Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
12/22/2019A.M.
IN PURSUIT OF THE GOOD LIFE
Adding Godliness & Self-Control
John 10.10 2 Peter 1.5-6 Galatians 5.22-23
Hebrews 12.2-3 1 Corinthians 15.58 & 9.24
This morning… We start our week looking into Christmas 2019…
As our nation moves further and further from God… And we are encouraged to forget Him and all that He represents… Personally!!...I’m
• Proud that this time of the year… the world is reminded that Jesus came…
• Proud that ourminds are focused upon… turned upon Jesus.
• Proud that His coming makes possible a better life for humankind.
Allow me to point out this morning that how you feel about celebrating Christmas in memory of His Coming is a personal decision...
God says it’s alright to celebrate or not to celebrate… Romans 14.6 & 10 makes this pretty plain… The one who observes the day… Observes it in honor of the Lord… The one who abstains... Abstains in honor of the Lord… So why are you passing judgment on one another?
Listen… Regardless of our feelings on Christmas… I hope we come here this morning celebrating His coming!... and the difference He’s maDe in our life!
Our Sunday Morning Series is… In Pursuit of the Good Life…
For several weeks we’ve heard Jesus say… I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.
This statement comes within the context of Jesus portraying Himself as the Good shepherd… And the Door to the Sheepfold.
Here… Jesus is contrasting THE GOOD SHEPHERD to the THIEF that comes… Not to give us the good life… But rob us of the same.
Church… Sometimes we misinterpret this parable of Jesus making Satan the Thief…
No…The context demands that the false teaching of the Pharisees is the Thief.
Indeed…
• False teachers…
• The doctrines of men…
• Those who rely on church tradition rather than Scripture…
Rob us of the Good Life… False teaching robs us of the abundant life Jesus came to offer.
Well… Exactly what is the Good Life Jesus Came To Make Possible?...
• The NIV says… It’s the full life…
• The New Living Translation says… A life that is rich and satisfying…
• The Message says… Eternal life… A more and better life than we ever dreamed of…
• Our King James inserts the word more before the word abundant…
• The NASV and the ESV are more faithful to the Greek reading… I came that you might have life and have it abundantly.
I understand that we find several words in the Greek New Testament that speak of LIFE…
We’ll examine two…
The first is BIOS (BEE-OS)… The word from which we get our word Biology.
It speaks of Physical life… Life that animates all humanity because we have… Breath… A heartbeat… Blood flow… Consciousness…
Reminds us of the verse… In Him we… live… Move… And have our being… Existence.
The second word is ZEO… ZO-A… Which speaks of The Godliness in us…
In Acts and Romans… Our King James translates this… Fervent in Spirit.
• Zeo…ZO-A… speaks of our spirituality…
• It speaks of OUR relationship with God…
• Life as God would have it…
• Our desire for Godliness… Our desire to be formed in His image… Having His… Heart… Disposition… and Behavior.
Bios…BEE-OS… Speaks of our being born…
Zeo…ZO-A… Speaks of our being born again… Pointing to an eternal existence because of a new relationship with God.
Church…When Jesus says… I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly… He has reference to both these words and their meaning… For instance…
• Jesus came that this earthly life… Our physical existence… Might be enhanced.
•And He came that our spiritual life… Our relationship with God might be enhanced... Resulting in eternal life with Him.
Jesus came that ALL OF LIFE… BEE-OS & Zo-A… Might be better…Enhanced… ABUNDANT.
Putting these two words together… Brings to mind the 23rd Psalm…
Listen to the Psalmist… When Jesus is Lord… When we have a relationship with Him… Life is better… We have no needs because…
• He supplies all our physical needs…Green pastures… Quiet still waters…
• He supplies our emotional needs…Renews our soul…
• Our spiritual direction… Leads us in paths of righteousness…
• We have no fears… Because of His coming DEATH has been dealt with… The sting and victory of death have been replaced with the promise of eternal life…
• As our Shepherd… He uses the shepherd tools to… Guide us… Discipline us… Rescue us…
• He blesses us… Even in the presence of our enemies…
• He is the Great Physician… Healing us with His anointing oil…
• Because of His coming… Life’s Cup is full… Overflowing… Abundant…
• His loving… KINDNESS… GRACE… MERCY… Will follow us all of this life…
• And we have the hope of a forever home in the Father’s House.
