Galen Call's Sermon Library
"Serving God Acceptably - Part 2" - July 13, 1986
[ Silence ] >> Well, from time to time, like any church, we have to say goodbye to people who are transferred or for other reasons are moving out of our area. Claire and Mary Nona Bronco are the most recent candidates. And you have met them many times undoubtedly at the front door as they have warmly greeted you and welcomed you into the church. And for quite a time, Mary Nona was preparing the flowers or arrangements here in the front on the communion table. We've appreciated getting to know them and their ministry in our church and we're going to miss you. They're moving to Florida and the gods called them there so that all of us can come down and see them in the winter time. So we appreciate they're going before us and preparing the way. And we'll look forward to seeing you down there in the winter time sometime. All right. Would you open your Bible, please, with me to the book of Revelation, the second chapter? Two brothers each brought an offering to the Lord. One was accepted. One was rejected. Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and for his offering, he had no regard. Two brothers were the oldest of four sons born in a prominent Israeli family. Their uncle was the leader of the nation. Their father was the high priest. Nadab and Abai Hugh, their uncle and father, and 70 other elders of the nation of Israel had actually seen the God of Israel at Mount Sinai, according to the Word of God. The two boys were ordained as priests. And then on one occasion, it says they took their respective fire pans. And after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. These are but two of many examples that we could point to in the Bible of serving God in a way that is unacceptable to him. It is good to serve the Lord. But it is important to serve the Lord in such a way as he is pleased. Even in this age, it is possible for us to do good things for God, but to do it in such a way that God is not pleased. We have an example of that in the church at Ephesus, the church which Timothy pastored. In Revelation 2, verse 2, it says, and the Lord Jesus is speaking, "I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false, and you have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake and have not grown weary." Boy, those are good words. Those are words of commendation from the Lord himself regarding a church that was actively, busily serving him. And Jesus knew all about it. However, in verse 4, Jesus says, "I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen and repent, and do the deed you did at first, or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent." You see what Jesus says? He commends them because they are a church involved in serving him. But he is not well pleased with their service and threatens to come and remove them as a church, unless they repent of the lack of a fervent love for himself. Another example of the awful possibility of serving God, but serving him in a way that he is not well pleased, there is nothing that should be more important to us than knowing what it takes to make our service for the Lord acceptable in his sight. We must learn what it means to serve God in an acceptable manner. And I believe we have the answer to that in the book of 2 Timothy, chapters one and two, speaks specifically to that topic of serving the Lord acceptably. Last week we began with verses one through six, and notice three of the seven essentials in serving the Lord acceptably. You say, well, last week there were six. Well, I recounted this week and found another one. So this week there are seven essentials in serving the Lord acceptably. Last week we talked about it, sincere faith. If we are going to serve the Lord in a manner that is acceptable to him, it must be with a faith that is neither superficial nor spurious. It must be with a genuine trust in Jesus Christ and a trust that is actively engaged in our service for him. Secondly, it must be with a clear conscience, Paul said, I serve God with a clear conscience. A clear conscience is one that has properly dealt with offenses. Now there's a warning that must be sounded in connection with a clear conscience. We must be careful not to be overly introspective in regard to our conscience. There are some people who are so convicted about this that they overdo it and go into their past and try almost to create situations in order to clear their conscience. I am convinced of this, that if in fact there are offenses on our conscience that God wants us to deal with, when we open our hearts to that and ask God to show us what those are, they'll pop to the surface. We're not going to have to take a rake and go back through the muck of the past and search and search and search. So be careful of going overboard in that regard to a clear conscience. There is a time when we stop looking back and we move ahead, but a clear conscience is important in serving God. And then a fervent spirit is an absolute essential. All of us have to be careful to maintain the fire on the altar of the heart and to fan into flame the gift of God which is in us. That brings us now to the fourth of the essentials in serving the Lord acceptably and we find that in verse seven, where I'll begin reading. It says, "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me as prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. But now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phijellus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onusiferous, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me. The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day, and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. The fourth essential in serving God acceptably is a bold spirit, verse seven. Our service for Jesus Christ is not to be tentative or timid. A cowardly attitude is unacceptable to God. We see that illustrated for example, in Saul and the Israelites as they cowered before Goliath as he gave his threats to the nation. It took the young man David who filled with faith in God stood before Goliath and accepted the challenge and won the victory, a man who had a bold spirit in the Lord. When