Hard or difficult truth (especially biblical truth) is best received from someone you know, without a doubt, loves you.
This true ALL the time. So let me break down just a little…
The Bible says to LOVE.
John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
1 Cor. 13:1-3 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought tolove one another.
When we understand God’s love for us, then we will more easily receive this truth into our lives even if it seems difficult to us.
So when we rebel against God’s commands we are in some sense rebelling against his love or at least failing to see the depth of his love.
It goes something like this…
1. I know God loves me.
2. Since he loves me he always knows what’s best.
3. His commands are difficult to accept.
4. But since his love reassures me that he knows best I will follow.
Or If we turn this around
4. I have decided I don’t need to follow God’s will on blank.
3. His commands are TOO difficult to keep.
2. I think I know, more than God, what’s best.
1. Oh how I love me.
Parents ought to be the mains ones teaching their kids the hard stuff.
Kids know their parents love them. It’s natural. So it will do more good for the kids for parents to correct them or teach them Biblical truth than anyone else, EVEN the CHURCH. Parents have more influence over their kids than 1 or 2 hours a week in church. That doesn’t mean churches shouldn’t teach kids the truth it just means the parents should be the ones playing the MAJOR roll in teaching their kids the Bible. They will receive it more easily from you, MOM and DAD!
If people question your love for them they will be less likely to receive what you say.
So, ALWAYS Love People. Love people the best you can. Even like people. If you try to correct or teach a difficult truth to someone who either doesn’t know how much you love them or you haven’t shown love to them, it can make things worse not better. They could get mad thinking you’re doing this just to make a point. Or they may say, “you just think you’re better than me” or “who died and made you god?” When people say things like this, it might be because they don’t know how much you really do care about them. So we may need to back up and just show love some more. On the other hand, people still reject God’s love, when it’s as clear as the beauty of creation. So it will happen to us too.
This week we covered part 4 of the prodigal series. This parable has quickly become one of my favorites. Here is the song Michele sang and another video about the prodigal. I am so blown away by what God is doing in peoples lives through this series. It’s amazing! I love my church!
Ok I confess, I did something terrible. You may not have noticed but let me help you see what I did wrong more clearly so we can all learn from it. Last weekend after I was preaching I realized that I didn’t do a very good job at showing clearly how one of the points came from the text. To use big words… I didn’t do a very good job at exegesis on that point. I knew it was in the text but I didn’t help the church see it. This is TERRIBLE! It is terrible because…
1. As a preacher I am called to preach what the Bible says.
2 Tim. 4:2 says “preach the word.” I am not called to preach anything else. JUST GOD’S WORD. It’s not preaching if you don’t use the Bible (on every point you make). I don’t want people to say, “the preacher said is so it must be true.” I want them to say, “The Bible says it so it IS true.”
2. I’m not called to just say things that are true.
There are a ton of true things. But just because it’s true doesn’t mean I need to preach on it. If I am going to make a point in the sermon, the first priority needs to be showing that truth from God’s word.
3. It undermines the authority of the Bible and lifts up my opinion.
If we as pastors constantly make points without showing they are from God’s word, we give the impression that it’s just our opinion. And that leads to people thinking the pastors opinion is more important than the Bible. God, help me never give the impression that my opinion is more important than your Word. And we people want to know what I think about something help me take them to the Bible.
4. It hinders the Holy Spirit from working in peoples lives.
John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life” and Jesus says, “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life” (John 5:24). So believing Jesus’ words (not mine) and the Holy Spirit gives life to God’s people. Therefore if I am giving my opinion instead of God’s word I am hindering the Holy Spirit from giving life to people.
5. It gives people a bad example of how to study the Bible.
One of the things a sermon should do is be a good example to the people of how to interpret and study the Bible on their own. If I don’t let the scripture make the points then I am failing to teach people how to study the Bible on their own.
God’s people should enjoy being with others who love God too. There are several “one another” commands in the Bible and obedience to them can only be accomplished by gathering with other believers in gospel community. Here are a few “one another” passages.
Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
James 4:11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
2. It shows your desire to express the praise to God that he deserves.
Attending church show your desire to praise God. Yes it’s true that you can praise God anywhere. If fact you should praise God everywhere and all the time. Praising God together is encouraging to each others. And it is great to see other people worshiping God out of the joy they have found in God. Seeing God at work in other peoples lives is encouraging in ways that only it can have.
3. It is a humble admission that we need to hear God’s word applied to our lives.
This is a HUGE one. Attending church is like saying, “I need God’s word.” It’s like saying I am “prone to wonder, prone to leave the God I love,” so I need his word preached to my soul. The Bible tells us that it is “living and active… discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). But it can only do that as much as we get it into our lives. We can not understand salvation without God’s word. We cannot understand how to live godly lives without God’s word.
4. Because it is a command in the Bible.
Heb. 10:25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
In my prod-i-gal sermon series, I have quoted Tim Keller. These quotes come from his book Prodigal God. Here is a video and some quotes from the book.
“Because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life”
“If you like the elder bother, believe that God ought to bless you and help you because you have worked so hard to obey him and be a good person, then Jesus may be your helper, your example, even your inspiration, but he is not your Savior. You are serving as your own Savior.”
“… if criticism from others doesn’t just hurt your feelings, it devastates you. This is because your sense of God’s love is abstract and has little real power in your life and you need approval of others to bolster your sense of value.”
“If a group believes God favors them because of their particularly true doctrine, ways of worship, and ethical behavior, their attitude toward those without these things can be hostile.”
“It is impossible to forgive someone if you feel superior to him or her.”
“The first sign you have an elder-brother spirit is that when your life doesn’t go as you want, you aren’t just sorrowful but deeply angry and bitter.”