When we read the twenty-third Psalm… We understand that this life… And our eternal existence… Has BEEN upgraded because of His coming.
Rick Ezell… A Baptist Preacher and Coach in South Carolina… Tells this story that illustrates what it means when we say Jesus’ Coming Upgrades life…
He and his wife boarded a plane on their honeymoon… And the airlines booked them in separate seats… Two rows apart.
When the steward came arranging for drinks… His wife Cindy must have had a certain look on her face… Because the steward ask… Are you on your honeymoon?... Yes… Well…Where is your husband?... Cindy pointed to a couple of rows up.
The steward left… In a few minutes he returned saying get your things and follow me.
Rick and Cindy were escorted to the First Class Cabin…
• Rick says with… Wide… Totally reclining… Leather seats…
• Pillows…
• Blankets…
• Drinks and finger foods on demand…
Comfort and style we could not have imagined.
He says… It was like walking up to the car rental desk… Saying… We’ve rented a Ford Escort for the week… And the clerk saying… All of our Escorts are in service… Could we upgrade you to a Lincoln TownCar?
Jesus came saying… I come that you might have LIFE AND HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY.
Listen church… The abundant Life is more than… Material wealth… Things… Prosperity… Prestige… Pleasure… Popularity… And Politics…
The Abundant Life Jesus came to offer is one filled with the Fruit of the Spirit… Love…Joy… Peace… Patience… Kindness… Goodness… Faithfulness… Gentleness… Self-control.
• A life filled with the graces that Peter says help us participate in Godliness…
• A life that makes our calling and election sure…
• A life that gives us ENTRANCE INTO THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD.
Indeed… Eye has not seen… Ear has not heard…Neither has it entered the mind of man… What great things God has made possible for those who love Him… Those who will celebrate His coming by being born again into a new life… An upgraded life.
Well… In Application… How do we add Godliness and Self-control to our life?…
First we gotta say… Self-control is not a very popular subject today... But is something that we must understand and make use of... If weare going to be Godly People.
God created us... Free Moral Agents... Meaning He has given us a will... So that we can control our…
• desires...
• Attitudes...
• disposition…
• Behavior...
• And destiny.
What’s our problem?... What is our problem?....
• Temper?...
• Are we critical and judgmental…
• Impatient…
• Is it about abuse & addiction… to Sex… Pornography… Drink… Drugs… Food… Tobacco…
• Is our problem Lying…
• Pride…
• Apathy… Laziness…
• Self-centeredness…
We all have skeletons… and they don’t always stay in the closet… Do They?
LikePaul… We want to do right… BUT WE DON’T!
You see... Self-Control becomes an integral part of our being Spirit Led.
Truth is... We will become what we will to become… We will become what we will to become.
To become… GOD-LIKE... CHRIST-LIKE... To produce the Fruit of the Spirit… We must grab our WANT-TO... By our WILL and determine to become God’s person... The decision is ours... And ours alone.
Listen church... As much as we might like ... Who weare... what we are...Cannot be blamed upon anyone else...
• Not our parents…
• Not our spouse…
• Not on our boss…
• Not on our life situation or circumstance.
You see...
• We control our attitudes...
• Our disposition…
• Our behavior...
• Our eternal destiny.
We are who and what we choose to be.
Listen… If you don’t like who you are… If you don’t feel comfortable in your own skin… It’s nobody's fault but yours… You and I decide… It’s our choice!!
OK… How do we exercise this Self-Control…
So as to put on Godliness…
First… We must embrace our dissatisfaction.
We must be dissatisfied with WHO and WHAT we are at the moment…. And want to be more like Jesus.
We hear Paul say…Philippians 3.12-14… Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.
Jesus said… Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for right and righteousness.
We must stop relying on our good intentions.
How many people have I heard say on their deathbed… Well… I intended to…
• I intended to be a better spouse…
• I intended to be a better parent…
• I intended to be baptized…
• I intended to attend Worship more regularly…
• I intended to read my Bible more… Pray more… Give more…
• I intended to say yes to the Elders when they asked me to join or lead a ministry…
• I intended to serve Jesus more faithfully…
• I intended stopping that particular sin…
I HAD GOOD INTENTIONS!!
