1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,860 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest 2 00:00:15,860 --> 00:00:21,080 questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search 3 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:27,300 and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead 4 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:32,440 pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth 5 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:39,440 for the life we're searching for. Well, if you have your Bibles this morning, we're 6 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:44,520 going to talk about serving. And please pick them up and turn to 1 Peter chapter four today, 7 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:50,640 1 Peter chapter four. You know, a few weeks ago, we began talking to you about four practices 8 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:55,400 that would change everything in your life. And I always felt like that was maybe a little 9 00:00:55,400 --> 00:01:00,720 bit ambitious in terms of a title or a subtitle, four things that would change everything in 10 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:06,000 your life. I have people that come to me and say this kind of title about a restaurant. 11 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:11,160 If you eat there, it will change everything about your life. And when I go, I'll find 12 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:15,520 out that they've over-promised and under-delivered sometimes. But I'm not going to do that with 13 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,640 you because these four practices that we're talking about do change everything about your 14 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:25,680 life. The first week we focused on worship, on the importance of knowing God intimately 15 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:30,600 through worshiping Him. The second week we talked about connecting with others and the 16 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:35,000 fact that we're not designed to be alone, we're designed to be with other people and 17 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:40,480 the reason for that. And then we're looking at this week at serving others, serving others. 18 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:45,100 And we're going to look at 1 Peter chapter four, would you stand with me as we read God's 19 00:01:45,100 --> 00:01:51,280 word together today? 1 Peter chapter four, beginning in verse seven. 20 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:56,000 Peter is written to a group of people that are facing persecution in their days ahead. 21 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,800 They're not suffering physically yet, but they're definitely being maligned by a culture 22 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:06,820 that didn't value the gospel of Jesus Christ or the values that He espouses. They didn't 23 00:02:06,820 --> 00:02:12,760 appreciate the church. They didn't understand why these people were following Jesus so wholeheartedly 24 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:17,360 and why they were living the way they were. And so they're in a place where they have 25 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:22,680 a lot of persecution and Peter's encouraging them to keep serving no matter what. And here's 26 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:27,720 what we read beginning in verse seven. He said, the end of all things is near. Therefore 27 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:32,640 be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent 28 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:37,640 in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable 29 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:43,000 to one another without complaint. And then in verse 10, as each one has received a special 30 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:50,280 gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 31 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:56,640 Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Whoever serves is to 32 00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:02,500 do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies so that in all things God 33 00:03:02,500 --> 00:03:08,400 may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and 34 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:15,740 ever. Amen. Father, show us the truth of this text to each heart, to each mind. Let us be 35 00:03:15,740 --> 00:03:24,740 able to walk out of here knowing how to serve well in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. 36 00:03:24,740 --> 00:03:30,120 I love this text. I love where it's directing us. But when you first read this text, you 37 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:35,440 see the word serve. Whoever's been gifted by God to serve, then employ that gift in 38 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:41,160 serving one another. And we missed some of the important details about how to be a servant 39 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:45,240 of God, to bring glory and honor to him. So here's what I'm going to do today. I'm going 40 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,280 to challenge you with this statement. I'm going to challenge you by saying a commitment 41 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:55,680 to consistently serve God by serving others will fulfill your life's greatest meaning 42 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:01,880 and purpose. I really believe that. Now I know that people find lots of meaning and 43 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:06,520 lots of purpose in all kinds of things. I realize that people feel pretty fulfilled 44 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,760 with certain possessions or certain things that they have in their lives, certain people 45 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:15,320 that are around them. They sometimes feel like they have fulfilled a certain goal that 46 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,920 they have by accomplishing something in business or sports or something else. Many of us would 47 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:25,040 feel fulfilled if the Cowboys would ever win a Super Bowl, you know, which they won't 48 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:30,040 anytime soon. But I'm talking about a whole different level of fulfillment, a whole different 49 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:34,960 level of purpose. It's purpose and fulfillment that one day lets you stand before God and 50 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:41,520 hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant. And I want you to be prepared for 51 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:47,000 that. Peter wanted his people to be prepared for that. And part of the meaning and purpose 52 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:52,000 that God has for you is that God is working in your life so much that you will rub off 53 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:57,760 on the other people in this culture. Rub off in terms of the things of truth, the things 54 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:03,760 of the spirit, the things of love. God wants you to rub off with other people and that's 55 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:09,240 done best by serving. Now if you look at this passage in its length, then you see a bookend. 