Inland Empire: Riverside
Righteous or Religous - Audio
Well, first of all, I want to introduce myself a little bit. My name is Sergio Argueo and my wife and I, Chris, and are the new leaders for the Riverside Group. And it's awesome to be here with you this morning. I do want to thank the people that came over even as early as Sunday or Monday night to help us unload the truck that came with all of our stuff. You guys were awesome. You guys were there for quite a while bringing things in, unpacking some things. Steve was there putting together our beds with the screwdriver in hand, the hammer. As far as the split family was there, it was awesome to have all of you guys there. There were quite a few people and a little bit more about me. You may not know this, but I am Steve's twin brother, Steve Loundsbury. I'm the good looking one if you don't know. Hey, well, you got the height, I got the looks. The title of today's sermon is righteous or religious, a matter of mind and heart. Do you want to tell you a little joke to start off with? You know, there was this gentleman who came to church quite often and he sat in the back of the room and this morning the preacher was preaching on the army of the Lord, you know, being sold out for God, fighting for him, being really involved, you know, and he noticed a guy come in late that morning and at the end of service he approached him. He said, "You know, I'm preaching about the army of the Lord and what I notice about you is you come late, you kind of hide out in service, sometimes I don't see you." He said, "It's because I'm in the secret service." You know, we find that funny, but we're a lot like that. We could be in the secret service of the Lord. You know, we could give our contributions, you know, we could get involved in different things, but sometimes we don't dive in altogether. You know, our heart sometimes is not fully committed. I ask myself this question all the time, "Are my righteous or am I religious?" I have to ask that. We have to ask that of ourselves because it's very easy to fall into a pattern of coming to church on Sunday in midweek, to get our offering, to go to devotional, to have our times of prayer, listen to our Christian CDs, right? We even post scriptures and spiritual quotes on Facebook. We call each other bro, and sister, et cetera, et cetera. It is a different matter to be righteous than to follow patterns or a given set of rules or expectations. You know, what God desires from us is not robotic followership, not a given set of rules that we follow, but He wants a relationship with us at a heart level. He wants our hearts. Let me illustrate with the following scripture. Turn with me over to Romans chapter 10. We're going to start in verse 1. This is a long scripture, so bear with me. Romans 10, we're going to start in verse 1. We're going to go all the way down to 21. It says, "Brothers, my heart desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved." You know, we get to see Paul's heart in this scripture. He loved the Jews. He loved his brothers. There I can testify about them, that their zeal is for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge, since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own. They did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Most of the describes in this way are the righteousness that is by law. The man who does these things will live by them, but the righteousness that is by faith says, "Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down." Or who will descend into the deep, that is to bring Christ up from the dead, but what does it say? The word is near you that in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith that we are proclaiming. That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the scripture says, "Anyone who trusted him will never be put to shame." But there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all, and originally blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then can they call on the one they have not believed in, and how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard, and how can they hear without someone preaching to them, and how can they preach unless they are sent, as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For I say it says, "Lord, who has believed our message, consequently faith, comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." But I ask that they not hear? Of course they did. Their voice has gone out into all the earth. Their words to the ends of the world, again I ask that Israel not understand. First of all, it says, "I will make you envious by those who are not a nation. I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding, and I say I boldly says, I was found by those who did not seek me. I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me. But concerning Israel, he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people." You know, the Jews were so caught up in their practices, in their rituals, in their traditions that true righteousness, which is about a relationship, knowing God and Jesus, it totally evaded them. They could not be saved, not because they were failing to do something in the checklist of religious duties that they might have had, but it was because their hearts were far away from God. It said that they sought to establish a righteousness of their own. You know, I find myself doing that quite often. If I do this, and if I do that, and if I do this other thing, then I'm good with God. You know, I give my contribution this morning, I feel great. I came on time, awesome! You know, we have our checklist of things, and yet really in terms of us being close to God, sometimes we lack that, right, and we go by a checklist of duties as opposed to a real connection with our Lord. They failed to make that heart connection with God, and they failed to accept Jesus as Lord. You know, they claim to go to scriptures, yet they could not accept the Messiah, because He did not fit into their pattern of things. He did not fit the mold that they had envisioned. You know, Jesus despised ritualistic worship, and that's what they all heard. You know, it really lacked true heart and love for God and their fellow man, but you know what? He also condemned them for their lack of spiritual and scriptural insight. You know, what they really claimed was their strength. They really failed that even miserably. Shocking, isn't it? Sometimes even these things that we set up for ourselves to determine our righteousness, we fail that miserably. You know, it's a legalistic way of living. It lacks a connection with God. You know, the thing about legalism, you know, Jews were legalistic, is that by nature it's minimalistic. Let me explain what I mean by that. You see, a tide is 10%, right? That's what the Jews were used to. So they were like, "Okay, I give my tide. Check." And no more. We have suffered a Sabbath, check. But our other days, holy, you see, it's