Surviving The World Around Us

Introduction

If you would go ahead and turn in your Bibles to James 1. Here in a moment, we’re going to start at James 1, verse 12. But before I get started this evening, I just wanted to first of all say a couple things. First of all, thanks for the elders for giving me this opportunity to come and preach to you tonight. For those of you who are visiting, which looks like we have a few, usually you guys would be in good hands. Unfortunately, tonight you’re stuck with me. But we’ll make it through this, hopefully without any problems. Another thing is, this morning, whenever Tony started talking, I kind of got a little nervous because a lot of the things he started talking about was what I had prepared for this evening.

But it kind of, we’re going to consider this part two instead. In James 1, starting in verse 12, it says, Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say, when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind and first fruits of his creatures. In James 1, he talks a lot about temptation. He talks about us being tempted, but we’re not tempted by God. To start off, I just want to say, kind of bringing it into what we want to talk about this evening. I want to start off by saying I love survival shows. I absolutely love survival shows. Many different types of survival shows on TV, whether it’s National Geographic, Discovery Channel, it doesn’t matter. I absolutely love survival shows. And there’s different ones, like Survivor Man. A man just goes out in the wilderness and survives for five days with nothing but himself. Excuse me, I’m already putting myself to sleep.

I apologize for that. We have dual survivor, where there’s two different people with two different aspects of surviving coming together to make it out of an area alive. And then there used to be man versus wild, but that’s no longer on TV. Where was a guy going out with a camera crew showing a whole bunch of cool things? But with each of these shows, they had the same goal in mind. And that was to show how to survive in a tough situation. And the way that each one of these people survive in these situations was what some people call the five essentials of survival. And sometimes they’re called the five Fs, even though two of the F’s are kind of a stretch.

Fire, food, first aid, and water. And these second stretches, they go with fluids on that one. So the five F’s of survival. And each one of these people go off of those five essential survival tips to be able to make it out of the survival situation alive. And that’s pretty cool. People that don’t know each other, well, except for dual survival, they kind of have no choice. They’re stuck with each other. But the people that don’t necessarily know each other’s tactics of surviving, they go based off of these five necessities, the essentials of survival. Well, what I propose to you this evening is that we’re in a life of survival. We’re in a life that we are tempted on a daily basis, like we read in James.

We’re in a life where our survival is based also off of what, well, for the point of this, five essential survival needs. So what we’re going to talk about during the time this evening, the short period that we have, is surviving the world. How do we survive the world? What do we have in our survival kit, our spiritual survival kit that’s going to help us go out into the world and ultimately make the final goal, which is heaven. Because we all have that goal. We’ve all been tempted. We’ve all fallen into temptation. And the times that we’ve fallen into temptation, think back. It’s because we weren’t thinking of our survival skills. We weren’t thinking of the things that we need that we’ve been taught from a young age about how to survive the world that we live in.

Now, a lot of people might think that this is a very basic lesson. And it is.

1. Our Shelter Is the Church

Think of this as a review of what we learned in the past. The first thing that we have, the first of our essentials is our shelter. Our shelter keeps us warm at night. It protects us from the elements. It keeps bugs out. It makes you feel warm. And it feels like home. And all these shows that I watch, every single one of them fall in to try to make some sort of shelter. Whether it’s a roof over their head, a bed off the ground, something that makes them feel comfortable. In our spiritual survival kit, our shelter is the church. It’s a place that we can come together. We learn from each other. We inspire each other. We get things that we can’t get out in the world.

We feel comforted. We feel at peace. When we come together on Sundays and Wednesdays, or we gather together at someone’s house on a Saturday night, or a Wednesday night, or a Thursday night, or we go out to lunch. Chris and Ashley went out to Bernie’s burger bus the other day, and I was a little depressed about that because I didn’t get to go. But they enjoyed each other’s company. And that’s what this is what it means to be part of the church. We look at 1 Thessalonians 5. Starting in verse 12, it says, We ask you, brothers to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything. Hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. I kept reading. I apologize. I got carried away. But we see there that they what they did was they were to reach out to each other. They were to help each other during those times of temptation during those times of trial.