56 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:14,120 You see something that precedes everything he says about serving and something that follows 57 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,680 everything that he says about serving. And these are both very important. The first thing 58 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:24,040 he says is the end of all things is near. Now you may be one of those people that say, 59 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:28,280 well the Bible says that all the time, that Jesus is coming back soon, the end of all 60 00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:33,720 things is near and yet he's not back yet. And yet everywhere you read in the scripture, 61 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:39,520 no matter who is writing it, the perspective is you be watching because someday he'll come 62 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:44,740 back sooner than you expect. Jesus said that. He said, I'm coming back. No man knows the 63 00:05:44,740 --> 00:05:49,080 day or the hour, but I'm coming back. Paul writes that in Romans, the book of Romans 64 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:54,320 and says, live as though Christ is coming back quickly. The book of Philippians, he 65 00:05:54,320 --> 00:06:01,520 says the end of all things is near. Peter writing in this letter says the end of all 66 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:07,800 things is near. Be ready for Christ to return. Live with that kind of perspective because 67 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:13,120 even though we don't know when he will return, he may return for you soon. You may not have 68 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:19,160 as long as you think on this planet. Live realizing that you don't have forever to serve 69 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:24,120 the Lord well. Then the last part of that book end, the other side, the opposite side 70 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:29,440 of the beginning there where he says the end of all things is near is so that in all things, 71 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:34,460 this is verse 11, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and 72 00:06:34,460 --> 00:06:39,160 dominion forever and ever. Amen. Before he talks about serving, before he talks about 73 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:44,240 heart, he says live with a perspective, an eternal perspective that says I don't know 74 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:49,200 how long I have, but I'm going to be faithful to the end. I then live in such a way so that 75 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:54,960 at the end of all you say and do, Jesus Christ might be glorified through what you do, through 76 00:06:54,960 --> 00:07:01,200 what you say, through how you serve. So live as though God has given you a certain amount 77 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:06,000 of time and you don't know how long and live in such a way that brings glory and honor 78 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:11,320 to God. Amen. All right, now the meat of this text tells us how to do that. And I want you 79 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,960 to see three things that Paul says. Two of them, again, are prerequisites to being able 80 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:21,320 to serve well. And you're going to be surprised that Paul, that Peter says these things first 81 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:26,000 before he actually gets to the passage or the part that says with all the gifts you've 82 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:31,040 been given, employ them in serving the Lord. So what does he say comes first? The first 83 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:37,200 thing he says that happens for you to serve well is to learn to be focused in your prayer. 84 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,440 Focused prayer starts everything. Do you notice what it says in verse seven? Therefore be 85 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:48,440 of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Now sometimes we don't 86 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:52,400 think about prayer as being a prerequisite for much at all, but it really is a prerequisite 87 00:07:52,400 --> 00:08:02,160 for living for God well. He says be of sound mind and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. 88 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,040 If I'm going to serve others well, then I need to have my mind on the right things and 89 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:12,320 I need to have my prayer life in the right order. How I pray, what I ask God for, it's 90 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:17,960 what I look for in life. And so often sometimes we pray for things that are just for us, just 91 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,960 because we want something, just because we think we ought to be blessed a little bit 92 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:27,360 more or a little bit bigger in some way. And so Peter's giving us really sharp words to 93 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:32,360 say something like this. Sound judgment by the word means sane, not insane, and sober 94 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:37,780 spirit means not intoxicated by everything around us. So basically Peter is saying when 95 00:08:37,780 --> 00:08:44,600 you pray, pray in a sane manner, not intoxicated by the culture that's around you. Well, that's 96 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:51,200 a different take on prayer. That makes me evaluate my prayer life a little bit more. 97 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:56,840 In a world where the culture says life is about you, your prayer life shouldn't reflect 98 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:03,560 that. It should reflect that life is about God and about how you will serve him and how 99 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:11,120 he will use you. That's a big deal. You know, I read a book a number of years ago by a man 100 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:16,700 named Donald Miller. In fact, the title itself, it was called Blue Like Jazz. I don't read 101 00:09:16,700 --> 00:09:21,320 every book I come across or see, but Blue Like Jazz captured my imagination. I thought 102 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:28,440 what could possibly this book be about? And it was about a non-spiritual view of Christianity. 