3ABN On the Road

The Enemy Of Great

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Mark Howard

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000776


01:00 How many of you like things that are great?
01:04 How about this, how many of you
01:05 would like to be considered great?
01:07 Wouldn't be great get at the end of your life
01:08 and wow, they were such a great person?
01:13 Did you know great has an enemy?
01:16 That's right and the topic, our topic today is
01:20 "The Enemy of Great," "The Enemy of Great."
01:25 I'm gonna ask if you will bow your heads with me,
01:26 I'm gonna kneel and ask God
01:28 to bless this time we have together.
01:33 Heavenly Father, Father, we know that all greatness,
01:38 true greatness comes from You.
01:41 And as we discuss the enemy of great today,
01:45 we're pray Father, Your Holy Spirit would give us
01:46 understanding as to how this applies to our Christian life,
01:50 how we can became great in Jesus Christ?
01:55 Father, this is my prayer in His name
01:56 and for His sake, amen.
02:02 "The Enemy of Great." I was reading a book recently
02:10 by a man named Jim Collins,
02:12 now Jim Collins is a former professor
02:16 of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
02:18 The book is actually called "Good to Great"
02:22 and it's a book that's written on the subject of business.
02:26 But Jim Collins brings something very interesting
02:30 in this book and I want to share with you
02:32 a paragraph from the book "Good to Great."
02:35 Here's what he says, "Good is the enemy of great.
02:43 And that is one of the key reasons
02:45 that we have so little that becomes great.
02:50 We don't have great schools,
02:51 principally because we have good schools.
02:55 We don't have great government,
02:57 primarily because we have good government
02:59 that works pretty well.
03:01 And truth be told, the vast majority of people
03:05 will look back from the end of their lives and realize
03:08 that they did not have a great life in large part
03:12 because it was just so easy to settle for a good one!"
03:20 Now I think that's profound coming from a secular mindset,
03:28 it could be discouraging impossibly even devastating
03:33 to look back on one's good life
03:37 only to say it could have been great.
03:44 But from a Christian prospective
03:48 we must understand that anything
03:52 less than a great life will fail at eternity.
03:58 And a great life can only be ours
04:02 through a complete surrender to Jesus Christ,
04:06 because it's Him who makes our life great.
04:10 Good, Jim Collin says, is the enemy of great.
04:17 Now I want to share with you a passage in the scripture
04:21 and I think it's right along these lines.
04:24 It's in the book of Second Corinthians Chapter 10,
04:29 Second Corinthians Chapter 10,
04:31 if you go to the New Testament start out
04:33 with the book of Matthew then Mark, Luke, John, Acts
04:36 Romans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians Chapter 10.
04:42 And we're going to go to verse 12,
04:45 Second Corinthians Chapter 10 and verse 12.
04:52 Okay, are we there?
04:53 Let's read Second Corinthians 10 and verse 12,
04:57 the Apostle Paul says, "For we dare not class ourselves
05:01 or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves
05:06 but they measuring themselves by themselves,
05:10 and comparing themselves among themselves,
05:13 are not wise." The Apostle talks about those
05:18 who measure themselves by themselves
05:19 and compare themselves among themselves,
05:21 he says, this is not wise, this is a foolish thing to do.
05:26 You know, I think that goes right along
05:28 with the idea of good being the enemy of great.
05:31 So often we determine what our life should be
05:34 by what everybody else is doing,
05:37 we want to live good lives, where is our standard,
05:39 well, we look to the people around us.
05:41 Maybe it's my wife, maybe it's your husband,
05:45 maybe it's a friend, or a coworker,
05:48 or a boss, or a pastor.
05:56 But Apostle Paul says, here it's dangerous
05:59 to compare ourselves among ourselves
06:01 because we are not the standard
06:03 we are to be reaching for.
06:06 No human being is the standard
06:09 and I think that we fall into this bad habit
06:13 of comparing ourselves among ourselves
06:15 and settling for subpar.
06:20 Let me give you another Bible example,
06:21 let's go in our Bibles to the book of Luke.
06:28 Matthew, Mark, Luke Chapter 18.
06:37 Luke Chapter 18, now Jesus tells a parable here
06:43 that's known as the parable of the tax,
06:49 the Pharisees and the public,
06:51 you know, the Pharisees and the tax collector.
06:54 Luke Chapter 18 and starting in verse 9,
06:59 Luke Chapter 18 and starting in verse 9,
07:04 the Bible says, "Also He spoke this parable
07:09 to some who trust in themselves
07:11 that they were righteous, and despised others.
07:16 Two men went up to the temple to pray,
07:19 one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
07:26 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
07:30 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men,
07:34 extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
07:38 or even as this tax collector here.
07:42 I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all I possess.'
07:50 And the tax collector, standing afar off,
07:54 would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven,
07:57 but he beat his breast, saying,
07:59 'God be merciful to me, a sinner.'
08:05 I tell you this man went down to his house
08:09 justified rather than the other.
08:12 For everyone who exalts himself will be abased,
08:15 and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
08:19 Now you have to understand something
08:21 about the tax collectors, the Jews viewed tax collectors
08:28 as traders to their country.
08:31 In fact they were two marks
08:33 against the tax collector in the Jewish mind,
08:35 first and foremost the Jewish nation
08:37 at the time of Christ was under tribute to Rome.
08:40 The Government of Rome ruled the Jewish nation
08:44 and their desire was at that their Messiah would come
08:47 and free them from Roman oppression.
08:51 They felt that the Romans were their enemies
08:53 and any Jew that would league with the Romans,
08:55 i.e., becamea tax collector work for the government
08:59 was an enemy to the Jewish race.
09:04 And so they look down on the tax collector.
09:07 Second of all, the tax collectors
09:08 because of they said,
09:10 hey, they're already looking down on us,
09:11 it doesn't matter that I'm honest or not.
