Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
2/22/98 pm
Becoming Living Stones
Reading — First Timothy 6.3-12
Last Sunday evening we talked about evaluating our spiritual maturity, our spiritual growth. Tonight I want to tie this lesson to that one and to our lesson this morning in noting that indeed God expects us to grow... To mature in our Christianity.
Listen to these verses from First Peter chapter two: Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a Holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Church, God has called us to something special.
- He has called us to become His royal priesthood.
- He has called us to become His holy nation.
- He has called us to become a people who belong to Him.
- He has called us to a behavior that will declare praises to Him.
- He has called us out of the darkness of sin into the light of His presence.
Now, in light of this calling, Paul, in our text, gives us some things that we must exclude daily from our lives, then he mentions some things that we must include daily in order to be living stones.
Obtain a worship bulletin, and let’s go through this outline and see what we can learn about becoming the people and person God calls us to be.
HOW TO BECOME LIVING STONES.
FIRST, FLEE, RUN FROM THE SIN OF PRIDE... HUMAN CONCEIT.
Let me tell you this is the number one reason most of us are not are not the person God called us to be.
- Thinking more highly of self than we ought to.
- The boot strap philosophy.
- Pride in arrogance and self-worship.
- Paul is speaking of exalting self.
- Placing our own interests, our own rights above the interests and rights of others.
Ask me if Americans suffer from this sin? Do you want to know how God feels about Pride? Solomon gives us a list of seven things God hates, in Proverbs chapter six. Do you know what tops God’s list? You got it! Pride.
You know, the worst thing about pride is that it erects barriers to salvation. Two men went to pray. One prayed in pride…God I thank you that I am not like others. God, you are so lucky to have a man like me in the church. One prayed humbly… God be merciful to me a sinner. Luke’s narrative says one went home justified the other not.
Prideful people cannot be saved. Salvation is a free gift of God... We are saved by grace through faith. Pride makes it impossible to accept God’s forgiveness, because pride can’t see our short comings, our faults and our sins... Therefore, what we don’t see, we don’t repent of.
Question? How to overcome pride? All of us are susceptible to it, how do we overcome it? I think Paul had the answer when he says, Stop comparing yourselves with yourselves and start comparing yourselves to Christ. Not any one of us look good or worthy when we compare ourselves to Christ?
Don’t compare yourself to this preacher. You see, that instills pride because we look pretty good beside one another. But beside Christ?... That’s another matter. Right? Becoming living stones means we first must deal with our own pride.
SECONDLY, FLEE... RUN FROM ENVY... ENVY IS JEALOUSY.
Envy is a desire to have what others have. Envy leads us into all kinds of sin and ugliness. Perhaps the greatest witness against envy in the Bible is the family of Jacob.
- In this family envy caused division and disunity. It set mother against her husband and her own older son.
- It caused sons to lie to their father about the birthright.
- It caused brothers to contemplate murder.
- Envy caused these brothers to hurt the father they loved the most.
- Envy denied this family genuine happiness... Jacob lived in sorrow for years
Is it possible that we’re living like this family? We can never be living stones in God’s house with envy and jealousy in our hearts.
THIRDLY, FLEE... RUN FROM STRIFE... THE NIV SAYS QUARRELING.
Some people love a fight. Some are so twisted that they believe happiness is living in a tea pot. If there is not a crisis going they will create one.
- Crisis in the family,
- Trouble on the job,
- Disunity down at church,
- Dissension within themselves.
Again, Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount said, genuine happiness belongs to the peacemaker.
Here it is church... The greatest peace an individual will ever make is within self. It not possible to be:
- A royal priesthood,
- A holy nation,
- A peculiar people,
WHILE WE’RE
- Living in strife,
- Quarreling,
- Fussing,
- Complaining
- About somebody or something?
Jesus contended that we will be know as LIVING STONES, when we love the brethren.
FLEE... RUN FROM MALICIOUS TALK... RAILING IN THE KJ.
Listen to Peter in chapter three, verse ten, Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. I have a sermon I preach The Tongue Is Not For Biting. Most of us think it is childish to bite others with our teeth, but think nothing of biting others with our tongue.
Listen to these scriptures on the biting tongue:
- James says, A biting tongue is full of deadly poison.
- Solomon writes, Cruel words crush the spirit.
Don’t fill your life with poison, don’t crush your spirit with an uncontrollable tongue.
The question tonight is this... Who controls our tongue? When we complain, gossip and bite others we can automatically know it is Satan’s motivation. When we are loving, forgiving and gracious with our tongue we can know that it is under the control of God and that we are growing as LIVING STONES in His house.
FLEE... RUN FROM SURMISING... EVIL SUSPICIONS.
This is simply having an evil imagination. We must know tonight that evil thoughts bring about evil emotions. And an evil emotions results in an evil act or habit. Listen to this progressive truth:
- Sow a thought and you reap an emotion.
- Sow an emotion and you reap an act.
- Sow an act you reap a habit.
- Sow a habit your reap a lifestyle.
- Sow a lifestyle you reap a destiny.
Evil thoughts bring about evil actions. Church, evil thoughts cannot be hid, they ultimately will come out in our actions.
Paul tells us how to deal with evil thought in Philippians chapter four, Brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about these things. Becoming living stones in God’s house means we must learn to discipline our thoughts.
FLEE... RUN FROM MATERIALISM... THE LOVE OF MONEY.
