"Snatch them from the fire" Series Sermon 3: "Friends don't let Friends October 2, 2011

Transcription

1 "Snatch them from the fire" Series Sermon 3: "Friends don't let Friends October 2, 2011 Okay, open up your Bible Apps and go to Exodus 32. We'll get there in a few minutes We II also be digging into Romans 9 Exodus 32, and Romans 9 If you've still got one of those old fashioned paper Bibles, I think they've got Exodus and Romans too Randy and I were digging around a little last week when we were supposed to be studying. We were fiddling with the idea of friendship Here are a law of the ones we found. A friend is someone who would bail you out of jail; a good friend is sitting beside you saying, "Boy, that was fun!" A good friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes when everyone else believes the smile on your face. I like that. A friend will help you up when you fall; a good friend will help you up, laugh, and trip you again Been there, done that. A good friend is someone who knows all about you, and likes you anyway That's rare. Good friends are God's way of apologizing for family That's good. Good friends are those who, when you show up at the door at midnight with a dead body, say nothing, just grab a shovel and follow you. How about this one You will always be my best friend. You know too much I have a couple friends like that. A good friend is someone who walks in when others walk out Or. A good friend is someone who tells you when your face is dirty, your fly is open, and there is toilet paper stuck on your shoe. Last one A fool and his money... are my best friends. You like that one? We were playing around with the idea of friendship, because for the second week in a row. the big idea for this sermon is this. Friends don't let friends go to hen... at least without a fight We found this one by Mark Twain (it was pretty funny) He says, "I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell: I have friends in both places" Kind of funny, but in reality it couldn't be further from the truth. Good friends, real friends, don't let friends go to hell without a fight Now last week we focused on the word hell" We talked about hell way more than I like Because even though I despise the very

2 idea of hell, it's still there, it s still real It s not going to go away because we hale It. And I want to do whatever I can to avoid it myself, and I want to do whatever I can to keep you out of there - because friends don't let friends go to hell without a fight at least This week I'm not going to focus on the reality or the horror of hell, this week I want to focus on what it means to be a friend What does it really mean to be a good friend to someone who needs Jesus? How much would you have to hate someone not to tell them about Jesus? If you really believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; if you really believe that doing life with God through Jesus is what we were made for. if you really believe that following Jesus is the key to a successful life in this world and a perfect life in the next - how much would you have to hate someone not to tell them about Jesus. It makes sense, doesn't it friends don't let friends go to hell... without a heckuva scrap. Let me change directions for a bit What is the most you have ever loved? What is the most loving thing you have ever done? What is the most you have ever forgiven? The biggest sin. Against you, you have ever forgiven - and I mean, really forgiven. Or. what is the most disappointed in someone you have ever been, and yet you stayed by them? They screwed up badly, but you didn't quit on them. Or, what is the angriest you have ever been with someone, without quitting on them? It could have destroyed your relationship; but, in the end. it may even have made it stronger. Or, what is the hardest thing you have ever had to say to someone you loved? Not the cruelest - cruel words don't count; what are the hardest words you have ever said to someone you loved? There is a powerful story in the Bible about a guy named Moses You know the story of the Exodus, when Moses led Israel out of Egypt Do you remember the plagues, and the crossing of the Red Sea? Well after the Exodus they made their way through the desert to Mt. Sinai, where God would give Moses the 10 Commandments3 Well, while Moses was up on Mt. Sinai getting the 10 Commandments, at the base of the mountain the people were sinning, badly. (Exodus ) It's an amazing scene God had just worked a boatload of miracles to rescue them from slavery in

