2008 You Pick ‘em Series – “What
the Bible Says About…The Daily Grind”
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 – “The Cross-Centered Life”
Sermon preached at Curwensville Presbyterian Church – February 24, 2008
Prayer Introduction: I’ve been excited about this sermon all week. Before it was written, I was excited about it; because it comes from a great question one of you has asked.
This year’s sermons are “You Pick ‘Em” sermons – where you get to choose the topics – not because I had run out of things to talk about; but to make sure your questions are being answered; and being answered from a biblical world view. You are encouraged to ask, “What does the Bible say about…”
Not what do I think about…or What do leading experts think about…or What do my favorite athletes and celebrities think about… but What does God say about it in His inerrant, infallible, perfect Word?
The first question,
was a great one, “What does the Bible say about…Assurance of Salvation?”
And we looked at 4 assurances. First we turned to a verse that is good to
memorize – to “hide in our heart” as the Psalmist puts it. Where is that
verse? {1
So how can I
actually have assurance? We looked at
But how can I have
assurance when I still sin? We looked at
But what about
people who turn from the faith – can you lose your salvation? We looked at
After last week’s sermon, someone asked this awesome follow-up question – “So…how does one pursue godliness in the real world when surrounded by unbelievers? How do you cope with the daily grind?”
Let’s pray and then
we will turn to
READ
I. Gospel Reminder
The question of the morning is, “How does one pursue godliness in the real world when surrounded by unbelievers? How do you cope with the daily grind?”
The truth is that this is not really a new question (per se) that needs a new answer. It is the question that has been the backdrop for every sermon I preach. It is the question behind every Christian sermon.
And it is why every Christian sermon centers on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Rowland Hill – founding pastor of the Surrey Chapel in London in 1783 – used to say, “See there be no sermon without three R’s in it: Ruin by the Fall, Righteousness by Christ, and Regeneration by the Spirit.”
The gospel.
This is nothing new. It’s the same message that I’ve been preaching for the past 7 ˝ years. It is the same message that the Apostle Paul preached. It is the same message that Jesus preached. It is the same message that the Prophets preached.
“Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
I looked back at
the very first sermon I preached to you – on July 2, 2000 – on
“God Almighty reduced, himself, to being a man. He placed himself amidst all of the evils of the world and he suffered, even to death on a cross. Did he do it because we are really cute and nice people and he felt sorry for us? No, he did it because of a love so profound we often don’t believe it to be true. John Calvin says of this, ‘Whoever…is not astonished and deeply affected at this miracle is more than ungrateful and stupid.’”
There are so many people who say, “I don’t want to come to church and hear about how bad I am.” Of course not! Nobody wants to hear that; but the only way to everlasting life is to hear that. The only way to grow in godliness is to hear that.
If we do not have our sin exposed, then we will not go to the cross of Christ to confess it and be enabled by the Holy Spirit to turn from it.
The prayer at the end of Psalm 139 is, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
Nobody wants to hear how bad we are; but even the Psalmist encourages us to do so. It isn’t natural to do this. It is supernatural. Pursuing godliness isn’t natural. It is supernatural.
The answer is in the question: “How does one pursue godliness in the real world when surrounded by unbelievers?” We are surrounded by unbelievers. We are surrounded by people who only do what comes naturally. We need to be different.
Unbelievers do not examine their lives; and they certainly don’t invite the Lord to examine their life.
It was Socrates who said, “The unexamined life isn’t worth living.” And it was the Apostle Paul who said, “Examine yourselves…” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Pursuing godliness in the real world happens by not acting like the rest of the world. We examine ourselves. We invite the Lord to examine us. We invite the Lord to show us our sin. We invite the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin; so that we would take that sin to the cross of Christ and see our sin – and its grip on us – to have it crucified.
We take our stand on the gospel. As C.J. Mahaney puts it, we live Cross-Centered lives.
Pastor C.J. Mahaney has written this little book (you could read it in an hour – but will spend the rest of your life living out its implications) called The Cross-Centered Life – and a longer version, Living the Cross-Centered Life. In it he gives 5 practical ways to live the cross-centered life:
(1) Memorize the Gospel – memorize Scripture verses that walk you through the gospel.
(2) Pray the Gospel – make the gospel truth the center of your prayer life.
(3) Sing the Gospel – the best hymns and songs center on the cross of Christ.
(4) Review How the Gospel Has Changed You – don’t forget the past, give thanks for how God has changed you from your past.
(5) Study the Gospel – grow in your understanding of what Jesus has done, and you will grow in your passion for what He has done.
We can make excuses for not doing this: “It is hard to memorize. I don’t hardly have time to pray. I can’t sing. I can’t remember yesterday, let alone 20 years ago. Who has time to study?”
Excuses are easy. But here’s the PG version of how Clint Eastwood would say, “Excuses are like noses – everyone’s got one, and there usually full of snot.”
You can make excuses; or you can take your stand on the gospel and grow in godliness amidst an ungodly world.
