Did God Really Say…? #2 (Luke 18:24)

Introduction

Okay, so this second lesson follows last Sunday evening when we began by asking the question, what is your confidence level in God’s word? This was the idea that I wrote to you about in an email when I was explaining what in the world I was doing in the hospital. And some of you replied with the answer to my question about difficult and challenging passages. I didn’t know if I’d be able to use every idea and thought that people sent me. But I envisioned a second lesson beyond what I was going to present last Sunday night. And so this is it. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to pull this off, but well, we’ll see if I can pull it off. Now, what is your confidence level in God’s word?

The first thing that I want to affirm is that God’s word provides soul-saving, life-ennobling, immortality promising words. And I could probably go on and on with the adjectives and the superlatives to describe God’s word. How strong is your confidence in that? I’ve got to tell you, in my time here, the last nine years of my 35 year preaching journey, my confidence in God’s word has deepened to a level that is probably greater than at any point in my life. We have delved into so many books of the Bible to see the treasures of this book. And my confidence that this extraordinary work is truly from God and contains the information we need to get to the presence of God ultimately, my confidence about that is sore.

This is a remarkable message. Just the study of the Holy Spirit on Wednesday nights has really even more bolstered my confidence. But what I suggested to you last week and want to re-emphasize this week is that this confidence may not be a constant. You know, where it’s the same as it was, or even better than it was when I became a Christian. It can fluctuate like this, and perhaps it has waned since your conversion to the Lord. And then my question really, and this sort of goes to tonight’s lesson, does it extend to everything that God instructs us to be and to do? And the thoughts of this lesson came from the story in the very beginning. When Satan came to Eve in the garden and said, Did God really say, You shall not eat from any tree?

And at first she gives the correct answer, but insecurity makes its debut because then she reconsiders, and upon further reflection, then she rationalizes, then everything changes in regard to the prohibition about the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And so we made the point that Satan is all about undermining either what is true and what is right, as we talked about this morning, undermining your understanding of God’s word, or undermining your confidence in it. We want to promote a proper understanding of God’s word by carefully studying it. Examining it carefully and thoroughly with the right heart, which is essential to coming to a right understanding of God’s word. And then to have a kind of confidence that we will trust every precept, all of its instruction, no matter how difficult, challenging, and maybe even unorthodox it may seem.

Unfulfilling, even it may seem to us. I think there is a great temptation to not embrace all of Scripture. And it’s like I was talking this morning about those who want to champion certain passages and precepts and then neglect and ignore others. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people through the years, where because a certain verse really didn’t match what they were saying, the temptation is when you bring that up, they go everywhere else in Scripture but that place.

And so many times when people come knocking on our door and you have that very challenging discussion with either the Mormon or the Jehovah’s Witness, you know, you’ll mention a certain verse, and the next thing you know, they’re on somewhere else. It’s like, we’re not ready to answer that one. We don’t want to deal with that one. But it’s all got to harmonize. And so I began thinking about this idea of certain passages that might be a challenge to us. And so that led to lesson number one. Certain passages as we talked about that mentioned the fact that folks are lost, and that discourages us and causes us sadness and passages about discipleship and about the need for change and the need for endurance. And we talked about those things last week.

And so, as I was digging through your emails, what was great about this is, you know, things get lost in email. And so I kept getting these responses. It’s the first day of our vacation, it was Monday, and we were in Sedona, and all these emails kept coming. Some of you just wanted to inquire about my physical condition and your concern for that, and I appreciate that. But the good thing is they all kept stacking up one after another. And so if anything got in between some kind of sales email or something, I just hit delete. And so I had them all stacked up together on my email thread. So I said, when I come back to this, I want to be able to go through all of these when I write this second sermon.

