Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful day that we’re having.
I’m going to start with some interesting statistics. Before you got here today, it was a process that went on in your mind over and over and over again. They estimate, scientists, because they measure everything. Sometimes you look at statistics you wonder how did they measure this, but let’s just go with it for the sake of the message.
About every two seconds you do this thing, they estimate that you do this thing thirty-five thousand times per day. You may know the statistic, or you may have heard this before. So, if you assume thirty-five thousand times per day and you sleep about eight hours, that means you’re doing it about every two seconds.
Sometimes it’s almost automatic. You don’t really think about it very much. Other times it’s considered, sometimes it’s hard. What am I talking about? I’m talking about choices or decisions. They estimate you make about thirty-five thousand decisions per day. That’s a lot. And so, every two seconds you’re making some sort of decision, sometimes it’s just automatic.
Like, “Should I brush my teeth?” Yes, it should be quick. If you’re young, that may not be so quick. The six-year-old, sometimes that’s a convincing thing you need to do with that question. Or “Should I comb my hair?” Automatic. You don’t really put much thought into it because you just go do it even though there is a decision being made in your brain to determine whether or not you get up from what you’re doing to go do this other thing.
It’s a decision. It starts in your mind. Sometimes it requires thought like, “What am I going to wear?” That’s not automatic. You have to think about it a little bit more. Where you’re going, what’s appropriate, et cetera. Sometimes those decisions or those things, you could say, am I doing the right thing? Or what’s the thing that I’m doing? Or what decision am I making?” Sometimes those involve other people.
You smile at someone. That’s a decision you’ve made to look at that person in the face and smile at them. “Should I hold the door open for someone?” Sometimes they can be completely private in your mind. Let’s take that same analogy of holding a door open. If you ever walked toward a building, you see someone coming at a distance and you either do one of two things, you change your pace so you can get to that door and hold it open for them or you speed up so fast that you can get to the door, and they’re gone before they get there.
It’s a decision you’re making inside your head. It’s quiet. It’s like littering. To me, littering is the biggest test of character just about anything you could possibly do because it’s something that you can do privately. You can litter no one will see you. But it says a lot what you think about following the law for one, but also doing the right thing because not every decision is a righteous or unrighteous decision.
But every decision helps you and I to get better when we have to make the righteous ones. It’s the small things that help us become better at doing the more difficult ones. It builds and builds and builds. So, let’s examine from the simple decisions as they progressively get more difficult ultimately getting to a level that helps us build God’s character. In the days of unleavened bread when you’re hearing this, ultimately that’s what we’re trying to do.
We’re trying to be like God, like Christ. We’re trying to flatten ourselves. So, let’s build that character by making some decisions. When right is easy, it’s not hard to do. I love truism. Sometimes you could just say something that it sounds so profound but it’s so dumb because you’re just saying the same thing. So, when it’s easy to make the right decision, it’s not hard to do.
There you go. It feels good, doesn’t it? But sadly, that’s not When you have character being built. When it’s easy to make a decision, you don’t have to really think too much about it. It’s just a simple thing to do, and it’s automatic. Mostly, especially for Christians, it’s more so. And the world may be commonly less common. Let’s look at a series of these.
The first one. Number one, small acts of kindness. Small acts of kindness. Okay, remember, these are going to get harder as we go along, but they do build on each other. Small acts of kindness. That could be that smiling at a stranger. I don’t know if ladies do this, but men do it all the time. It’s the walking nod. You don’t say hi. You don’t have to smile. It’s just a nod. I think it’s a guy thing. Maybe ladies do it too, but I’m not a lady so I wouldn’t know. What about holding the door open? Little tiny things. You greet people, “Hello.” It’s being polite, basic politeness, which sadly is not so basic anymore.
People holding the door or people get offended that you hold the door for them. I’ve experienced that too growing up in Canada. There’s a couple of things that you do as a Canadian. I think I’ve said this before. Holding the door is like a fundamental part of our culture. You always hold the door for someone, and if you see someone holding the door, you speed up, so they don’t have to hold the door as long. It’s ingrained in you over and over again, just like the right side of the sidewalk is where you walk. I remember walking down the halls in high school, in grade school, you walk on the right side, not the left side. The left side is for oncoming traffic. Things that are ingrained in you growing up.
That’s just basic. That’s like going to an apple orchard and saying, “Okay, let’s see. I’m going to pick this low-hanging fruit,” if you will. It’s the easy stuff. The low-hanging fruit. Let’s open our Bibles to Proverbs chapter three. As we go through here, we’re going to see a lot of aspects of it and some of it’s about service. A lot in the Bible, when it’s about decision making, it’s usually decision making around serving, but that’s not where we’re going to get to because sometimes, the hardest decisions are not necessarily about service. The easier ones usually are.
Proverbs chapter three. We’ll start in Verse twenty-seven. Proverbs three, twenty-seven. “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it. Say not unto your neighbor, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you.” So, the Proverb is explaining when an opportunity to help, in this case, a neighbor, presents itself, we should take advantage of that. That’s the right thing to do but it’s also very easy.
If there’s something in front of you, that person you hold the door for or your neighbor said, “Do you mind helping me with X?” and it’s a very simple thing, takes you three seconds, “Could just hold this rake for a second?” your both out doing yard work, “Oh sure, no problem.” They’re just simple, small acts. Being kind. Being polite when the situation presents itself.