103 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,400 Before he came to Christ, he had written a number of things down and one of those things 104 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,480 that he wrote down and included in his book was this statement that shocked me when I 105 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:42,560 read it, but also opened my eyes to some things in my own life. Here's what he said. He said, 106 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:51,040 the most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this, life is a story about me. Life 107 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:56,840 is a story about me. And this book, Blue Like Jazz, he goes on and describes a movie where 108 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:01,640 you're watching on the screen, the movie unfold and you in your minds, I have you as a central 109 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:07,480 character. You're the star of the show. And Donald Miller said, I came to realize that 110 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,820 life is not about me, that I'm not the star of that movie or star of that show. And when 111 00:10:11,820 --> 00:10:16,440 I began to realize that, I realized there was a whole bigger world that God has placed 112 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:23,800 me in and a bigger purpose for living and for serving. And I believe that's true. I 113 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:30,360 also believe that when we consider ourselves to be sane in the way of prayer and sober-minded 114 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:35,600 and focused so as not to be like the culture that we live in, we'll pray in a much more 115 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:44,400 selfless way. We'll pray less for us and more for God to work in people's lives around us. 116 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,840 I don't know how you record your prayers, if you record your prayers, but I record mine 117 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:52,200 with bullet points. I write down things that I'm praying about and I know all the words 118 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:56,680 that are behind the bullet points, so I simply write the bullet point down. And as I continue 119 00:10:56,680 --> 00:11:01,720 on in prayer day after day, I may look back at a certain thing I've been praying for and 120 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:06,440 I may conclude, because God has not answered it or because God has changed my perspective 121 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:10,960 about that request, I need to delete that prayer request. And so I just mark it off 122 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:17,080 and take it off because that prayer request was either so selfish or so centered around 123 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:21,560 me that God wasn't going to answer that prayer. And he brought me to the place of saying, 124 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:28,600 don't pray about that anymore. That might be insane. Instead, pray in a sober-minded 125 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:33,480 way like Peter is talking about. Be focused in such a way where you're praying for something 126 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:38,280 that God really wants to accomplish in your life instead of just what you're asking for. 127 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:43,400 I wrote this sentence down last week because it means so much to me in light of what we're 128 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:49,000 talking about. Since what we ask for is what we look for, be sane and sober about what 129 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:55,080 you ask God for. Since what we ask for is what we look for, be sane and sober. Otherwise, 130 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:59,120 you're going to be looking for things that God has no intention of fulfilling in your 131 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:04,080 life. You're wasting your prayer time. You're wasting your dreams in many ways. Now I'm 132 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:09,640 not saying that God doesn't bless us in extraordinary ways. Looking back in life, I can't think of 133 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:14,840 one thing to complain about in my life. God has provided above and beyond in purpose and 134 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:22,040 meaning and everything I can possibly need. I look back and say, God, I have no disappointments. 135 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:26,320 But if I base my feeling on all the things I've prayed about during the year, I would 136 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,600 have to say there's some things that I just didn't get that I asked for, and that was 137 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:37,560 for the best. Be sane, be sober, be focused on what you're asking God for. Ask God to 138 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:45,680 glorify himself through your life. Now let me just say this ultimately. Serving is something 139 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:53,400 people do who know that life is not about convenience and it's not about pleasure. It's 140 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:59,320 about something much higher. And that is serving is about bringing honor and bringing glory 141 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:05,760 to God, his purpose and his plan for our lives. So be focused in prayer. The second prerequisite 142 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:12,160 before we even get to serving is equally important, and that's what I call forgiving love. Forgiving 143 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:18,800 love. Notice what it says in verse eight and nine. Peter says, above all, keep fervent 144 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:27,040 in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins. And the word fervent 145 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:32,160 means stressed out and intense. Now the word for love here is the agape word. It means 146 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:37,200 unconditional love. And Peter say, in this unconditional love that you are to be expressing 147 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:42,880 to other people, let it be stressed out as far as it has to be in order to reach those 148 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:48,520 people with a