So I put them all together, 14 points, and the lesson journals. Fourteen points. Some of them went a lot of different places, and I’ve tried to make it work if for some reason I didn’t use your email. And you gave me a verse. That was just an oversight on my part. I thought I got them all. So 14 people tried to answer my question. I’m going to start with Amy Wittgenstein because. And yes, I’m going to tell you. So now, if you wrote me an email, your name’s going to get mentioned from the pulpit. We’ll start with Amy. And the reason why is because she mentioned one of my favorite verses to talk about. And it is of a particular challenge to me, and I’m assuming most brethren.

1. Esteem Others Better Than Ourselves

Did God really say that we’re to esteem others better than ourselves? Who exactly? There’s some people I really respect, not a problem. Well, that’s not just those people. It’s do not merely look out upon your own interests, but also the interests of others. It is looking at people in such a way where their interests become more important than your own.

But to esteem others as better than self. So Amy got the idea of what I was looking for here for sure. Because this is a particular challenge, I think, to all of us. And don’t ever forget about this verse. That it bleeds into the following context about the mind of Christ. This is really what Jesus demonstrated. He’s not asking us to do something he did not do. When he died upon the cross, who did he esteem others? What kind of esteem did he have for others when he died for them on the cross? The good and the bad. For all he shed his blood to give them the opportunity to be saved. So, did he esteem others better than himself? All of us. In fact. So that’s that’s a challenging statement.

2. Bless Those Who Curse You

And so I’ll go with Scott next. Who said Romans chapter 12 and verse 14, did God really say, bless those who curse you? Now, before I comment on that, I’m going to go to Marcy Rowe. See, we’re going through this quickly. We’re already on number three. Where she mentioned, actually she said, all of Romans 12. Now that’s that’s too much material. And Steve preached that while I was gone, so I don’t need to do that now. But in Romans 12, and since it’s right next to Scott’s verse, I’ve coupled them together. There is some method in arranging all of this that I tried to follow. Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer. And I like her selection of Romans 12, because it’s much like praying without ceasing in 1 Thessalonians 5.17, and I think all of us would say, even though that’s hyperbole, that we don’t pray enough.

3. Do Companions Really Matter?

Would you call how much you’re praying? Would you call it devoted to prayer? How patient are we when difficult things, challenging things, hurtful things come our way? And really, all of this is, as Steve pointed out, challenging for us, challenging principles that we probably need to come back to on a rather frequent basis. You know, it’s like, what did what did Steve say about that three weeks ago? You know, we probably need to come to it at least three weeks, looking at it as this is what the faithful person’s life is supposed to look like. Bless those who have evil intent where you’re concerned, who curse you, who persecute you. And then there was Timothy Dalton who said, Do companions really matter? Bad company corrupts good morals.

That’s a good verse. That’s a challenging verse because our associations have a tremendous influence on our lives. Our young people who are at college, a lot of them have been here this week, but have already gone back. Some of them are going to Albert in it. I’m going to mention that from the pulpit. Good choice. I’m over recruiters sitting right behind you. Be careful who your friends are at college. Not just you, Ray, even in all of them. As quality as the people are there. They’re young people just like everybody else. So beware of the influences. We talked about our young people this morning. I still think the number one reason why we lose our kids is because of not just who and what they’re listening to, but who the friends are.

4. The Tongue Must Be Bridled

And the reason why we lose adults is so often. Who their friends are. And really, this is written in the context, and I preach about this all the time, where he’s talking about false notions that you start to believe, like about the resurrection and those kinds of influences in regard to the religious things you believe and espouse. That can be influenced by other people as well. Be careful of the influences that may be affecting you. So good point, Tim. And did God really say the tongue must be bridal? Yes, the Bible really does say that, and that came from Christina Rubendah, whose very brief email said, need I say more. No, you don’t. I mean, that really was enough. And yes, if we do not bridle our tongues, our religion is vain.

