Proof of Life

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Thanks for tuning in to the Met Church podcast. Here at the Met, we are all about connecting people to God and one another. If you have any questions or want more information about what's happening here at the church, then head to our [email protected] we would love to stay connected with you throughout the week through social media, so be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter now. Enjoy the message. [00:00:25] Speaker B: Thank you for being here this morning. As the video indicated, we're in a series where we're talking about the attributes, the characteristics of what it means to be a child of God, what it should look like. Someone has well said that our life may be the only the Bible someone ever reads, that the only picture of Jesus anyone ever gets may be the picture of him that they see in us, and we are to be a reflection of who he is. Now, I know when a new baby is born into a family, I know what we always do, don't we? We look for family resemblances. You begin to look at that child and you begin to say, okay, I think that looks more like your family than mine. Your grandparents would say, oh, he's kind of got. He's got Uncle Jethro's ears, you know, or whatever. He's got this one's head. He's got eyes like this one, right? And they start looking at. And then they get a little older, and you notice then the disposition and the little characteristics of their personality start developing and they start acting out. And then they never say, oh, that's just like my family. My family acts like that all the time. It's always her family or their family, right? And so. But it's interesting how these kids do take on the characteristics where they're biological or adoptive. They'll take on the characteristics of the families that they were raised in. Now, it's exciting to be able to baptize Will this morning. And I can tell you Cindy and I would always bring the kids out. And I still continue that at the end of an Easter service or as those services end or the end of a Christmas service, I like to come out the last one, show the babies off. They helped me close that service a little bit. And so we do communion, of course, on those weekends, as we do many, in fact, most weekends. And I remember they had my communion set up for me. So when I come out for communion, I have my own elements there. I can bring them out with me. And so they'll have several of my little communion elements back there in the back. So I was Coming off the platform, they were doing a song. I was going to get the kids, get the communion element and walk out. And what I found when I went back there was William was hitting those communion elements, going through them like he was hitting them like shots. I said, man, that's just like Rick's family right there. I mean, no, no, I'm not gonna say that. But it's funny how kids do take on our characteristics, right? And I can't really. I can't really pin that all on them. If you know my story, many of you have been here very long. You know the story. My dad was a minister all my life, and I had to sit on the front row in church. And I'm going to retell this one. And while I sat there one weekend between my two buddies, I thought it would be really funny to shoot spit wads at my dad while he was preaching. And so I felt very inspired to do it. I had a rubber band in my pocket because what kid would go to church without a rubber band? And I took the old Brodmann hymnal, the old hymn book, and I put my rubber band around my hymnal. I took pieces of the bulletin and rolled them real tight to beautiful little spit wads. And I would elevate the hymn book and pull a little spit wad back and fire them off at my dad while he was up here preaching. Well, my dad had this big pulpit stand and he was reading a scripture. And I'm sitting on the front row between my buddies, and I remember the first one. I have a distinct memory of it kind of veering off to the right like I missed him. And my little friends are down there going, oh, Bill, come on, man, don't quit. You were so close. We're encouraging. I'm no quitter. So I thought, you know, I'm going to keep trying. You know, it's like horseshoes. Just keep pitching till you win. So I rolled up another one and I fired that other little spit wad off. And I don't know where the second one went, but I can tell you where the third one went. I'm telling you, I'll be 66 tomorrow. And I can close my eyes, and in my mind's eye, I see that little paper projectile as it left the end of the pew. My hymnbook arched beautifully, beautiful. I mean, beautifully, and came down and hit my dad right in the top of his head. It was a moment I'll never forget. It's like those NFL films, you know, when it's show the football Rolling higher and higher, going through the splitting, the uprights. That was that moment for me. I was in church going, if I die now, I have lived a full life. It cannot. It will not get better. That is the greatest experience of my whole earthly journey, was being able to do that. And now my dad had a different take on that thing. And of course, you know, I'm sitting on the front between my friends. And people always say, preachers kids have the worst reputation of anybody in the. They're the worst kids in the church. You heard that? You know why that's true? If it's true, I'm not succeeding. That that's true. But if it is true, they have to grow up around deacons kids, and they're the worst in the. That'll ruin any child, that influence of those deacons. And so I'm just saying that my little friends go, oh, man, you got him. You got him. I'll never forget my dad. He never lost his place. He stopped for just a moment to look down to make sure it was me. And he and I, our eyes met, you know, that moment, and all of a sudden all that joy went right out of my body. It was that feeling that Jesus