love that God has loved you with. Now by the way, sometimes people read 149 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:54,000 a verse like this and they say with a little bit of confusion in their life, so if I love 150 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:59,600 someone well enough, does that mean it covers a multitude of my sin? I mean the world thinks 151 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,280 that today. They think if you're kind enough, if you're loving enough, if you're accepting 152 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,480 enough, if you're tolerant enough, then that's good enough for God no matter what else you 153 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:13,080 do in your life. But that's not what the gospel says. The gospel, the good news of Jesus that 154 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,360 you find all the way through the pages of the New Testament and the Old Testament looking 155 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:21,200 ahead to it, the New Testament fulfilling it is, you could never do enough, you could 156 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:25,880 never love enough, you could never be good enough, sincere enough, religious enough, 157 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:30,720 you could never avoid the bad things enough for you to be justified in God's eyes. It 158 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:35,480 took Jesus Christ dying on the cross and His blood covers all of our sins and the sense 159 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:40,720 of forgiveness. You're not saved because you love people well, you're saved because Jesus 160 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:45,280 loved you well. You're saved because He loves you enough to die on the cross and that's 161 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:50,000 really important to point out in a world that doesn't see it quite like that. So what's 162 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:57,000 Peter saying? What's Peter saying if he says love covers all transgressions or all sin, 163 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:03,320 and then multiply to defend? What is he actually saying? Well, basically he's saying that we're 164 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:10,320 to love one another in spite of their sin. We're to love one another in spite of their 165 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:16,800 sin. Someone has said this, that this verse says love covers the sins of others but hatred 166 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:23,800 uses the sins of others to attack them. Proverbs chapter 10 verse 12, hatred stirs up strife 167 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:30,280 but love covers all transgressions. Well, love doesn't cleanse sin but it doesn't go 168 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:36,360 around talking about sin either. That's why gossip and slander are so odious in the eyes 169 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:41,880 of God. You can never serve God with a right spirit when you're always harping about somebody 170 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:47,040 else, always blaming somebody else, pointing out somebody else's fault, or in some ways 171 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:52,200 not forgiving others. Instead, we're to have forgiving love. Listen, when you have forgiving 172 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:57,160 love, when you love the way Christ has loved you, when you forgive the way Christ has forgiven 173 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:05,040 you, you are primed for serving other people like Christ served us. So it's important for 174 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:13,600 us to have forgiving love in our lives. Matthew chapter 18 verse 21 is one of those great 175 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:20,280 passages where Peter, the author of this letter as well, has an encounter with Jesus and everybody 176 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:26,080 knows about this story. Peter goes to Jesus and he asks this question, this big question 177 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:31,040 about forgiveness. Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? 178 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:36,200 Up to seven times? Now you've got to keep in mind this is the pre-filled with the Spirit 179 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:40,920 Peter, right? This is Peter when he was still putting his foot in his mouth, Peter when 180 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:46,760 he was still anxious and panicky, he was still violent in so many ways. This is the Peter 181 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:53,000 that Jesus rebuked and said, get thee behind me Satan. This is Peter raw and unplugged 182 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,960 before he really was filled with the Holy Spirit and became the Peter that we know of 183 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:03,600 today who wrote 1 Peter and 2 Peter. So he's asking Jesus how often shall my brother sin 184 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:08,360 against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times. Now if you know the mindset of the 185 00:17:08,360 --> 00:17:12,840 Peter before he was filled with the Spirit, you would know the Peter saying, I've forgiven 186 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:18,800 this brother enough, don't you think so? I mean I've forgiven him seven times and I 187 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:22,640 think I've had it with him. I'm tired of him being around, I'm just going to take 188 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:27,720 care of him Jesus. Can I do that? Jesus, can I do that? Now it's sad to say that many of 189 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,240 us have the same kind of perspective of people in our lives that have offended us over and 190 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,640 over and over. Jesus, could I take care of them? Now maybe we may first be spiritual 191 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:40,800 enough to say, Jesus will you take care of him? And then when Jesus doesn't do it we 192 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:47,040 ask for permission that we can take care of him. How many times should I forgive? And 193 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:54,040 Jesus said, no, not seven times, not up to seven, but seven times seventy. And then Jesus 194 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:58,360 tells one of the most riveting stories in the whole New Testament. A certain king he 195 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:05,360 said had servants who owed him money and he called them to account. And one came in who 196 