I think of a bold spirit, I think of a Daniel, a Daniel who was willing to stand alone and even to face the den of lions. That's why we sing of him, dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone, a bold spirit. The employment of the gift God has given us and serving him should be with boldness with a godly courage and manliness. You will notice in the text in verse seven that there are three modifiers that define this boldness for us. It is said to be of power and love and discipline. That's the spirit God has given us. In the word power, we see the foundation for a bold spirit. We are not bold because of something we are or something we can do. But our boldness is to be founded upon the power of God, released in us in the person of the Holy Spirit and acts the fourth chapter of the church in Jerusalem faces persecution. What do they do? Do they run from the persecution? Do they hide? No? They got down in their knees and they prayed and they worshiped the Lord and they asked God to grant to them boldness to speak. And it says the Holy Spirit filled them. He empowered them so much so that the place where they prayed was shaken and it says that they got up and went out and proclaimed the word of God with boldness. Boldness comes from the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When he is released by faith, that is the foundation for a bold spirit. Then there is the word love. In that word, we see the motivation for a bold spirit. What should motivate us to courage? Is it so that we might gain some selfish end? Is it so that we might be acclaimed and stand out and people might notice us? Indeed not. The bold spirit by which we serve the Lord is to be motivated by love. We should be bold because there are people who need us and who need the message of Jesus Christ that we have. Therefore let us serve God with a bold spirit because we love people and desire to minister to them even though they may not appreciate us, even though they may reject us, let us minister to them and serve God with boldness of spirit. And then the word discipline defines the regulation of our bold spirit. The word here means self-control to keep one's self in hand. As we serve the Lord with boldness, we ought to be at the same time free from over-excitement and free from hesitation. We ought to march forward as Christian soldiers serving the Lord with courage, with fortitude and with boldness of spirit. William Cooper, the hymn writer, has left to us a legacy of wonderful hymns, but he himself suffered from timidness on occasion and there were times in his life when he was kept in an asylum for the insane. He struggled with mental illness. But in one of his clear times, William Cooper wrote these words that sometimes we sing. "Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, the clouds you so much dread are big with mercy and shall break with blessings on your head." Cooper captured it well. Fearful saints should take fresh courage in serving God. We should serve God with the kind of courage that is worthy of such a God as whom we serve. We, like Paul, should be ready to say, I am ready to die at Jerusalem for the sake of the Lord Jesus, Acts 21, 13. We should well be able to sing as sometimes we do. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere on land or sea. A boldness of spirit is essential in serving Jesus Christ, acceptably. Then in verses eight through 10, we find a fifth essential. It is a willing identification. We must not be reluctant to be associated with the testimony of our Lord and those who, like Paul, suffer for Christ. We must not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the testimony about Him. Even though that gospel is met at times with misunderstanding, with mocking and disdain by the world, let us never be ashamed to be associated with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with His testimony. But let us willingly identify with our Savior who was rejected and spat upon, who was crucified, but who was raised again from the dead, and who reigns in glory today. Let us be willing to be identified with Him, with a testimony about Him. But not only so, let's also willing the identify with those of His servants who suffer for His sake. Paul said, join with me in suffering. He says to Timothy, take your share too of evil treatment. Don't be afraid of suffering for Jesus and suffering according to the power of God, not in your own strength. Normally, we tend to stand back when the gospel is mocked, don't we? When there's someone who is making fun of Jesus Christ, or someone who is attacking one of His servants, our normal tendency is to step back away from the limelight just a little bit until we can evaluate this and see how we can come out pretty good. We may reach in there and pat on the back that person who's in the fire, but we pull our arm back before too many people see us. We are not normally a people willing to suffer. That's why this is pointed out to us. We are to willingly take our share of suffering for Christ, being willing to identify with Him and with His suffering servants in that way. It is essential if we're going to serve Christ acceptably. Our tendency to stand back is just the opposite of our faith. It's in contrast to the gospel that has saved us. For God has saved us and called us with a holy calling to be identified with Him in salvation and to share with Him His glory, we have been called to be identified with Him. That's our gospel and God can save us and call us to that because Christ came and identified with us here in our sin and our death and abolished death on our behalf and has brought to light immortality and life through the gospel of His death and resurrection. You see our very faith and the message that we preach is a message of identification. Therefore, we should be willing to be identified with those who are suffering for Christ. What about that person that you know that's under fire for serving the Lord? Not for something He's done that's been foolish. Not because He's been extreme in some area and did something He shouldn't have done. What about that person who's suffering for Christ because He simply obeying God? Are you willing to stand with