That’s not going out and actively seeking things. It’s actually just waiting until something presents itself, and then choosing to do the right thing, but simple things, not hard. Smiling, greeting someone, being polite, saying thank you. You don’t go out searching for a thank you. You’re walking around, “I can’t wait until someone does something so I can say, ‘Thank you,’ or, ‘You’re welcome.’” You need a, “Thank you,” to get a, “You’re welcome.” No, you do that when the opportunities present themselves.
Let’s go ahead to the New Testament now, to Luke. Luke chapter six. Luke six. We’ll pick up in verse thirty. Verse thirty reads, “Give to every man that asks of you; and of him that takes away, your goods ask them not again.” Give as presented to you, “And as you would that men should do to you.” Do likewise to them. If you want people to treat you a certain way, treat them a certain way.
“For if you love them that love you, what thank have you? for sinners also love those that love them. And if you do good to them which do good to you, what thank have you? for sinners also do even the same. If you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, an expectation of something back, what thank have you? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, you shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unfaithful and to the evil.”
Brethren, this isn’t just about your brothers and sisters in the church, no. When opportunity presents itself, sinners, people who aren’t converted, then you help. That’s what we do. It could be neighbors. It could be coworkers. It could be someone in a grocery store. You heard it recently in a sermon about a little old lady who needed help with her grocery. When an opportunity presents itself, doing the right thing is to help.
These seem so small, don’t they? Little tiny acts that really aren’t enormous in nature but are enormous in helping build the foundation when things get more difficult. Let’s go to Hebrews chapter thirteen. Into the book, Hebrews thirteen, couple of verses here. We’ll start verse fifteen. Verse fifteen reads of Hebrews thirteen. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
To do good, to do right, and to communicate, which is when you greet people, you’re communicating but it can mean many, many things. A smile, a kind word. You can think of God says to do this so it’s in many ways... And anytime you see a do this in the Bible, you can call that a commandment. It’s the word of God. Anytime the Bible says, “Do something.” In this case, do good and communicate, that’s a command. It’s a little command, but it’s a command. Because those small commands build that foundation for when we have to make choices that we have to determine, are they right? Are they righteous? Because that’s when it gets more difficult.
Those are small acts of kindness. We have to build that habit. It should be automatic. You train a child; you notice the things that you have to train that aren’t automatic in human beings and it takes time and patience, and you work to get things like thank yous to be an automatic response. That was number one. Number two, volunteering for commitments. Volunteering for commitments. This is the next step. This is a little bit harder.
This is not an opportunity to do good or to serve or whatever the case may be, presents itself. No, this is now you’ve taken the next step. You’re stepping out and taking your time to engage in whatever it could be. It could be, let’s use some of the analogies we’ve already drawn. That neighbor, they’re next door working. They’re not asking to lean the rake against the tree on your yard, no. You’re going over to their yard and saying, “You look like you have your hands full, do you need a little bit of help?”
You look at the task, it’s five minutes or they’re carrying something into their garage, “You know what? Let me give you a hand with that.” It’s just as easy for you and I to just go right into our house, isn’t it? Neighbor probably wouldn’t even notice that you pulled up but, in your head, did you make that decision? Did you do the right thing? Did that opportunity... It could be a neighbor, it could be brethren, it could be coworkers.
Again, these are all intermingled. Someone’s carrying something into the office. Same thing. “Oh, let me give you a hand.” “Let me get that door for you.” You could already be through it. Remember that analogy we talked about? When you see someone coming and you’re about the same distance away, do you scurry to get to that door, so you don’t have to wait for that person? Or do you say, “You know what? They’re moving a little slowly. I’m going to slow down a little bit, so we time this right. It’s taking a bit of my time.”
You’re sacrificing a little bit of your time. You’re volunteering, if you will, your time to make a commitment of doing the right thing. In many ways, you’re serving but doing the right thing. Even if they’re small things in our mind because we’re trying to build that habit. That’s what we do as Christians, is build habits of making righteous decisions. As simple as holding a door, as complex as something we’ll see much later that could end up in a trial. We’re still doing it out of our abundance, though, aren’t we?
If I take two minutes to hold the door, or I help my neighbor carry something in, or I help a coworker with something that I don’t need to help them with because I want them to succeed. They’re little bits of our time that don’t really hit us too hard. It’s not really a sacrifice if you will. It’s more, still, an extended politeness, if you could look at it that way. Let’s go to Deuteronomy fifteen, back to the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy chapter fifteen. Deuteronomy chapter fifteen, and we’ll pick it up in verse nine. Verse nine reads, “Beware that there be not a thought in your wicked heart, saying, in the seventh year...” This is talking about the year of release. “In the seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him naught.” You give him naught because you think, ‘Oh, I’m getting close to the seventh year of release. I don’t want to lend this person something because it’s released in another year.’ “And he cries unto the Lord against you, it will be a sin unto you.” Think about that.
Okay, Old Testament, we’re setting up the laws, Deuteronomy here. You have a brother, so we’ve now brought it into the church if you will, and they have a need. God says don’t hold back because of this, that, or the other purpose, in this case the year of release, but apply it to a broader picture of don’t hold back because you don’t really want to do the thing. Again, we’re looking at minor things to just make decisions here.
Verse ten, “You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give it to him: because that for this thing the Lord your God shall bless you in all your works, and in all that your put your hand unto.” Verse eleven, “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, you shalt open thine hand wide unto your brother, and to the poor, and to the needy, in thy land.” To everyone basically.