just came back to the earth. And I got left behind, like, there goes Jesus. And here I am. Oh, dear God. And I just felt forsaken. I'm going, my dad, my dad, why have you. You know, I just wanted to. I. And I. Gosh, he took me in his office. My dad never read Dr. Spock. He really didn't. He took his belt off and he removed the spit wad shooter from my life, if you know what I'm saying. I wasn't abused, but it made a very impression upon me. I've never wanted to shoot spit wads at anybody ever again. It ruined me for that. But I can tell you that was an amaz experience of my life. I'm just saying I don't know which side of the family I got that from. That's one of those things that neither side will claim you on. You know what I'm saying? My dad's side, I don't know where he got that. Must have been on loose. My mother said, I don't know, Johnny, that's over on your side, I don't know. Neither side would claim you. But my point is, everything we do in life is some way reflecting upon the families that we grew up in. We do, whether it's good or bad. Happy, sad. All of the things that we do in life are reflection on Our homes, we are really like, we're molded, we're shaped in the homes that we grow up in. Someone said, children learn what they live well with. That said, and that if that's true of us physically, why wouldn't that be true of us spiritually? Why wouldn't we be a natural reflection of our Father who is in heaven? Now, here's what I understand when I look at theology, and I understand how God set this all up in the original design. When you go back to the Garden of Eden, God created man in perfection. In perfection, sin was not in the picture. And so in perfection, the Bible says we were created in the imago dei, the image of God. We were in the original design, the perfect image of God. Everything, a lot about us reflected God beautifully. In fact, Jesus said, let us make man in our image, the imago dei, and in the likeness of God, the original design. And then, you know, as you study and you get to Genesis chapter three, there's the serpent, there's the taking of the forbidden fruit, there's the disobedience and partaking of a tree that God said to leave it alone. So there's a violation of God's rule of his law, a rebellion against him. And in that moment, sin enters the picture. And so what happens to mankind as a result of that decision of that choice is man is separated from God. So we're now not in the image of God. We're in kind of a wrecked image of God. I'll give you this illustration. If we were to leave here this morning and go to a wrecking yard and we could find a Rolls Royce that had been totaled. And I would tell you, look at that Rolls Royce, man. Isn't that an amazing. One of the most expensive cars in the world, a Rolls Royce. I'd ask you the question, have you really seen a Rolls Royce or have you seen a wrecked version of what the original looked like? And really, that's what we are. We are a wrecked version of the original design. In fact, we were born into this world apart from that original family, separated from God. In fact, even Jesus said in John chapter eight, he said, you are of your father, the devil. Now, he was speaking to a religious audience. But what he was saying very specifically is there are two families. There is the family of the devil, and there is the family of God. And he was calling them out, saying, you don't belong to my family. Well, because of the separation in the garden, because we were separated from God, God would send his son, Jesus. That's the Story of the cross. The story of the cross is Jesus coming into the world to bridge the divide. To say, now it's possible for children who were born apart from God to have a pathway to come home. In fact, the Bible calls Ephesians chapter one, he calls this process adopted. We are adopted. Think about that. Every child of God born in this world separated from our original family with a father called Satan. The Bible says, in sin, my mother conceived me. And have you thought about it for a moment? You don't have to teach a child how to lie. You have to teach a child how to tell the truth. Lying comes easy. And it comes easy because we're their parents. And it comes easy because we had parents that were like that. And it comes easy because it goes all the way back to the garden, where there is a sin nature that everyone has. So we can sin easily. In fact, the Bible says this is easy to sin as it is for the sparks of the fire to fly upward. We sin effortlessly. We don't have to think about it. And so I'm suggesting to you, because of that nature, we're in the wrong family. We have to be redeemed. We have to be adopted. And that's where we come to a point. We come to an epiphany in life where Will came to where you realize, I need to invite Jesus into my heart. There's two families out there. I got to choose. Which family do I want to belong to? Do I want to stay with the family that has alienated and apart from God? Or do I want to be adopted and redeemed back into the family of God? And when you make that decision, it's a beautiful thing that happens. God draws you into his family. The Bible says he forgives you completely. The Bible says he comes within your life through the person of the Holy Spirit to dwell. And then here's where I'm going with the point of the message. This morning, he begins a process at that moment, According to Romans 8, 29, of conforming us into the image of His Son. Now, here's where the process comes in. The process is now God is making us look more like his family, not like the family we were born into, alienated from Him. That's a process. The Bible says if anyone be in Christ, they're a new creation. Old things are passed away and all things now have become new. But the old nature is still there. I don't have any problem with sinning even today. But what I have within me now is a power above that