00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:11,200 owed him ten thousand talents, so much it would be virtually impossible for him to ever 197 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:16,800 repay. And he said, I can't repay you. And the king said, then I'll sell you and your 198 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:22,320 family into servitude until this debt is paid. But the servant fell on his face and said, 199 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:27,920 have mercy on me king, oh king, oh Lord, have mercy on me because I can't pay this. And 200 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:33,680 the king had mercy on him and forgave him what he owed. Now that same man that had been 201 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:39,400 forgiven went off to someone that owed him money and said, pay me now or I'll sell your 202 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:44,680 family into prison, into servitude to pay back my debt. And the king found out about 203 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:51,400 it and said, oh you wicked slave, you wicked servant, you were forgiven of so many things. 204 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:57,640 I had mercy on you. Why did you not have mercy on the one who owes you? And in the story 205 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:03,200 Jesus said, you'll be turned over to tormentors until such time as you understand. That's 206 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:09,600 a strong story from the lips of Jesus Christ to emphatically say to Peter, Peter, you better 207 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,360 learn to forgive. It's going to be around for a while. And people who offend you will 208 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:16,960 be around for a while. And if you're ever going to serve anybody else, you've got to 209 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:23,480 have forgiving love. You've got to have it. Amen? You've got to have it. If you've ever 210 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,520 been on the other end of that forgiveness, you'll realize how precious, how powerful 211 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:34,520 it really, really is. Now in the context of 1 Peter, when we're hurt or we're wronged, 212 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:41,120 when we're misunderstood, when we're maligned, when our faith is mocked, when our Lord is 213 00:19:41,120 --> 00:19:49,400 mocked in some ways, we practice servitude by forgiving as we've been forgiven. Otherwise, 214 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:53,600 there's no hospitality, which is in the next verse. There's no serving, which is on the 215 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:58,800 following verses. You don't serve until you forgive. Now we're in this really interesting 216 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:04,480 age of the church today. And it's really kind of hard to describe what age we're in, but 217 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:10,120 it's an age where so many people are so hurt by somebody in the church that they reject 218 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:15,920 the church as a whole. This movement is called the de-churching movement. And when you dig 219 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:21,480 into it, people ultimately say, well, I love Jesus. I just don't love his church. Well, 220 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:26,080 you probably shouldn't say to me, I love you, John, but I don't love your wife. It's important 221 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:32,440 for us to understand the relationship between Jesus and the church and honor that. But they're 222 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:36,600 saying this because somebody in the church offended them. Somebody hurt them. Somebody 223 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:42,400 somehow misrepresented Christ to them. And as a result of that, they say, I can't forgive 224 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:47,320 that. I won't look past that. I'm going to let that be a barrier between myself and the 225 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:54,600 church of Jesus Christ. That's the era we seem to be living in. And I'm here to say today 226 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:59,120 that forgiving love is the answer to that. Forgiving love is the answer to that in your 227 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:03,920 life. Being able to forgive others, even though you may not understand what they did or why 228 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:09,360 they did it, forgiving them, letting it go is what Christ did for you. And it's what 229 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:14,520 we are to do for others. And if we can't make it in an age that's reasonably friendly to 230 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:19,560 us as Christians, how would we make it in an age where Christians are always maligned 231 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:25,720 and persecuted? How can we possibly do well in an age like that? Forgiving love is a key 232 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:33,920 to be able to serve others. John Maxwell is a long time author and in many ways a leader 233 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:39,240 that many church leaders have looked to in some of his applications of leadership. And 234 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,520 the other day I watched him on a video and he said some incredible things that I want 235 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:48,040 to pass on to you. John Maxwell again I quote said, my father taught me to take the high 236 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:52,120 road. And the high road is basically that you don't treat people as they've treated 237 00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:58,320 you. You treat them better than they've treated you. He used to say travel light son, travel 238 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:04,760 light. He said look beyond people's dysfunction and give them the benefit of the doubt and 239 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,960 the second chance and don't carry baggage. If you carry a grudge against someone and 240 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,680 they've done something wrong to you, just understand that while you're nursing their 241 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:17,880 hurt feelings, they're out dancing. It doesn't bother them at all. Don't let them control 242 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:23,920 your life. Don't let them control your emotions or your decisions. Travel light son, travel 243 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:30,960 light. That's good advice. How do you travel light? You have