“God’s Values: Why Is This Important?” By Brother Andy Giebler March 22nd,
2015
Morning. One other thing; I believe they were leaving
me the privilege of doing it: I have the
privilege of having my dad, Russ, and his wife Sue, visiting from Southern
Illinois, here this morning. This month we’ve been talking
about God’s values. We’ve heard three
wonderful messages already this month, and I’m kind of going to recap those a
little bit, and then add a little bit, too, this morning. Not to re-preach those messages, but just to
keep these things fresh in our minds. There’s times when I look at this,
and I think, “Okay, God’s values, other peoples values, why are all these
values important?” We’re raised in our
natural families, and we don’t have a choice in that, really, we’re born in
that; that’s where we are. We’re stuck
with our parents values. I’m having a
little fun with my dad. As I stand here
this morning, I think back, and, as I had a chance to visit, I think back to
the things that I learned from my mom and my dad. Even though my mom left a little early, I
still remember the things that she taught, and my dad taught us. My dad has remarried, and I gained a second
mom, and I still learned things from both of them, and I still count that a
privilege. As I see them interact with
their children, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren, their nieces,
their cousins... And that’s a godly
principle, and I‘m going to get in some scriptures on that later on, that we
respect our parents, that we respect our elders, those that teach us. We live in a society today that wants to stop
us from sharing those good and proper values. Just to kind of highlight some
more examples of things that we find important to us, in our own families,
there are things that are values that are taught. I remember things that were taught to me;
being honest, doing things right, being compassionate, to be giving, and those
are just a few that come to mind. Each
family has things that they taught their children, things that are important to
them, things that are important to their culture, because each one of us comes
from different cultures, whether it’s a different country, or a different state
in the United States, or a different ethnic culture. We have different things on how we were
raised that are important to us. We
honor those. We have—Parrish alluded to
it, in his message—the military; when you join the military, you learn a whole
new set of values, you learn a whole new set of instructions, a whole new set
of things that you have to adhere to.
It’s the same thing on a new job, or even when you begin to date or get
married. That’s a whole ‘nother set of values
there, that’s some shared values. Sure,
you get to know your spouse to be, your boyfriend or girlfriend; you learn who
your husband or wife is going to be, you learn things about them. You make it a point to know those things, to
find out what’s important to them, to figure out what they value. As we talk about God’s values, we look back
at bosses, or jobs, or a chief in the Navy, or a wife, or even our parents, we
take the time to learn those by heart, to see what they value, and, even more
so, God’s values. How do we learn God’s values? How do we learn what’s important to God? We live in our natural homes for eighteen,
nineteen, twenty years, for most people, and then we leave home. We live with a spouse, hopefully for life,
and those are things that we have to work on, because we want those
circumstances to be the way they should be, to gain favor in their eyes, to get
a better job, make more money or whatever.
But, God’s values, that’s eternity.
God’s values, that’s forever.
That’s a relationship that has to be cultivated as well. We talked about some of the things that re
God’s values. We don’t know those values
unless we seek them out. So, what re
some ways that we can seek out God’s values?
Prayer, exactly. Take time to get
on our knees, find that prayer closet, and that’s something that the world doesn’t
want us to do, either. That’s something
that you won’t hear them teach in school; they want to take it out. But, personal time with God. Read the Scriptures; learn them; study
them. Learn what is important to
God. And, as you will find, and many of
us have, when you start studying those things, then you start learning what God
values, learning what’s important to Him, it becomes more than, “Okay, what’s
going to make God happy?” It becomes a
relationship; it becomes not just finding out facts, but a relationship that
you have with your God, a spiritual relationship. Not just a church relationship, not my Sunday
morning ritual type thing, but a relationship with God, and that will only
enhance anything that happens in this life. This is the relationship we’re
talking about, being born again into Christ: Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism
into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Those are the values; that newness
of life. The scripture that we use for the
month is: Jeremiah 9:24 But let him that
glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the
LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in these things I delight, saith the LORD I had to read that Scripture a few
times to really get everything out of it, a handful of words, there. I want to back up into twenty-three, to kind
of give it a little more context. Jeremiah 9:23- Thus saith the LORD,
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom… If we look up the word glory
right now, it’s talking about boasting, making a show, celebrating it. Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus
saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the
mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But
let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that
I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in
the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. I want to take this apart a couple
more times. From the back: the things that I delight in, saith the Lord;
that he understandeth and knoweth Me.