downward pull to get me above it and beyond it, where I don't have to yield to the sinful nature because I have God's divine nature living within me that gives me the power to make better choices, to rise above the downward pull. Now, again, we still have the old nature. Think about it like the little cartoon with the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other. And that's kind of how you go through life. You go with your better angels and then you go with the demonic pull on your life all the time. I've told you before, those propensities, proclivities we had before we met Jesus, they're still there. We still know how to do everything we did before we ever came to Christ. He didn't just like men in black, hold a little wand up in front of your face and all that goes away. No, we still know how to do what we used to do. I've told you before, if you knew how to roll a joint before you met Jesus, you still know how to roll a joint. All those things are still there. They're all within our nature. But what happens is we have now a new nature. We have something greater and more powerful. In fact, the Bible refers to the process as regeneration. Think about that word, regeneration, meaning we now have a genetic predisposition different than we were born with. When you think about genetics, apple trees produce apples, oranges produce oranges. Sinful people sin. Well, the only way that genetic predisposition has changed is to have that genetic code altered. And the Bible said, when the Holy Spirit comes into your life, it is a process of regeneration. We're being regened. We're being given the ability to be different than we were. We're giving the ability to rise above what we were. And so it's a process, he says, where we are being now conformed into the image of his Son, meaning with every decision, every day, I should do things that resemble my heavenly Father and not the one I just came away from. I should do more things and speak more things and treat people differently. Because I now claim to know Jesus. I've chosen him as my Savior. And when you read the writings of John, and we're studying particularly First John in this series, and when you read what First John wrote, John was writing that you can know beyond any doubt that you know Jesus as your savior. You don't have to go through life hoping that one day when you get to heaven, you know St. Peter will be at the gate, weighing the good against the bad. And if there's enough good to outweigh the bad, you get in. And if the bad outweighs the good, you don't get in. Well, first of all, that's not even in scripture. You can't find that principle in the Bible, though I get the imagery. But I will tell you what I think about that. I wouldn't Trust the best 5 minutes I've ever lived to be good enough to get me into heaven. And so it's not my righteousness but Christ that I'm relying on. I'm relying on his payment and his perfection. I'm relying on him to get me into heaven. So I'm just hanging on to Jesus. I'm saying Jesus, it's kind of like the thief on the cross. Remember when he turns to Jesus and he says, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And you know what Jesus said today, Today, will you be with me, with me in paradise? And that's what happens the moment you become a Christ follower. So you can know that you know Jesus. I talked about that last week and this morning. I want to give you three quick tests that you can give yourself to give you the certainty that you know Him. These are marks of a person that knows Jesus. And they're all here in First John. Number one, there is the commandment test. Give yourself the commandment test. First John, chapter two, verse three. Now, by this, we know that we know him. How do we know that we know Him? How can anybody know that you know Jesus? How can you know what's the test here? It is if we keep his commandments. So John is saying, one of the signs of knowing Jesus is obedience. If you do what he tells you to do, you belong to him. Meaning that if I continually live the way I used to live before I met him, if I'm not obedient to Him, I may not belong to him. So the first thing I have to ask myself is, am I obedient? Do I pass this thing called the commandment test? And it's interesting because the word keep, if anyone keep his commands, is an interesting word. It's a mariner's term. It's a mariner's term that refers to sailors who kept their focus on the stars so they could safely navigate to where they're going to be fixated, to use it as a guide or a rule. So he's saying, if you know Jesus, you will fixate and you will be focused on him, and you'll be interested in doing what he says. You'll be interested in pleasing him. Number one, the commandment test. What's the second test? Number two. The second test is the compassion test. The compassion test. What does it look like? First John, chapter three, verse 14. We know that we have passed from death to life. Speaking spiritually. Spiritually dead, now spiritually alive. We know that we know him. Why? Because we love each other. We love each other. One of the marks of a person that belongs to Jesus is we love other people. We love each other. That doesn't necessarily mean you like everybody. It means that you have to love everybody. And there are a lot of people, let's face it, that aren't very lovable. And the way you approach someone that's not very lovable and you learn how to love them is to pray this prayer, Lord, I don't have the capacity to love this guy. Would you love them through me? Would you give yourself the opportunity to demonstrate your love through my life to this person that's not very lovable? And I'm struggling with loving them. But help me, because I know I belong to you, and I'm supposed to do what you did. So help me to, Lord, would you just love them through me? And it is a test. It is a great test that determines whether or