forgiving love. You forgive 244 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:35,320 people. I don't know what you may be carrying today. I don't know what might be in your 245 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:40,400 baggage. I don't know what someone has said to you or what's happened to you at some point 246 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:44,120 in your life. I don't even know if you are carrying any baggage but my encouragement 247 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:50,280 to you is don't carry the baggage in the same way that Jesus forgave you, forgive them, 248 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:56,760 whoever it is. However hard it is, take the high road that Jesus charted for us, forgiving 249 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:02,760 more than seven times, more than seven times, seventy times, forgiving like Christ forgave 250 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:12,360 us. If you learn to pray wisely in a focused way, if you learn to have forgiving love, 251 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:17,240 you're ready to serve. You're ready to serve. And that's why Peter finally comes to this 252 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:22,920 idea of serving and I call this faithful serving. It's interesting. He has us clean up our prayer 253 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,960 life. He has us taking care of our love life before we're ready to serve. And I think part 254 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:34,680 of that is because serving is not just doing, serving is who we are as we do what we do. 255 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:39,280 Serving with the right heart, serving with the right mindset. So here's what it says 256 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:47,000 in verse 10. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as 257 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:54,000 good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Notice that Peter doesn't say if. He's not 258 00:23:54,000 --> 00:24:00,360 saying if you serve. Notice he's not recruiting. He's not saying please serve. He's saying 259 00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:06,760 employ your gift. Put it to work. In the original language it's in the tenses that we call present 260 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:14,120 tense, active voice, and it is plural. Basically it means that you are to be doing this in 261 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:18,360 the sense of serving and employing your gift on an ongoing basis. It means you are the 262 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:22,760 active one in this. Nobody puts you to work and you don't wait for anybody to put you 263 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:30,560 to work. You actively do that. And the plural sense is all of you or y'all or you all. In 264 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:37,600 the Greek you pronounce this you all. Don't look it up. It doesn't really say that. But 265 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:43,040 I thought you would understand it better. And so if I were to word this in the way that 266 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:48,440 this language dictates it would be I want you all to be pursuing the calling to serve 267 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:53,880 one another. I want every one of you that have been born again that have the gift of 268 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,320 the Holy Spirit inside of them that have been gifted with spiritual gifts and that's all 269 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:03,360 of us to be pursuing the calling of serving one another. I want you to have your prayer 270 00:25:03,360 --> 00:25:07,000 life right. I want you to have your heart right. I want you to forgive other people 271 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:14,320 but I want you to put that gift to work because I've called you to it. Now the scripture lists 272 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:21,320 seven motivational gifts and multiple manifestations of the Spirit. It's not my purpose to go through 273 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:25,760 those multiple combinations. There's probably 35 different combinations of spiritual gifts 274 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:31,640 and manifestations that we could list today. Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12. You can go and 275 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:36,280 look at all those things and we've done that before. But Peter doesn't name all those things. 276 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:41,680 In fact Peter boils it all down to two different things. I think what he's doing is the focus 277 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:47,480 is not on which spiritual gifts you have but the focus on how you use your spiritual gift 278 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:56,480 whatever it is. So he gives us two phrases here. Whoever speaks and whoever serves. And 279 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:03,120 he says each one of you fall into at least one of those two categories. Whoever speaks 280 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:09,440 and whoever serves. So notice verse 11. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking 281 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:15,240 the utterances of God. The word literally means, the word speak means talk of any kind. 282 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:19,360 It's not necessarily preaching or teaching although it can include that but it's talk 283 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:25,720 of any kind. And his heart is in this passage. Anytime a follower of Christ indwelt by the 284 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:31,680 Holy Spirit speaks he or she is to speak with the utterances of God reflecting the truth 285 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:38,000 of God and what they say. You say well what else would they reflect? Well they would reflect 286 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,960 their own opinions or their subjective perspective on things instead of the things that God has 287 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:49,000 shown us is truth. I sometimes have people come to me and they say pastor I know the 288 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:56,040 Bible says this but and they go on into something diametrically opposite to what the Bible says. 289 00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:00,680 Or I know you believe this or I know I've been told this in the Bible but I believe 290 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:04,520 this. Something again on the other direction. I'm usually like really you're going to start 291 