09:13 And so the tax collectors would regularly
09:15 overcharge people for their taxes
09:18 and skim that money off for themselves.
09:22 And so the tax collector was despised above all people.
09:26 And here we see a parable,
09:29 incidentally this parable does not related
09:31 to a made up story but a real situation
09:33 that Jesus had observed right there in the temple
09:36 where two men came in,
09:37 one a Pharisee, one a tax collector.
09:41 And the Pharisee comes in and he says,
09:44 'I thank you, God,
09:45 that I'm not as bad as other men.'
09:51 In other words, God, I thank you that I'm good.
09:55 Notice something, the Pharisee does not claim
09:59 greatness just goodness, he doesn't claim greatness,
10:03 he just thanks God that at least
10:05 he's not as bad as this guy.
10:11 Good is the enemy of great.
10:14 The Pharisee was complacent and self satisfied
10:17 that at least he wasn't as bad as the tax collector,
10:20 you know, we do the same thing.
10:23 We look at people, we run into people in situations
10:26 and we look at people and we say,
10:27 I can't believe a person could live like that,
10:29 I don't believe a person could act like that.
10:31 Sometimes we get err about ourselves
10:33 that I may not be perfect
10:35 but at least I'm not as bad as that guy.
10:44 You know what, that guy is not your example or that girl,
10:49 that person is not your example.
10:52 Sometimes we settle with good
10:56 instead of striving for great,
10:59 because we compare ourselves among ourselves,
11:00 this is what's going on here, this is what's going on
11:03 with the Pharisee and the publican,
11:06 the Pharisee does not consider himself great
11:08 but good enough.
11:15 You know, sometimes it's easy for us to point out
11:18 people who are not doing maybe
11:19 as well as we think we're doing.
11:25 I hear from people a lot, I hear from Christians a lot.
11:28 We see something going on in society,
11:30 we see something going on,
11:31 I had a person recently who was--
11:34 who was in a situation where, with another person,
11:41 a church member who ran into some situation
11:43 with a person who is not a Christian
11:49 where they felt that the person treated them wrong,
11:51 said something mean to them, said something rude to them.
11:56 Sometimes it is the person at the check out,
11:58 and we say, I can't believe that person's so rude.
12:04 This person they felt was rude to them
12:07 and began to build up in their minds,
12:10 the idea you know that, well, at least I'm not that bad.
12:13 We do that, we have this bad habit of doing that.
12:15 It reminds of a story, a story of the evangelist,
12:19 the minister, John Wesley, one of the founders
12:21 of the Methodist Churches, he was walking
12:23 through the streets of London with a friend of his.
12:26 And he saw a man, who was a slave to alcohol,
12:33 the man was drunk and sick,
12:36 face down in the gutter of the street there in London.
12:44 And Wesley's friend points to the man
12:45 and he says to him, what a-- he says to John Wesley,
12:49 "What a wretch of a man, look at that filth?
12:52 Why don't they get this filth off the streets?"
12:56 And John Wesley commented on it as he thought,
12:58 as he reflected for a moment, he says, "you know, what?
13:01 He says, if it weren't for the grace of God,
13:05 I would be that man."
13:10 You know, the Pharisee said,
13:11 at least I'm not as bad as that guy,
13:14 if you're not it's because of the grace of God.
13:16 We too often compare ourselves among ourselves.
13:20 And keep this in mind, just because somebody else
13:22 maybe struggling or doing poorly
13:24 doesn't change the standard,
13:26 the high standard of Christianity.
13:30 I want to share with you a statement
13:31 that I read from the Review and Herald
13:34 of August 31, 1886.
13:36 I want you to listen to what this says in this article,
13:40 "The people of God should not measure themselves
13:43 by the world, nor by the opinions of men,
13:48 nor by what they once were before embracing the truth."
13:55 Now, you know, you might be able to say with myself,
13:59 praise God I'm not what I used to be before I came to Jesus.
14:05 But even then it says here,
14:07 we are not to compare ourselves
14:09 even with what we once were before embracing the truth.
14:12 Well, I was bad then, and I'm better now.
14:16 Listen to what it goes on to say.
14:19 "But their faith and position in the world,
14:22 as they now are, must be compared
14:26 with what they would have been if their course
14:30 had continually been onward and upward
14:33 since they professed to be followers of Christ."
14:38 What are we to compare ourselves with,
14:40 brother here or sister here
14:42 or the pastor or somebody else, no.
14:47 my own life before I became a Christian, no.
14:50 The only safe comparison to be made is,
14:52 what would you be now had you the first time
14:54 you accepted, Jesus, continually followed Him
14:56 step by step onward and upward.
15:03 "This is the only safe comparison that can be made."
15:09 You know, friends, we have to admit,
15:12 we have to admit our badness before Christ
15:15 can take us not only to goodness but to greatness.
15:21 We have to be willing to admit that badness.
15:24 You know, they say, it takes a big man
15:26 to admit that he's a small man.
15:31 It takes a big man to admit that he's nothing.
15:34 I like what Martin Luther says,
15:35 he says, the great reformer, the Protestant reformer,
15:38 he said, "God makes something out of nothing."
15:43 God creates out of nothing and until a man becomes nothing
15:48 God can't make anything out of him.
15:51 So it takes a big man to admit that he's a small man,
15:53 but in reality the person who could admit
15:55 he's nothing without Christ has potential
15:57 to became a great man.
15:59 So often we admit whether we are--
16:04 we're sinners but we make the habit
16:06 of comparing ourselves among ourselves.
16:09 We say, yes, I need a savior
16:11 but then we, we start to grow
16:12 in our Christian life and we stop.
16:14 Well, this is good enough, just like the Pharisee,
16:17 at least I'm not as bad as that guy.
16:23 We settle for good when we could have been great.
16:28 Why do we settle for mediocrity?
16:30 Why do we do it, why do we settle for mediocrity
16:33 when God has placed before us the opportunity
16:36 of something so much greater?
