Rev. Rob Henderson
Shelby Wesleyan Church
https://www.angelfire.com/mi2/robhenderson/
robnaomi@oceana.net
September 17, 2000 am
Matthew 16:26
Chuck Colson shares the story of Papa who had everything that life could give. (Kingdoms in Conflict pp. 51-56) His adventures in life began early. Raised in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Papa grew up in a staunchly religious home. He left to drive ambulances in the Italian army during World War I. A few days after volunteering to go to the front-lines an Austrian mortar landed on a nearby comrade- disintegrating his body and seriously wounding Papa. But Papa survived after convalescing in an Italian hospital and then back home in the States.
After recovering from his war wounds, Papa became a journalist, writing crime stories in Chicago and feature stories in Toronto. He married and moved to Paris- where he decided would be the best place to write. He was a writer and this is what would express his entire life. In Paris, he rubbed shoulders with great people such as Picasso, James Joyce and F. Scott Fitzgerald. He refined his style and found solace in friends who shared his philosophy. As far as his orthodox upbringing he considered it what he called “a ton of cow [manure] we are all fed when we are young.” “To him,” as Chuck Coleson writes, “life was a wine glass to be filled to the brim and relished.”
Papa loved to write. His novels and short stories brought him fame and fortune. It also gave him the freedom to pursue what pleasured him best: “writing hard, loving hard, eating and drinking well, war, the hunt and the bullfight.” Papa was a man’s man. And in being a man’s man he was his own man.
What few people knew was that Papa fought a battle within. He battled with bouts of depression. When the parties were over and the friends were gone he had a dark side that overtook him. What a horrible battle to face when a man was used to always being in control. Depression would seize him in a relentless kind of way. And as he outlook on death simply followed his philosophy for living. He considered death that old prostitute that was his choice at his time. But what about God? “Papa had given up on God long ago. Taking his own life would prove he was the master of his own fate.” Dying, he said, was easy; it meant “no more worries.”
And so on that fateful Idaho Sunday morning in 1961 Earnest Hemingway unlocked the gun cabinet in his basement and ended a talented life. A life full of the pleasures of the world but a life empty of fulfillment. The result of a life lived without God.
Jesus gives us a thought provoking statement here in Matthew 16:26- “What does it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul?”
Without a doubt Earnest Hemingway had gained the whole world. He was popular, well-liked, and famous. He had homes in different parts of the world and a lot of money; he lacked for nothing. Papa achieved success that very few in his field ever reach. He was one of the most talented writers in the twentieth century. Earnest Hemingway had everything life could offer: food, clothing and shelter; security, wealth and pleasure; friends, admirers, and lovers. But these were all for nothing because God was left out off of his agenda.
And like the old man at the bridge, Hemingway would look back on his life and wonder what it it was all for and to what end did it bring him. Afterall, he was only taking care of animals- the choices and pleasures that were uniquely his. And he could only wonder about them now.
The title of my message, “The World is not Enough” is more than just a gimmick title taken from a James Bond movie. The truth is very clear: the world is not enough when it comes to our eternal destination.
It was Shakespeare who wrote “All the world is a stage and we are the actors.” Jean-Paul Sartre in a seemingly continuance of that thought wrote “On a shattered and deserted stage, without script, director, prompter, or audience, the actor is free to improvise his own part.”
Sounds reasonable but ultimately dangerous. When one lives a life without God and lives a life by his own whims of pleasure and opinions- that is lives a life of existentialism- he will find himself in the dark on a dead-end road of no hope with no escape.
The great atheist- Bertrand Russell was asked what he would do if, after he died, he discovered that he was wrong and found that God did exist, what would he say to God. His reply was very arrogant: “You have not given me sufficient reason to believe in you.”
The evidences for God is quite clear. Paul tells us in Romans chapter one that “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,, so that men are without excuse.”
Please understand: God puts nobody in hell. And to have the attitude of Bertrand Russell and say that God has not given me sufficient reason to believe in him is preposterous and egotistical. But what else can we expect when our humanistic society teaches and believes that man is the center of all things rather than the Christian world view that says God is the center of all things.
I. To be a Christian calls for a total surrender.
How can you become a Christian?
Jesus states the case for following Him quite clearly. He says: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
First, know that you are a sinner. You see, your sinfulness and your resulting sins separate you from God. You cannot have a relationship with God other than through Jesus Christ.
There are so many who strive so hard to finding God. They search through books and listen to philosophers. They surf the internet hoping to catch the latest on God.
Then there are those who create their own God with there own ideas and opinions. “Oh, I believe that God does this or that and I’m okay, you’re okay, we’re all okay.” Such people are no different than those who made images of men, birds, animals and other creatures into idols to be bowed down to and worshipped. God has become, to some, a God of our own imagination and fantasy world. But the stark reality is that such believing may lead one to a life of peace and comfort in a vacuum of alse security but will also lead to an eternity lost without God in a place where Jesus said there is weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
And then are those who simply strive to live their life without God. Like Earnest Hemingway they consider the God of their youth unnecessary and in the way. And so they fill their lives with activities and hobbies. Running from this to that, all in an effort to squeeze as much out of life as possible. And, honestly, there is nothing wrong with enjoying life, but if the enjoying of life becomes “god” then you are in trouble. Because when all is said and done what will save you? What will offer you eternity in heaven? Only Jesus Christ.
Are you a sinner who needs Jesus Christ? If you are, then that is the first step to becoming a Christian.