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:08,760 with the word but and you're going to say all the things that you want to say now that 292 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:14,760 are opposite God's word. What Peter is saying is there are no buts in the Christian life 293 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:20,440 when it comes to serving God with your mouth. You speak the utterances of God and not anything 294 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:30,000 else. Your opinion and your perspective is not what serves others best. God's perspective, 295 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,760 God's opinion is what serves others best. We're to speak the truth in love. We have the heart 296 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,920 of love, the forgiving heart but we're also to speak as it were the utterances of God. 297 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:45,000 So it makes me say this before I open my mouth it's what I'm going to say going to reflect 298 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:52,160 the utterance of God or the utterance of me. And if it's the utterance of me I back off 299 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:58,920 until I can know the utterance of God because my opinion doesn't serve God well but his 300 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:06,640 word does. So whoever speaks. Speaking can be one of manifold kinds of things teaching, 301 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:13,080 encouragement, counseling, leading, singing, praying, welcoming, conversing. Whenever you 302 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:19,200 open your mouth be sure you speak the utterances of God. And in the context of being persecuted 303 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:24,840 somewhat Peter is saying in a hurting, painful, enemy filled world where believers may be 304 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:30,640 being persecuted and ridiculed make sure your speech reflects God's truth instead of your 305 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:36,040 pain or your frustration or your fear or your panic or anything else that you've gone through. 306 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:44,560 Speak the utterances of God. Now that you know what that says unleash those words. Say 307 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:49,400 it. Say the goodness of God to people. Speak the mercy of God to people. Speak the gospel 308 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:53,680 of Jesus Christ to people. Speak the truth, the right and wrong of the word of God to 309 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:58,880 people but do it in a loving way, in a prayerful way, in a way that adequately represents Jesus 310 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:05,360 Christ but let loose your word. Give the utterances of God to people who only hear the diametrical 311 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:18,560 opposite in this culture. Speak the utterances of God. Recently this past week my wife's 312 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:22,960 mother passed away into eternity. Her name was Dixie. She lived with us for the last 313 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:27,360 six years of her life and she's with Jesus today and we're really excited about the fact 314 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:32,800 that she's with Jesus today. She served for 40 years in her church in Irving, Texas as 315 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:39,840 the four year old Bible teacher for 40 years. Can you imagine teaching children for 40 years 316 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:43,880 who are four years old? I mean as parents we get to go through that stage right and 317 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:49,480 get out on the other side. She was perpetually in the four year old stage. Forty years. Can 318 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:55,600 you imagine the number of people that she steered towards Christ speaking the utterances 319 00:29:55,600 --> 00:30:01,240 of God? Whoever speaks speaks the utterances of God. After that she spent about 10 years 320 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:06,560 being a greeter at the door welcoming people that came in with a smile and pointing them 321 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:11,480 to the places that they needed to go. Her mission was when I opened my mouth I want 322 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:17,440 to say things that attract people and draw people to Christ. That's a great mission isn't 323 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:22,640 it? And when you look back on life and you have had that kind of mission where whatever 324 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:27,400 gifts you're given if you're speaking you're speaking the utterances of God what an incredible 325 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:36,400 reward awaits you some day. And how many amazing lives have been changed as a result of that? 326 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:44,200 MCWC. Forty almost 50,000 women have heard of the gospel. Almost 40,000 babies have been 327 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:50,360 born as a result of the counsel or the utterances of God given to them in those counseling rooms. 328 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:54,160 Can you imagine that many people? This is a 3,000 seat auditorium. It was filled up 329 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:59,880 13 times. That's how many people those babies that are born represent. That's a whole city. 330 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:05,160 That's a whole town. Can you imagine how many people's lives have been impacted by those 331 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:10,400 who are serving God by speaking the utterances of God? In a world filled with anger? In a 332 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:15,600 world filled with sarcasm? How important is it for us today to have that amazing word 333 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:21,800 from God that He gifts us with as we serve with our speaking? And then finally, whoever 334 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:30,120 serves is to do so as the one who is serving by the strength God supplies. Some gifts are 335 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:36,720 speaking gifts. Some gifts are serving gifts. Let others see Jesus in you the way you pray, 336 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:42,280 relate to them, serve them, help them in any way. You may not know this, but there are 337 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:46,160 700 volunteers at Cross City Church every Sunday morning, whether they're teaching 338 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:50,640 or if they're