16:42 You know sometimes we say,
16:43 why are you asking me to be a better Christian
16:44 when brother so and so isn't a better Christian.
16:48 I'm not gonna strive in my Christianity to be great,
16:51 I'm not gonna strive at being a great Christian
16:52 when brother so and so isn't going to.
16:56 Let me ask you a question,
16:57 who's losing and who's gaining there?
17:00 You're losing out, you're losing out
17:03 because God has given us a high calling,
17:06 the highest privilege we have
17:07 as Christians is Christ likeness.
17:12 Godliness, Godlikeness this is the standard
17:15 that God has for us to reach.
17:17 This is what God wants to do for you.
17:21 God wants to take you and He wants to take me
17:23 and He wants make us great for His name's sake.
17:30 The price of Christianity is to fulfill the purpose
17:34 that God has created us for.
17:37 And when we settle for mediocrity,
17:39 good enough, when we settle for good
17:44 instead of marching onward to great,
17:47 we lose out on the privilege
17:50 that God has put before us.
17:53 Friends, the sacrifice of Calvary was not given
17:57 so that we could enter heaven as a culprits barely pardoned,
18:02 but as a conquerors.
18:05 God doesn't want us to just be good in this life,
18:07 He says, "I can make you great
18:09 if you'll submit all to me."
18:15 You know, I think back to high school.
18:20 When I went to high school,
18:21 In fact, I moved from living with my mother
18:26 in the Midwest in Missouri
18:29 to moving with my father
18:31 before what was going to be my junior year of high school.
18:35 Only as I got there and I began to dialogue
18:38 with the school they were on a different credit system
18:42 and they were able to move me from my--
18:44 I skipped my junior year
18:45 and went right into my senior year.
18:47 Oh, hotdog I was gonna be on a high school it was,
18:49 it was great, I can get out quick.
18:52 And one of things I did for high school,
18:54 in high school when I scheduled my classes
18:56 was I made sure I scheduled a study hall
18:59 for the last class of the day,
19:01 you know what that means? That means you don't go
19:03 to the last class of the day, you leave.
19:07 I wanted to escape by,
19:09 do what I had to do get out and get out of high school.
19:12 I remember sitting up and working on papers
19:15 that were assigned in my English class,
19:18 I was able to do fairly well with English.
19:20 Teacher would assign book reports or essays,
19:22 I'd wait until the night before they were due
19:26 and I'd stay up and I turn them in
19:27 and I could get a B on those papers.
19:29 I felt satisfied with that, I was a good student,
19:34 I looked back and realized
19:35 I could have been a great student.
19:38 You know, there are things in high school
19:39 that you do, there's classes that you take and you think,
19:41 well, I'm never gonna use this for anything.
19:44 Sometimes it's not even the class
19:46 as much as learning to discipline your mind.
19:48 I look back and I regret not striving for greatness.
19:54 Always settle for goodness,
19:56 I was a good student and for that reason
19:57 I didn't become a great student,
19:59 I wish I'd applied myself
20:04 but I settled for good.
20:07 How many of us as Christians settle for good,
20:10 we settle for good experience
20:11 when we could have a great experience.
20:14 We settle for good witness
20:15 when we could have a great witness.
20:18 Good is the enemy of great,
20:23 but God has a higher calling for His people,
20:26 God has a higher calling, I want you to--
20:28 I want you to see it in the Book of Revelation with me,
20:30 Revelation Chapter 14.
20:33 Revelation Chapter 14 and verse 6,
20:38 Revelation 14 and verse 6, the last book of the Bible.
20:44 Chapter 14 and verse 6, this is what the Bible says,
20:49 "Then I saw another angel flying in midst of heaven,
20:53 having the everlasting gospel to preach to those
20:56 who dwell on the earth."
20:58 Just a point here, the gospel commission
21:02 has not been given to angels,
21:04 it's been given to men.
21:06 We find it in Matthew 24, Jesus said,
21:08 "This gospel must be preached in all the world
21:09 for a witness and then the end will come."
21:10 We find it in Matthew 28 where Jesus gives
21:12 the last commission to His disciples,
21:14 "Go ye therefore and teach all the nations,
21:17 baptizing them in the name of the Father,
21:18 the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them
21:20 to observe all things that I've commanded you."
21:22 Jesus gave men the gospel commission and yet,
21:24 when we come to the book of Revelation,
21:26 God uses an angel to picture the power of the message
21:29 that He's gonna give through people.
21:32 That is a great calling and there is no higher calling
21:37 than what we find here in the pages of scripture
21:40 for God's people.
21:42 "I saw this angel flying in the midst of heaven
21:44 with the everlasting gospel to preach to everyone."
21:49 Verse 7, Saying with a loud voice,
21:52 Fear God, and give what?
21:55 "Give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come."
22:01 Fear God, and give glory to him,
22:02 what does that mean, give glory to him?
22:05 How do we give God glory,
22:06 how we are supposed to give God,
22:07 what is this mean?
22:09 I want you turning your Bibles to Matthew 5,
22:13 Matthew Chapter 5 and verse 16,
22:17 what does it mean to give glory to God?
22:21 Matthew 5 and verse 16.
22:28 Notice what Jesus says here,
22:31 Matthew 5 verse 16, notice what he says,
22:34 Let your light so shine before men,
22:39 that they may see," your what?
22:42 Your good works, and glorify you for them.
22:46 Is that what it says? No.
22:49 It says, "Let your light so shine before men,
22:51 that they may see your good works,
22:52 and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
22:59 We don't have any good works.
23:01 What are our good works?
23:03 He says, "let them see your good works."
23:05 Listen folks, when people see our good works
23:09 people who know me and who knew me now,
23:12 know me and knew me then,
23:15 will look in my life and if they see good works
23:17 they'll see I know couldn't be that guy,
23:18 I knew him before.