The second is confessing your sin. Admit to God that you are a sinner. Confess to him your need for Jesus and His precious blood. Confession is tough because it calls on us to humble ourselves totally before a living God and concede our inability to save ourself. I have observed that those who truly confess are the ones who are truly saved. We have all seen those who have seemingly become a Christian only to falter later. They have been hanging on to something and not letting go.
The third step is believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for your sins. He died for your sins. He died that you might be free from the penalty of sin. He died that you might be able to spend eternity in heaven.
And then accept Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for your sin and receive Him as the Lord of your life. As the old song goes:
“He paid a price he did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay.
“I needed someone to wash my sin away.”
Jesus death paid the price for your sin. If you would like to accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life then follow along with me in prayer as I lead you: “Heavenly Father, I am a sinner lost forever without you. I now confess to you my sin and ask for your forgiveness. I accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for my sins. Jesus is now the Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that He died for me and I accept Him now. Give me the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that I may now live the Christian life. In Jesus name, Amen.”
This salvation means that you are tired of doing things your way and that you are no longer putting your trust in yourself but your trust in God.
If you have prayed this prayer then you have now joined the family of Christians around the world.
2. To live the life of a Christian calls for the death sentence.
I like the Wuest Expanded version of this scripture: “If anyone is desiring to come after me, let him forget self and lose sight of his own interests, and let him pick up his cross and carry it, and let him be taking the same road with me that I travel, for whoever is desiring to save his soul-life shall ruin it, but whoever will pass a sentence of death upon his soul-life for my sake shall find it.”
Jesus is calling on those who want to be true followers to walk the Green Mile* with him. He is calling on those who desire to be saved to put aside some very serious issues in their life.
[*The Green Mile- book by Stephen King and motion picture depicting a death row inmate who does supernatural miracles. The green mile was the last mile before the electric chair.]
a. Ambition. We all have dreams of what we want to accomplish. My ambition is to be the best pastor that I can be. But I must give all the ambitions I have about ministry over to God. I must apply a death sentence to my ambitions.
b. Dreams. We all have dreams of the future. Our young people dream dreams of the future: spouses, children, careers and goals. Some of you have achieved the dreams and others have seen them crumble. If we are to follow Christ then we must give up our dreams.
c. Self-interests. We all have a part of us that wants things a certain way. Within this body of believers we all have ambitions and dreams for our church. We have dreams and ambitions for our children and grandchildren. We desire to see even the politics of our day swing in the right direction. What Jesus calls on us to do is to take up our cross and follow him. And to do that we must digress ourselves of our own interests and travel the road with Christ. If I am to follow Christ I must forget self and lose sight of my own interests and pick up my cross and carry it.
Let me draw the circle a little bit tighter. In our own personal walk with our Lord, are there particular areas that are unpleasing to Him? Is there hidden sin that nobody knows about? Remember, “God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” We can look the part and talk the language but is our walk with the Lord the way it should be? Is there anything that is hampering me carrying my cross today? Forget yesterday, that is past, and don’t plan on tomorrow because we may never see it- what about your cross today? What self-interests are we clinging to? Is it sex, money or power? We must exercise a death sentence on our self-interests so that we can effectively carry our cross and walk with Christ on the same road that he is on.
3. What is the profit for choosing or not choosing to follow Christ?
a. The treasure is now or later. What are we doing with our life today? The treasures we build now what are they for? Are we striving to build up a security for here on earth or for a reward in heaven? Who we choose to follow will make the difference. Too often Christians want it both ways. But Jesus doesn’t cut it that way. We either are giving our all for him or nothing at all.
b. Eternal life is in the balance. Heaven and hell are the ultimate arrival places. Which will it be? Who we follow will determine our final place after death. This life is but a vapor. This time will soon pass and what will it all be for?
c. Payday someday. We will be rewarded according to our faith. Whether we have chosen to put our faith in Jesus Christ or in the Psychic Friends network, we will be rewarded. Quite honestly, following Jesus is much safer and more assuring.
We all desire to be fulfilled in some way. Mankind seems to be on this never-ending search to find something that’s been lost. We strive to find meaning through success whether it’s from our rat-race career (and I need to be just as careful as anyone else), our family legacy, or personal accomplishments. There seems to be this continued search to find the real me when Jesus offers the most direct path to that goal.
Ravi Zacharias shares a thought from his radio program “Slice of Infinity” regarding this quest for self-fulfillment. Sociologist Daniel Yankelovich arrived at an astounding analysis after studying several couples in their pursuits and speaks of one particular couple he called “Abby and Mark.”
Here’s what he said. “If you feel it is imperative to fill all your needs, and if these needs are contradictory or in conflict with those of others, or are simply unfillable, then frustration inevitably follows. To Abby and to Mark self-fulfillment means having a career and marriage and children and sexual freedom and autonomy and being liberal and having money and choosing non-conformity and insisting social justice and enjoying city life and country living and simplicity and graciousness and reading and good friends and on and on.”
He adds, “The individual is not truly fulfilled by becoming ever more autonomous [or independent]. Indeed, to move too far in this direction is to risk psychosis, the ultimate form of autonomy. The injunction that to find one’s self, one must lose one’s self, contains the truth any seeker of fulfillment needs to grasp.”
We need only to heed the words of Christ: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
The choice is ours and ours alone.
The World is Not Enough but Jesus Christ is Enough: He is all I need.