at a door or they have opened the building to set up chairs, whatever it 339 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:55,360 might be. At our satellite, our north campus, for two hours before the service, they're 340 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:58,980 setting up chairs. For an hour after the service, they're tearing them down. They're serving 341 00:31:58,980 --> 00:32:04,040 with their hands with the strength that God supplies so that the gospel can go out to 342 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:09,000 people's lives. We partner with kids' beach clubs and after school Bible programs. It 343 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:14,840 takes strength to do that. We work with Six Stones and rebuilding homes and providing food 344 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:18,720 for people. It takes strength to do that. You look at your neighbor across the street 345 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:24,000 that needs your energy to help them with something they can't do. You're serving the way God 346 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:29,760 wants you to serve. Peter says, as you serve, do it the way God is calling you to do it 347 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:36,760 with the strength that God supplies for you. Look around you. Find a way, do find a way, 348 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:45,200 to put the words that you know are God's words and the strength that you know is God's strength 349 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:52,200 to work in serving others for the cause of Christ. If you'll ask Him, He will show you 350 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:59,200 your God-given opportunities. What's my part? It's one of the greatest questions that we 351 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:05,080 get asked. What's my part in this? What's my part in impacting someone else's life? 352 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:10,640 Here's what I'm going to tell you. If you do that, you'll find your niche, your place, 353 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:16,360 your role in speaking or serving in some way and you'll fulfill one of life's most important 354 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:23,360 purposes for you. One day when you die, there's this obscure verse in the scripture that we 355 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:30,320 all quote when we think about death. We'll stand before Him and we hope to hear, you 356 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:37,320 know what it is, don't you? Well done, good and faithful servant. We just need to say 357 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:43,200 that together. Are you ready? Well done, good and faithful servant. I want to hear that 358 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:47,680 one day. I know I'm going to heaven when I die because of the gospel of Jesus but I want 359 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:53,960 to also hear, well done, good and faithful servant. I want to serve Him well in the amount 360 00:33:53,960 --> 00:34:00,960 of time that I have on this planet and so do you. In just a moment, we're going to have 361 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:05,400 a prayer and I'll close our services with that prayer. I'm going to give you three invitations 362 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:09,640 today that are very important. First of all, I invite you to stop by a decision station 363 00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:15,520 today and talk to someone about your relationship with God through Christ. We talked about the 364 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:20,480 gospel today, about the fact that gospel is all about Jesus dying for our sins, paying 365 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:25,480 for our sins, His blood, His love covers our sins. It's the only thing that will. It's 366 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,800 the only thing that will make us right with God. And if you've never made that decision 367 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:34,900 to allow Christ to do that for you, let us explain that to you and help you in that decision. 368 00:34:34,900 --> 00:34:39,440 Decision stations are manned by our counselors that will be there. Secondly, I want to invite 369 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:43,240 you to our guest reception right outside the center exit doors and across the hallway as 370 00:34:43,240 --> 00:34:47,680 a glassed in room. I'll be there to answer any questions you have about our church. Love 371 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:52,280 to visit with you further about Cross City Church. Thirdly, I want to invite you to come 372 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:57,960 back next week and bring someone with you. Bring someone who needs to hear the word of 373 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:03,400 God, who needs to be around people like you, who will feel the love of Christ and sense 374 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:07,560 the movement of the Spirit in this place. Bring them back with you. And as you leave 375 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:12,280 today, stop by MCWC and the booth that they've set up in our Commons area. Would you stand 376 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:19,280 with me as we close in prayer? Father, I am so grateful for every person in this room 377 00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:26,800 today. Thank you that you stirred them today, that you moved them to be here today. They 378 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:32,360 took the time to address, to come to work, to worship today and to open their Bibles 379 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:37,400 and their minds to what you say to them. Lord, I know in every mind of this room there 380 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:44,240 has to be the question, am I serving God well? Am I serving him well? Lord, help them answer 381 00:35:44,240 --> 00:35:49,440 that question. Show them what their part is. Whether inside the walls of a church or outside 382 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:55,360 the walls of a church, serving you is priority. Help them see the meaning and the purpose 383 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:59,800 for serving you well. For those that have questions about their spiritual life, help 384 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:05,920 us to bring answers today. You, Holy Spirit, show them their next step. Thank you so much. 385 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:11,120 As we leave today, we leave serving you for your glory, for your honor. In Jesus' name 386 00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:39,120 we pray, amen. God bless you. Have a wonderful Lord's Day.