Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Heb 2:1)
Scripture plainly indicates the possibility of churches conducting themselves in such a way that the Lord disowns them (Rev 2:4-5). This sermon considers five distinct changes congregations experience along the drift to unfaithfulness.
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One hundred years ago tonight, 2,233 passengers were sailing across the Atlantic on the RMS Titanic.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”–yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. (James 4:13-14)
There are times when we do not want to hear from God. We know where we are in relation to him. We’re familiar with his words of condemnation against the sin in which we are wallowing. Marinating in our unrighteousness hasn’t brought the satisfaction that was originally advertised. We’re stuck. We’re lost. We’re on the pathway to a wasted life, complete ruin and eternal destruction.
But we do not want to hear from God.
__________ For they are a rebellious people,
_______________ lying children,
__________ children unwilling to hear
_______________ the instruction of the LORD;
__________ who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
_______________ and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
__________ speak to us smooth things,
_______________ prophesy illusions,
__________ leave the way, turn aside from the path,
_______________ let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
__________ Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel… (Isa 30:9-12)
And therein lies the point. Just because I do not want to hear from the Holy One does not mean that his words will cease to ring as true. I may choose to ignore him, but that has no bearing on the ongoing, binding nature of his will as my Creator, Sustainer and Judge. I may do my best to tune him out, but his words will never cease to call for a response. From me.
I say, “I don’t want to hear.” Therefore, the Holy One speaks.
Something’s got to give.
It’s not going to be God.
In July 2011, the Brown Street church of Christ in Akron, OH asked me to present a series of sermons entitled, “Not Even a Hint: Lives of Purity in an Impure World.” The series was based on a very practical warning of Paul:
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. (Eph 5:3)
Audio of the five sermons is available below:
You don’t light your house on fire because you’re worried about losing everything in a tornado.
You don’t run your car into a lake as a preventative measure against carjackers.
You don’t push your life savings through a paper shredder to avoid losing everything in a stock market crash.
And you don’t have an affair to help your marriage.
Ashley Madison (a $60 million per year online enterprise) suggests “Life is short. Have an affair.” It’s founder and CEO, Noel Biderman, has been blamed for promoting infidelity. He says he’s saving marriages, calling an affair “a marriage preservation device” that his website facilitates. “People do cheat on their partners,” says Biderman, who has been married “eight perfect, wonderful years” and has two kids, ages 7 and 4. “It doesn’t mean they don’t love them or don’t want to stay married to them. Marriage is about more than sex. An affair, and my service in particular, makes them happier to sustain their lives within the marriage construct.” (USA Today: Feb 14, 2012)
What better example could there be of becoming “futile” in thinking and “darkened” in foolishness (Rom 1:21)?
Isaiah’s warning is 2,700 years old, but it’s just as relevant as today’s edition of USA Today:
____________ Woe to those who call evil good
_________________ and good evil,
____________ who put darkness for light
_________________ and light for darkness,
____________ who put bitter for sweet
_________________ and sweet for bitter! (Isa 5:20)
It’s Valentine’s Day, guys. Whether you and your wife exchange gifts or not, could I encourage you to think about three of the most meaningful gifts you could possibly give your wife?
Your eyes. Remember Job’s resolution in Job 31:1?
“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?”
A dozen roses on Valentine’s Day is nice. But do you know what means more to your wife than roses? Trust. Trust that you won’t use your God-given eyes to embezzle what doesn’t belong to you. Blessed is the wife who trusts that her husband’s gaze is captivated first by God, then by her.
Your body. Remember Paul’s instruction in 1 Corinthians 7:3-4?
The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
Chocolate-covered strawberries on Valentine’s Day are sweet. But do you know what means more to your wife than chocolate? Confidence. Confidence that you will use your body in a way that glorifies God and honors her. Blessed is the wife who confidently knows that her husband’s body belongs first to God, then to her.
Your heart. Remember Jesus’ warning in Matthew 5:28?
“I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Diamonds on Valentine’s Day are breathtaking. But do you know what means more to your wife than diamonds? Faith in you. Faith that your heart has been fortified and is being guarded every day, everywhere against sexual temptation. Blessed is the wife who believes because she has been shown that her husband’s heart belongs first to the Lord, then to her.