3 Egypt, and within a few weeks they were taking their jewelry, melting it down, and fashioning a calf from the gold, and then worshiping the calf they built as the god who had saved them. Now that sounds pretty screwy to us, but I guess it made sense to them back then, when all the gods around them were connected to an idol that they could see and touch. Well Moses is up on Mt. Sinai, getting the 10 Commandments, and God if says to him, "Go! Get down there! Your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have fallen to pieces. In no time at all they've turned away from the way I commanded them: They made a molten calf and worshiped it. They've sacrificed to it and said, These are the gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt!'" (Exodus ) Then «f God said to Moses, "I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation." (Exodus ) I'll destroy them, and start over with you, God says. What happens next is weird and cool. Moses begins begging God to spare Israel. He knew they were rebellious twits. He knew they were bullheaded and ornery. And he begs God to spare them. And then he goes down the mountain, still holding the 10 Commandments God had given him, and when he got down to the camp he was ticked. He was so angry he took God's 10 Commandments and he smashed them on the ground and shattered them. Then he took the calf they had made and burned it until it melted, and then he ground it into powder, and he threw the powder into their water and made his people drink it And then he sent some of the Levites out with swords to kill 3,000 of the idolaters. And then he said - this part will blow your socks off. Then he said to Israel, You have sinned an enormous sin, but I will go back up to the Lord on the mountain Perhaps I will be able to obtain forgiveness for your sin. (Exodus 32 30) Now that's not the blow your socks off part. It says, "So Moses (went back up the mountain, he) returned to the Lord and said. "Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made O gods of gold for themselves. But now, if you will only forgive their sin - (please, forgive their sin) -... but if not, erase my name from the record you have

4 written!" (Exodus ) If you can't forgive them, punish me instead; damn me instead; let me take their place. Could you ever pray that to God? Have you ever loved anyone deeply enough that you would pray to God if you could, "God, forgive them; if not, damn me in their place," "Send me to hell in my husband's place, send me to hell in my kid's place, send me to hell in my friend's place"? Have you ever loved someone deeply enough that what happens to them is as important, or even more important, than what happens to you? Would you like to have a friend like that? Would you want to be a friend like that? What is the most you have ever loved? What is the most you have ever given up for someone you loved, the most you have ever given to someone you loved? Most of us have given up a lot for family. That's kind of what defines a good Dad: a good dad is someone who gives up a Corvette for a mini-van - because he loves his kids. It's what defines a good Mom - a good mom is a woman who gives up her sanity and her figure for her kids. We've all given up for a husband or a wife, for kids, for parents. How about for someone who is not family? What is the most you have ever given up for someone you loved who is not family? Have you ever put yourself in harm's way for someone physically? Do you remember the video we watched of those people who lifted up a burning car to pull the guy out who was trapped underneath? Have you ever put yourself in harm's way for someone physically? Sometimes it's not physically: have you ever put yourself in harm's way by standing with someone who was in trouble? Would you stand with a friend who was in real trouble, even if it put you at risk? Would you stand with a church that was in trouble, even if it cost you? Would you stand with enemies who were in trouble? Romans 9 is one of my favorite places in the whole Bible The apostle Paul says some words that I wish I could say, but I'm not sure I have the guts, or the goodness, to say them, honestly. Paul knows that his words are going to sound utterly unbelievable. Listen to how he sets it up. I love 10 this part. He says, "In the presence of Christ, I speak with utter truthfulness - I do not lie - and my conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm that what I am saying is true." He is swearing to tell the truth 5 times: I'll say it in front of Jesus, I promise it's true, I'm not lying, my conscience is clean, and the Holy Spirit

5 will back me. Now, what would you think if I came up to you and said, "I swear that what I am about to say is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I swear it before God, I'd tell Jesus, IH put my hand on the Bible, I cross my heart and hope to die, I'll stick a needle in my eye." Well you'd think that what's coming next is going to be a whopper. Well here's what Paul says. He says, "My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters." He says, "I am torn up inside, I am grieving inside, my heart is breaking inside, for my people who won't turn to Jesus to the degree that, "I would be willing to be forever cursed - (I would be willing to be) cut off from Christ! (I would be willing to be damned myself) - if that would save them." Did you hear what he says? He says, "I would go to hell in their place if I could. I would suffer eternal separation from God, if it would help them find God's grace." Now be honest: Is there anybody you would go to hell for? Would you go to hell for your husband or your wife? Would you go to hell for your parents, for your kids? Would you go to hell for a friend? And what blows your mind is that Paul says he would do it for people who hated him! Guys, do you know why the Paul was one of the greatest evangelists in the history of the church? It's right here! It s because he loved people this much. It's because Paul would never let a friend go to hell, without a fight. One of the greatest teachers in the history of the church was Martin Luther. Do you know what he said about these words of Paul? He said, "These words will appear weird and even foolish to those who think themselves holy, but who love God with a self-centered love. These words are absurd to people who love themselves more than they love God. They are absurd to people who love themselves more than they love others. But if you really loved someone, as much as or more than you love yourself, wouldn't you want to be able to say these words? Wouldn't you want to have the goodness, and the guts to say these words? And if we did, love people this much, do you think we'd do whatever it took to bring them face to face with Jesus - even if it was hard?... Would you want a friend who loved you this much? Would you want to be a friend who loves this much?... There's a phrase I kept rolling around in my head last week. I kept f M thinking about the pain of love, the anguish of love. Sometimes, guys, love

