Welcome, friend, to our weekly Bible study In Search of the Lord's Way to become and to be a Christian. Our study today is one that has been requested by some one of you-- some basic, helpful suggestions for faithfully living the Christian life. Glad you have joined us. We pray we will both be blessed.
We are so happy you have joined our program of Bible study at this time. We would also like you to worship with a nearby church of Christ. If you appreciate the program as it is, I think you would also appreciate the worship there.
My wife, Lois, and I recently had the opportunity to worship with the good Roebuck Parkway Church of Christ in Birmingham, Alabama. They have an unusually large and seemingly very active ministry for the hearing impaired people there. After the dismissal, many of these people came to shake my hand, and-- through their interpreter of course, they enthusiastically expressed appreciation for our program-- especially because it is captioned for them. They can get the message, too. I thought they were, but not all religious programs are captioned. And, we are told there are something like eight million people in the U.S alone who need the captioning and perhaps another sixteen million who would use it and appreciate it.
Our program today consists of some fundamental truths, some general principles, some basic rules-- we are calling them "Maxims for Christian Living." If you think you would like a free audio cassette tape, or CD or a printed copy of the message, just write us, In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK or 73083 (I should give you that zip, too, shouldn’t I?) Or you may write us on the internet at searchtv@searchtv.org. Or call us on our toll-free telephone number--1-800-321-8633. Ken Helterbrand is going to lead us now as we sing.
We are reading today from Matthew, chapter 5, beginning at verse one. And this is the beginning of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. “And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs in the kingdom of heaven.” Now let us go to God in prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, we are so thankful to You for the revelation of the Lord’s way to live, and we know that it is the best that has ever been introduced to the family of mankind. We pray your blessings on us as we meditate on some of the beautiful things and the needful things that need to be said about it. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
You hear me say it often because I really believe it: The Lord's way is the best way to live this life that has ever been introduced to the family of man. It isn't that no other ways have been offered; oh they have-- many of them over the centuries-- by philosophers and sages of renown. One of the latest-- perhaps the most recent is Paul Kurtz' book, titled: "Forbidden Fruit," and subtitled, "The Ethics of Humanism.” He thinks humanism is a better way. It seems that his main objection to the Lord's way is the "rules." With much of postmodern culture, he believes, when it comes to ethics-- morals or standards, human beings-- not God-- should be the judge of what's right and wrong-- for each person for himself. Now, that doesn't surprise you, does it? He is defining the ethics of humanism and strongly arguing for its superiority over the Lord's way.
Christianity is not about "rules." It is about Jesus Christ-- who He was-- His death on the cross for our sins-- His resurrection-- His church-- His teachings. It is as John Kasich says in his 2006 book, "Stand for Something." He speaks of the "whole mess of rules” in "the game of golf.” If you tee off and you hit out of bounds, he said, you tee off again. You take your stroke penalty and move on. “But,” he says, "golf is not about the rules. When you sit down and talk about your last round, you don't talk about the rules. My point is the rules of golf are not the whole enterprise. They are not what the golfers dwell on. They dwell on the game itself, on the enjoyment they derive from it, the relaxation, the camaraderie, the competition, the fulfillment of a well-played game." And so it is with Christianity, my friend.
And the rules of Jesus Christ give us the game of life and they are not the whole enterprise. They are important alright-- even critically essential-- to enjoying and getting the most out of "the game of life." While I was studying this message, I had occasion to visit with an umpire for the American Softball Association. He told me they have some new rules this year. It is a duty of the coaches to inform every player of those rules. It's a responsibility of the umpire to enforce those rules. When every player on both participating teams play by the rules, it is much more pleasurable for every one. It's the same with your drive to and from work every day. There are rules, and rules for driving, but you are not driving just to observe the rules-- as an obstacle course; it is about getting to and from work, isn’t it; or to and from your place of business? In America you drive on the right side of the center line. You enter the intersection only when the light's green. Well, you know-- it could mean you don't spend the night in the hoosegow or a hospital somewhere.
It is the same with becoming and being a Christian. I repeat; the game is not the rules; it is living the best life possible. Now, suppose we look at some of the Lord's "Maxims" for living the Christian life. My Webster's Dictionary defines a "maxim" as "a general truth, a fundamental principle, a rule of conduct."
First, I would say what Jesus said was first. When a lawyer asked Him what was the first or the greatest commandment, Jesus answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” That is Matthew 22, verses 37 and 38. What does that mean? It doesn't mean wear a bumper-sticker on your car that says, "I love Jesus." To love Him with all your heart, soul and mind simply means to love Him enough, to do whatever He says to do. According to John 14:21, He said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me..." He said to the apostles, "He who does not love Me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent me." Then, in 1 John 5 and 3 the Holy Spirit says, "For this is the love of God, (what is it?) that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome"-- the old King James Version says--"His commandments are not grievous." So, the commandments of the Lord are not "burdensome" or "grievous." To the person who says he or she loves the Lord, then asks, "Do I have to be baptized to be saved?" Well, I have to answer that by saying, "Do you really love the Lord?” He said, "They who believe and are baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16). So, you can answer the question for yourself. "Yes!" I'm sorry-- I have never been able to understand why a person who says he believes in Christ would quibble over doing that simple commandment of the Lord’s. There is one thing more before we leave this thought of loving the Lord. King David of Israel said, "I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplication." That is Psalm 116, verse 1. Six times in the 119th Psalm He affirms his love for God and His word, His commandments, His statutes, His testimonies, and His law.