23:20 It must be a greater power at work within him.
23:24 Jesus says, he wants his works
23:26 to be seeing his people why so that can give us glory? No.
23:29 So they can glorify our Father in heaven.
23:33 I want you to see that again,
23:35 I want you to see that again in First Peter Chapter 2.
23:39 Go to the New Testament toward the end of the book
23:41 after all the T's,
23:43 the T's are conveniently group together,
23:44 they're in the New Testament,
23:45 you get the book of Hebrews and then the book of James
23:47 and the book of First Peter, First Peter 2 and verse 11.
23:54 First Peter 2 and verse 11, let's read this text here.
24:02 "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims,
24:05 to abstain from fleshly lust, which war against the soul,
24:10 having your conduct," what?
24:13 "Your conduct honorable among the Gentiles,"
24:16 that is the unbelievers,
24:19 "that when they speak against you as evildoers,
24:22 they may, by your," what?
24:26 "Your good works which they observe,
24:30 glorify God in the day of visitation."
24:33 Peter says, the Gentiles,
24:34 when they observe your good works
24:36 they can glorify God.
24:39 God has a high calling for His people,
24:42 and preaching the everlasting gospel to every nation,
24:45 and kindred, and tongue, and people,
24:47 it's not just a preaching with words, friends.
24:50 It's a preaching with our very lives.
24:53 As people see something in us as they see the works
24:56 that are shown that Christ abides in our hearts,
24:59 the works that show that we've been transform by Christ
25:02 then God is glorified.
25:05 God is called us to greatness not just goodness.
25:08 God is called us the greatness
25:10 because the greatness is from Him,
25:12 when we submit to God's making us great.
25:18 People will glorify His name for what he is able to do
25:21 with fallen humanity and praise His name for that.
25:24 What a high calling for God's people?
25:32 What a high calling God has given His people.
25:38 He wants a people ready for the day of His coming
25:43 so that when Jesus Christ comes in the clouds of glory
25:46 we will be able to behold Him as He is.
25:54 Friends, good will not cut it in the day of Christ's coming,
25:58 only great will do. And good is the enemy of great,
26:05 settling for mediocrity inhibits us
26:11 from being all we could be in Christ Jesus.
26:14 You know, some people, some people are happy
26:21 to settle for mediocrity, they say,
26:22 if I can make it with mediocrity I'm gonna do it.
26:26 You know, I tell you that I don't think mediocrity
26:28 is gonna cut it in the day of Jesus coming,
26:29 I don't think good is gonna cut it.
26:31 There are some of you who say,
26:32 hey, if good can't cut it I'm gonna be there
26:33 I'd rather be good,
26:35 I don't want to have to strive for great,
26:36 I don't want to go to that trouble.
26:39 But you're thinking about it all wrong.
26:42 The greatness that God promises us
26:43 number one, it is a promise.
26:44 Number two, there is no greater honor
26:48 that God could bestow upon us.
26:54 Then to prepare us to stand in the day of Christ coming.
27:00 There is no greater honor that God could bestow upon us
27:04 to give us the gift of His righteousness
27:06 and make us great through His omnipotent power.
27:16 And yet, some of us still will settle for mediocrity, why?
27:20 Why do we do that? You know, I remember growing up
27:22 and I remember Christmas time.
27:25 When I was young, I remember Christmas time,
27:28 we'd have all these packages, all these presents,
27:31 presents and kids would come up
27:33 and they gather around and look at the presents
27:34 and you know, our eyes were always drawn
27:36 not to the little tiny box
27:38 but to that one huge box, whose is that?
27:41 We go and look at it and everybody would,
27:43 oh, ah, what's in the box?
27:46 Oh, we wish that box was ours.
27:48 Generally one name on it, we wanted the big present,
27:53 how many people take the small present
27:55 when you can have the big present.
27:57 And, yet, we settle for mediocrity,
27:59 we say, no, no thanks, I know that God wants to do
28:01 greater things for me, but I'll settle for good,
28:04 why would we do such a thing?
28:06 Especially knowing that submitting to that greatness
28:09 only exemplifies God's greatness
28:12 and brings glory to His name.
28:14 Fear God and give glory to Him, the Bible says.
28:22 Turn with me in your Bibles
28:23 to the book of Philippians Chapter 3.
28:28 Philippians Chapter 3,
28:32 if we go in the New Testament past the gospels,
28:35 Acts, Romans, First amd Second Corinthians,
28:37 Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians.
28:41 Philippians Chapter 3, we're gonna start in verse 12.
28:47 Philippians 3 and starting in verse 12,
28:50 notice the words of the Apostle Paul.
28:55 If there was anybody in the Christian walk
28:59 who strive for greatness it was the Apostle Paul.
29:03 Listen to how he describes it, Philippians 3 and verse 12,
29:08 he says, "Not that I have already attained,
29:10 or I'm already perfected."
29:12 No I'm not great yet, he says,
29:13 "I'm not attained to greatness but he says,
29:15 I press on that I may lay hold of that
29:20 for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me."
29:25 Paul says here, Jesus Christ, Jesus has laid
29:27 hold of us to give us greatness and he says,
29:31 I'm not there yet but that's my goal,
29:34 I'm pressing on to be all that He intended that I should be.
29:43 Verse 13, "Brethren, he says,
29:45 I do not count myself to have apprehended,"
29:47 I'm not there yet, you know, we can all say that,
29:51 we can look at our lives and say,
29:52 I'm not there yet but let's not settle for less.
29:57 Let's aim for that goal,
29:58 let's press on like the Apostle Paul.
30:01 Brethren, he says, I'm not attained,
30:08 I've not apprehended, but one thing I do,
30:12 forgetting those things which are behind
30:13 and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
30:15 I press toward the goal for the price
30:19 of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
30:23 Paul says, "I press toward the goal."
