Paradox Principles for Life | Luke 09 | Gary Hamrick

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] luke chapter 9 is where we are this morning if you'll open your bibles there to luke chapter 9 i'm going to start reading in the middle of verse 43 and we'll go to verse 48. luke chapter 9 in our study through the bible we are going through the gospel of luke we're here in chapter 9 and i'll start reading in the middle of verse 43. it says but while everyone marveled at all the things which which jesus did he said to his disciples let these words sink down into your ears for the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of man but they did not understand this saying and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it and they were afraid to ask him about this saying then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest and jesus perceiving the thought of their heart took a little child and set him by him and said to them whoever receives this little child in my name receives me and whoever receives me receives him who sent me for he who is least among you all will be great let's pause there and pray lord it's good to be in your house today we're thankful for your grace we pray now as we open up your word that you will speak to us through this story give us ears to hear and hearts to receive we pray in jesus name and everybody said amen well earlier here in luke chapter 9 of passages we did not read it tells us that jesus had just come down from the mount of transfiguration he at the base of the mount of transfiguration then heals this boy delivers this boy who was possessed by a demon a story that we covered when we were in mark's gospel chapter 9. and now we come here to the rest of luke chapter 9 and jesus tells his disciples something that's very sobering here in verse 44 he he says to them the son of man is going to be betrayed by men now he's referring to himself as the son of man it's a messianic title given by the prophet daniel and this is a cryptic reference to his impending crucifixion he's about to be betrayed into the hands of men but instead of of asking jesus what he meant by that the rest of the story tells us that they didn't understand and were too afraid to ask him instead of asking him they launch into this disagreement among themselves the disciples do as to which one of them is the greatest i mean this is just a crazy contrast here imagine imagine if you will jesus you know it's a very kind of sober moment when he says guys guys listen up listen up and the phrase here use the new king james is i want this to go down into your ears like listen listen very very carefully the son of man is going to be betrayed into the hands of man and the disciples are like hmm okay we don't know what to ask about that but if you don't mind jesus we're kind of having our own discussion over here we're having our own little debate right going on over here but thank you the debate they were having was which one of us is the greatest okay what a sharp contrast here jesus is his selfless nature trying to say to them the son of man is going to die for the whole world at the same time his selfish disciples are having a conversation as to which one of them is the greatest in the world that jesus is going to die for and so this is the scene here such a contrast and remember these were the guys that jesus hand-picked you know there's hope for all of us right and by the way this isn't the only time that the disciples got together and had this discussion about which one of them is the greatest and vying for you know jockeying for position here it tells us back in matthew chapter 20 that james and john two of jesus disciples who were brothers coaxed their mother to go to jesus and ask him for the positions of prominence when he comes into his kingdom it's it's it's the audacity james and john they're just like hey mom would you go ask jesus which one of us considered is right and which one it is left when he comes into his kingdom and as a good jewish mom would she's like okay sure jesus jesus messiah i know my two boys one could be a doctor one could be a lawyer but if you don't mind when you come into your kingdom would you mind if one of them sat at your right and one at their at your left this is the speech he gives jesus jesus says you don't know what you're asking frankly and by the way they're gonna suffer that's the way that he answers her they're going to suffer for the kingdom's sake they're going to suffer are they really willing to drink from the cup well the bible says in matthew 20 that when the other 10 disciples hear what james and john did they were indignant you want to know why not because they were upset at the request but they were upset that they didn't beat james and john to the punch first they were upset they're like why didn't we think of asking our moms you know like wow those guys beat us to it that's why they're upset how do we know because because this is the debate that they're constantly arguing about in fact there's a similar story in matthew 18. very similar to what we're reading here in luke 9. in matthew 18 they actually go to jesus and ask him which one of us is the greatest they actually ask him which one of us is the greatest now some bible scholars think that the matthew 18 incident and what we're reading here in luke 9 are the same but there are others who disagree because in matthew 18 they go directly to jesus and ask him which is the greatest in luke 9 jesus overhears them having a conversation arguing among themselves so i think it's possible that matthew 18 happens first they go to jesus which one of us is the greatest and in matthew 18 just like luke 9 he takes a little child and sets them in front of them that you know to help them understand this is what you need to be about humility so after they learned that then they're debating amongst themselves in luke 9. you know that whole thing about the which one of us yeah i think i'm the greatest no i think you're the great no no and all this kind of stuff so the same kind of thing happens though where jesus then here in our story takes a little child and sets his little child next to him and uses a child as a living example for these immature adults to learn from jesus sets a little child there as a living illustration now before we actually dissect these verses together and take a look at this on a deeper level i want you to notice that jesus employs a tool here called a paradox a paradox he says to his disciples at the end of verse 48 look at your bibles again the end of verse 48 he says jesus says for he who is least among you will be great he who is least will be great that's a paradox what exactly is a paradox well for the sake of those of you who might be dallas cowboy