This is not just reacting to someone’s needs, like maybe we saw in the first one, if someone had a need or a purpose or a requirement or a chance that you would need something, or they would need something, you react to it. No, no, this is going beyond that. This is seeking out the opportunity to do the right thing, to serve, to help, to assist, to make the right decision, but with an open hand, with the right attitude.
Again, God... You see the seeds of this because as we grow in the difficulty in this message of those decisions, in the back of your mind should always be God will bless righteousness. God will bless difficult decisions. God will give me what I need when the decision-making isn’t holding a door open or smiling for someone, or carrying something in, something simple. When they get hard. When they get difficult.
Go to Galatians six. Galatians chapter six, verse one. Galatians six, verse one. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
When we see someone struggling with something, spiritual, physical, it almost doesn’t matter. When there’s a burden in someone, in this case it’s more talking about spiritual, but fulfilling the law of Christ is we’ve seen as being open with a hand, as we saw in Deuteronomy, when people have a need that you’ve sought out. You’re looking for those opportunities. You see a brother or a sister struggling with something. Could be spiritual, could be physical.
But the context of this is they didn’t reach out to you. You reached out to them. You sought them. You wanted to help them. But if it’s a heavy matter, that’s when you bring the ministry in because be careful, you don’t want to be tempted like where they are. You could be drawn into it. This is a danger of division. If there’s division in the church and you have a brother or sister who’s being divisive, you think, “Okay, I’m going to put them on the right track.”
You’re starting to get above the pay grade. You have to look to your minister and say, “I’ve seen this,” or you maybe admonish that person once and say, “You’ve got to stop this. Your mind’s in the wrong place,” especially if you’re close. But if it happens again, no, you want to be careful because they can draw you in. Let’s say you have a bad back, let’s do the physical example, and your neighbor’s carrying a piano. You have to look over that neighbor and think, “Okay, should I go help them? I have a bad back.”
And then you go over and you pull your back out because you know you should... No, consider what you’re doing, especially on the spiritual side, to make sure you don’t get drawn into something. But you’re seeking it out. You’re seeking out to help. James chapter two. Remember, this is volunteering for commitment. So that’s jumping in to help or choose to do the right thing. So much about this, it comes into the service side, but it’s about the decisions we make in our mind before we ever do anything.
Everything starts in the mind. We start to think about what we’re going to do in the morning, how we apply it, what decisions we make at work, at our jobs, with our co-workers, how we interact. That all starts in the mind. That mental action, especially God’s Spirit working with our spirit to direct and guide and shape those thoughts, turns into action. But they start as decisions.
You’re probably at James, James chapter two and verse fifteen, James two, fifteen, “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart and be in peace, be you warm and filled; notwithstanding give them not those things which they need for the body; what does it profit?”
If you don’t help someone when they have a need, then what are we doing? It’s so easy as a human being to ignore things because the world’s a mess. This is the fine line as a Christian. You have to say, “Okay, I’m not trying to fix the world. That’s not why I’m not called in this age.” Versus, “What’s the right thing to do? What’s the righteous thing to do? What would God have me do?” That’s what you’re asking.
When you when you in your mind think, “What’s the right thing?” you’re asking yourself, as well as I would be doing too, is what would God have me do? And then if we make that decision because sometimes, we know, we just don’t do it. That’s when it gets harder. But number two is going beyond just simple politeness, but then seeking out those chances to make the right call, to be helpful, to serve, to work with someone. But you’re seeking it out and then you’re making the decision to make a difference.
Again, these are somewhat relatively simple in the grand scheme of things of what we’re talking about here. Remember, the first one was small acts of kindness. This is building. This one is volunteering for commitments. So, we do small little things that are presented to us. We’re now stepping forward and seeking out opportunities. And then we get to number three, inconvenient generosity. Inconvenient generosity.
Just the name of this point, I think, drives home what I’m getting into. This is not just making the hard choice out of our abundance or it’s easy. The first two are relatively easy. But out of necessity, we’re doing something that’s necessary and choosing not to ignore it. Let’s pick on that neighbor that always needs help. They ask you; you can see they’re struggling, maybe you know how to garden, and they don’t, and it’s just a mess in their front yard, and you think, “Oh, they’re in a rough condition.”
They come over to you and say, “Do you mind? I’m stuck. I don’t know what to do with this,” and in the back of your head you’re thinking, “I really was hoping to go for a walk.” I had a walk, I got my walking shoes on, I’m about to head out, this is the chance for me to go get my daily walk in.” And it’s interrupting something that you had already planned to do. You’re canceling plans to say, “Okay, neighbor. Sure, I’m happy to help.” Three hours later that you finish sweating in the front yard with that neighbor.
It’s inconvenient, but you’re being generous of your time. It’s like on a holy day, you give a little extra even though the funds are tight. You clarify in situations when someone’s not quite getting the right picture, or wrong thoughts are taking hold. Or you stand up for someone for no other reason for yourself, but because it’s right.
You’re pressing now, and this is where this inconvenient generosity comes in. Because it’s not about money, because most of our generosity... There’s that aspect, but most of our generosity in our lives comes from time, taking our time to involve ourselves. And when we start to take away our time, especially if it means canceling other things, or it being inconvenient for the situation, we’re now pressing on our own comforts.
The other items that we did, tended to be simple, not time-consuming, just politeness, but now we’re starting to press on our own comforts, aren’t we? We’re starting to get outside of just simple politeness. In many ways, the first two were really just helping build that foundation. This is the first step where we start to build character. Not heavy-duty character-building. No, this is the start of it. Because as a Christian, we serve, and we sacrifice, we do all these things.