6 ... hurts. There are times when I have struggled and do you know what I see in Julie's eyes? I see pain, I see anguish - she hurts with me, she hurts for me. Sometimes love hurts. You parents know the anguish of love. If you have kids you have watched them struggle? Maybe they were being bullied, or maybe they were struggling in school, or maybe they made some bad choices and they were suffering for them, or maybe some little twit broke their heart. It hurts to watch a kid struggle. Love hurts. Have you ever loved a spouse, or a kid, who wouldn't come to Jesus? I'll never forget the face of a wife, in one of my classes when I was teaching at Kentucky Christian, she was weeping for her husband, who wouldn't bend his knees to Jesus. She was weeping, in the front row, in the middle of class. Do you think that made a few college kids uncomfortable? They didn't have a clue... about the anguish of love. Guys: We don't share Jesus just because we fear hell; we share Jesus because we love people. We don't share Jesus just because God tells us to; we share Jesus because we love people. Real friends don't let friends go to hell, without a fight. If we really love someone who needs Jesus, it will stir a pain inside us. an anguish; and that anguish will force us out of our comfort zone, till we do whatever we can to bring them face to face with Jesus Do you believe that? Early last week I got a call from Perry Jenkins. Perry is a great young man in our church family, although this week I kind of despise him because he crushed me in fantasy football. Perry gets it. He said, "Doc, this stuff is tearing me up. I'm listening to you talk about hell, and I've got friends who are heading there I want to bring my friends to Jesus. I've been trying to bring my friends to Jesus. But they're not listening, they're not coming. What do I do?" Have you ever felt like that? That anguish of love? You've tried: you've prayed for, you've talked to, you've invited - and they just won't budge. And it's tearing you up. Well, there's one more phrase in Romans 9 that I haven't unpacked yet. And you need to hear it. It's pretty big. Paul says, "I would be willing to be forever cursed cut off from Christ! if that would save them." (Romans 9.3) "I would be willing to do it," but I can't. The Message puts it like this "If there were any way I could be cursed by the Messiah so they could be

7 blessed by him, I'd do it in a minute." But there isn't any way I can take their place. The Good News Bible puts it like this: Tor their sake I could wish that I myself were under God s curse and separated from Christ." I would wish it if I could; but that's not the way it works. I can't force anyone to do the right thing. I can't make their decision for them. And I can't take their place in hell. Guys, even God won't force anyone to do the right thing - God lets us choose for ourselves. God honors the free will he gives us. And God has already done everything he can do to keep us out of hell, by staking a cross at its entrance. Two things are necessary for a person to come to God. It requires a softened heart, a willing heart, a desire for God, and it requires an opportunity. We can t control the first, but we can provide the second. You can't force someone to bend their knees to Jesus, but you can introduce them to him. I wish there was a way we could make them be Christian, but we can't, no matter how much we love them. It's just the way it is.... A week ago Wednesday Mike was working with some of our Junior High kids. There were about 25 of them. He was asking them why they were reluctant to share Jesus with their friends at school. He asked whether they felt people might make fun of them for sharing Jesus. Well, yeah. He asked - you need to listen to this one carefully - he asked whether the kids in the room, kids from Capital City, would make fun of them for sharing Jesus. And all 25 raised their hands. They feared Christians would mock them for sharing Jesus! Mike talked to Michelle about what at happened. Do you know what she said? She said, "Most adults feel the same way." We fear what people might think, even what other Christians might think. I hope she's wrong, but I fear she's right. We don't just fear what they might think of us; we actually fear what some of us might think of us - if we take this Jesus thing too seriously! But, guys, good friends, real friends, don't let friends go to hell, without a fight. Why is it so hard to talk to someone about Jesus? Why is it so hard to invite someone to church? Why is it so hard to be boldly Christian? Is it that I might be embarrassed? Is it that I might be rejected? Is it that I might not know what to say? Maybe they'll ask me a question I can't answer.