By all means, let’s make our wives feel special today. But let’s remember that marriage is about so much more than roses, chocolates and diamonds. It’s about trust, confidence and faith in each other. Wound her heart on those fronts, and there aren’t enough roses or chocolates or diamonds in the world to remove the scars that are left.
If you want your wife to exclaim, “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (Song of Solomon 2:16), make it clear by your daily conduct that your eyes, your body and your heart belong first to God, then to her and her alone among the women of this world.
Justin and Trisha Davis have a wise warning for married people in the digital age:
Over the past few days, we’ve been in several conversations with people rocked by affairs. We’ve talked to devastated spouses trying to find hope and healing because of what their spouse chose. We’ve talked to repentant and remorseful spouses who broke trust and destroyed their marriages. Some conversations have been in person, some over the phone, some via email. Each couple, each relationship, each mistake, each affair was different. But one thing kept being repeated.
No one thinks they will have an affair. We don’t get married with a date circled on the calendar as to when we will cheat on our spouse.
Our hearts have been so heavy the past few days thinking about all of the hurt and damage that started with texting. People are always more bold and more courageous over text, Twitter and Facebook than they ever would be in person.
We wanted to share some warning signs when it comes to texting.
It could be a red flag…
Words carry power. Please choose the words you text to anyone of the opposite sex wisely.
You probably don’t intend to cheat on your spouse. Very few do. Inappropriate relationships can start with a text message and left unevaluated lead to a place that brings all kinds of hurt and brokenness.
Are your texts crossing the line? What would your spouse say?
David Banning recently delivered a very relevant and important sermon during a Summer Lectureship at the East Shelby church of Christ in Collierville, TN entitled, “What Someone Ought to Say About Facebook.”
David spoke from the standpoint of a Facebook user, the father of two sons, and (most importantly) a follower of Jesus.
Using Titus 2:11-14 as his key text, David’s main points were:
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. (Eccl 1:9-10)
“Thoughts for Young Men” written more than 100 years ago:
1. Pride
Young men, do not be too confident in your own judgment. Stop being so sure that you are always right and others wrong. Don’t trust your own opinion when you find it contrary to that of older men and especially to that of your own parents. Age gives experience and therefore deserves respect.
2. Love of Pleasure
Youth is the time when our passions are strongest and, like unruly children, cry most loudly for indulgence. Youth is the time when we have, generally, our most health and strength; death seems far away and to enjoy ourselves in this life seems to be everything. ”I serve lusts and pleasures.” That is the true answer many a young man should give if asked, “Whose servant are you?”
3. Thoughtlessness
Not thinking is one simple reason why thousands of souls are thrown away forever into the Lake of Fire. Men will not consider, will not look ahead, will not look around them, will not reflect on the end of their present course and the sure consequences of their present days and wake up to find they are damned for a lack of thinking. Young men, none are in more danger of this than yourselves. You know little of the perils around you and so you are careless how you walk. You hate the trouble of serious, quiet thinking and so you make wrong decisions and bring upon yourselves much sorrow.
4. Contempt of Religion
This also is one of your special dangers. I always observe that none pay so little outward respect to Christianity as young men. None take so little part in our services when they are present at them, use Bibles so little, sing so little, listen to preaching so little. None are so generally absent at prayer meetings, Bible studies, and all other weekday helps to the soul. Young men seem to think they do not need these things—they may be good for women and old men, but not for them. They appear ashamed of seeming to care about their souls. One would almost fancy they considered it a disgrace to go to heaven at all.
5. Fear of Man’s Opinion
It is terrible to observe the power which the fear of man has over most minds, and especially over the minds of the young. Few seem to have any opinions of their own or to think for themselves. Like dead fish, they go with the stream and tide. What others think is right, they think is right; and what others call wrong, they call wrong too. There are not many original thinkers in the world. Most men are like sheep; they follow a leader. If it was the fashion of the day to be Roman Catholics, they would be Roman Catholics. If it was to be Islamic, they would be Islamic. They dread the idea of going against the current of the times. In a word, the opinion of the day becomes their religion, their creed, their Bible, and their God.
- J.C. Ryle (1816 – 1900)