So, when we just start to get out of our comfort zone, that’s the point when we’re starting to get to the process of building Godly character, being more like Christ. Go to Proverbs, chapter nineteen. Proverbs Chapter nineteen. A little positive setup before we continue on here in reiterating a point. Proverbs chapter nineteen and verse seventeen. Nineteen, seventeen, “He that has pity on the poor lends to the Lord.”
When we do things outside of our comfort zone, when we have to make a decision that’s righteous, but uncomfortable, God says, “When you’re doing that,” because in this case, He’s talking about having pity on the poor, but ultimately, it’s about the righteous decision. So, if you have pity on the poor, you’ve made a decision in your mind to help someone. And God says, “You’re doing that to me.”
When I make a decision that takes me out of my comfort zone, and I do something that’s taking my time, that’s inconveniently generous, if you will, God says, “Whatever you’ve done, you’ve done it to me.” And then as the giver of all things, the verse continues, “... And that which he has given will He pay him again.”
God blesses that inconvenience. God blesses sacrifice. Of course, He does. That’s the whole process, the positive feedback loop of Christianity, is we serve, and we sacrifice. We do the right thing over and over and over again, and what God says is, “I’m going to pour blessings on you.” And when you’re new in this way of life, that’s probably a little hard to believe.
Steps one and two become really important, don’t they? As you do the right thing, you start to see God bless you, and you start to do things, and you’re tested, and you’re tried, and it gets harder, and you have to make a difficult decision. You see God blessing you for doing that right thing. It gets easier to do. Easier, not easy because you build, you build faith, you build strength.
Let’s go ahead to Second Corinthians chapter eight. Second Corinthians chapter eight. Corinth was a very interesting congregation. They had all sorts of problems. Often there’s a lot of nuggets in here if you read through both of these books. Here we are in Second Corinthians eight we’ll start in verse ten. “Herein I give my advice.” Wouldn’t it be neat to have Paul come up to you and say, “I just want to give you a little bit of advice.”
He’d have your attention, right? ‘Oh, this is the Apostle Paul. Sure, give me your advice.’ “For this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.” So, time has passed. Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which you have.” Okay, so you get action continuing here. “For if there be first a willing mind,” which is what we have to do, “it is accepted according to the man that has and not according to that he has not.”
You’d be willing. Again, decisions happen in the mind. “But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for you want: that there may be equality.” When you give back and forth because you want to give because it takes out of what you have, your time, your sacrifice, it’ll come back.
With Christians, it comes back and forth. This is the amazing thing with God’s way of life, is if we all live that give way to other people, if we think about other people, we focus on other people, and we don’t focus on ourselves, if everyone does that, then you or me, by focusing on other people helping other people doing the right thing to other people means people will do it back to you. You can’t expect it because now you’re doing what the sinner does, you expect something back for what you’re doing. God says clearly in Old Testament now New, that when we give it will be given back.
When we do right to others, we will have right given back to us. Maybe not by that person, but by someone. Ultimately, by God. You just keep that in your back pocket. You have to really suppress it a little bit. If you walk around thinking, “You know what, I’m going to be nice to people because God promises that they’ll be nice to me, not that individual, but I’ll have good things come back to me. I’m going to do a bunch of good things, so I get stuff.” Well, that’s, oops, wrong way to think.
But if you go around knowing that will happen but want to give out of the abundance of your heart, remember, inconvenient generosity, you can know God will back it up. God will back it up. It’s just about the spirit of being generous in what we do. Again, this is not just about money. This is about our time and our effort and the decisions we make every single day.
Remember, every two seconds we make those decisions and when we do, they fall into two categories, right or wrong. There’s gray in between, but ultimately right or wrong. Righteous or not righteous once you get to this level. If smiling at someone is not a righteous or unrighteous decision. If you don’t smile at someone, you’re not walking around as a sinner. No. It’s a good thing when you smile because you’re being a light.
There is some righteousness in doing even those simple things, but when it starts to get to the level of inconveniencing us, then we’re, again, building the starting points of building character. Go to Luke twenty-one. Luke chapter twenty-one, near the end of the book. Luke twenty-one and verse one. “And he looked up, and saw a certain rich man casting their gifts into the treasury.” You know this accounts Christ. “Looked at the rich men and he also saw a certain poor widow casting in two mites,” tiniest little bit of money, say pennies, if you will. “And he said, of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow has cast in more than they all,” Not the one rich man, but all the rich men throwing all their money in. This poor little widow gave more than all.
Verse four, “For all these have of their abundance cast in their offering to God.” It’s easy. If I have a million dollars and I walk in and I’m okay, I’m going to give, and I give a thousand dollars. Or if I have a billion dollars and I give ten thousand, it’s a rounding error. Sounds big. A thousand dollars is a lot of money to me, but if I have a million or a billion dollars, a thousand may not be that much. It’s easy. it’s one or two on that list, remember, the simple stuff, but continuing the verse and unto the offerings of God.
“But she of her,” this word means deficit or poverty. That’s the penury. It means deficit or of her poverty has cast in all the living that she had. She took out of, not her abundance, but out of her deficit, wanted to give. Brethren, that’s what we should do with our time. We don’t get to those moments of time or offerings or financial sacrificing or helping people until we’ve made a decision to do it.