We have that right here. This is our shelter. And it’s not the building. I pulled this off of Google, and you could tell that this is an old picture. But what if we talked about, instead of this being a physical shelter, what if we talked about our spiritual shelter? We have the Bannies, we have our elders, we have people here that we can talk to. We have a preacher who commits his life to teaching everyone the word, studies day in and day out, and golfs every now and then. We have single moms. We have people that can encourage others. We have the Rubendols. I just love that picture. I don’t know why. That had to make it up there. We have a Thad. We have our deacons.

We have people that you can go to and talk to even more. Be encouraged by. We have new members that right when they got here started preaching and started teaching. And it was very encouraging to see. We have young married couples. People that we can all relate to. Because we’ve been there, we’re going to be there. We have single men. There you are. We have single men. We have new converts. We have people with a lot of children. And we have people with even more children. But no matter where you look at, no matter who you see in this building, this is our shelter. This is where we come for guidance. It’s where we come for peace, and it’s where we come for comfort. And why do we do that day in and day out?

2. Our Fire Is Our Work Inside the Church

It’s because of the people that are up here. The people that are you. So when you think about your shelter, think about God. Think about Christ. Think about the church that they built. And the place that we come and visit isn’t a building. It’s the people that are up here. It’s the people that you’re sitting next to. That’s our shelter. So go ahead and put that in your survival kit. Remember that no matter what happens in life, you get to come here and you get to be with these people. People of like faith. I don’t think there’s anything better than that. Second is our fire. What does fire do? In a survival situation, it keeps us warm. A lot like the shelter. It keeps us warm.

It protects us from a lot of elements. Bugs don’t like smoke if you didn’t know that. So it keeps the bugs away. It keeps us warm not only on the outside but on the inside. If you watch these different shows, it says exactly the reason they want to make fire isn’t necessarily to stay warm. They could be in the middle of a desert somewhere and want to make fire. It’s to give them the comfort that they that makes them feel like they’re at home, the warmth. Ultimately, our fire is our work inside the church. We read in Galatians 6, verses 1 through 10. Galatians 6, 1 through 10. It says, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, to who are spiritual, to who you who are spiritual shall restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

Keep watch on yourself lest you should you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let’s eat let each one test his own work, and let his reason to boast. And then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. One who has taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. That’s our fire. When we talk about the church, and we talk about fire, we talk about our shelter. The fire keeps the shelter warm. So let’s revisit some of those pictures again because, well, they’re great, and Tony also has given me a hard time about not having animations up here. So we’re gonna, I went crazy on this one. So you get to bear with me on this. Each one of the people up here is the fire of the church. Each one of the people that’s up here is what makes our shelter warm.

It’s the people that you can talk to on a daily basis. The people that you can make phone calls to. If you need help for anything, these are the ones that we go to. And it’s great to have that on a regular basis. It’s great to see people like Tyler, who’s a new convert, teaching for the first time this quarter. I’ve been encouraged by him. He’s teaching with me in the high school class, and I think the high schoolers have enjoyed it too. Because we’re teaching about teaching the lost. And what better person to be able to teach the young people about that than someone like that? We have people that have a lot of family and know how to raise their kids in the church.

That’s what’s keeping us warm. Because it doesn’t matter what I go through, it doesn’t matter what you go through. Someone else here has gone through it or is going through it. Or can encourage you to go through it. And once again, I couldn’t put everyone’s picture up here. There’s not enough room and there’s not enough time. So I cheated once again. And I put a your name here silhouette. But imagine yourself up there because you are the fire that keeps this building warm. It’s not just me, it’s not Tony, it’s not Robert. It’s not just them, it’s everyone as a whole. Because without you here, this building would be cold. It would be dreary. Everyone plays a part here, no matter if it’s just coming and encouraging, shaking someone’s hand.