Our Lord's second maxim is, as He said, "like the first." "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:40). Before you reject that as an impossibility, think about it. By our news media, we read or hear of some person demonstrating such love everyday. Some fireman-- or neighbor-- or sometimes even a stranger-- enters a burning building, or perhaps he jumped into the flood-waters somewhere or a crushed vehicle to save someone's life. And you would do that, too, if you were in a situation that demanded it, wouldn't you now? Well, maybe not, but, some of us may not know we would. We have never been put to the test that way. You would probably just do it without even thinking about it, friend! The Christian spirit nonetheless is the motivation for that! Anyway, that is what the Lord was talking about. It is the kind of love the Holy Spirit wrote about in Romans chapter 12, verse 9. "Let love be without hypocrisy." That is the New King James. The old King James says, "Let love be without dissimulation." The Revised Standard Version says, "Let love be genuine." Perhaps we have always thought that love is the basic virtue of Christianity. But, now we know that even love can be perverted by insincerity. Therefore, sincerity must be even more basic to Christianity than love. Christians are to be sincere in their love of other people.
The third maxim-- not in a Biblical priority necessarily of course, but for our study today would be this: Let God say something to you every day. Now, please don't think I mean, He will come and whisper sweet peace in your ears. God just doesn't speak to man that way nowadays. You might be thinking: "well now, there is a preacher on TV just before you or just after you that says He does. And he says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He quotes Scripture and says, “God spoke to Moses, and to Job and to others." Now really, my friend, if you can trust the Bible at all, you can know, while God doesn't change, He has changed His way of communicating His message to us. Look in your Bible at Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. It says, "God, who at sundry times and in various ways (or various times and various ways), spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son..." And in the Lord's prayer in the garden just before His crucifixion for the sins of the world, Jesus prayed: "Father...I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of this world (that would be the apostles). They were Yours. You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them-- the words which You have given Me; and they have received them (the words)..." (John 17, verse 8). So, let God speak to us every day. A Christian must read the Bible and study the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15). “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” One of the safeguards against the temptations that beset or harass us on a daily basis to sin. And I am quoting now from the Psalmist as he prayed, "Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (Psalm 119, verse 11). Read the first eleven verses of the fourth chapter of Matthew. Jesus was tempted of the devil three times, and every time the Son of God resisted him with Scripture. And verse eleven says, "Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him." I, personally, have seen the time that if I had known the word of God as I ought to have known it, I could have overcome temptation and saved myself a lot of remorse and grief.
The fourth maxim for living the abundant life of the Christian is-- to say something to God every day. I mean, don't let a day pass you don't go to God in prayer, petition, intercession, thanksgiving. The Holy Spirit says it quite succinctly in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 17: "Pray without ceasing." Oh, as a matter of fact, there are several "maxims" there in that passage, between verses 14 and 22. Look at what it says: warn the unruly; (2) comfort the fainthearted; (3) uphold the weak; (4) be patient to all; (5) see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone; (6) pursue that which is good both for ourselves and for all; (7) rejoice always; (8) pray without ceasing, that is the 8th one; and the 9th one-- in everything give thanks; (10) do not quench the Spirit; (11) do not despise prophecies; (12) test all things; (13) hold fast that which is good-- and (14) abstain from every form of evil. Aren't those choice bits of wisdom? I was supposed to be talking about praying every day, wasn't I? And I got sort of side-tracked off on those things. Some of our viewers have asked that I do a program about "How to Pray," so I promise to do that right soon. You be waiting for it.
The fifth maxim and the last one that we will have time for today is: Do something for God every day. "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast! For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8 to 10). Yes friend, a Christian is a person who has been created in Christ Jesus for good works. It's a mirage-- a hallucination completely, if it is a "sweet rest" we envision for the Christian life. A question that is often in a person's mind when he is confronted with a question of becoming a Christian is, "What's in it for me?" What many of us want is a gift or a blessing. We will have to re-think that. The gift or blessing we are hoping for is service to the Lord and to others. The Christian life is a "calling." Yes, I believe it is, my friend. Oh, I know; yes a lot of us don’t think that, but it is. Let us pray. Holy Father, we thank You now for your word, for your directives, for your helps in Christian living. We pray that we can be blessed by this study today, each of us. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
There is another (the sixth) maxim of the Lord for Christian living I feel like I just must mention before I leave today. It is worship. The Lord seeks our worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). No, not all of life is worship. Washing dishes, scrubbing the kitchen floor, pouring concrete or practicing law is not worship. Worship is a deliberate, conscious and spiritual expression of our love for God. There is a private worship in prayer and meditation on God's word. For example: Jesus said, "When you pray, you go into your room, when you have shut the door, pray..." (Matthew 6 and 6). And then there is public worship. New Testament Christians knew what James meant when he wrote to them about an assembly, “your assembly” (James 2 and 2). They came together as a church (1 Corinthians 11:17; Acts 20 and 7). They were admonished not to forsake the assembling of themselves together (Hebrews 10:25). God knew they needed that time with Him and with others of like faith and circumstances. They were exhorted and encouraged and made stronger by being there. The Christian today will be, too.
So now, we have six directives or teachings of the Lord for faithfully following the Christian life, or living the Christian life-- the best life that has ever been known by man. Love the Lord. Love other people. Let God say something to you every day. Read and study the Bible. Speak with God every day. I mean establish the daily practice of prayer. Do something for God every day. And serve God with the gift that He's given you. And worship God regularly. Simply said, "Don't miss church." You need it. And you need to encourage other Christians.
If you would like a free copy of this message, simply address your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083 or by e-mail to searchtv@searchtv.org. Or, you may use our toll-free telephone number. That is 1-800-321-8633. Ask for this message by this name: "Maxims for Christian Living." Say, it has been good to be with you today. We plan to be here next week, too-- same time-- we hope you will be with us then. God bless you now. We love you.
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