Again, they start in our mind. Everything we’re talking about is one of those decisions that we have to make in our mind and those decisions will start off in our head, “Is this right or is it not?” It may not be sin, but is it right? Is it righteous? She gave out of her poverty. She sacrificed. It’s the cost. This is where God takes this to a new level. The inconvenient generosity. She gave something that cost her more personally than the rich man. When we do things that are generous inconveniently, we’re doing something that costs us. Financial or time or whatever it may be, that costs us more.
We have made the decision to cost ourselves time, money, whatever. God looks on that with such compassion and care and you can say in a certain way, reverence to what we’re doing because we’re being like him. We’re being like Christ, we’re laid flat. Okay. That was number three, inconvenient generosity. Okay. Let’s keep stepping this up a bit. Number four here. Secret sacrifices. Secret sacrifices.
The difference with this is not giving out of our poverty or little things that are inconvenient because inconvenient isn’t something so major that your life is going to be upended. No, no. It’s just inconvenient. Secret sacrifices are when you’re putting your heart and soul into something, and people may not see it. You’re starting to test your Christianity at this point. If you are doing something that the person who you’re doing it to doesn’t see you doing it, you know what you’re saying? “I don’t need a reward from them. I trust God.” You’re doing things secretly.
I remember an example years ago I heard from Mr. Shutter that someone moved into the campus. He snuck and put a bottle of champagne on their front step early when we were still building the campus and hid that he did. It wasn’t obvious. I think through the course of this person trying to figure it out and asking around, managed to figure it out, because they wanted to say thank you back. That always stuck in my mind of the best forms of service or the ones you don’t get credit for. The best decisions you make are the ones you don’t get credit for. That’s hard as a human being. If I do something good, I want credit for it.
If I come up with a good idea. If you’re in a job or you’re trying to build your career or whatever, if you come up with a really good idea, you want credit for it. As a human being, that’s what you try to do because you’re trying to build your career or whatever, to trust that the right thing, because that’s what this is about. That doing the right thing is more important than getting credit for doing the right thing. Even in those moments of quiet when you think or I think or whoever it is, thinks they could get away with something. This is knowing that God sees everything. Let’s go back to the Old Testament.
First Samuel fifteen. Even when we think we’re doing the right thing sometimes, we have to always go back and say, “Okay, I’m a human being. I can’t lean on my own understanding. I know I can’t guide my steps. I know I need God’s word as a lamp to my feet to guide what I’m doing. I need to do what he wants me to do, not necessarily what I want myself to do because the situation may be difficult.”
First Samuel fifteen. I’ll turn there. You may already be there, and we’ll start in verse sixteen. We know the account here. We’ll pick up verse sixteen. First Samuel chapter fifteen verse sixteen. “Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord has said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. And Samuel said, when you were little in thine own sight,” because this is just after a big attack, and the Amalekites, and you remember in that account, instead of doing what God said they should do, this happened. “When you were little in your sight, was you not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed you king over Israel?”
God took someone small and made them king. “And the Lord sent you on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.” Gone. “Wherefore did you not obey the voice of the Lord?” Wherefore, did you not do the right thing? He was king. He can make that call, right? “But you did fly upon the spoil, and did evil in the sight of the Lord.”
Saul said to Samuel, “And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord,” I did the right thing. No, no, I made the righteous call here, “...and have gone the way the Lord sent me, and brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people”, this is often what happens when we’re in a situation where we’re confronted to do the right thing or not, it’s easy to blame other people. Humanly, that’s a human default, just to let other people take the fall for things. As Christians, we can’t do it. Remember Adam and Eve in the garden, “The woman made me eat.”
Saul didn’t learn from that lesson, did he? “The people took of the spoil, the sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, and sacrificed unto the Lord your God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as obeying the voice of the Lord?” Brethren, God’s spirit in us is what should be driving us to make these secret sacrifices. These times when we have to do the right thing. It’s not necessarily a service opportunity. There could be sometimes where you have to stick up for someone or you’re at work and your boss sees something, and they take the wrong view, and you think, “Oh, that person is not being portrayed in the way that’s true. You know what? I need to say something.”
It’s not necessarily just secretly bringing something to someone so it’s a nice blessing or secretly paying for the tab at a restaurant or at the feast. No, it’s not. Not necessarily that. It’s those times when it could be interactions with other people, but the party in question may never see what you’ve done. Use the boss example. If you clarify something with your boss at work, or a coworker, it doesn’t really make a difference. Then that person walks away with a clear picture of truth, you’ve done the right thing. The person you may be clarifying it for may have no idea you ever did it.
The right thing is obeying the voice of the Lord for its better, as the verse finishes, “Better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” I don’t care about sacrifices. It’s obedience. It’s doing righteousness. That’s what these days are about. The days of the leavened bread are about becoming flat and doing righteousness, being like Christ. Philippians two. Philippians chapter two. Everything we’re doing in our lives is to be more like God. We’re trying to build character. Building character takes a grind on things. If it’s easy, we’re not building character. It’s plain and simple.
It could be right, hold the door open, smile, greet, be polite. That’s right, but it’s easy. Easy does not make us like God. This is getting harder. As we go through these steps, it gets harder and harder and harder. The harder it gets, the more we’re building righteous character. That’s what this is about. We need to be like God to be become God, and easy doesn’t get us there. Polite doesn’t get us there.