fans let me explain you dallas cowboy fans i know are probably thinking well it's a couple of medical professionals paradox get it all right i just insulted two people now all the dallas fans are like that's very insulting preacher we know that a paradox is not a couple of medical professionals i think it's a couple of those things that jut out into the water the boats hook up to right paradox all right that's all i got for you today friends now i i actually um a couple of months ago i i got a nice letter and then a subsequent phone call from coach joe gibbs and it was a wonderful uh conversation never met him and he says and he says to me among other things he goes gary i'm your biggest fan i follow the bible studies you do i said you don't understand coach i'm your biggest fan so we had one of these big fan moments right but then he says but i love it when you give it to dallas fans so that's for you coach all right that's for you so for everybody though here's a definition for a paradox paradox is a statement that seems contradictory or absurd but is actually valid or true it's from a greek word paradoxos two words para meaning beside or against like contrary against uh and doxos meaning opinion or belief so a paradox paradoxos is some is a contrary opinion it's a contrary belief within the same statement by the way orthodox is from orthodox orthos means straight an orthopedic doctor is someone who makes a bone straight orthodox orthos doxos is straight doctrine or straight belief it is something that is true so a paradox is a contrary belief it is something that sounds contradictory but in reality it is actually true and so when jesus there in your bibles in verse 48 he says for he who is least among you will be great it sounds contradictory you see because these are opposite things in order to be great jesus says you have to become least and there are several paradoxes throughout the bible that christians need to understand and really not just christians but anybody anybody even if you're not a believer because these are principles that god teaches that are necessary to understand for life and so i'm going to share five of them we're going to kind of use luke 9 as a springboard to four more but we're going to start there with this one this first paradox that jesus teaches here is to be great you must be least to be great you must be least now let's qualify this when jesus talks about being great he meant doing great things for god so that he can get the glory not being great so that you can get the glory god will never share his glory with another so he doesn't make people great to exalt man he uses people in great ways to exalt himself and this is the idea behind greatness that wherever god plans you however god wants to use you he wants you to be great for him that he might be exalted which is why it's so important to use whatever position he's put you in whatever stage of life whatever influence he's given you you need to do it in a way that brings him glory to make him known whatever that position might be whether you're a barista or a teacher or a software developer whether you're a pastor whether you're a stay-at-home mom whether you're a police officer or or an athlete or a student or a ceo of a company wherever god has you he wants you to be great in the sense of being great for him but the way that we're going to be great for him is if we become least among men that is to say that if we adopt a quality of being like a child and be and are humble then god can use us to our maximum but if we are haughty and proud and arrogant god can't use us in that way because then we're not really reflecting him so if we want to be great for him and do great things for him we have to model his character and his character is he's humble jesus is humble and gentle in heart you see and so this is why jesus uses a child as a living illustration to help these proud disciples realize that they're not going to be of any real benefit to the kingdom unless they humble themselves like a child in fact in matthew 18 when a similar story transpires jesus actually says you must become like little children and he goes on to say therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven so the child is an illustration to help us as adults be reminded of the fact that they possess this you know this very literal childlike quality that they are generally speaking they're humble as children because little kids are humble that is until they are given a trophy for some something they didn't really deserve and then they're ruined you know welcome to loudoun county like hey i got a trophy did you have a winning season no we lost every game well we're gonna throw that trophy in the trash then but until they get to that corrupted place of thinking that they're all that when they really aren't kids can serve as a wonderful example of faith and trust they can teach us as adults because they aren't stuck on themselves kids have there's no pretense about kids they're they're not proud or arrogant they're not trying to impress people they don't they don't think they're smarter than god you know it's only when we become adults so we think we're so educated we're smarter than god so kids have this wonderful quality and jesus says i want you to follow the example of kids i want you to be humble in spirit if you want to be used in a great way for god you got to be humble in spirit and listen being humble is something we should always strive for but never say that we have because the moment you say that you're humble you've got to start all over again friend c.s lewis said humility is not thinking less of yourself it's thinking of yourself less because when you are too full of self there's no room for god and that's what jesus is saying about kids as being a good example for us because they're humble they're not as full of themselves and they're open-hearted towards god and by the way in that culture when jesus was saying this children had zero status they had zero rights so in effect what jesus was calling people to be when he said become like a child was to give up your status and your rights and to humble yourself before god we need to be like that and then trust god to promote you and take care of you and use you for his sake aspire to do great things for god that's the idea behind greatness in order that in order to do that though we must become least so that he can become great through us this is why john the baptist when he realized okay jesus public ministry is beginning john's was coming to an end because he was there to announce the arrival of messiah so john the baptist in john 3 30 said he must increase and i must decrease we have to be about decrease in our lives less of us more of jesus that he might be made