not we belong to him. Because the Bible uses his imagery to talk about Christ followers. In First Corinthians 12, he said, we are the body of Christ. You've heard that expression, the body of Christ, and the church is the body of Christ. He's the head and we're part of his body. In fact, in that analogy, Jesus said this. He said, no healthy hand ever said to the eye, I don't have any need for you. Meaning that every part is important and the body doesn't turn on itself. A hand is a tough part. Eye is a tender part. We have tough members and tender members. You've got tough friends and tender friends. But every person that you know, every person, especially those who belong to Jesus, are someone of great value. And we are commanded by God to love each other. To love each other. In fact, the Bible even says, when one part of the body suffers, the rest of the body should suffer with it. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever got up in the night and you stumped your toe? Has that happened to you? And all of a sudden you have a vision that you've never had before. You see things in the heavens that are moving all of a sudden. And then if you can, you would. And it always happens. It's that little toe. You know, you don't even know the little Toe is there. Do you kick it in the middle of the night? And if you could, you would put that thing and you would. Oh, man, you would nurture that little toe. But you can't get your foot up that high, especially if you're my age, you know, you just say, man, oh, little toe, little toe. I've never one time kicked my toe in the middle of the night and said, oh, that wasn't me, that was my toe. Right? Because if one part suffers, guess what? The rest of us suffer with it. What should a church look like? The church should look like a place where no one goes through anything alone. That doesn't mean we get into each other's business. That means we're there for one another. I mean, that's that beautiful principle of the church. In Matthew, in Acts, chapter four, where he talked about the dynamics of koinonia, where he said they had all things in common. And the idea of koinonia is twofold. It means to share something with someone that's important, but the second is equally as important to share in something with someone. It's one thing to say I'm concerned about you and I care for you. It's another thing to say, how can I help you? And I'm willing to help you, and I'm just suggesting to your heart this morning that the commandment test is essential. I know that I know him because I'm obedient, and the compassion test is essential. I know that I know him because I genuinely love people. And I. And I have to tell you this morning, as I get off of that one, you have to pray about that every day. One of the things that I try to make a daily part of my prayer life is, lord, help me to love you with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength, as you've commanded. And then here's the second part of that. Help me to love my neighbor as myself. I pray that prayer. I try to pray discipline, to try to pray that every day, because that's not natural for me or for anyone. It's natural to love the people we know, to love the people that are in our circle, but it's not natural for us to love people. Really don't know. And yet Jesus said, if you really belong to me, you love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. That's not natural. Let me tell you what it is. It's supernatural. And when you find yourself caring about someone you're not even connected to and concerned about someone you don't even know and compassionate for someone you've never even met. You're in the zone. You're over the target. You're understanding now what it literally means to know Jesus. Okay, so you have the commandment test. You have it. You have the compassion test. You have that one. Here's the last one. The commitment test. The commitment test. Look at. In First John 5, verse 10, he who believes, and that's the key, believe. He who believes in the Son of God has this witness speaking of the Holy Spirit in himself. And he who does not believe in God has made God a liar because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of his Son. What does it mean to believe? Believe is more than an intellectual acceptance of something. That is because if believing in God just means, yes, I believe in God, well, that's great. That means I've intellectually accepted the fact that God does exist. But the Bible says concerning that level of belief, it says, even the devil believes, and he even is fearful. The devil is fearful of God. He has a reverence for God and a respect because he understands his power. But the word believe has to include. It has to include more than an intellectual acceptance of who God is. It involves the next step, and that's trust. Or the word I'm using is commitment. I do a lot of weddings. Lot of weddings. And I've done a lot of weddings, tied a lot of knots, my life, ministry. And I can tell you that one of the things that will keep any couple together for the long haul. Cindy and I were together 42 years before she stepped into heaven. And I can tell you it wasn't just the love we had for one another, though we had that. It was our commitment to each other. Our commitment. I used to joke to Cindy, I'd say, if you ever leave me, I'm going with you. There's just a level of commitment that you have. And really, regardless what the Captain and Tenille wrote about, love will not keep you together. Some of you in the 70s will know that reference. The rest of you kids, google that. That's actually a song. Love will not keep you together. It'll attract you. And it's a beautiful thing, but it's gonna take more. You know what it's gonna take to keep you together? Commitment. And by the way, one person can't make that work. And so many times relationships break because one is willing