Lessons for Living (Audio)

It seems kinda weird that God would choose to give people the task of spreading the news of His kingdom. I mean, we don’t always do a good job of representing Him to the world. Nevertheless, that’s the way God has set things up and we can’t get around that fact. Pastor Mark is teaching that the gospel spread not through the professional clergy – because there wasn’t one – but it was spread by regular people whose lives had been changed by God telling their friends the reason for the change in their lives. Do our friends see that dramatic change in our lives?

The ultimate question of life is “What happens to me after I die?” Since the fall, Satan’s answer to us has been either, “nothing” or some form of “everybody eventually gets to heaven”. Scripture says that both of those are lies. For our friends and family who don’t know God, they live with some degree of apprehension. Even though they may not admit it to anyone else, this is the case. Pastor Mark teaches us that it’s important for us who know the truth to live our lives in such a way that it’s obvious that we live with a different answer. We also need to be ready and willing to share that answer with others when asked.

Lots of people, it seems, believe that they qualify to get into heaven – just ask them. When you ask them their basis for this belief you’ll generally hear because they’re a “good” person. The problem with that thinking is that they’ve assumed that they get to set the standard for entrance. God, however, isn’t playing that game. He has declared that perfection in word, thought and deed for one’s entire life is the standard. We all know we miss that mark, so we’re in a pickle. Thank God that Jesus was willing to come and offer Himself as a substitute sacrifice for us so that we could have a chance to get into heaven.

We live in a world of moral relativism. Whatever we feel is right for us, that’s what we go with. If we read the history of the Jews, there was a point when they lived by the same credo. The Bible says that every man did what was right in his own eyes. Sound familiar? Pastor Mark, teaching from Philippians, reminds us of this aspect of Israel’s history as well as God’s response. God reiterates that He is the one who sets the standard and His standard is perfection. Fortunately for us He has made His Holy Spirit available to indwell us and to give us the power to follow His rules.

The Bible tells us that we’re all born with a nature that wants to live in opposition to God’s original intent. Because we’re born that way, we don’t see the problem with it. Once we become Christ followers the Holy Spirit shows us where we’re not lining up with God’s will. Pastor Mark is teaching that once that we have the light of Christ within us we are to shine that light to the unsaved world around us. We do that primarily by being obedient to God’s commands and sharing His love with others. The contrast will be so obvious that people will become curious why we’re different.

It seems that one of the hallmarks of our modern age is dishonesty. A former NFL owner once said, “Just win, baby”. That attitude seems to have pervaded all of society, including the church. There seems to be the thought that it’s okay to say from the pulpit whatever it takes as long as the seats are filled. Pastor Mark is teaching what the apostle Paul taught the Philippians – character matters more than popularity, because the unsaved world is watching what we do. Life will challenge us to cut corners and bend rules but we have to live our lives realizing that our final judge is God, not those around us.

There’s a lot of complaining going on nowadays. People don’t like the way elections turn out, or how their job’s going. Complaining is nothing new; examples are all over the Old Testament of the Bible. The people of Israel, God’s chosen people, complained all the time after being freed from Egypt. Pastor Mark is teaching the importance of cultivating a thankful attitude and the danger of becoming like the ancient Jews, who nurtured an attitude of complaining. Complaining will do nothing but drive others away from us as well as causing us to fail to see God’s blessings in our lives.

Sometimes the Christian lifestyle is difficult to maintain. The sin nature, our flesh, is constantly fighting to reassert its dominance. The world is trying to entice us to live their way. The devil is accusing us all the time as well. And God’s demands are so impossible, it seems. Pastor Mark’s teaching will remind us of one important factor in all of this – God, Who has made the demands, has also given us the power to fulfill the demands. We’ll learn how much God wants us to succeed and then how to get out of the way and let God work in and through us, meeting His goals for our lives.

Being a Christian, especially in America, can become kinda cushy. There aren’t a lot of threats to our lives due to our following Jesus, and as a country we’re so prosperous that there aren’t many threats to our well-being. The Bible, however, talks about working out our salvation. Pastor Mark is teaching of the necessity for us to treat advancing our salvation as an ongoing activity, not a one-time event. The apostle Paul is criticizing the Philippians, telling them that they have stagnated and are spiritual babies. God has so much more for us if we’ll pursue Him with all our heart.

The whole “living for God” thing can be really difficult sometimes, especially if you’re still kind of keeping your own hand on the driving wheel. The basic problem is that we still like doing some of the things we think God will want us to give up or put aside. Pastor Mark is reminding us in his teaching that living that way will not please God and it won’t please us, either. Our hearts will be divided as we swing back and forth, and certainly God’s blessings will be elusive. The best thing to do is to give in to God’s commands, go through the struggles, and receive His blessing when it’s all over.