30:24 I'm aiming for the goal, no I'm not there yet,
30:27 but Christ Jesus laid hold of me
30:30 so He could make me great,
30:31 and I'm not gonna let Him down.
30:35 You see, friends, Jesus wants to demonstrate
30:37 His own greatness by what He's doing in His followers.
30:44 He points to His followers and He says,
30:45 "Here, here's what they were and here's My grace,
30:50 here's what My grace can do in them.
30:54 Here are my followers."
30:55 And what do we see?
30:59 A group of lackadaisical, lukewarm,
31:01 mediocre settled for good, professed followers of Christ.
31:04 Where are those who are striving
31:05 to press on for greatness?
31:08 Not greatness that we obtain,
31:10 but greatness that Christ has already obtained for us.
31:20 Forgetting what's behind, He says,
31:21 "I press on." You know, sometimes we look behind us.
31:28 We look at our hindrances, we look at the discouragements
31:30 maybe a job that didn't pan out,
31:32 maybe some future plans that didn't go
31:33 just the way we thought, maybe at one time
31:35 we were looking for greatness and then we just,
31:37 oh, it didn't workout,
31:39 a relationship that didn't workout,
31:40 a spiritual struggle that we've had
31:42 and we've not gained the victory yet,
31:43 and we look behind and we say,
31:44 "Oh, I'm just--I'm not gonna ever make it to great,
31:47 I'll settle for good."
31:50 Heed the words of the Apostle Paul, nobody says,
31:52 "I'm not yet attained." But I press on.
31:56 This one thing I do, this one goal I have.
32:05 Sometimes it's because we're looking behind,
32:07 that we just settle for mediocrity.
32:08 Sometimes it's because we have conflicts
32:10 with church members.
32:12 You know, it's funny as we compare ourselves
32:14 among ourselves, sometimes we get so caught up
32:16 and who in the church isn't just right.
32:19 And it amazes me when I hear church members say
32:21 "I don't understand why some of these other people."
32:23 You know what?
32:25 The devil brings people into the church,
32:26 did you know that? The devil runs--
32:30 The devil is always running his own evangelistic campaign.
32:33 The same time God' bringing in the church,
32:35 the devil wants to bring people in the church
32:36 just to get you stirred up.
32:39 Don't let him do it, brother.
32:40 Don't let him do it, sister. Don't let him do it.
32:46 Press on for greatness.
32:50 And if there's that brother or sister,
32:51 that's stirring you up, pray for them,
32:54 minister to them just as Jesus would do.
33:02 You know, sometimes we just,
33:03 it's as if-- When we're fighting
33:05 the good fight of faith, we run up against struggles,
33:09 and sometimes as Christians, we act so surprised.
33:11 I don't understand why I'm, why I'm running into this,
33:13 I don't understand why I'm having such a difficult time.
33:19 Friends the devil is not gonna let you go out of his service,
33:21 let me go out of his service without a fight.
33:25 It reminds me of a story of a, of a lady who,
33:31 who was always so positive about everything.
33:34 You know, and some people just,
33:35 they can't deal with that well,
33:37 her boss couldn't deal with that well.
33:39 She just always came into work so chipper.
33:41 Oh, how are you doing? Everything's so great,
33:42 everything so lovely just like
33:44 she always has something good to say about everything,
33:46 it makes me sick.
33:47 He said, you know what, I've got an idea,
33:49 I've got it, I know something
33:50 she can't say anything good about.
33:52 So he came into her one morning and he says,
33:54 "Sister, he says, I've got something to,
33:57 what do you have to say about the devil?"
34:00 She said, "Boy, he sure is a hard worker,
34:02 he sure is a hard worker."
34:04 The devil is always at work, friends.
34:07 We've got understand that,
34:08 but don't be hindered by it.
34:10 Press on as the Apostle Paul pressed on.
34:14 Jesus Christ wants us to become great for Him.
34:22 When we give up the struggle,
34:25 when we cease to press on,
34:30 when we give into the devil's discouragements
34:32 and set backs, we rob Jesus Christ of the very thing
34:37 He's been longing to do for us,
34:40 to make us great in Him.
34:41 We rob Him of the thing that He deserves.
34:47 In the book Christ Object lessons page 331, it says,
34:50 "Many whom God has qualified to do excellent work
34:55 accomplish very little, because they attempt little."
34:59 They can do a great work but they settle for good.
35:04 God wants greatness for us.
35:09 The Apostle Paul says,
35:10 "Here I press on toward the goal."
35:12 It's interesting the Apostle Paul
35:13 uses his imagery of a race not just in this place.
35:17 Let's turn to another text where he uses it,
35:20 in regard to the Christian life.
35:22 Let's go back from Philippians
35:24 to the book of First Corinthians Chapter 9,
35:27 First Corinthians Chapter 9 and we're going to verse 25,
35:31 in fact 24 is where we'll start.
35:37 First Corinthians Chapter 9 and verse 24,
35:43 notice what the Apostle says here,
35:47 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run,
35:53 but one receives the prize?
35:56 Run in such a way that you may obtain it.
36:01 And everyone who competes for the prize
36:05 is temperate in what? In all things.
36:09 Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown,
36:13 but we for an imperishable crown.
36:17 Paul's using an illustration here that was well known
36:20 in his days in that Greco-Roman Culture
36:22 something that we know today as the Olympics.
36:25 They get together for these big Greek races and he says,
36:30 don't you know that when all those people train
36:31 and they work and they get out there
36:33 and they run in the race, only one person wins.
36:36 And what are they winning?
36:37 He says, they win a perishable crown,
36:40 today we give medals, gold, silver, bronze.
36:45 But you know what they got in Paul's day?
36:47 They got a crown of laurel leaves on their head,
36:49 like you see with the FTD flowers,
36:51 there's little leaves that was the prize.
36:54 And there would be people that would strain themselves
36:57 and some would even die through overexertion
37:02 in some of those races.