Listen church… Good intentions without self-control is always failure…. Always failure!
We must start training today… We must put our hand to the plow.
The New Living Translation has Paul saying in 1 Timothy 4.7… Train yourself to be Godly… In Philippians… It’s work out your salvation.
Tom Landry said… The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do… In order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be. He goes on to say… This is also the way it is with we Christians.
We must me willing to discipline our flesh nature… Our human nature.
Paul writes… I discipline my body like an athlete…Otherwise I fear that after preaching to others… I myself might be disqualified in the race.
• Our body doesn’t want to get up…But we must get up anyway…
• Our body doesn’t want to exercise…Exercise anyway!
• Our flesh nature wants to eat more…Discipline it…
• I don’t want to take time to pray or read my Bible… Exercise a little self-control…
• I don’t have time or energy to accept a ministry in God’s church… Really?... Are we really that busy?... Really?
• At my age… Life is short… I want to do what I want to do before I die…
Jesus said… Take up your cross and follow me… I am the Way… The Truth … And the Life… Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth… But in Heaven.
Self-controlled folk are those who look beyond today.
The Hebrews’ Writer captures this point when he wrote… We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy He knew would be His afterward. Now He is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven.. LISTEN NOW… Think about all He endured when sinful people did such terrible things to Him… why?... so that you don’t become weary and give up (Hebrews12.2-3).
Paul concludes in First Corinthians fifteen… Dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord…WHY?… Because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15.58).
Then finally… Understand that self-discipline won’t be easy…. But it will lead to a life without regret.
To make this point… Allow me to read from a graduation speech by Admiral William H. McRaven… He tells of His disciplinary experience as a Navy Seal…Some of us have been there!...
I stood at attention along with 150 other students on the first day of SEAL training. The instructor… Dressed in combat boots… Khaki shorts… And a blue and gold tee shirt… walked across the asphalt courtyard to a brass bell hanging in full view of we trainees.
Gentlemen!!… He began… For the next six months you will undergo the toughest course of instruction in the UNITED STATES MILITARY.
I glanced around and could see looks of apprehension on the faces of my fellow cadets… We were scared!
He continued… You will be tested like no time in your life. Pausing… He looked around the class of new tadpoles. Most of you will not make it… I will see to that!!
I will do everything in my power to make you quit!
• I will harass you unmercifully…
• I will embarrass you in front of your teammates…
• I will push you beyond your limits.
Then with a slight grin… And there will be pain… Lots and lots of pain.
Grabbing the bell… He pulled the rope hard… And a loud clang echoed across the parade grounds… But if you don’t like the pain… If you don’t like the harassment… Then there is an easy way out… He pulled the rope again and another wave of deep metallic sound reverberated off the buildings. All you have to do to quit is ring this bell three times… And it’S over!!... all over!
• Ring the bell and you won’t have to get up early…
• Ring the bell… You won’t have to do the long runs…The cold swims… The obstacle course.
• Ring the bell and you can avoid all the pain!
Then he glanced down at the asphalt and seemed to break from his prepared monologue…But let me tell you something GENTLemEn… If you quit… You will regret it for the rest of your life… Quitting never made anything easier.
Six months later… At graduation… Only 33 out of 150 were left standing.
Some had taken the easy way out… They had quit… And my guess is that the old man was right… they would regret it for the rest of their lives.
Listen church… The abundant life is the best life available… Don’t turn it down… Don’t turn it down because it becomes difficult… Don’t quit!... Don’t live in eternal regret!!
It was Paul who said… Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9.24.
So church…
• The good life…
• The abundant life…
• Life at its best…
Revolves around… Adding these Christian Graces… Producing the Fruit of God Living In Us… Thorough the Spirit He gave us.
What will we do with Jesus this week?... Will we celebrate His Coming by becoming a Child of God through… Faith… Repentance … and Baptism?
Will we be His disciple by disciplining ourselves into His image of Godliness.
This challenge is ours as we stand and sing this song together.