That we know God. I know I may
sound like a broken record, but I want to push on this a little bit, because
it’s something that it bears reminding ourselves of. But let men glory, let us boast, let us make
show of, let us celebrate that we understandeth and knoweth Me. That we know God; let that be our boast. Let that be our, you know, it’s easy to say,
“Yeah, I’ve got a new truck; I’ve got a new car; I’ve got a new home.” Those are all good things; it’s not bad to
have them, but, those are riches. Let
him that glorieth, him that boast, him that makes a show of, or celebrates, let
him understand that I am the LORD, which exercises lovingkindness, judgment,
and righteousness in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. Parrish shared with us, the first
of the month, that there are some things that we find in the Scriptures that
are values, and one of them is God’s name.
Throughout the Old Testament, He had different names He was referred to
as. He made it a point to give them a
name, that they knew who He was. It’s no
different now. Jesus said: John 5:43 I am come in my
Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name,
him ye will receive. In other Scriptures, he says, “I
bear the name of the Father. I manifest
Thy name.” (John 17:6) Sure, he had
different names, but this is the one that we were given. This also in the name of the Son. The name of the son who was the
sacrifice. The name of the Son who was
the Passover. We’re going to talk about
Good Friday, Easter. We’re going to talk
about the sacrifice more, and that name that he came to bear. That name that scriptures poured over,
talking about the power of, the power to cast out demons, the power to heal;
that’s the name that saves us. That’s
the name that He gave us. Throughout the
Old Testament, He talked about covenants.
You know, baptism, that’s our covenant today. That’s our circumcision made without hands;
that new covenant. I’m going to
reference one more scripture on that: Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. He talked about pride. God has things He likes, and things he
doesn’t. He made reference of: pride is
a thing that will cause you to take credit for things that aren’t yours. I’m just re-preaching what Parrish said; I’m
not going to take credit for that. It
makes us do things that just aren’t right.
Makes us think we’re the ones doing it.
Pride; and, as I’m going through these things, each one of these could
be a Bible study or almost a sermon in and of themselves, the things that God
values and doesn’t. So, just going to be
kind of short things that we’re hoping will kind of whet your appetite to go
dig into these things, to go back and re-read and re-learn these things. Whether you’re learning for the first time,
or just refreshing, just let God show you the things that He delights in. Proverbs 29:23 A man's pride shall
bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. Pride; that’s a whole study in
itself. It’s something that’s a
pitfall. It’s something that we need to
keep that in mind. God desires, and values a pure
sacrifice. Malachi 1:8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is
it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now
unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith
the LORD of hosts God wants the best of us. He doesn’t want leftovers. In the Old Testament, they took the animals
and they sacrificed the best of what they had.
They didn’t go out in the pen, and say, “Oh, this one’s blind; it will
never fetch any price at market. God can
have this one.” They went out and took
the best, the firstborn, the one that would be the prize, the one that you
would say, “That’s the one that I’ve been looking for,” they took that one and
made it a sacrifice. They took the best
that they had, and gave it. Look at Cain
and Abel: One brought of what he had,
and one brought of the best that he had, and God had respect for one above the
other. As we’re looking at the things
that God values, if we take the time to offer the first of what we have, make
that firstfruit sacrifice, even in our tithes and offerings. Firstfruit.
I mean, I can’t sit here and tell you exactly how much money I give, nor
would I. I know there’s times when I’ve
done it, and I haven’t. I’ve seen where
God has blessed me. When I sit down with
my budget; here’s my paycheck—it’s all in the bank, I don’t have, physically, the
bills in front of me, but I wrote out a budget, and the tithe goes first. Something may physically go out first, but I
set that aside, in the beginning, and God honors that. It seems like, throughout the month,
everything goes much better if you take the time, even if it looks like, “Oh,
God, I know this is what I said I was going to do; I don’t know if I’m going to
be able to do it this month.” Bite the
bullet and go ahead and do it anyway.