37:03 Intense competition just to gain the crown,
37:08 only one could win.
37:13 What are we looking for?
37:14 What are we pressing on for?
37:15 Do we have a goal, do we have a prize
37:17 worth more than a crown of laurel leaves?
37:19 The Apostle says, we do, he says,
37:22 everyone who competes for the prize is temperate
37:25 in all things, they do it for a perishable crown
37:27 but we for an imperishable crown.
37:30 How much more should we run diligently,
37:36 perseveringly to win the Christian race,
37:42 to strive for the greatness that Christ is calling us to.
37:51 Again in verse 25, he says,
37:52 "Everyone who competes is temperate in all things."
37:55 Now I have known people who have competed in,
37:57 in things before whether they be races,
37:59 whether they be other type of sporting events body builders.
38:05 And you know, when they got,
38:06 when they've got one of their meets coming up,
38:09 whether it would be the race, whether it'd be the--
38:12 and I know a guy who was a body builder
38:14 and when that thing was around the corner.
38:16 He would be very careful in everything that he ate
38:19 and didn't eat, he wouldn't go out drinking,
38:22 even though he normally would,
38:23 he's not going to the bar at all,
38:25 he's not gonna eat out, he didn't eat any fast food.
38:30 Temperate in all things, he wouldn't go to bed late.
38:32 He went to bed very early,
38:33 he make sure he got all the sleep,
38:34 because he wanted to be top notch
38:37 when that competition came around.
38:39 Temperate in all things, now I mentioned to you
38:41 as we opened up this book by Jim Collins "Good to Great."
38:46 Jim Collins shared something in this book that
38:49 I have to share with you,
38:51 he talks about a friend of his
38:53 who was competing for what's called the iron man.
38:59 Where he wanted to go, this man was training
39:00 and he wanted to win this event.
39:03 And he says in his book that this friend of his
39:07 as he was training for this meet
39:09 was so temperate, he was so serious
39:11 about not taking in any extra fat or calories
39:15 that he actually would take his cottage cheese
39:17 and rinse it to make sure there wasn't
39:19 any excess fat in it.
39:24 He rinsed his cottage cheese for crying out loud,
39:27 to win the iron man.
39:31 How much more should a Christian be willing
39:35 to be temperate in all things for Christ Jesus?
39:39 How much more should we be willing to give all
39:42 to attain to the greatness that God's called us to?
39:47 Sometimes we think of our Christian experience
39:50 and we talk about striving for greatness
39:53 and I think that's gone a little bit overboard.
40:00 Rinsing your cottage cheese, but you know what,
40:04 the Apostle Paul says, I press on,
40:07 the man who runs in the race is temperate in all things.
40:10 Look what he goes on to say,
40:13 First Corinthians 9 and verse 26,
40:17 let's back up to 25 again,
40:19 "Everyone who competes for the prize
40:21 is temperate in all things.
40:22 Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown,
40:25 but we for an imperishable crown,
40:29 crown of eternal life."
40:31 Verse 26, "Therefore this is the way I run,
40:35 not with uncertainty.
40:39 This is the way I fight,
40:40 not as one who beats the air.
40:42 He says I don't run to no purpose,
40:44 I don't run like those people in the Olympics
40:46 where only one person wins because in this Christian race
40:49 everyone who stays in the race wins the race,
40:53 but too many of us are dropping out,
40:55 we say I've gone far enough.
40:57 Friends, we've got to press on, he says,
41:00 I'm running but I don't run with the uncertainty
41:02 that the people who run in this Olympic races run.
41:05 Only one of them is gonna win but I know
41:07 that if I press on by the grace of God
41:09 I will win the race,
41:11 you can win the race, we can all win that race.
41:13 It's not an uncertain race
41:15 and the crown is not perishable,
41:16 it's a crown of eternal life.
41:20 So he says, "Thus I run, not with uncertainty.
41:23 Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air."
41:25 Verse 27, "But I discipline my body
41:28 and bring it into subjection,
41:31 lest, when I have preached to others,
41:33 I myself should become disqualified."
41:37 Now it's interesting the New Testament
41:39 was written in the Greek Language
41:42 and the Greek phrase that's translated,
41:45 I discipline my body means literally
41:49 to blacken under the eyes, to give a black eye.
41:53 Paul says, I discipline my body when my body,
41:56 when my carnal, when my carnal nature
41:59 wants to get me to, to sit back and relax
42:02 and quit striving.
42:04 Well my carnal nature tries to pull me aside
42:06 and get me to quit running in the race,
42:08 he says, I blacken the eye, I beat it back
42:11 and I press forward.
42:14 He uses the strongest language he can here
42:16 about a vivid struggle
42:18 and a perseverance that will not fail.
42:25 If those who train for worldly events
42:29 are gonna be temperate in all things,
42:30 how much more, he says, should we as Christians?
42:34 Who Christ has promised in eternal crown
42:36 how much more should we press on toward greatness,
42:39 greatness that will bring joy to the heart of Jesus
42:44 who gave his life for us.
42:47 Temperate in all things.
42:58 Sharing with you again from the book Christ Object Lessons
43:02 on page 332, the book says this,
43:05 "The heavenly intelligences will work with the human agent
43:08 who seeks with the determined faith
43:10 that perfection of character which will reach out
43:13 to perfection in action.
43:16 It says, the heavenly angels will work with the person
43:19 who is striving for that greatness.
43:23 To everyone, it goes on to say this,
43:25 "To everyone engaged in this work,"
43:27 are you running this race,
43:28 is it your desire to attain to that greatness.
43:30 It says, "To everyone who is engaged in this work,
43:34 Christ says, I am at your right hand to help you."
43:39 We're not running the race alone,
43:41 Christ is at our right hand to help us,
43:44 to give us that victory, to make us great in Him.