It’s right. It’s an amazing thing. If you don’t do those things, you’re less like God. If you do those things, you’re not building godly character. You’re just doing the basic things. You’re, in effect, being in the unprofitable servant. Doing basic, easy, right things is being an unprofitable servant. You’re doing the things you should do. When it gets harder, that’s when we become like Christ.
Philippians chapter two and verse one. Philippians two, one. “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if there be any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies. Fulfil you my joy, that you be likeminded, having the same love, of being one accord, of one mind. Letting nothing be done through strife or vainglory.” Nothing done to benefit ourselves. That’s the key. We’ll see. As it gets harder, the thing in our minds that should be at the forefront of our minds, is what I’m doing benefiting me in replacement of someone else? That’s where the rubber hits the road when it comes to decision-making and being righteous.
Am I doing something that makes me look good? That’s making it easier for me at the expense of someone else? That’s vain glory, because it doesn’t last. God sees right through it. Human beings may fall for it, but ultimately, God says, “You are not here to be a human being. You’re here to be a God being.” Continuing here. Verse three, “Strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind esteem others better than ourselves.” When we look at other people and think, “No, no, they’re going to be God. I want to be God, so I got to see them as God.” Brethren or the person in the grocery store, esteeming others better than ourselves, that we see every person we run into as a potential God being, because that’s what God does.
He sacrificed Christ that we looked at on the Passover just a few days ago. He allowed that to happen because he saw God beings in every single human being. The potential. We can make the wrong decisions. We can leave the church. We can quit. We can commit spiritual suicide, but usually, those acts come after making the wrong decision over and over again. Sometimes privately. Sometimes never known except but to God. When we start making unrighteous decisions, because once we get to this level, we’re getting up to that secret sacrifice. We’re getting to a level that it’s actually affecting us.
When we keep making wrong decisions, they get easier to make wrong decisions, but ultimately, it pulls us further away from God, because now we’re not making the righteous ones. Verse four, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Because it’s all about other people. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Sacrificial love, if you will, becomes the pinnacle of righteous decision-making. When we were willing to sacrifice ourselves publicly or privately or taking elements of our character that say, “No, no, no, this is right,” we’re building Christ-like love. We’re being like Him, like the Father, especially when it creates situations of unity, keeps brethren in peace with each other.
Again, it’s not just about each other. Sure, we should do more for the household of God. Yes, 100 percent. There’s just more opportunity for that. It doesn’t mean we shun everyone else. You don’t wave the person. You pull up to the stop sign. You know how you get that moment when you both pull at the same time, and you just power on through, because you know what? That person to my left, they’re a sinner. I’m not going to wave them through the stop sign and let them go first. No. We show our example as Christians by how we treat those who aren’t converted. More so if someone is converted and there’s grievances or there’s issues or whatever the case may be, sort it out.
That’s what Matthew eighteen is for. Sort it out. Again, remember back, even we have to love our enemies, treat them right, do things that are helpful to them. John chapter fifteen. Back a few chapters. John, our books. John chapter fifteen. The ultimate act we’ll see here. We just commemorated it with the Passover. John chapter fifteen it’s going to be very familiar words. In verse nine, we’ll start. We don’t need to go into a lot of detail. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you, continue in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as the Father has kept the Father’s commandments, and abide in his love, as Christ kept them. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”
Christ sacrificed himself. If it wasn’t for the Bible. How’s this for an amazing thing? No, at least God inspired it. If it wasn’t for the Bible, we wouldn’t even know about it. It was 2,000 years ago. You don’t see any other history books really talking about Christ’s life. You have the Bible. You could say that was the ultimate secret sacrifice, wasn’t it? As would be the case, God had it written down. We get to see the example, and we get to try to live and be like Him.
Secret sacrifices. That was number four. Number five, things now change. I call this one doing the right thing when it’s the hard thing. This is the point when you go from doing the right thing secretly, or it’s helpful, or you say something to your boss, your co-worker to clarify that helps the situation. When you do the right thing when it’s the hard thing, it usually means you suffer persecution. The result of the right thing causes persecution. Brethren, this is when we build character. When we know we could be persecuted, get in trouble, we could be attacked, and we’re required to do the right thing. God says, “Okay, you’re a maturing Christian. I can test you now.”
This is a hard one, and this has a variety of applications that I could just give examples and examples and examples. Each of us are going to know those moments when you have to, in your mind, say, “Wow, that’s going to be hard to say. That’s going to be hard to do.” The easy thing is X. The right thing is Y because it’s usually easy, hard, easy, right. Then we do the right thing, and then we’re persecuted, we’re attacked, we get in trouble, we’re corrected, whatever it may be. You or I, whoever is in that situation, just built godly character. That’s a stone, a brick on that wall, being stronger, and it’s not easy.
Remember, easy is not character-building. This is when Christianity becomes real. In the world, people often, you get some who try, but people often don’t do the right thing when it’s hard. You shy away from it. Let’s go back to that analogy of meeting someone at the door. This is an easy example, but let’s say they’re carrying 300-pound weights. You know you could get to that door and not help that person. They look like they’re struggling, and then you grunt, and you say, “Okay, now I’m going to do the right thing.”
The person says, “What do you think you’re doing? I’m perfectly capable of carrying these weights.” Or as I’ve seen the look sometimes, but I’ve heard people say they’ve gotten more than a look. When you hold the door open for a lady, because people should open for anyone, but especially for a woman, and you get that look of like, “What are you holding the door for?” I’m perfectly capable of opening the door.” In your head, you’re thinking, “I would hope so, you’re walking, so, yes, you could open the door, but I’m being polite, you jerk.”