great through our least-ness number two here's another paradox going outside of the gospel of luke paul writes about how to be strong you must be weak again that seems like a contradiction but in second corinthians 12 7 to 10 this is what he said you can listen you don't need to turn this is what he said lest i should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations because he had this wonderful vision of heaven and but yet he says but you know what god kept my feet to the ground because he says a thorn in the flesh was given to me he calls it a messenger of satan to buffet me to attack me lest i be exalted above measure lest i become conceited because of these wonderful revelations from god he says concerning this thing i pleaded with the lord three times that it might depart from me he said god take this this thorn in the flesh take the suffering from me and he said to me my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness and paul says therefore most gladly i will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of christ may rest upon me therefore i take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in needs in persecutions in distresses for christ's sake listen and here's the paradox for when i am weak then i am strong now by what he wrote there he's describing for us either some kind of physical affliction that's what he meant by this thorn in my flesh or at the very least it was some spiritual attack because he says a messenger us by satan to buffet me but however it ends up being because we don't know exactly what he's referring to we know this much he suffered and we also know that he prayed that his suffering would be relieved he says you know three times i pleaded that god would take this from me but god said to me my grace is sufficient for you and paul says in my weakness his power is made perfect in my life so we should never hyper spiritualize things and say well my suffering is just a lot that god has given me and i i just should you know accept it now you can pray for god to take away your suffering there's nothing wrong with that paul did jesus did in the garden of gethsemane right before he was crucified he said father if it's possible take this cup from me he meant the cup of suffering he said if there's any other way to accomplish the plan of redemption oh god that it would happen in a different way i don't want to suffer but he adds nevertheless not my will but thine be done so jesus was willing to submit to the ultimate will of the father even though his first option was not suffering paul's also was not i don't want to suffer i pray that god would take this away from me because at the end of the day if god doesn't take that suffering away then it is in order to produce a weakness so that through our weakness we will find our strength in god's grace good godly people sometimes go through life with suffering and sometimes never get relief this side of heaven but they serve as testimonies of god sustaining grace and paul was one such saint and this is what he meant when he says for when i am weak when i am weak in myself then i am strong i am strong in the lord isaiah the prophet would write in isaiah 40 29-31 god gives power to the weak and to those who have no might he increases strength even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall but those who wait on the lord shall renew their strength they shall mount mount up with wings like eagles they should run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint our strength is in the lord number three another paradox is to be wise you must be a fool paul wrote in first corinthians 3 this let no one deceive himself if anyone among you seems to be wise in this age you see wise by human standards let him become a fool that he may become wise there's the paradox for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with god for it is written he catches the wise in their own craftiness and again the lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile you see what paul wrote in the first century is so true today even more so there is a wisdom of this age that is foolishness in god's sight man thinks that he has all the answers only to expose his ignorance in the process and you know not to beat a dead horse but to keep this as something that we are still aware of and and dealing with i think that no greater display of ignorance in recent days has been the school board's passing of policy 8040 forcing students and faculty the government forcing speech think about that to acknowledge the gender of any student's choosing you know we've told students you can't take a tylenol without parents permission but now we're saying to them but you can change your gender based on how you feel without your parents permission and that the school system will not only celebrate it but affirm that with you regardless of what your parents think that's the policy just let children determine their own gender and then validate it and celebrate it rather than getting them help which is what they really need because without that just validating it accepting it affirming it celebrating it that's a horrible mistreatment of children that is a horrible mistreatment of children listen everybody everybody listen [Applause] everybody acknowledges the right of every student to be protected from harassment or harm of any kind any student should be protected from any harassment or harm of any kind but you know what harassment and harm come in different forms and i submit that allowing children to self-determine their gender based on their feelings and affirming that is harming children that is harming children it defies god it denies reality in biology only god determines gender only god determines gender but here we are this is the reason i'm bringing this up because of this point here we are in the 21st century and we think we're smarter than god the wisdom of man is foolishness to god we've made fools of ourselves trying to convince a culture that you can be you know this is why they called it gender fluid because it changes constantly what people think that they are or they aren't and again there can be a legitimate need there for help not denying that we want to help people who have gender it used to be called gender identity disorder until 2013 and then some really smart people decided just gender dysphoria and we're going to firm it instead of treat it so we want treatment for people who suffer with this problem is the culture doesn't think it should be treated by and large it's foolishness it's the foolishness of man exposed in contrast to the wisdom of god what we need is wisdom from above and the only way we're going to be wise is to admit we're fools we know nothing god knows everything we know nothing