Paul is speaking of the love of things, the unending search for financial gain. Do we understand tonight that God didn’t create us to be materialists, to love money. He made us to be: His children, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, living stones. He created us to have a relationship with Him and with one another. John D. Rockefeller was asked, how much does it take to satisfy a man? His answer, just a little bit more than he has. J. Paul Getty was asked, when is enough enough? His answer, Never!
The problem with the rich young ruler was that he loved his money more than he did his God. The narrative says he went away in sorrow. Living Stones know they were created for relationships, not for making money. They know they were created for loving God and others, not loving things.
FLEE... RUN AWAY FROM YOUTHFUL LUST... EVIL DESIRES.
Thanks to video tapes and the internet, things are taking place in our own living rooms that never took place in Sodom and Gomorrah. Sexual lust is an illusion... It is a lie. Sexual lust can never, never be satisfied.
The more pornography we see, the more we want to see. Pornography and sexual lust is only an empty promise. The frenzy grows and grows, becomes more and more intense... Until it drives us out of our mind. It drives men and women to do hideous things to one another and to their own children. Make no mistake about it, there is no end to sexual lust... It will consume us. Make no mistake about it... LIVING STONES in God’s house must flee youthful lust.
Well, we have been running away from some things, excluding some things from our lives. Now, let’s let Paul turn our attention to those things that we must include daily in order to be living stones. You see, becoming LIVING STONES in God’s house is not just a matter of thou shall not, but is a matter of thou shall. There are some thing we must add to our daily walk.
Remember the narrative of Jesus about the man possessed of an evil spirit in Matthew twelve? Let me read it for you, When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, `I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.
Notice now those thing Paul admonishes us to INCLUDE... TO PURSUE
Let your eyes fall to verse eleven.
FIRST, PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Church, Living Stones, Priest of God, His Holy Nation love righteousness. Righteousness is simply that which is right. I believe I can make a case for righteousness being nothing more than the WILL of God. I can do this with two verses.
- The first from the Psalms... Psalm 119.138 and 172, The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy... May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous.
- The second is Matthew 3.15, Jesus replied, Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness... Then John consented.
Jesus comes to John to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Why did Jesus need to be baptized?... It certainly was not to wash away His sins, He had none. He did it because it was commanded by God. God’s commands are righteous. Righteousness is God’s command. LIVING STONES are interested in pursuing righteousness, including God’s commandment in their daily walk.
THEN WE ARE TO PURSUE GODLINESS.
Godliness is that which is Godly, Godlike. Godliness includes the moral attributes of God. What are some of the moral attributes of God?... Well:
He is loving.
He is patient.
He is long suffering.
He is merciful.
He is forgiving.
He is gracious.
He is truthful.
He is kind.
He is good.
Paul told the Corinthian church, Do not compare yourselves with yourselves, but compare yourselves to Christ, to God in the flesh. LIVING STONES are to take on the attributes, not of others about them, but the attributes of God. LIVING STONES are to pursue godliness.
WE MUST PURSUE, INCLUDE FAITH.
The Hebrews writer tells us that without faith it is impossible to become LIVING STONES. Without faith it is impossible to please God. We must believe that He is and that He will reward those who diligently seek Him. John tells us, that the victory that overcomes this world is our faith. What exactly is this faith?
- Faith is a trust and confidence in God and His word, His promises and His warnings.
- Faith is trusting God enough that we will obey His every command.
- Faith is more than just mental assent, more than just believing.
James tells us the devils believe, but they are not LIVING STONES. I believe
Hebrews chapter eleven gives us the answer. Faith is a trust and confidence enough that we will be:
- Like Enoch, we will walk with God.
- Like Able, we will offer the correct sacrifice, in our case a living sacrifice.
- Like Noah, we will prepare our way of escape from this world.
- Like Abraham, we will go where God calls us to go.
LIVING STONES are a people and person who have trust and confidence in God.
WE MUST PURSUE LOVE.
I don’t know any better way to preach this than to read First Corinthians chapter 12, If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Church, it’s not possible for us to become LIVING STONES without pursuing this kind of love. If we don’t we only become a clanging symbol.
WE MUST PURSUE ENDURANCE.
We talked about this this morning. James says regardless of how your faith is tested, we must persevere... Perseverance must finish its work, so that you may then be mature and complete, not lacking anything. This is what this sermon is about, spiritual maturity. James tells us spiritual maturity arrives, is ours in the act of perseverance... Keeping on keeping on. Paul puts it so well in the next verse of our text, fight the good fight. In Second Timothy Paul says, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. LIVING STONES never give up, they endure, they persevere.
THEN FINALLY, WE ARE TO PURSUE GENTLENESS.
Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit. It is an attribute of Jesus. Gentleness carries with it the connotation of meekness, restraint. I believe gentleness is the opposite of harshness. Gentleness can be seen in such activities as:
- Loving our enemies.
- Praying for those who persecute, abuse and misuse us.
- Caring for those who do not appreciate it.
- Bearing one another’s burdens.
- Forgiving others as we have been forgiven in Christ.
You see, if we are LIVING STONES then we will be less harsh, less arrogant, less provocative. We will be a Spirit led people and person.
Well, that it! Some things we must flee, run from, and some things we must pursue, if we are genuinely interested in becoming LIVING STONES in God’s house.
What do you and your preacher need to do tonight to become LIVING STONES?
- Become a child of God.
- Forsake some of these sins we talked about?
- Include all of these attributes?
The invitation tonight is for each of us to become living stones in God’s house. Will you do just that?