II. First Importance
Let me encourage you not to make excuses the same way the Apostle Paul encourages the Corinthian Church. He says that this is of First Importance. The gospel – that Christ died for our sins, was buried and resurrected on the third day and appeared to so many – is of first importance.
What is of first importance in your life? I can tell you that the gospel hardly takes the place of first importance in my life – which is why I find myself stumbling in the dark so often. You would think that, as a pastor, I would do better at this. Actually, pastors are just better at faking it. I can sometimes go a whole week studying about God, thinking about God, talking about God, teaching about God, but not actually spend any time with God.
And then, God in his grace smacks me on the forehead – “You could’ve had a V-8” – you could have made the gospel of first importance and spent time with me.
It’s funny, people get mad about sermons, that they used to like – after you’ve been around for awhile. One pastor told me an experiment he did once. He preached a sermon, on Worship, that made a bunch of people mad. In fact, the elders came to him about it. At which point he pulled out the exact same sermon, which he had preached 7 years earlier – that people had loved.
What changed? Not the message. Not the messenger. But eventually the novelty of the new pastor wears off, and instead of hearing the pastor, you hear the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit starts convicting you of sin – and it gets uncomfortable.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism – which we looked at earlier – says, “Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel” (cf.Acts 2:37-38).
The Shorter
Catechism also says, “Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we
are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and
more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness” (cf.
How do we grow in godliness? By calling on the Holy Spirit who alone enables us to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.
And
similarly the Catechism says, “Repentance unto life is a saving grace,
whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the
mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from
it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience (cf.
Again, nobody naturally wants to look at his sin; but if we do not see our sin, how can we see the mercy of God?
Of course, we’re fine when the sermon is about someone else’s sin. You’ve heard the story about the woman who shook the preacher’s hand after the worship service, saying, “That was a great sermon, pastor. Everything you said applies to someone I know.”
We like sermons about other people’s sins. Nobody would get mad if I railed against, murderers, thieves, and rapists; but don’t you go talking about gossip, gluttony, laziness, and not keeping the Sabbath Day holy.
I called a good friend of mine and asked generically, “How are you?” And he said, “Fine.” Then I asked, “How are you doing at loving your wife.” And he said, “Well now you’re just meddling.”
III. Hold Firmly
Let’s revisit the original question again, “How does one pursue godliness in the real world when surrounded by unbelievers? How do you cope with the daily grind?”
Paul says, “Hold firmly” to the gospel, which is of first importance. Jesus – as we saw in the gospel reading earlier – said, “deny yourself and take up your cross DAILY and follow me.”
Even Elijah – as we saw earlier in the Old Testament reading – who certainly was surrounded by unbelievers, became discouraged. But the Lord came to him; and the Lord has come to us.
Jesus is “Heaven in the Real World” (song by Steven Curtis Chapman).
How do you cope with the daily grind? How do you pursue godliness in the real world? Look to heaven in the real world. Look to Jesus. Hold firmly to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I was once visiting a church member who was grumbling about their health problems, and I began to remind them of the gospel. And they shouted, “I already believe that.” But we aren’t just to “believe it” – we need to “hold firmly” to it.
We may think that the problem is our health problems. The real problem is our heart problem – our self-seeking, why does this always happen to me, self-centered heart problem. Health problems simply make our heart problem more obvious.
This is why we never get nicer when we’re tired, sick or hungry. Our ability to hide our sinful heart is weakened.
Praise the Lord – because it means we can get honest about it, and take it to the cross and find the comfort, cleansing and change we so desperately need.
The problem for that church member was not their health problems, but the sinful heart that was causing them to grumble incessantly about it.
If we can be honest, we are okay hearing about Jesus dying for our sins; but we don’t actually want to look at those particular sins for which he died; which makes his death irrelevant. Who cares if Jesus was crucified for sins, if we don’t let him actually crucify our sin?!
Let us “hold firmly” to the gospel – let’s not simply think about it in theory, but put it into practice. The Puritan Pastor John Owen recognized that holiness was not merely the goal of all true learning; it is also the means of true learning. He said, “As we learn all to practice, so we learn much by practice.”
Instead of looking at life as “the daily grind;” let us look at life as God-given opportunities to hold firmly to the gospel; to put it into practice.
When you show up Monday morning and there is a leak in the roof at the shop – that’s a God-given opportunity to take your natural reaction to the cross and see it become growth in godliness.
When your loved one dies – that’s a God-given opportunity to take your natural reaction to the cross and see it become growth in godliness.
When you have to make a trip to the hospital – that’s a God-given opportunity to take your natural reaction to the cross and see it become growth in godliness.
When your kids do what your kids do – that’s a God-given opportunity to take your natural reaction to the cross and see it become growth in godliness.
“So…How does one pursue godliness in the real world when surrounded by unbelievers? How do you cope with the daily grind?”
LET THE TRUTH SET YOU FREE – AMEN!