and one isn't willing. And there's nothing you can do about that. But I'm just suggesting to you that belief involves more than the intellectual acceptance of who God is. Belief involves commitment to him. You're saying, God, hell or high water, I'm committed to you. Job went through a series of trials and lesser men were quitting and recanting their faith. You know what Job said? Job said, though he slay me, yet will I serve him. I will not give up. I will not give in. I will not give out. It's having the tenacity of Adon Graves when it comes to serving your country, of saying, even it cost me my life. And if I die on Iwo Jima, I'll die believing this flag and believing in my country and believing what is best for my nation. It is a level of commitment that leads to a willingness to sacrifice. And that's what the Bible is teaching here. It's saying to Jesus, I'm all in. I'm committed. Not just when my prayers get answered the way I pray they would get answered. I don't have a commercial relationship with you. I'm in when the sun is shining and I'm in when the storms are there. I'm with you when things are going my way, and I'm with you when things are not going my way. Because I trust you and I am committed to you. And I'm just suggesting to your heart that one of the great ways we know we belong to him is that we are committed to Him. Not that we kept his commandments, but we keep his commandments. Not that we just believed in him at one time, but we believe in him today. Not that just we loved others at one time in our life, but we love people even today. It is a continual process. They're great tests to determine whether we know Jesus or not. And once you've made that determination, listen, understand God is in the process of conforming you and me into the image of His Son to make us look like Him. Let me share this with you and we'll go. Years ago, there was a little boy whose father abandoned him at a very young age. And his mom, a single mom, a wonderful lady, did her best to raise him. But he didn't have a father. Never had a father in his life the whole time he was growing up. And he went through that little season of life when kids would make fun of him a little bit, especially on Father's Day and events where other kids had their dads around, sporting events and his dad wouldn't be there. He didn't have a father. There was a pastor of the church where this little boy and his mom attended. This is a True story. And he was really interested in how this little boy was doing. The mom had said, I'm real worried about him. His kids friends are picking on him at school and making fun of him because he doesn't have a dad. So the pastor took an interest in him and just kind of one of his games and was watching this little boy play and he heard some of the kids in the dugout and they were teasing him again, ah, where's your dad? Our dad's in this, you know. And so the pastor just went into the dugout in front of those little boys and said, I know who your dad is. I know who he is. I've met your dad. I know him personally. And can I tell you, he said, you look just like your dad. The older you get, the more you look like your dad. You know who this young man's dad is? He said he's the God of heaven. And this little boy's looking more and more like his father every day. I am proud of you. And your dad in heaven loves you son. And don't you ever forget that. And you hang onto that image that God is doing that work in your life. Don't you ever forget that. This young man grew up and told the story. He said that meeting in the dugout with that pastor was the turning point of his life. His name was Ben Hooper. He became the two time governor of the state of Tennessee. And he said it all went back to a conversation I had with a man in the dugout who told me I look like my heavenly father who loves me and has accepted me. And I need to walk in that identity and I need to embrace the fact God has a plan for my life. And the older I get, the more I'm looking like my heavenly father. God loves you friend. All he's doing in your life is trying to make you look more like him. So let's cooperate in the process, shall we? Let's pray. Lord, thank you for just a beautiful Sunday morning. Thank you for all the guys who came early to here. Our friend Don Graves. Thank you for the life Don has lived, for the tens of thousands of people who have been touched by his story of heroism, by his love for the military and his love for you. Thank you for him. Bless his life as he travels this country speaking. Thank you for these that we've seen baptized and especially I'm grateful for will to my family as well as these other families that are here with rejoicing and those that will be baptized at the 11. Thank you for that thank you for the time, Father. We could worship you this morning and then spend some time in your word to see the value of your work that's being done in our life. And I pray Lord for my friends here this morning who may never have accepted you like Will did. They never settle that. They never been able to say as far as that. Part of me is, it's done, it's done. I've invited Jesus into my heart. Done. I pray this would be the moment when they humble their heart right where they are and they say, lord Jesus, I believe you died on a cross for me and I ask you now to forgive my sin to come into my life. I place my faith and my trust in you. I pray that will be their prayer. Thank you for a beautiful Sunday. Go with us Father. Watch over us. Bless every business in the room. Give us a great week. Bless all of our folks that will go out into the workforce. Many of them are teachers and in law enforcement and medical field and all the various pursuits. Bless them and give them great success and we'll praise you for we ask it in Jesus name. Amen. [00:29:15] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week. [00:29:26] Speaker B: Week.