All for ONE

[00:00:00] Good to be here this morning. I want to greet each one of you in Jesus' name. I'd like to look a little bit at what Tom read, the prayer that Hannah had there. This isn't part of the message, it's just something I always think about when I think of that verse, or that prayer. [00:00:35] In verse 10 she says, The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces, out of heaven shall he thunder upon them. If you turn back to 1 Samuel 7, you'll see where that was directly fulfilled. In 1 Samuel 7, the Philistines are coming up against Israel. And in verse 8, [00:01:25] I think it's interesting how precisely God answered that prayer and fulfilled that prophecy. I'd like to turn to Romans 12, 1-5 this morning is where I'm going to be preaching from. Looking a little bit at maybe honoring one another, preferring one another. There can be two sides of this. [00:01:57] Probably the most noticeable difference is between the youth and the seniors. We all are in this, we all can look around and see someone that doesn't do things the way we would do it. I want to look a little bit at what the proper attitude is and what we can each do ourselves to improve. [00:02:29] Romans 12, 1-5 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say to the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. [00:03:03] For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. He goes on to talk about living together, whatever you've been given, the gift you've been given, exercise that gift, and do all to the glory of God. Also, to do it for the sake of the body. We're all part of one body, and we need to work together to benefit the body. [00:03:39] By the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice. Notice that he doesn't say, simply present your bodies a living sacrifice. He says, by the mercies of God. That's the first thing we need to realize is that we are doing this by God's mercy. By the way, I've entitled my message, All for One. And one is as in God. All for, capital letters, One. And fulfilling my purpose to serve others. [00:04:11] I want to look at this year, our theme is fulfilling God's purpose for my life. And I'd like to look at serving others as being part of my purpose. What is a living sacrifice? I think that takes our whole life and makes us think. Now my life, I'm giving it not only to God, and I think it's right to say that that is presenting our body as a living sacrifice to God, but it's also presenting, we're a living sacrifice to others, we're serving others. [00:04:45] I think that can be just as valid a way to look at that, to interpret that. We are giving ourselves in service. Notice he says, which is your reasonable service. You have to say which is where you need to struggle to get to. This is your reasonable service. This is not us going out of our way to serve the Lord. This is just what is expected of us. If we are to be Christians, to be sons of God, to be joint heirs of Christ, we need to be servants. We need to be willing to sacrifice ourselves, give up our rights, and make our lives a willing sacrifice. [00:05:28] Let's turn to Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is where David, when Nathan came to David and confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba, David's response and David's prayer. The thing I wanted to take away from this is David's attitude, David's spirit of humbleness, not one of I am worthy, I'm the king, I can do what I want. [00:06:05] But David had a humble way of looking at life, and I think we can see that as we read this. I think we'll read the first 17 verses. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Maybe I should have mentioned here, in Romans there, in verse, I believe it's 4, verse 3. [00:06:42] To every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. So keep that in mind of how we are to view ourselves. Verse 4, Against thee and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. David is holding nothing back. He's giving up. He says, I've done it, and you are justified when you accuse me of it. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. [00:07:12] Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden parts thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit [00:07:47] Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise Now notice what he says, what God really wants from us For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. [00:08:26] And if we read the rest of the chapter there, he talks about when Israel turns their heart to God, then he will want their sacrifices, then he will want their gifts. But first their hearts need to be broken before God and a contrite heart, a contrite spirit is what God really wants from us. I'd like to look at what it means to serve one another. I'm going to try not to come down on one side or the other, try to say this group is right, this group is wrong, but hope to challenge all of us to look inward, not around, but inward. [00:09:04] and see what the Lord would have us to change. 1 Corinthians 10, 23-24 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth. That word wealth is in italics and that's actually, the word wealth is actually not even in the original language. That's added to make it clear. The literal translation of that, verse 24 is, let no one seek his own, but each another's. Don't seek your own way, don't seek your own benefit, your own goodness, but think about how you are affecting others. Seek the others. [00:09:51] 1 John 3, 11 and 16 1 John 3, 11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Verse 16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 4, 21 And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, loveth his brother also. [00:10:25] I'll talk a little bit this morning about, I'm not talking about things that are taught in scripture as being right or being wrong. I'm talking about preferences and convictions. Convictions. Convictions are not always my convictions. I do not believe I should violate my convictions. But that doesn't mean that I push my convictions onto the next guy. [00:10:56] We need to realize where our convictions come from and admit when it's a preference, not a black and white issue. I'm going to use an Amish man for an example. I'm not at all ridiculing the Amish, putting the Amish down. But in the average Amish man has a convention about a haircut, about clothes, what kind of clothes should be worn, about a beard, about no mustache, about driving a car, electricity, [00:11:42] A lot of things like that where, and most of them would tell you, they don't believe it's wrong for me, but I have a personal conviction against doing it. I can't do that. That doesn't mean that I come to you and say, you should not do such and such. That's where I'm at, those are my convictions, and that's how I choose to live. Now, this is where it gets kind of tricky. How much do I push my convictions and my preferences onto others? [00:12:14] And also, the other side of that, how far do I go to honor preferences and convictions that others hold? Maybe I don't hold the conviction, but I can still honor their opinions. It seems the popular interpretation of loving, we were reading about loving each other, is to simply accept someone the way that they are. While this is accurate, it is also accurate to say that an important part of loving is to give up your right to be your own man and to make