very minimalistic. How little can I do? And being right with the Lord. Worship is Sunday and midweek. Check. I will do that, but don't ask me to do anymore. Don't tell me to sacrifice. I've done my duty, check. I read the Bible and pray five to ten minutes in the morning. Don't bother me. You know, we do this in many things and can very easily end up in a lot of ways, like the Jews that we're reading about here, if we allow ourselves to lose the heart behind a true relationship with God. We can allow ourselves to become religious. We've got a truly aim to have a true righteous relationship with our Lord. We've got to connect with God in the morning when we wake up. We've got to really immerse ourselves in the Word. Not in a minimalistic fashion, but one where we're all in. I want to be all in for God. I don't want to do the minimum to get in. I want to be completely in. If you have a righteous relationship with God, when we're coming from a state of religiosity that maybe we're used to or maybe we've been complacent for a long time, it takes real change. I want to give you two keys, things that must happen if we are to walk righteously with our God. Number one, we've got to renew our mind. Our mind is how we think and how we perceive things. Romans 12. We're going to reverse this one and two. Do you guys want to be still? Amen. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renew feeling of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will. You see, it worked to be holy and pleasing to God. The scriptures tell us that we're not to conform any longer to worldly thinking, but to let ourselves, our actions, our characters, our very being, to be transformed, to be changed into a different form altogether, by the renewing of our mind. I don't know if you guys have read the book on repentance, and it's awesome, just incredible book, but it talks about this metanoia or metanous, this transformation of the mind, this metamorphosis of the mind going from, you know, you've seen moths or butterflies that transform from this ugly thing to such a beautiful thing. You know, that's what God wants of our minds to go from this ugly way of thinking, a worldly way of thinking, to something completely different, you know, and if we let our minds be transformed that way, be renewed that way, it's going to affect our very being. It's going to change our actions. The way we think and the way we perceive things is going to change us all together. See, we can't look at things the way the world does, and what it takes truly is hard work. It takes prayer. It takes time in the scriptures. That's kind of our time of incubation, you know, where we're being changed, where we're being transformed. That time when we're on our knees, the time when we're in the Bible, it helps us to stop being worldly in our thinking. We've got to decide to offer ourselves up completely to the Lord, to immerse ourselves in Him and for Him, not in a minimalistic fashion, but all in wholeheartedly. We've got to spend meaningful time daily with the Lord. We've got to embrace Him fully, you know, and as we immerse ourselves and script your prayer, relationship with other people that are righteous and fully committed to the Lord, we're going to start looking at things with spiritualize. These are going to change around us. We will lose that superficial religious outer layer that we carry. You know, with that checklist, "I've done this and I've done that," and a new righteous person will immerse, you will immerse out of you. Something that delights Himself or herself in God with no limits. You know, this is true righteousness that brings salvation. This is what Paul desired and God desired so much of the juice. This is a righteousness that looks to go beyond and not at how little can I do and still call myself a Christian. Brothers and sisters, we've got to throw away religiosity and strive for true righteousness. I want to read you a little story. It's called "Scars of Love," it's a very, very moving story. Some years ago on a hot summer day in South Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and a shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam towards the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming towards the shore. His mother in the house was looking out the window and she saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran towards the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could, hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim back to his mother. It was too late, just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arm just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug of war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go. That's how we are as parents, aren't we? We're not going to let go. Just at that time a farmer happened to drive by and heard the screams and he raced his truck. He took him and shot the alligator with the gun he had. Only after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived, his legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal and on his arms were deep scratches where his mother's fingernails had dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she dearly loved. The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the attack asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted up his fat legs and then with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms too. I have them because my mom would not let go." You and I can identify with this little boy. We have scars too, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have cost us deep regret, but some of those wounds my brothers are because God has refused to let you go. In the midst of your struggle, he's been there holding on to you, fighting for your soul, fighting for your life. You know, the scriptures teach us that God loves us, that we are children of God. He wants to protect us and provide for us in every way. He gives us direction in the way that we should walk and the spirit that we should follow in. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous waters, not knowing what lies ahead. You know, the swimming hole of life is filled with dangers. And we forget that the enemy is waiting to take us out. And that's when the tug of war begins, and if you have the scars of love in your body, on your arms, you can remember that God loves you, and he's not willing to let go. You know, I really believe that God allows us to go through trials and hardships, and even uses our bad decisions and other people sin when they sit against us as opportunities for us to glorify him. How we think about and we perceive these scars that we have, these hurts and experiences that we carry on us, it makes all the difference. How do you see these things? We can be religious or we can be righteous. Our state of mind makes all the difference. It makes a difference in how we respond to these things in terms of our level of joy. We will either feel like our Christian walk and even our worship is a duty and interferes with our schedule, or it will be something we just can't get enough of. How do you feel about worship of God? How do you feel about this morning? You know, we've got to feel like let's have service and fellowship every day. Not wow, this is a bother to me in my schedule. I can't wait to have time in the scriptures or time to pray. Not man, I've got to have a quiet time. It makes a difference in how we experience God. Either the Father who has punished us along the way and enjoys watching us suffer when we go through our times, or we may look at Him as one who saves us from situations time and time again, like that mother, the death son. You know, we may have had earthly fathers who were not so great, but our heavenly Father is perfect, and He works for the good of those who love Him, foot a dozen rooms A28. Also how we view things makes all the difference in our relationships. You know, we're either going to be bitter and angry to the point where our hearts are not available for true intimacy because of things that have happened in the past and we'll seek those things, you know, we'll seek things that fulfill us outside of God because of that and outside of the church, or we'll be people that are eager and quick to forgive, you know, especially those that have done us wrong, and what happens when we do that is we allow for true intimacy to take place. True relationships to happen, you know, within the body, why? Because we're all imperfect, we need forgiveness, you know, we've all sinned against each other. We need to be available for relationships, we need to be present for people. We are long for safe friends that forgive quickly, not those who hold onto wrongs, that we might have done them, and I want you to really think about those things because our minds have got to be transformed, and point number two is my last point, just two points this morning. We've got to free our hearts to love, turn over with me to John 13, starting in verse 1. It was just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father, having loved His own, who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love. The evening meal was being served in the devil, had already prompted Jesus to carry it some Simon to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power and that He had come from God and was returning to God. So He got up from the meal, took His outer clothing, and wrapped the towel around His waist. After that He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, drawing them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. He came to Simon Peter who said to Him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I'm doing, but later you will understand." "No," said Peter, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." Then Lord Simon Peter replied, "Not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well." Jesus answered, "The person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet. His whole body is clean." And you are clean, though not every one of you, for He knew who was going to betray Him. That was why He said not everyone was clean. When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place. Do you understand what I've done for you, if you ask them? You call me teacher and Lord and rightly so for that's what I am. Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is the messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. Jesus was setting an example for the disciples to follow. He loved them all the way to the very end, not just right here, but He sent an example for them through His death. He laid down His life completely. He served them here as a lowly servant, yet He was their teacher and master. The level of Jesus is loved for them and the world is witnessed by His sacrifice, drove these men to do amazing things. You see, Jesus loved freely and it changed the world. He sent that example for us to follow. He didn't come to establish a set of religious do's and don'ts. He didn't come to tell you you've got to be a church, you've got to give your tide. He said, "I want you to love deeply. I want to say your heart's free to love without fear." You know, in 2 Corinthians 5, 14 it says that Christ love compels us. This is what should motivate us. This is what moved the disciples to change the world. I want to tell you a little story about my mom and something that really shaped my very being. This was back in about 1978, 1979, a lot of you weren't born yet. Steve was already 20. But there was a war raging in Nicaragua, where I'm from, and I was probably about eight years old. And an army jeep had come by and they gunned down about a 14 to 16 year old kid. And as he stumbled down the street, he came to rest on the ground right in front of our house. And amidst the bullets and the commotion that was going on, my mom ran out to the middle of the street. You know, I'm playing a few of these guys that had just shot this teen down. And I ran out behind her, and she tried to stop me and I kind of hid behind the wall. But what I saw next really shaped my life in a lot of ways. She got on her knees and held his dying boy's hand. And as he gurgled, as he was trying to talk, to let my mom know, to please talk to his mom and to let her know how much he loved her. You know, she sat there and prayed with him. Put her life at risk. You know, and really, that moved me. You know, to this day, that's one of the memories that really shapes a lot of the things that I do, that my mother, this woman, was willing to love somebody so freely that she put her life on the line. You know, she said her heart free to love. No fear. That's true love. You know, are we like that for our brothers and sisters? Are we like that for the lost? Are we like that with our neighbors that we're willing to put our life on the line when they need it most to comfort them, to help them, to do whatever it is that they need Jesus? We've set that example for us, not just in the washing of the disciple's feet, but by laying his life down on the cross. Amazing. You know, my mom is still my hero. You know, she's incredible. She's been a disciple about 18 years now. I was able to baptize her 18 years ago, a couple of weeks after I was. You know, here's a little side lesson. Your parents, your children are always watching. You know, how you respond to situations is going to shape your children. You know, disciples, how you respond to situations and whether you let your heart go and you're free to love, it's going to impact those around you. You see, my mom could have walked away at that moment and she could have been justified in that because there was an extremely dangerous situation. Yes, she chose to love freely without fear. You see, God deserves us to glory.
Sergio peaches about relationship with God. We can have a to do list when it comes serving God. But we need to renew our mind and free out heart to love.