This isn’t about shaking anybody for offering, this is about what God
values. This is about what God
wants. If you notice, we don’t pass a
plate here; we have a box in the back and that’s it. We don’t get in anybody’s face to do that. This is Biblical principles. Firstfruits.
It’s more than just money; it’s time.
It’s the time we put in. Do I
wait until the end of the day, and I’ve done everything else I had to do, to
have my prayer time? I’ve been guilty of
that, yet, when you make the sacrifice, and the Bible calls it a sacrifice for
a reason. To take the best of what
anyone has is a sacrifice. That’s what
God honors. That’s what God requires,
and that what God will bless. Jessie talked about four values;
four things that we see throughout the Bible:
Wisdom, faith, humility, and mercy.
Again, there’s four Bible studies there.
Proverbs 8:11 For wisdom is
better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be
compared to it. And Rob even talked about faith. Not the faith that God can give you something; the faith that God will give you something.
It’s easy to say that God can do it; we know that. We know God is all-powerful; He can. That’s nothing. Faith to say, “God will do this.” That puts me on the hook, now; that says I
have to step out on my faith. The question that Jesse asked was,
“How do we get this?” James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of
God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him. If we lack wisdom, God wants us to
come to Him. This wisdom that God values
is something that we have to get from God.
If we ask—I like how you put that, Jesse, “If you… then you…” If you do things, you will get things. It’s a two part thing; you’ve got to step out
on that faith. This is God’s wisdom; this isn’t
our wisdom. There’s a wisdom of this
world that’s not good. there’s wisdom of
this world that says to do what feels good, do what you think is right, do what
your flesh says to do. We’ve got all
kinds of doctrines, and philosophies, and theologies, and even medical doctors
saying, “Yeah, this is what’s right.
This is the way you were designed; you don’t have a choice.” That’s man’s wisdom. God’s wisdom is above that, but you don’t get
it unless you seek it. If you seek the
world, that’s what you find. If you seek
God first, that’s what you find. Faith Hebrews 11:1-6 But without faith it
is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Faith isn’t just, “God, I need this.” (Andy turned and walked away from the
podium) Sometimes, that’s the time for
the prayer closet; where you ask God for something and you wait for an answer. Look at our natural relationships. You don’t walk up to your mom and dad, when
you were growing up, and say, “Hey, I need five bucks,” and walk away. You stand there and wait; wait for an answer
of some sort. If you just do a kind of a
drive-by, you ain’t getting nothing.
Probably for the next several times you ask. Or, you might get something, but you might
not like it. Diligence is not
"tossing up a prayer" Seek God and wait for an answer Humility Matthew 18: 1-4 At the
same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the
midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. To stop and look at a child
sometimes; sometimes you’ve got to stop and look at the humility of a child,
the simplicity of a child, the brutal honesty of a child. They’ll tell you
exactly what they think and not even know what they’re saying half the
time. Whatever’s on their mind, they’re
going to speak it. But, this is how
we’ve got to come to God, in humility and faith. A little child will believe what a parent
tells them. That’s how we’ve got to come
to God. Open and honest. We’ve got to come to God and say, “Okay, God,
whatever you’ve got, that’s what we’re looking for.” Too many times, we get the answer back, and
say, “Not that. Really?” Sometimes we wrestle with it. That’s our own pride, sometimes. Jesse spoke of mercy. Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall
obtain mercy. Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God? Another thing that we talked about
was endurance. Chris talked about
it. He made reference to Bob’s hat that
said, "I dealt with it." We’ve
never been promised a bed of roses. We’ve
never been promised an easy life. James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:
for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath
promised to them that love him. Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved. Matthew 11:29-30 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. And that is the key, sometimes; what
burdens are we carrying? Are we carrying
God’s values? Are we carrying what he
wants us to carry? Are we carrying the
world’s values? If we’re carrying the
world’s values, it’s heavy, it’s cumbersome.