No, you can sometimes do the right thing, especially when they’re harder and you’re going to get persecuted for it. This is university-level Christianity when you’re here. God won’t necessarily do this to you early on. The younger you are on your Christian walk, the less times this will happen. The more mature we are as a Christian, the more times God will use it as a test or allow it to happen, because He wants to see. Remember, He’s going to give us God-ness, if you will, God’s Spirit.
We’re going to be changed to become part of the family of God. He wants to know what his investment is going to return. Already been there, done that with Satan. God’s not going to allow that to happen. He’s going to test us in ways to see, will we do the righteous thing even when the righteous thing is difficult? I’ve had an opportunity to be at headquarters for a couple of decades now. In that time, I’ve seen people come and go, and some endure. Some endure, some come, some go.
Usually what happens, because it starts, and this happens to be the opportunity to see it over time and connect some of those dots, and it’s something that I fundamentally try so hard to do right. That opportunities present themselves to do the right thing, and people don’t because it’s hard. It may be relatively minor in the moment, but when that comes out in front of them, they’re given that chance to do something that’s right, even though it’s hard, even though they could be corrected, even though they could be persecuted for it, they don’t, and that’s the first step on a path out of the church.
That’s why God tests us to see, will we do it when it’s hard? Easy Christianity doesn’t build character. It’s wonderful. Blessings are wonderful, but it doesn’t build character. Character is when it’s hard, when we have to struggle and strive, and get through a situation because we know. In these cases, we know what we do could cause us to receive persecution, so we’re choosing it. We’re choosing it because it’s right. That’s the key. That’s when we become more like God. Yes, I’ve seen it. It happens. Those are the times God is testing the metal, if you will.
Psalm fifteen or the fifteen Psalm. There are no chapters in Psalms. Psalm fifteen and verse one, the Psalm of David. Fifteen, one reads, “Lord, who shall abide in you tabernacle? And who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walks uprightly, works righteousness”. It’s something you do. Righteousness isn’t something you are. Being righteous is the product of doing righteousness, working righteousness, as it says here, “...and speaks the truth in his heart. He that backbites,” not with his tongue, “...nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor.” Who backbites not. “In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but honors them that fear the Lord. He that swears to his own hurt, and changes not. He that puts not out his money to the usury, nor takes reward against the innocent. He that does these things shall never be moved.”
When we just simply live righteously. We help people. We don’t hurt people, even if they’re bad. Never mind if they’re good or trying to live this way of life. No. We work righteousness. That’s what integrity is. As someone who, no matter what the situation is, will choose to do the right thing. Brethren, we won’t do it right all the time. It’s amazing when you know you did something that wasn’t the righteous call. Even if there were no repercussions for it, you know, I know. I know throughout the years if I’ve done something I should have done or not done something that I should have done, my conscious, God spirit in me says, “No.”
Sometimes you just have to let that go and say, “You know what? No, next time I’m going to make sure I do the right thing.” I’m not going to let it fail.” We have to stand by what we believe. We have to do what is going to-- not lean on our own understanding. We saw that. Saul did that. No, no. We live by the words of God. We become like Christ. Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five. It won’t be easy. Character, again, is not built when things are easy. Romans chapter five, and we’ll start in verse one.
Romans five, one. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith unto His grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations,” glory in them, “...knowing that tribulation works patience; patience, experience; experience, hope. And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time God died for the ungodly.”
There is a time we didn’t know this way of life. We played the games of the world, no matter what our backgrounds were at the time or how we were raised or religious or not. That’s the time, again, 2,000 years ago when Christ died for us. Chose to be a God being who divested himself of that to become flesh, to not sin, and then to die a horrible death for us. He says through Paul here, “Glory in tribulations.” When you do that, you know God works it out through patience, and then through patience, experience.
You know why it says experience? You got patience and experience? Because if you’ve done it enough times, you start to get confident in doing the right thing, because you know God will back it up. That doesn’t start at the beginning. The hardest times are those first times you like, “Oh, this is a hard decision I have to make. The right thing is to do this, but I see persecution. I see the person getting angry if I do this right thing.” The first few times, it’s hard, but God increases the heat too that they’re all only those examples you do a few times, and you think, “Okay, God’s going to back me up.” God increases the heat, or he makes the call a little bit more difficult to make.
That’s more mature Christianity when this is black and this is white, and we have to choose white as the right decision and black’s on the other ditch. It’s obvious. It has the right call. If we choose not to do it as bad, we choose to do it even if we’d suffer persecution. You think, “Okay, that was an easy right call to make.” As you mature as a Christian, God will take those two options and move them closer together. As our discernment spiritually becomes stronger, the right and the wrong get closer together. God says even when you could justify doing the wrong, when you do the right, you build character, because you’re more spiritually mature. Makes it harder, becomes more difficult.
We go to Hebrews chapter twelve. Hebrews twelve and verse nine. Hebrews twelve, nine. “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?” We had parents who corrected us. Correction’s good. It was above us. You could have maybe your minister correct you; your parent corrects you. You could be younger and someone senior in the faith could correct you. Correction happens.
Verse ten, “For they verily or truly for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit,” God works with us, puts us in these situations so we can develop, “...that we might be partakers of his holiness.” We might taste eternity. “Now, no chastening for the present seems to be joyous.” No, especially when you know it’s coming. If you know you have to speak up, you know you have to say something, you know you have to do good in a situation, and you know you could get persecution from it, urgh, definitely not joyous, but grievous.
“Nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness,” working righteousness, “...and to them that are exercised thereby. Wherewith lift the hands which hang down, low and the feeble knees.” If you see persecution coming, you see correction coming, you’re not excited about it. No one is, but at the same time, we glory in tribulation because we know the result of that tribulation builds patience and experience and keeps us stronger. It’s never easy, especially as you mature in Christianity. God may put you in a situation, put you at work, or at school, or whatever it is, and you have to make a decision, “Do I say something, or do I not say something? Do I act, or do I not act?”
As we said before, usually, the way you can discern is saying something or not saying something, because those could both be right choices. Doing something or not doing something, both could be right choices depending on the situation. How do you know? How do you discern that? It’s simple. Is not saying something or is saying something going to benefit me, or is it going to benefit someone else even if I take a hit for it? When we know keeping our mouth shut in a situation will benefit someone else, you sit back and say that’s the right call even though I’m not benefiting myself or saying something. Not saying. It just depends, because everything we do with Christianity is about other people.
Should I act or should I not act? Well, if acting will help someone else, then I act even though it could hurt me. If not acting could help someone else, then I don’t act even if it could hurt me, because Christ died for us. That’s the ultimate sacrifice. That’s the character we want to have inside of us. Brethren, that takes faith. It takes faith to be able to step out and know you could take it upside the chops because of something you’re doing because it helps other people. That is working righteousness, and it’s hard, but the reward is so great. You’re going to be God.
Just stop and think about that, I’m going to be God if we work every single day to become more like him. If we leave the days of unleavened bread and say, “Every single day, I need to put leaven out of my life because I want to be like Christ. I want to make righteous decisions in everything I do because I care about other human beings. I’m concerned about other human beings, even if it means I get hit for it.”
That’s what we have to do. That’s how we have to live our lives. That’s how we build righteous character. The more we do it, the better we get, but the more God will test us, and the more reward we’ll see. God strengthens us. It’s not just a matter of one and done and that’s it. We’re on our own, “Okay, thank you, God.” No, God will back us up. Let’s go to Isaiah forty-one. Start to wrap up here. Isaiah chapter forty-one, verse eight. Start in verse eight.
Isaiah forty-one and verse eight. “But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from the chief men thereof, and said unto you, you are my servant.” That’s what we are, brethren, we are God’s servants. “I have chosen you,” He has chosen you, me from before the foundation of the world, I might add, “...and not cast you away. Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God,” the one that created the universe, the one that allowed for the eclipse to be perfect, the one who can roll that universe up and have it flow back out, “...be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you.”
Through Christ, all things are possible. He can strengthen us. God can strengthen us. God can strengthen us. We’re not alone when we’re expected to make the righteous decision, God backs us up. Those moments of silent prayer in our heads when we have to make the right call, “God, please help me have the strength to be able to do this.” We can call on that strength. That’s a promise, and then he backs it up, then we step out in faith.
Continuing, “I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you,” my servants, “...I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.” Ultimately, our righteousness comes from God’s righteousness, because we’re working righteousness by living, and acting, and doing, and being like Christ who we just pictured dying for us. Brethren, whatever time you and I have left in this age, make the righteous decision. I’d be looking in a mirror and say to myself, “Make the right call.”
Frame things. In your mind, what’s the right thing to do? When you say that, you’re saying, “What’s the righteous thing to do? What’s the right thing in this situation?” Regardless of the outcome, again, maybe acting or not acting, maybe saying something or not saying something, what’s the right thing? If you continually do what’s the right thing, things work themselves out. It could get bumpy. There could be persecution. If we do the political thing, or we do the easy thing and don’t do the right thing, maybe easier in the short term, but harder in the long term because we’re not building holy righteous character.
Let’s go to Second Corinthians. Second Corinthians chapter twelve. Second Corinthians twelve and start in verse eight. Verse eight reads, “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice,” three times, the infirmity that He had, “...that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Human beings were weak, but through God, He can strengthen us.
“Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities,” in our weaknesses, “...that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities.” Take pleasure in human weaknesses, knowing that I’m this weak vessel that needs God’s assistance. “In infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,” because they come when we do the right thing, and “...distresses for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then,” because God, through you, helps you make the right call, helps you build holy, righteous character, “...then, then I’m strong.”
Brethren, tough choices, tough decisions are opportunities for us to grow spiritually. You don’t get them every day. They’re not the third decision of every two seconds you have the decision. Like, “Okay, every minute I’m going to have one of these tough--” No, no, God’s loving. They don’t always present themselves. There are many decisions that are simply polite, many decisions that are automatic, but as we grow as Christians, we will run into decisions that test our Christianity to do right.
Embrace those opportunities in faith knowing that God is giving you strength. If you step out in faith and say, “God, give me the strength to make the right decision,” He will back you up. He will make you strong. Each day, when you make those decisions, some easy, again, some hard, as you walk this way of life, as years turn into decades, we may have time for that, God will test you. Practice right or righteous decisions on little things.
Frame everything, we do in the context where it almost becomes automatic, is this right? I’m going to do the right thing. I’m going to do again the righteous thing. If we practice, we’ll be better equipped when the decisions are hard. When we do that, we will build righteous character. We will become like God, and then when we stand before him on that moment of judgment, we’ll stand before him with confidence that we did the right thing.
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