THE GREATEST WANT OF THE WORLD

- The Want of Faithful Men -

Marcus Peters

Midland SDA Church

September 10 2011

Intro

"Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail among the children of men." Psalms 12:1

LA Times (about Kobe Bryant)

Accomplishments:

· Five rings, two Finals MVPS, one regular-season MVP,

· Sixth-place on the NBA's all-time scoring list Lakers all-time leading scorer

· Bryant's work ethic played a larger role in cementing that resume. 

· To develop his jumper he'd spend his offseason making 2,000 shots a day. Not taking. Making.
There's speculation that he follows the 666 workout regimen:

· 6 hours a day, 6 days a week, 6 moths a year:

· 2 hrs of running, 2 hrs of basketball, 1 hr of cardio (boxing, jump rope etc), 1 hr of weights

· A begrudged Shaquille O'Neal admitted that he never had a teammate that worked as hard as Kobe.

· He described him as "borderline possessed" about working out each day.

Kobe's life gives us some insight into Luke 16:8

· "The children of the world are in their generation wiser than the children of light."

· Worldlings manifest more zeal and energy in their temporal pursuits than Christians do for the eternal.

· The reality is that Kobe loves basketball more than many of us love Jesus.

· Although he's not well-like he's almost universally respected. Why? Because of his faithfulness to b-ball

· And yet the world does not need any more Kobe's. It's not perishing for a lack of athletes.

· The world is perishing for a lack of Christians who are faithful to the cause which they proclaim.

When you think of a faithful Christian what images come to mind?

· Standing before a judge to answer for your faith.

· Risking your life by going to a communist country to share the gospel.

· Being burnt to the stake because you refuse to accept the Mark of the Beast.

· Consider Luke 16:10. It gives us a good idea of where Christian faithfulness begins.

· It's faithfulness in the little things that allows us to be faithful in the greater matters.

· Many of us want to die for Jesus at the end of time but we refuse to live for him right now.

The need of faithfulness: diet (Daniel), workplace (Daniel), pulpit (Paul).

Today we will explore faithfulness in the areas of our lives that we often overlook:

· Faithfulness in our devotional lives

· Faithfulness in our families

· Faithfulness in ministry.

A.   Faithfulness in our devotional lives (Daniel 6:7-11)

· Crisis reveals the character.

· Daniel's initial impulse was to turn to God in prayer.

· When we face a crisis in our lives our initial reaction is a good indicator of where are spiritually.

· Daniel's devotional life before the crisis was the same as during the crisis

· He preferred to die than miss his devotions!

· How many of you missed your time with Jesus this morning?

· If we want to have a faith like Daniel's we need to emulate his devotion.

· We need to come to the point where we rather die than lose our communion with God.

· Illustration (prayer is the breath of the soul and exercise)

B.   Faithfulness in the Family: (Hebrews 11:7)

· "Moved with fear." He believed with all his heart that the flood was coming.

· This belief was manifested in his actions.

· Do we believe with all our hearts that Jesus is coming soon?

· "The shortness of time demands an energy that has not been aroused among those who claim to believe the present truth" MM321

· The reality is that many of us parents are not excited about Jesus as we should. Our kids notice it too.

· It's the reason for the casual Christianity we witness today: having the form of godliness but lacking the power thereof. Showing up to church w/o bibles; unwilling to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

· Compare Genesis 7:1 & 2 Peter 2:5. Noah was righteous and he was a preacher of righteousness.

· He practiced what he preached. Can't call our kids to a higher standard that we're living. Gen 18:19.

· "Prepared an ark to the saving of his household." Our children's salvation is our 1st priority.

· The bible is filled with stories of spiritual men who neglected their spiritual duties at home.

· Areas of focus family worship; spending quality time; being transparent; winning the child's confidence.

· Henry illustration

C.   Faithful in Ministry (Three Parables: Matthew 24:45-50 & 25:14-46)

· Need to give meat in due season.

· Avoiding distractions vs 49 (in-fighting).

· According to the parable it's those with the least talents that are in danger of robbing our Lord.

· We can't be satisfied with mediocrity; God expects us to improve our talents.

· The enemy of best is good. Satisfied with our one little talent.

· Share personal experience with public speaking.

· The world expects more of us why shouldn't God. Analogy to my yearly personal evaluations.

· And then we have the arrogance to say "Jesus is coming soon"

· Lack of training is no excuse. If the working world that would be considered incompetence.

· We should always be asking ourselves "Lord, what more can I do for you?"

· If I led one person to the Lord this year Lord help me to lead 2 next year

· Cleaning the church, preparing the bulletins, being a greeter at the door is good but we should not be satisfied with fulfilling these tasks. We should covet earnestly the best gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31).

· The most joyful Christians are those who are doing their Master's work. (see FE 206).

· John Wesley illustration

Conclusion (I Thessalonians 5:24 & Revelation 17:14)

· All His biddings are enablings

· What God asks us to do He's already made the provisions for us to perform it

· John's vision in Rev 17:14

Appeals

· How many want to have the faithfulness of Daniel in your devotional lives so much so that you will rather die than lose our communion with God?

· You want God to help you as a parent to be consistent like Noah; to practice what you preach; to prepare an ark to the saving of your household?

· You recognize that you could be doing much more for God and you need help. You want God to help you improve the talents you already have?