It’s things that we should not have; we’re not designed to carry
them. If you think of a yoke, it’s
something that is used to bind animals together to pull a load, to do work. If you take on the yoke of the world, who
knows what you’re pulling around? If you
take on the yoke of the world, there may be things on there that you can’t bear. And you can’t take on God’s yoke and the
world’s yoke at the same time; you can’t serve two masters. A lot of times we get confused on what’s
right and what’s wrong. “Why would God
do this? Why would God allow that? Why do some people fell they should live this
way or that way? Why do I have the urge
to commit this sin?” And we wrestle with
those things. “Why did God do this? How can this be right? Why do these bad things happen?” We’re looking at symbols; we’re looking at, “Here’s
what we’ve got,” instead of looking at, “What load should I be bearing? What things should I be studying? What things should I be placing my value on?” If I’m putting my values in the world, I’m
going to be really confused. In Jams, it
talks about a double-minded man being unstable in all his ways (James 1:8). We can only serve one Master, we can only have
one God. We can’t live in the world and
serve God at the same time. You will be
confused, and you will wonder these things.
We will get those questions, and, sometimes we can tell people that, but
you’ve got to pray for people, because they may not understand. If I said what I just said to you to some
people out in the world, they may not get it, because they’re not looking for
it. I want to get into love; God
values love. 1 John 4:7-8 says that God is love. 1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love
is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that
loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. We can look at love in quite a few
contexts. Throughout the Bible there’s
different uses of the word, ‘love.’
There’s love for God, there’s the love for our family… I want to look at how we love God. Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it;
That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,
That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Let me stop right there for a
minute. It’s talking about the love that
God had for us, and that Jesus was that sacrifice, that He could present us to
Him. Here was no other way. There was the death of a sacrifice. That was the love of God. That was what was done for us. In verse 28, it says, “So ought men to love
their wives as their own bodies.” Think
about Jesus; He loved us more than His own body, because He allowed it to be
hung on the cross. He allowed it to be
beaten within an inch of His life. The
sacrifice that had to be made. Ephesians 5:28-33 So ought
men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but
nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of His body, of His flesh,
and of His bones. For this cause shall a
man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they
two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ
and the church. Nevertheless let every
one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see
that she reverence her husband. That’s a pretty powerful
thing. When you look at the love of
Christ; you look at the way a man is supposed to love his wife. There’s a wonderful thing; it’s a spiritual
thing, rather than a bunch of rules. It’s
that way with God, as well, when we take the time to love God for who He is,
and not a bunch of rules. When we lived
at home, there were rules. It’s true. When I was growing up—I’ve heard it said
before, and I’ll say it, “The older I get, the smarter my parents are.” We learn those rules for a reason. But, in Christ, if we’re in a relationship
with God, a spiritual relationship, they’re no longer rules. There’s a Scripture, that talks about the
law, and grace; this Scripture says that Gentiles, not Jews, not having the
law, but, by the Spirit do the things contained in the law (Romans 2:14),
because we’re nurturing that spiritual relationship with God. We’re talking about the love
between a man and his wife, and we’ve got young folk in here. Ephesians 6:1-4 Children, obey your
parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with
promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to
wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That’s one of those things, you’ve
got to look at it… I heard someone talking
about when you get on an airplane, when you fly, some of the instructions that
they give you on the seatbelt, and the emergency oxygen masks: The instruction is, if that mask deploys, and
there’s a child next to you, put yours on first. Seems kind of strange, but, when you think
about it, if I don’t put that mask on first, I could be trying to put it on a
child, and pass out, and neither one of us get the oxygen. With the Gospel, parents, we want to raise
our kids right; I’ve seen a lot of people that say, “Well, my kids don’t
listen. I don’t know how to get through
to my child.” I, as a parent, and as a
grandparent, have to realize, “Okay, I’m not prayed up.” If I’m not seeking God, then how am I going
to teach them? How am I going to show
them the right way? We want to teach
them; we want them to do the right thing.
We want to “Do as I say, not as I do sometimes.” We have to take the time; we’re taking that
lifeline, first. We’re taking the oxygen
first; we’re taking the time, and that’s a sacrifice, too. Being right, being ready for you, before you can help your child. The final scripture I’m going to
use; talking about love: Deuteronomy 6:1-5 Now these are
the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God
commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to
possess it: That thou mightest fear the
LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command
thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that
thy days may be prolonged. Hear
therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and
that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised
thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one
LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy
God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. All. Heart, soul, and mind. That pretty much encompasses pretty much
every bit of humanity we have. All of
our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind.
