even his purpose in life.
So, our text in Ephesians 5 according to Phillips Translation says, "Live life." But that isn't all it says. It adds, "Live life, then with a due sense of responsibility." And you and I are "responsible" beings. God created us that way. David, the Psalmist expresses the thought for us in a better way than I can. He said to God, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have made, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen-- even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. O, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!" That is verses 3 to 9 of the 8th Psalm. With all that responsibility, God will surely hold us accountable. And that is what Solomon was saying: "For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."
Therefore, the first essential to living life to the fullest, is to live responsibly. Adam tried to deny any responsibility in that first sin. He said, "The woman whom You gave to me, gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate it" (Genesis 3:12). King David-- the man of God he was-- by devising a "cover up" tried to deny any responsibility in his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba and in the death of her husband Uriah. Read 2 Chronicles, the 11th chapter. Thank God there was a faithful prophet (or preacher) who forced him to face up to his responsibility in this evil. And David eventually confessed it, or admitted it. Although like Saul of Tarsus in the New Testament, he was never able to forget it. Read the 53rd Psalm and in comparison read 1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 12 and 13. No person can get the most out of life by covering up or justifying himself in evil.
Another essential to living life to the fullest is knowing there is a Divine meaning and purpose to our being here. The passage says, "Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning and the purpose of life, but those who do." Of all people, the Christian should know there is meaning and purpose for us here in this world. This life is the preparatory school for eternal life. Death is not the end of life. It is the graduation from this earthly life to the heavenly life. Twenty-first century American style Christianity dwells on the here and the now. It promises blissful joy and prosperity in this world for all who "just believe in Jesus." However, God created this world and He put us here in it as a temporary dwelling place while He is "getting us ready" (as my mother used to say) or preparing us for living with Him after graduation from this earth. Earth is a perfect environment for that. Of course it is. God made it for us to live, so we could live in it while preparing for eternity. "What then shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans chapter 8, verse 31).
And James 4:7 presents another help for living a full life. That verse says, "Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Well, that is kind of a double admonition, isn't it? "Submit to God." That is the first idea. What do you mean, Lord? Well, the word "submit" means to yield to, surrender to, to obey. And in this case it is submission to, and yielding to, and it is surrendering to, or obeying God in all things. It is the thought that Jesus expressed when He prayed in the garden the night before His crucifixion. You remember that prayer, don’t you? He prayed, "Not my will, but Thine be done!" That is the way He went to the cross. It is a willingness to yield to what God has judged necessary for my welfare in this present world, and my salvation in the world to come. The idea is not of working for or earning salvation, but submission to God as our way of accepting what He has to offer us as His gift of grace.
Now, the verse doesn't say-- no, it doesn't even hint at the thought of submission to God "when it is convenient," or "when it would be to my advantage," or "when it is politically correct." It means submit when it is not convenient, or when it would not be advantageous--monetarily-- or socially-- or even politically. It means submitting especially when it is not politically correct. It means more than a recognition of belief in the existence of God. It means aligning one's self and his life with God and His Divine purpose for me here.
It reminds me of a university professor who told how he began his class every year. (Well, I took it to be the class of first year students, but I don't believe that he actually said that now as I think about it.) Anyway it was a class of new men and women to him in this class, and he was new to them also. To get acquainted he always asked them, he said: "Is there anything in life for which you would actually die?" And he said, over several years (I have forgotten how many, but several years) the percentage of those respondents who answered affirmatively remained about the same. Only about ten percent of the people found something so dear to them in this life that they would die for it. Well, that is a good question for us, isn't it? How about you, my friend? Most of us, even we who wear the name of Christ, would not "submit to God" if doing so would mean certain death. Am I wrong about that? I hope I am. Am I being judgmental? I hope not; I certainly try not to be. But, I am afraid I am right about it. Too many people are Christians for what they can get out of it-- not what they can give to it-- especially the gift of their life.
Well, the second thought in James 4:7 is "Resist the devil." And the promise is, "he will flee from you." Jesus demonstrated that after He had fasted forty days and the devil came with three very strong temptations and each time Jesus resisted him with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The Scripture says, "Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him" (Matthew 4:1 to 11). We have the Lord's promise that when we "resist" the devil, he will flee from us. Well, more in a minute. Let us pray now. Thank You, Father, for the message we have that we should live life to the fullest now. And to do so means living it in submission and in fellowship with You. In the lovely name of Jesus we pray, Amen!
There is no doubt about it: According to what I call His "master-plan" God first created the heaven and the earth. After that He prepared the earth for man's habitat. When everything was ready and beautifully done, He created us and put us in it. God had a purpose in everything He did in creation as well as life. It was His intent that we dwell eternally with Him. But we had some work to do before we were ready. Neither you or I came into this world to be here at this time in history because we chose, nor did we have a choice as to our time to be here. This is our school room. God is our Teacher. He says, "Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning and the purpose of life, but as those who do." And in that kind of life, we submit to, or yield to, or surrender to-- we obey God, my friend. When we have learned that, then we will graduate to the next world.
Say, friend, are you a Christian? Oh, I hope you are. And I hope you are faithful to the Lord in all things. If you are not, may I encourage you today to believe in Jesus Christ as the only begotten, resurrected Son of God? "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." That is John 3:16. But, that isn't all. You must also repent-- I mean, turn from your sinful lifestyle and yield to the Lord's way of life. The Bible calls that "repentance" in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 10. Oh! I certainly hope you want to declare that faith in Him to the whole world; let the world know that you are a follower of Christ. Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10 says you should. And, you will certainly want to be baptized to be saved. That is the beginning of your new life in Christ-- baptism is (Romans 6 verses 1 to 4-- raised to walk in newness of life). I pray you won't delay on that.
If you would like a free CD or audio cassette tape or printed copy of this message today, simply mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Or, our email address is searchtv@aol.com. You may want to call us. If so, you may use our toll-free telephone number and we will pay for all the call. That number is 1-800-321-8633. We are glad you were with us today. Do it again next week, will you? Worship with a church of Christ. God bless you now. We love you. |