sacrifices for the good of the whole. [00:12:50] The popular interpretation of loving is It's not the idea of The church should just love everyone and accept everyone That's how it's presented But really what it's saying is If you love me, I don't have to change I can do what I want And you will accept me Now here again, I'm trying I do not want to take sides I don't want to take One is right, one is wrong I want us to think about our own attitudes towards those we don't agree with. [00:13:25] An important part of loving is to give up your right to be your own man and to make sacrifices for the good of the whole. Expecting or asking for change and growth is sometimes seen as being unloving, and it can be. We need to be very sensitive to the feelings and situations of those we might speak to about the need for a change, the need for a deeper walk with God, what we feel is a deeper walk with God. Some things to consider. [00:13:59] What is their background? What training have they had? You know, sometimes we may try to push our convictions onto someone that's never even heard or understand or been presented with something we hold as truth. Maybe they've never even heard of modesty, for example. We expect someone to right away conform to what I see as being modest. I'm not saying modesty isn't important. But how hard are we on others because they don't hold the same feelings, the same views, the same preferences as I do. [00:14:40] We need to be careful of demanding. If we demand someone to do something and they do it because we demanded it, that's not a good approach. I don't believe we can be demanding of each other, brother to brother, sister to sister in the church. Okay, so we would say, okay, let's not be demanding. That's one side of the point. What's the other side? The other side is, what about refusing to change for the sake of others? Let's go to 1 Corinthians 8. [00:15:13] 1 Corinthians 8, 4-13. And we can, here again, this can be looked at as changing what I do for the sake of others. Or, it may apply to me as changing where maybe my preferences aren't so important to me. [00:15:43] I can realize that there is room for different preferences. 1 Corinthians 8, 4-13 As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other god but one. So the first thing he does is establish. Now we're talking about me sacrifice idols. To me that means nothing because an idol is simply they're offering it to a block of wood or a piece of gold. That means nothing. [00:16:16] But there are others who do think that that idol is something, and let's go on. Verse 5, For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many, and lords many, and those are small g, small l, not many gods as we view God, but many things that people call gods. For though there be that are called, oh I'm sorry, verse 6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him [00:16:48] Notice, often when you read about God in the Bible The way He is given supremacy or He's the God is because He is the Creator Notice in our society, creation is the thing that is always under attack But here he says, the God the Father, of whom are all things, is just kind of in passing, he puts that in there. And we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Albeit there is not in every man that knowledge. [00:17:22] For some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it, as they sing, offered unto an idol. And their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But meat commendeth us not to God, for neither, if we eat, are we better. Neither if we eat not are we the worse. But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hath knowledge, sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died. [00:18:05] But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. Okay, so Paul is given the opportunity to eat meat, and it's been offered to idols, and he says, that doesn't make a bit of difference to me because the idol is nothing, it's just ordinary meat, nothing's changed about it. So he felt free to eat that, but while he's sitting in there eating meat that's been given to idols, another man walks by and says, oh, Paul is giving those idols credit. [00:18:45] He's actually in there eating meat that's been offered to these idols. He must think there's something to these idols. Now I must, I think I'm going to acknowledge these idols as being something too. By doing that, Paul has offended that brother, caused him to stumble. Paul says, to avoid that, I will not, as long as the world stands it, stand it, I'm not going to eat meat that's been offered to an idol. Even though I know there's nothing wrong with it, the appearance of it is not good. I'm going to stay away from it. [00:19:17] Philippians 2, 1-13 There's another chapter that talks about honoring each other and doing things for the sake of others. Philippians 2, 1-13 Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded [00:19:50] Here we have the word like-minded, that we're working together, we're all serving the same God, trying to fulfill the same purpose Having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Do you really feel like someone else's opinion is as important or more important than yours? Or is yours just a little bit better than theirs? A little more important. [00:20:21] We're to esteem each other better than ourselves. Put not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Look for the other man's benefit, not just for yours. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in passion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. [00:20:54] Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. [00:21:24] The first part talks about doing everything, esteeming others better than ourselves, doing everything for the sake of each other. Not for my own sake, not for my own benefit. What can I do to better the body? And then the last two verses, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, that could be applied I believe to, in Romans 12 there, where he talks about not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. [00:22:02] Are we saved because we're a piece of clay that was fallen and God rescued us? Or are we saved because we're actually a pretty good human being? I don't do all these things that these other people do that I really don't think they should. How highly do we think of ourselves? What do I do that is not wrong in and of itself? And yet I'm aware of those who have convictions against it, or just simply do not like it. [00:22:39] Am I willing to sacrifice, here's that word sacrifice, am I willing to sacrifice my right to exercise my freedom in Christ, and instead honor the feelings and preferences of others? Paul said, don't let your freedom in Christ be an offense to others. And notice again here I'm saying honor the feelings and preferences, not black and white, right and wrong. [00:23:10] I don't have any convictions against it. It's not a good reason to do what I know will offend a brother or sister in the church. Just as I don't like it might not be a good enough reason to ask someone to change what he is doing. Maybe the way we feel has no scriptural backing at all. Maybe it is a cultural thing that no longer means anything. When we were up at Houghton Lake, I talked to the youth, and style changed, clothes changed, hair changed. [00:23:52] I told the youth that there are probably times when you feel like the older people.