43:50 Also from the same book, one page later,
43:53 333, Christ Object Lessons,
43:55 "As the will of man co-operates
43:56 with the will of God,
43:57 it becomes omnipotent, all powerful.
44:02 Whatever is to be done at God's command
44:05 may be accomplished in His strength.
44:07 All His biddings are enablings."
44:09 God will give us strength
44:12 that we maybe become great in Him.
44:20 God will give us the strength to make us great in Him
44:23 and I want to share one more statement
44:25 with you along these same lines,
44:29 it's from Testimonies for the Church Volume 7,
44:31 it's on page 17 and in this book
44:33 I want you to note what it says,
44:36 "Nothing is apparently more helpless,
44:41 yet really more invincible than the soul
44:45 that feels its nothingness
44:48 and relies wholly on the merits of our Savior."
44:51 You know sometimes when we talk about resting
44:52 wholly on the merits of our Savior,
44:54 we said it in kind of a passive, weak way.
44:56 Well, you know, I'm resting on the savior
44:58 and I'm just, I'm so weak and we almost use it
45:00 as an excuse to settle for goodness.
45:04 But listen again to what it says,
45:05 "Nothing is apparently more helpless,
45:08 outwardly it looks helpless.
45:10 But in reality more invincible than the soul
45:14 that feels its nothingness and relies upon Jesus Christ,
45:17 on His merits, invincible."
45:23 God--listen to the next sentence,
45:27 this is the punch line here,
45:28 "God would send every angel in heaven
45:33 to the aid of such a one,
45:35 rather than allow him to be overcome."
45:39 You're not in this fight alone,
45:41 God would send every angel in heaven
45:43 to give you victory,
45:45 God will send every angel in heaven
45:47 to help you win that race and become great for Jesus.
45:51 Oh, friends, let's not settle for mediocrity,
45:55 why would we settle for less than the best
45:57 that God has offered us.
46:04 You know, the Apostle says, in Philippians that we,
46:07 where we already read,
46:11 "I press on to obtain that which Christ,
46:16 for which Christ took hold of me."
46:19 Christ has a purpose for my life,
46:21 for your life and that purpose is greatness.
46:25 He wants us to be great in Him,
46:27 not settling for good
46:30 but reaching forward to greatness.
46:35 You know, in my church one thing that we've done
46:37 and I've had added to, to the bulletins
46:40 that we hand out the programs.
46:42 I've had three questions added there,
46:44 sometimes I watch people and as people sit
46:46 and they come and they listen to the word being preached.
46:48 Often times, I mean, just to sit and listen,
46:51 I'll be honest with you,
46:52 just to sit and listen to a long presentation
46:55 can be wearing if that's all you're doing.
46:57 I always encourage people, take down some notes.
46:59 Listen, when you come out to hear the word preached,
47:02 don't just come out and say, oh, that was interesting.
47:04 The Bible talks about those in the prophet,
47:06 in the book of Ezekiel,
47:07 the prophet Ezekiel in Chapter 33,
47:09 talks about those who come and hear
47:10 the sayings of the prophet of the Lord
47:13 but they don't put them into practice,
47:14 they don't do them.
47:17 Sometimes people come out to hear the word preach,
47:19 but they have no intent to put them
47:20 into practice in their life,
47:21 they're not striving for greatness,
47:22 they've settled for goodness.
47:24 They say, you know, I'm satisfied with where I am,
47:26 I used to be pretty bad,
47:28 I'm better now and this is good enough.
47:31 Friends, we ought to come and hear the preach word
47:32 with an intent to learn something new
47:34 and practice something new.
47:35 And so I have this added in the,
47:37 in the programs that we use in my church.
47:40 Three questions, question number one,
47:42 what new thing did you learn, I'm gonna ask you that today,
47:45 what new thing did you learn,
47:46 as you're thinking about this,
47:47 as you're listening.
47:49 And not just in this presentation
47:51 but in anything you hear from the word
47:54 could be in a study class as well.
47:55 What new thing did you learn today?
47:57 You know, a lot of times
47:59 if you've been a Christian for awhile,
48:00 oh, I've heard that before,
48:01 I've heard that before, that's fine.
48:04 What new thing did you learn?
48:06 What new thing did you learn, jot it down.
48:12 You know, a pastor friend of mine
48:14 made an interesting point, and you probably noticed this
48:18 before that every time you come to the Bible,
48:21 you can read a passage you've read a hundred times,
48:23 when you come and read it again
48:24 you may get something brand-new out of it.
48:28 He said, you know, why?
48:30 Because every time you read it again,
48:32 you're a new person, you're a different person
48:33 than the person you were the last time
48:34 you read it, why?
48:35 Because the word of God is living and powerful.
48:38 Did you know when you read the word of God
48:40 with an intent to practice it in your life
48:42 and strive for that greatness Christ has called you to.
48:45 Did you know that, that word of God
48:47 is transforming in His power, living and powerful?
48:51 So that the next time you come to that passage
48:53 you're a new person and that new person
48:55 that you've become get something new out of it.
48:58 What new thing did you learn?
49:01 Number two, I ask them
49:02 what old thing were you reminded of,
49:05 what old thing were you reminded of,
49:06 maybe there was something that you knew
49:07 but you forget it and it struck you,
49:08 so that's interesting
49:10 and then the most important part,
49:12 the most important part
49:13 what do you're going to do about it?
49:15 What do you're going to do about these things
49:17 that you heard and learned today?
49:18 I'd ask you that today, what are you going to do?
49:20 Are you thinking about what you're going to do
49:21 about the message you're hearing today of the passages?
49:24 Are you gonna, are you determining
49:26 in your mind even now,
49:27 I want to strive for greatness,
49:30 I want to become all that Christ
49:32 has intended for me to be.
49:36 That's your privilege today.
49:39 I challenge you to put, to make personal application
49:44 to the things that you're learning.
49:48 The goal of coming to hear the word is
49:50 to put it into practice,
49:51 let it transform your lives by making application.