It says in James 1 and verse 26, we’ve got to expend some effort to control what proceeds out of our mouth. In our culture, it’s just let it fly. And with some Christians, it’s just let it fly. It takes a little effort to keep that thought in your mind that really needs to be expressed, because it was a thought in my mind. It takes a tremendous amount of control to say, in this situation, it doesn’t need to be verbalized. It is not helpful. It is not good. It is not encouraging. Restraint. He who restrains, or she who restrains her lips, is wise. Now, I brought up James 3 in verse 2 because the person who is able to control the tongue is able to control the whole body as well.

5. As a Man Thinks in His Heart, So He Is

That’s why this work is important. Because it’s implied in James chapter 3 and verse 2 that the tongue must be bridled, and if you can do that, then you have sufficient power to control the rest of you. Okay, number six. Did God really say, one of our elders, Robert Banning, as a man thinks in his heart, so he is. And yes, it does say that. Work on the person you are within, and I’ve always loved the context of this. It’s the fella who has you over for a meal, but the whole time is saying, this guy’s costing me money. And so who is he really? Is he the hospitable guy, or what he really thinks in his heart? And we can put on a kind face, and we can seem to be a certain way from the outward appearance, and yet inwardly not be that person.

Inwardly, you are the person, that’s who you are. So that’s a good thought as well. Ross, confession. Does the Bible really say confession is good for the soul? There is something about having someone as a spiritual accountability partner that you can say, I’m struggling with this. And what should that lead to? Well, of course, telling the whole church immediately. Everything that this person has told you about their personal life. No, that’s not what it’s saying. Pray for one another. That you may be healed. To have a friend like that, to whom to confess false can be very beneficial apparently in our recovery if we have confidence that God’s word is telling us something helpful there. What about suffering? And this comes from Celeste. Is it true back in Romans chapter 8 and verse 18?

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Is it true that whatever we deal with in life, however challenging, hurtful, whatever suffering we’re called upon to endure? That compared to glory, it’s not even close. And how strong is our confidence.

6. Riches, His Great Love and the Humble Exalted

Did God really say? Daniel Baker. From Luke 18 and the story of the rich young ruler.

And I get why he asked this question, because we are all rich. We all have so much materially. Could it well be a hindrance to us? Our ease, our comfort, our wealth. He also had something about a concubine in Judges 18, but I’m not going to use that.

Did God really say? He loved us so much. Now I sort of added the question. This was actually his wife, Julianne, her verse, and I really want what I think this was about is this is just one of her favorite verses. So she wanted me to read it, and it’s actually more than one verse because it’s a long sentence. And so I asked the question really, does he love us so much? And the answer to that is yes, he loves us very much. But God being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us. Even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. He esteemed us better than ourselves, as we’ve already seen, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

So much more could be said. What a great statement of the magnificent treasures that Christ offers to us. Did God really say the humble will be exalted yet? In James chapter 4 and verse 10. Lowliness of mind will be rewarded. Will be exalted. We need to let the Lord do the exalting instead of being so concerned with promoting ourselves. Did God really say, Let your conscience be your guide? Christy Eves asked. And then she realized that’s Jiminy Cricket. But then she went on to say, well, okay, Proverbs 12 and verse 15 says.

Yes, your conscience can be your guide, not Jiminy Cricket, but a conscience that is educated in truth. There’s so much said about the conscience in the New Testament. 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5. The good conscience that we are supposed to possess, a conscience that is educated and guided by truth. Lucy, is it true that ultimately the wrath of God will be revealed toward all ungodliness? That’s a passage that a lot of folks struggle to accept. We don’t like it. We don’t relish the thought of it, and it’s similar to Jay’s very lengthy two emails, I think. About 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, verses 7 through 9. That the wrath that is coming on the last day to those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Fourteen points. We could have chosen many more. But I wanted to share those with you since they were shared with me and come back to the concluding thought tonight. What is your confidence level in God’s word? Do you strongly believe that obedience to the Lord is right? It’s good, it’s necessary, it’s great for me that it saves, enlivens, and rewards. You’re subject to his invitation tonight. Come now as we stand and sing together.