that person? There's a sixth essential that has pointed out that is essential if we're going to serve the Lord acceptably. I see that in verse 12 where we find that Paul had a confident expectation. Do you realize that what we expect in life determines very much how we look at life? For example, those who expect the worst, those who see only the problems, only the difficulties in the mountains, they're often miserable people. Why? Because that's what they expect. You see those expectations of the worst are often self-fulfilling in their lives. Those who have unrealistic expectations are often disappointed people and disillusioned. Why? Because their expectations are not what they should be. They're unrealistic. On the other hand, those who have optimistic and positive expectations are usually more fulfilled and happier. Why is that? Because what we expect from life determines very much how we look at life and what we receive from it. Paul's expectation, though he was in prison in Rome in a dungeon cell, Paul's expectation was positive and confident. He was optimistic. He was full of hope. He says, "I am not ashamed. "I know whom I have believed. "I am convinced he is able." Paul's assurance did not rest in himself. It did not rest in his circumstances, for sure. In fact, his assurance did not even rest in his friends, for they had failed him. But his assurance and confidence was rooted in Jesus Christ and in Christ's ability to take care of him. And so I ask you today, what is the focus of your expectation? Be sure that your expectation is not from yourself. Do not set your expectation on your friends. They will fail you. Don't set your expectation on your circumstances and what you hope will be. But set your expectation on Jesus Christ. If your confident expectation is rooted in him, you will not be disappointed. He is able, not only to guard that which you've committed to him, that good deposit, that is the well-being of your soul, until that day that you're with him. But he's able to guard you day by day and take care of your needs. Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia, said, "The time I live in is a time of turmoil. "My hope is in God." Frederick may have described your life today. You may be in a tailspin and you don't know which way is up. Let me assure you Jesus Christ does. So let your expectation rest upon him. His promises and his soon return. Dr. Horatius Bonar of the last century, a man of God used of the Lord so mightily throughout the British Empire. Retired for the night, almost every evening, with this simple prayer, perhaps tonight, Lord. And then in the morning, when he would awake, he would begin the day with this simple prayer. Perhaps today, Lord, you see the point was, his expectation was in Jesus Christ and in his fulfillment of his promises in his life. And he knew that he was able. If we're going to serve the Lord acceptably, it must be with a confident expectation that is rooted in Jesus Christ. And then finally, if we would serve the Lord acceptably, it must be with this essential, number seven, found in verses 13 through 18, a true loyalty. Now there is a word that has fallen on hard times, loyalty. Loyalty is standing true, it is giving allegiance. And in the context of our passage today, the Apostle Paul points to two objects that must receive our continuous true loyalty. First in verses 13 and 14, the doctrine of the Lord. False teaching was ever present in that day as it is today. Unhealthy, unsound words were deceiving many and leading them to their ruin. And so he wrote to Timothy, "Retain the standard of sound words, guard through the Holy Spirit, the treasure, the good deposit which has been entrusted to you." It is important for us to follow those same admonitions. Paul says to Timothy, "I left you a pattern. I left you a rough sketch of sound words, of true doctrine, the doctrine of the Lord." Now stick with it, be loyal to it. Don't allow people to bring in words that will cause it to be watered down, that will cause it to be compromised in its truthfulness. Keep that sketch of sound faith that I have given to you, retain the standard. And notice he says it's to be retained in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus, that's significant. There are some dear brothers of mine who my love who are seeking with all of their might to militantly retain the standard of sound words, but they have forgotten the last part of the verse. As we retain the standard, beloved, let us do it with faith toward God and love toward people. Let that be the frame in which the truth of Jesus Christ is preached and retained. He says guard the deposit. Don't allow anyone to steal it and replace it with something false. Beware lest it be adulterated with impurities. He says guard the gospel. The love that we today must guard the word of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of our Lord, the sound words that are in this book, for there are many who seek to pervert it to compromise it. Be loyal to the word of God, but not only so, be loyal as well to the servants of the Lord verses 15 through 18. Paul mentions the fact that all who are in Asia had turned away from him. Now by all we don't understand that to mean every single person in that area, but he seems to have in mind a group, perhaps a leadership group. And he mentions two men by name, Phijellus and Hermogenes. We know nothing more about them than this context here. It seems as though these were two men, two leaders, perhaps two elders of the church in Ephesus, two men well known to Timothy, who had turned away from Paul, who had been disloyal to him as the servant of the Lord. Now why these one-time supporters became opponents? We do not know. We do know who was behind it, undoubtedly the enemy was behind it. Satan, what it was that caused them to turn against Paul, we are not told, but they did. And I think it's interesting that the Holy Spirit, as He inspires Paul to write this epistle, causes him to write the names of two of those men, and those two names will forever live in the word of God, as having been men who turned away from Paul. I believe that they were believers. I believe that we'll meet both Phijellus and