49:55 And never forget,
49:57 it's the word of the living God,
50:00 Jesus spoke and it was.
50:02 He said, let there be light and it was,
50:04 and when you read something in His word,
50:05 that power is in the word now as much it was then.
50:10 Let it change your life, friend.
50:13 Jesus has called us to greatness
50:19 not just to goodness,
50:21 our lives are to bear witness to Jesus Christ.
50:27 Let me rephrase that.
50:31 Our lives bear witness to Jesus,
50:34 I didn't say what kind of witness,
50:36 you've got to answer that question.
50:39 What kind of witness is your life bringing to Jesus.
50:41 You know, when you're settling for great,
50:42 I'm sorry, when you're settling for good
50:44 and I'm settling for good what is my,
50:47 what is my life saying.
50:49 What kind of witness am I giving to Jesus,
50:52 when I settle for less than what he wants for me?
50:56 My witness is not to the fullness of his power
50:59 that it could and should be.
51:02 Your life is a witness, what kind of witness is it?
51:05 You claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ,
51:07 what kind of follower are you?
51:08 What kind of message are people getting?
51:13 Did you know that when we call ourselves Christians,
51:17 we're advertising by the very name
51:20 that we're the followers of Christ?
51:23 What is your advertisement saying?
51:26 We advertise by the very, I'm a Christian,
51:28 you're advertising you are a follower of Jesus Christ.
51:30 Well, how does the ad read in your life?
51:35 How does that ad read in your life?
51:40 God doesn't want us to settle for good,
51:44 for mediocre, he's calling us to greatness
51:46 all that we can be in Him.
51:48 It reminds me of a story,
51:51 there's a man by the name of John Piper.
51:55 John Piper is a minister, he's a son of an evangelist
51:58 and his father, he says, I still remember
52:00 the stories that my father used to tell.
52:04 My father would be preaching
52:05 to congregations to multitudes of people,
52:07 inviting them to accept Jesus.
52:09 He says, I remember the stories
52:10 that you would tell about people
52:11 who would go out of his meetings
52:12 and meet with some tragedy.
52:15 They wouldn't make their decision for Jesus
52:17 and then they go and some accident would happen
52:19 and they'd never have that decision,
52:20 they never have that opportunity
52:22 to make the decision for Jesus.
52:24 He says, I remember those stories,
52:28 but he said, there's one story
52:29 that stuck out in my mind more than any other.
52:34 It's a story of a man,
52:36 an elderly man in a church that my father frequented,
52:44 this elderly gentleman was a man from the community,
52:47 and year after year after year the church worked
52:50 to try to reach this man.
52:52 They would invite him to meetings,
52:53 they would invite him here, they would invite him,
52:55 come on out, they wanted to him to come,
52:57 they wanted him to accept Jesus as his Savior.
52:59 But he wouldn't come, he wouldn't come,
53:00 he wouldn't decide.
53:06 Years and years passed by and his old age,
53:10 this gentleman, this old man comes into a meeting.
53:14 John Piper says, he came into a meeting
53:15 that my father was preaching.
53:19 He says, at the end of that meeting,
53:22 my father made a call
53:25 to accept Jesus Christ as Savior.
53:30 And he says, that old man got up
53:33 and came forward to the front of the church,
53:36 he came forward for the call to accept Jesus
53:38 and he sat down on the front row,
53:44 and began to weep,
53:49 and as he wept, he said, "I've wasted it,
53:55 I've wasted it, I've wasted it."
54:04 He lift his whole life for the devil,
54:08 he lived his whole life apart from Christ
54:10 and now in his old age, he'd accepted Christ.
54:14 And he was glad that he did,
54:17 but remorseful that he wasted the bulk of his life
54:24 when he could have been serving Jesus.
54:28 As much as he was glad to know
54:29 that he had a Savior, his heart broke
54:33 because he realized that he let his Savior down,
54:38 he'd wasted his life.
54:41 His life could have been great
54:45 and he'd settled for good.
54:50 What about you, friend?
54:53 Are you settling for goodness?
54:56 Are you settling for mediocrity?
54:59 Do you want to come to the end of your life,
55:03 like that old man, and have to say I wasted,
55:07 I wasted, I could have been great,
55:10 I could have reached the standard
55:11 that God has called me to.
55:13 I could have had all that God is calling me to be,
55:18 but I settled for good, I settled for mediocre,
55:23 I settled for status quo.
55:27 I accepted the standard of good
55:29 that everybody else is set out,
55:31 instead of the standard that God has put before me
55:35 and the heights to which I could attain through Him.
55:41 Friend, don't settle for mediocrity,
55:43 for Jesus sake don't do it.
55:46 When the devil tries to bring in something to hinder you
55:49 and discourage you from reaching the prize,
55:51 don't let him do that.
55:52 When we allow the devil to side track us.
55:58 We also allow him to bring discouragement
55:59 to Jesus Christ and to take away the prize
56:02 that is rightfully His.
56:08 Again in that same book, Christ Object Lessons,
56:10 page 331, it says,
56:14 "Remember that you will never reach a higher standard
56:16 than you yourself set.
56:19 Then set your mark high, and step by step,
56:24 ascend the whole ladder of progress
56:27 let nothing hinder you."
56:31 Friend, may be your goal today
56:34 to glorify Jesus in all that you do,
56:38 to strive, to press on as the Apostle Paul says,
56:42 for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
56:45 Don't settle for good, don't waste your life.
56:48 God has a plan for you,
56:50 even now God has a plan for your life.
56:53 And it's not a mediocre plan,
56:56 it's greater than anything that you could imagine.
56:59 God has a plan fit for you
57:01 greater than anything
57:02 that you could ever know apart from him.
57:04 It's yours now if you press on.
57:09 Don't let great be compromised by good,
57:13 strive to be one in Christ Jesus.


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Revised 2014-12-17