You want to know who encourages me a lot? The young men and women, the little ones, the very little ones that come up and shake your hand at the end of the service and say it’s good to see you. Go into class with their books and their bags. Those are the ones that are encouraging to me. Because I remember the time that I was at that age. Or the ones that are coming to the young men’s training. So young, and they’re already encouraging us to do what we need to do in Christ. And your face is up here too. Everyone’s encouraged by you. Just like you’re encouraged by everyone else here. So take the fire. Take what you do and put that in your survival kit.

Think of the last time that you helped someone, no matter who it was, whether it was inside a church, outside of church, and don’t feel like. Imagine, remember how it felt at the end of it to help them. It felt pretty good. Whether it was grabbing someone a cup of coffee or buying someone lunch or something small. Doing things for others, it helps us. It helps us to remember who we are and what we’re here for. So put that in your bag, your little survival kit. I don’t think I’ve called it a bag yet, but I am now. Put it in your survival bag as your fire. What you have in here is what makes this place warm.

Next.

3. Our Food Is the Word of God

So I need to learn to love the gym again so that I can love food a little bit more. But when you’re in a survival situation, food is great. Especially if you haven’t eaten for a few days. Go a few days without eating, and then have nothing more than a stick of gum with a little bit of sugar, and you’re going to feel great. So in that survival situation, you have to have that food to keep you going.

Just a little bit of food gives you that will to survive. These guys that are in these shows that we talked about, they’re now, I’m sure they have like MREs that they’re eating off camera. That’s fine. But they’re taking these small berries and they’re eating these berries and they feel like they had a full meal. And that’s important. So in our survival situation, our spiritual survival, our food is the word of God. The word of God. It would be amazing to eat and eat and eat and never get full. Wouldn’t it? I would love to go to every restaurant in Houston and just try all the different foods that are out there. Some people are smiling because they know that I’m not even exaggerating on this.

Because I would love to try all the food. And if I couldn’t get full, that would make it even better. Because I can go to the next place. And if I had enough money to go to all these places, because some of them are pretty pricey. But that’s okay. We have the food that we can continue eating and continue eating. And we never get full of it. In the high school class, I asked the question who studies enough. Nobody raised their hand in there, and so I pushed it forward. Who at church studies enough? Not even Tony’s name came up. Why? Because you never know enough. It’s been multiple times that I’ve read or that I’ve heard Tony say, I just learned something new. I looked at it in a different way.

And that’s coming from studying all the time. You’re never full from this food. But if you have it, how do you feel afterwards? The more you learn, every time that light bulb clicks and you find something new that you didn’t read before in the Bible, how do you feel? You feel pretty good about it. You feel like you’re learning, like you’re like you’re moving on in your spiritual growth. And we read in 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy 3.

Starting in verse 10, it says, You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfast. And persecutions and suffering that happened to me at Antioch, I’m not going to try to pronounce that, Lystra, which persecutions I endured. Yet from them all, the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted will be persecuted. While evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have from whom you learned it. And know from childhood you have you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All scriptures is breathed out of God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. That the man of God may be content, equipped for every good work. Something so simple. Study. I hate to study. We talked about that in class today this morning. I don’t like to study. But there is something special about being able to write a lesson out and learn something new every time you write it. Or teach a class and learn something new every time you teach it. You never get enough out of the Bible. It’s never enough. And once you think you found you’ve had enough, you need to rethink that and keep reading because you’re missing something. There’s nobody that’s ever read the Bible enough. There’s nobody that’s learned enough.

There’s nobody that’s had enough of this food to be content for the rest of their lives. And you’re never going to get there. But if you have it, the more you study, the more ready you are to be to go out into the world. Face those temptations that we talk about. Face the things that we’re going to go about in our lives. Because knowledge is power. We’ll go with that one because everyone knows that. Knowledge is what gets us through. Being able to look at something and see whether it’s true or not. That’s what’s going to make us go through these temptations alive. And make it through these survival situations without failing. So make sure that you’re reading enough. Make sure that we’re all reading enough.