Hermogenes in heaven someday. And I'm sure that they are sorry now that they took the action they did then. But there was one man who stood out in contrast to these who betrayed Paul. And by the way, betrayal is a common experience of all of us who serve God. I spoke with someone a week ago who mentioned that friends had turned against her that very weak and how that had shaken her. We've all had that experience. But thank God for those who are like onusiferous. Here was one who stood with Paul. He apparently had served Paul in Ephesus and now sought Paul out in Rome. Remember that the prisoners of those days, unlike today, were not well cared for. They did not receive any change of clothing, any necessities unless people brought it to them. They only received the most meager amounts of food, barely enough to keep them alive unless someone cared enough to bring them food in their prison cell. Paul was in such a condition. Onusiferous looked for Paul and having found him, he brought to Paul those things that he needed. And Paul says he often refreshed me. He often cooled me. This last week has been pretty warm here in Minnesota. Not as hot as some places are experiencing, but it's been warm enough for me. If you were out this last week working in the yard, mowing your lawn perhaps, doing something else, you know how good, how refreshing a cold glass of water is to you after exerting that kind of energy when your body is under stress because of the heat. Paul is saying here, look, I'm under stress. I am fevered because of the persecution that I am enduring as the prisoner of the Lord. But there is one who brought me a cool glass of water, as it were, onusiferous. God bless him. God grant to him mercy in the day of judgment because he often refreshed me in my situation. There's a man of true loyalty. You and I need to be faithful and loyal in our support of the gospel of Christ. And of those who proclaim it, especially those who are under fire. And this is a day when many of God's servants are under fire. This fall we're going to have the privilege of having in an evening service on September 28th, Mr. Cal Thomas. Cal Thomas is a nationally known syndicated columnist who is in some of the local papers. But before that, this committed Christian gentleman was the leader of the moral majority and associate with Jerry Falwell. Cal Thomas has now changed his employment, not his convictions for sure. But he is constantly under fire and attacked by his colleagues, editors and columnists because of the positions that he takes. Now I'm sure that there may be those who will attack us for having a man like Cal Thomas with us, former leader of the moral majority. Let me tell you, I am not ashamed to have Cal Thomas in our church because he serves the Lord Jesus Christ, the same Lord that you and I serve. Let us not be ashamed of those who are under fire. We may not always agree with everything they always do, but let's not be ashamed of them. Let's be willing to suffer with them. Let's be true and loyal in our commitment to support them as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. My friend, the enemy is out there, not amongst ourselves. And so let us be people who are characterized by true loyalty. I tell you what, that's essential if we are going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that's acceptable to him. So serving God acceptably begins at least with these seven essentials in chapter one. We'll go on at a later time into chapter two and talk more about serving God acceptably. But for now I think it's important for us to examine our hearts and to allow the Holy Spirit either to confirm the presence of these seven essentials or to convict us of their absence and to begin working in our lives, each of them. I wonder if you would bow together in prayer with me right now. May I remind you of some students who in China during the Boxer Rebellion were in a mission station and the insurgents blocked all of the doors except one to that mission station, a hundred students being inside. They insisted that these Christian students walk out the door and trample a wooden cross which they had placed flat on the ground in front of the door. The word was passed inside that those who would trample that cross would be permitted their freedom. But those who would not would be shot. The first seven students were terribly frightened and walked out the door trampling the cross as they went. But the eighth student, a young girl, refused to do such a thing, but walking out the door knelt beside the cross in prayer then arose and moved carefully around it and was shot. The remaining 92 students followed her to a martyr's death. What does it mean to serve God acceptably right where you are today? Is there a sincere faith as laying hold of God-sized projects in your life? Is there a clear conscience? Is there a fervent zeal in your service? Is there a bold, courageous spirit that characterizes you? Are you willing to identify with the testimony of the Lord and His suffering servants? Do you have a confident expectation that is rooted in Christ and His ability to care for you? Is there a loyalty, a true loyalty about you? O spirit of God, I pray that having studied in this chapter, the essentials of what it takes to serve you acceptably, that we will make that our beginning place and to whatever extent these seven characteristics are not found in us. We pray that you will begin incorporating them. You might be truly Lord of our lives and we your faithful servants who are serving you in a way that you find well-pleasing. ♪ All of my heart ♪ ♪ All of my heart ♪ ♪ Take all of my heart ♪ ♪ Lord Jesus ♪ ♪ Take all today ♪ ♪ Take all I pray ♪ ♪ Take all of my heart ♪ ♪ Lord Jesus ♪ ♪ His Lord ♪ ♪ He is Lord ♪ ♪ He is risen from the dead ♪ ♪ And He is Lord ♪ ♪ Every knee shall bow ♪ ♪ Every tongue confess ♪ ♪ That Jesus Christ is Lord ♪ - Lord, as we sing that, we sing it not just because we like the words or enjoy harmonizing with it. But we sing it because we acknowledge that truly you are the Lord. And this week, our knees bow, our tongues confess, and our service we trust testifies to the truthfulness of your lordship in our lives. Amen. [ Silence ]