8 Is it that it might damage my relationship with that person? Maybe they won't want to be around me as much. Do you know what our excuses have in common? They are all selfcentered. They are all about me protecting me. They all scream, "I love me more than I love you." Guys, friends don't do that. Friends don't let friends go to hell, without a fight. A couple of weeks ago we set out these tables with smoky rags on them. We encouraged you to take one of the rags and write someone's name on it - someone who needs to be "snatched from the fire," someone who may be on a path leading to hell, someone you care about... If you didn't take a rag, why not? Now, maybe you don't need a smoky rag to remind you to share Jesus with someone you care about. If so, that's cool. But if you didn't take a rag because you don't care to share Jesus with someone you love, shame on you! But if you did take a rag, what have you been doing the last couple weeks to bring that person face to face with Jesus You see, it s not enough just to take a rag, write someone's name on it, stick it in your pocket, and just go on doing the same old. What are you doing to bring them face to face with Jesus? Now it's easy in these sermons to lay on the guilt. Let me try to give you some practical suggestions. Ready? You can pray about them, every day. You pray that God will give you that opportunity to show Jesus to them. And you can pray that when God gives you that opportunity, he will give you the courage and he'll give you the words. You can pray. You can invite them to church. They might tell you no. They might pull away from you for asking. But guys, friends don't let friends go to hell, without a fight. You can do something to cultivate a friendship with them to show them you care. Maybe a phone call, or a card (if you're a lady), or an invite to supper - you'll pay, or to a ball game. Sometimes they need to understand that we care about them before they will listen to what we say about Jesus. And, when God opens the door, you can tell them why you are a Christian. You don't have to be a Bible scholar to tell someone about Jesus. Just tell them your story - tell them what God means to you, tell them what Jesus has done for you.

9 Don't nag - that will push people away. And don't blame yourself if they don't respond. Guys, we can't force anyone to do the right thing. We can just give them the opportunity. We point them to Jesus, and we trust that God s Spirit will convict them of his truth, and then we honor their decision, for God, or against him, just like God does. Here's how we're going to wrap this up this morning. There is scene in the gospel of Matthew, the end of chapter 9*1t says, Matthew 9.36: "As Jesus looked at the vast crowds he was deeply moved with pity for them, for they were as bewildered and miserable as a flock of sheep with no shepherd." You see, Jesus felt the anguish of love, that hole in his heart for people who needed God. And he says, verses 37-38, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So you must pray..." How do you think Jesus finishes that sentence? What do you think he wants us to pray for? "The harvest is great, the workers are few so you must pray... that God will save them by himself? - that God will force them to bend their knees to Jesus? - that God will draw them to Christ without the assistance of us workers? No*Jesus says, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So you must pray to the Lord of the harvest (that he will get us off our rear ends, that he will kick our butts until we get out and do our job; he tells us to pray for God) to send men out to reap it." He doesn't tell us to pray for those who need Jesus, he tells us to pray for you Christians. He tells us to pray for each other, that we will get the vision and the courage to get it done So that's how we're going to wrap up this service this morning. I'm going to pray for you; and I'm going to ask you to pray for each other. That we will taste that anguish of love for people who need Jesus; that we will have the courage and the boldness to point people to Jesus; and that we will have the wisdom, that he will give us the words we need to be effective If you want, go to your knees. If you prefer, just bow your head and close your eyes. If you want duster with one or two people close to you. I'm going to guide us as we pray for each other. ** Guided Prayer ** Help us to feel what God feels; eliminate the self-centered, and stir the anguish of love Help us to see what God sees: so we will see those who need Jesus, and care

10 Eliminate our fear and timidity; fill us with boldness and courage No matter what anyone says about us, that you will be pleased. That God will give us the words to say. Pray for each other o Forgive our shallow laziness o Fill us with divine conviction, strength, and zeal. Name names Invitation Now, what has Lord laid on your heart during prayer? A person... get it done Perhaps that you yourself need to make a decision...