4. Our First Aid Is Prayer

Studying, listening, coming to Sunday, coming on Wednesday, listening in the class, taking the notes, and then on your own time, continuing on from there. Have your own private study. Because this right here is key to your survival. God’s word is key to your survival. Fourth, we have our first aid. When we talk about first aid, we automatically think of being hurt, having pain. If you get a burn, you put some ointment on it. If you get a cut, you put some band a band aid on it. But in a survival situation, a simple cut can be life or death. It can turn into affection. You can lose your arm. You can lose limbs. You can get seriously injured off of these. Sick for weeks just by drinking water that wasn’t that wasn’t good for drinking.

So, first aid. What helps us get healed? What makes us that whenever we’re out in the world, what helps us make it through make it through these temptations? Well, for this one, we have prayer. A direct line with a great healer. That’s our first aid. That’s what’s going to help us when we’re sick and when we’re hurt. When we’re going through these temptations and we need to make it out of them. We look at Philippians chapter 4. Philippians 4, starting in verse 4. It says, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ. Our prayer.

Again, there’s just nothing better than that. Ross’s prayer this morning really was really touching. And I don’t remember all of it because one part stood out. And that was when he started praying about Linda this morning. And he started praying about remind us that this is a time that she’s going home. It’s not a time of her leaving, it’s a time of her going home. And he prayed about that. He asked God to help us to remember that. And to help Ken and everyone that was close to her. It was such a powerful prayer this morning because it was a direct connection to say, God, we know that this is time. We know her time has come. Help us accept it. And that’s the gift that we have from God.

Our gift of prayer is one of the greatest things that we have. We need to use that. When we’re sick, we pray. When we’re falling into temptation, we need to pray. But the great thing about a first aid kit is you don’t just use it for yourself. If another brother or sister is hurt, what do you do? You try to heal them. You pray for them. You pray for each and every person that’s in here. I’m not just praying for myself. You’re not just praying for yourself. Pray for everybody. We have to continue to use that first aid on everyone, not just me, not just you, but everyone that’s around us. Again, in the high school class, we talk about what the importance of teaching others that are lost.

5. Our Water Is Our Salvation Through Baptism

The importance is their souls that need to be saved. And the people that we pray about, we’re not praying about that person, we’re praying about their soul. So when we talk about prayer, we talk about first aid, put that in your kit. Use that. If there’s a time that you’re starting to struggle, if there’s a time that you’re starting to feel weak, tempted, not going to make it out alive, go to a room and pray. It’s between you and God. Ask for the prayers of others. Ask for help. Use your first aid kit, your direct mind of being healed. Because that’s a great gift. It’s one that we all have, and it’s one that we all need to make sure that we use. And finally, we have our water.

You cannot survive without water. And in any type of survival situation, water is the first thing that people try to find. You try to find fresh water. You try to find water in places that you don’t expect to find it, underground, in leaves, in trees, and roots. Dew, rain. You have to have your water. Because if you don’t have your water, you start to lose it. And you’ve automatically lost the fight of survival. So if it’s not obvious what water is, we’re going to go ahead and say it. It’s our salvation through baptism. Your survival kit starts with your salvation through baptism. You see, Christ came. We all know Christ came and died for us. We all know that baptism is essential. We all know that we cannot make it out of here alive without baptism.

And that’s what you need. We read in Romans 6. Romans 6 and verse 1, it says, What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means, how can we, who died in sin, still live in it? Do not, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Conclusion

Tomorrow. There was actually something I wrote down that Tony wrote down, but I skipped it, so you know, I want to say it. Hang on. No, I left it on another piece of paper. I apologize. But there was something that Tony said this morning that kind of clicked with this, and I wrote it down. I’ll figure it out, and if you want to know, I’ll tell you later. But I do apologize for that. But these are the things that we need to survive. And it starts with the baptism. It starts with admitting that you’ve been wrong all this time. It starts with just making that unselfish, that selfless act, and saying that you want to commit your life to Christ. And one last thing that I always ask the high school class, I’ve asked them multiple times, is if you were to die tonight, what would happen to your soul?

If you know the answer to that, you know what the answer is, you know what you need to do about it. I ask that you come forward now as we stand and sing some invitation.