Basically, everything we’ve got, we’re to love God with all of it. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 And these
words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt
teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest
down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine
hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them
upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. Throughout the Old Testament, we
read where it says, “Read the Word.
Rehearse the things that I am telling—that God is telling—to your
children, to your children’s children.” Here
it’s talking about deliverance from Egypt; it’s talking about deliverance into
the Promised Land, as they walked through the Red Sea; as God parted that
mighty river and they walked through on dry land. As he fed them manna in the wilderness. As He put a pillar of smoke by day and a
pillar of fire by night, as He guided them through the wilderness, as He
brought them into the land that He promised.
That was the salvation that they were looking at there; the
deliverance. What is it today? What are the things that we need to write
upon our heart, the things that we need to teach our children? Let me read that again: “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto
thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” In our homes, in our families, with our
brothers, with our sisters. Sure, there’s
things in the world that we talk about, but what’s important to us? When I get up in the morning, and I talk to
my wife, or we talk to our kids, when we sit down to dinner, when we retire at
the end of the day, what’s our conversation?
Are we talking about the latest song?
The latest television show? I’m
not saying those things should never be talked about, but what’s our
focus? Are we taking the time to teach
our kids, to teach each other, to write those things on our heart? That’s our conversation, when we come
together. We talked about all these other
things that God desires, and things He doesn’t.
Pride, humility… Are we taking
the time to say, “God, I’m putting You first?”
It may seem strange to a lot of people, because, once again, the world
doesn’t like this. You look at what Jesus
was up against. They brought the law up
against Him; they brought rules and regulations and said, “You’re one that
stirreth up the people.” They wanted to
silence him. When he sent His disciples
out, they were up against the law; they were up against established
traditions. Paul, he was up against so
much. John the Baptist, they took his
head off because he said, “You can’t have your brother’s wife.” The world does not want us to talk about this
stuff. It’s no different today, but we
have to talk about these things. We have
to bring it up, because it’s so easy to be numb to it; it’s so easy to go with
the flow. I’ve been guilty of it. You go with the flow; you get up in the
morning, you go to your job, you turn on the radio, you have your
conversations, you come home, sit on the couch and watch a TV program, and then
go to bed. We do that enough times, you
know, and that’s subtlety of the other side of Spiritual. Subtlety in the things that will take us and
hinder us and keep us from having that relationship with God. Just as, the Disciples, when they went out,
when Paul went out, “Stop talking about this Jesus. Don’t even say His name. We don’t want to hear it. Don’t preach in His name.” But it didn’t stop them. And this goes beyond preaching, this is just
in our own homes. Write these things,
speak of these things, and, if I could encourage anything, it’s just that we
make it a joy to have a conversation with people, to make it a joy to seek the
face of God as we go out. Sometimes we
look at conversations with a stranger, and, as Jesse alluded to, wisdom: you don’t get it unless you ask for it. In every conversation, I find myself
wondering—sometimes deep into a conversation—there’s nothing Godly in this
conversation. Not that I’m speaking
anything ungodly at the time, but I’m in a conversation with people and there’s
nothing Godly here at all. That’s the
time to ask for wisdom. “God, how do I give
You glory in this circumstance? How do I
lift You up?” And it may not be an
opportunity to preach. It’s an
opportunity to—and you may not even know how what you said affected other
people. But, if you’re seeking God, you
will say things that will bless people and they don’t even know it, or you don’t
even know it, and they get something from it.
Your actions, and it may be something simple like holding the door for
somebody. God may prick your heart just
to open a door. Something that
simple. I’ve been in a check-out line
and said, “God, how do I lift you up in this circumstance?” And God said, “Speak a kind word.” I didn’t preach at them; I didn’t invite them
to church. I just—God said, “Say
something kind to them,” and God’s Spirit does the rest. They’ll know that it’s something God did that
day, and not that it was anything of me; it was just the fact that God used me
in that circumstance. In closing, let me say this: The things that God values, the things that
God wants to have, the things that God desires, we seek those things. Amen.
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