and he is the dispenser of wisdom all wisdom you see anybody can get an education and be full of knowledge but there's a big difference between listen to me on this there's a big difference between knowledge understanding and wisdom knowledge comes through education knowledge is the accumulation of information understanding is the interpretation of that information but wisdom is the application of it and if you don't have wisdom which comes from above you can be very very smart and educated have a lot of letters after your name and not be wise at all conversely you don't have to have hardly any education one of the smartest men influential in my life didn't even have a high school education but one of the most one of the wisest persons i've ever met in my life why because he knew jesus in a deep and profound way and the wisdom that flowed out of him was amazing so you can have a lot of education a little education nothing wrong with education except if it's only the accumulation of information and you don't know how to interpret it or apply it and god wants us to apply wisdom from above god wants us to have his understanding of what it is to really be wise and we cannot be wise in our own eyes we're just fools we have to submit to his wisdom proverbs 4 7 says wisdom is the principle thing therefore get wisdom get wisdom that comes from above number four i got to run through these last two pretty quickly we're out of time number four to receive you must give this is another paradox luke 6 38 jesus says give give and it will be given to you a good measure pressed down shaken together running over will be poured into your lap for with the measure you use it will be measured to you now again that seems very foolish doesn't it the idea that the more we give the more we receive it's a paradox but this is what god promises and that he will not only take care of us the language of luke 6 38 when it talks about good measure pressed down shaking together running over shows that he's going to supply more than what we need he's the supplier of all things second corinthians 9 6 says whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously in proverbs 11 24 it says one man gives freely yet gains even more another withholds unduly but comes to poverty it's interesting how the bible teaches this principle the more generous we are the more generous it will be unto us the more stingy we are it's it's interesting how we think that if we hoard if we just keep and hoard and we don't share we're not generous how we think that we'll be you know saving up a lot of and then before you know it you got all these other expenses and it's interesting how the stingy hand results in poverty a generous hand results in generosity now listen this is not a health wealth prosperity uh message at all and i also don't want anyone to misinterpret and think okay well he's sharing this paradox because the church must need money so he's like hammering this one like if you really want to if you really want to receive give and be generous i want to report to you that god has marvelously supplied more abundantly for us this year than any year financially i'm speaking of for the moment than any year in our history as a church and this was all during covid listen when because of covid we stopped passing the offering bags because we wanted to try to be smart in some ways and right and not you know then decrease touch points so we're not passing the offering bags and you all moved your giving online and our online congregation started giving more online and this is the best year financially cornerstone has ever had so this is not a message yeah praise god so this is this is not some way to slip in here's point number four i hope you give more okay this is just i want us all to live by the principles of god's word because guess what because of your generosity we as a church are able to be more generous and every november we'll give you an update of how god was able to use you and use our congregation for the furtherance of the kingdom to bless people financially and materially so we'll give you updates come november but i just want you to know this is a word of gratitude and appreciation this isn't like yeah we've got to give more this is i just want us to live by the principles of god's word and god says to the degree that you're generous i'll be generous to you you hold a stingy hand you're not going to get much in return i'll illustrate god's generosity this way when terry and i uh got married the day we got married my uncle who was a pastor at the time he since gone on to be with the lord i had a very close relationship with my uncle ken i asked him to co-officiate the wedding ceremony and so he did well i didn't want to assume that just because he's my uncle that i shouldn't give him like a you know an honorarium and so i i put some money in an envelope with a note and thanking him and sealed the envelope and gave it to him and a few days later i got it mailed back to me and another envelope and my envelope had been unopened it was still sealed and on the back my uncle can cause we just were close like this on the back of my envelope unsealed my uncle ken wrote if you'd have given me more money you'd be getting more back [Applause] true but that's always stuck with me because that's that's the way god is the more generous i am the more i get back in terms of his supply he's a wonderful god here's the last point number five to find life you must lose it to find life you must lose it jesus said this in matthew 16 24-25 he said to his disciples if anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever desires to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it define your life you're gonna have to lose it there's so many people in this world who are trying to find meaning and purpose in life and they're looking in all the wrong places trying to find fulfillment and satisfaction everybody wants that there's this instinctive need in every single one of us to have purpose and meaning the problem is if you don't know jesus you're going to be searching for purpose and meaning in all the wrong places that will only perhaps temporarily satisfy but never for the long term there will be these temporary moments of feeling happy or satisfied or content until you need to go to the next thing and then the next thing and then the next thing hopefully you'll find the ultimate thing the ultimate one who is jesus but in order to find life you have to die to self this is what jesus is saying here you have to die to your own selfish ambitions to your own sins and you're gonna have to turn to him because he's the author of life and the giver of life and he makes life available to all who would believe and receive in fact in john 10 10 jesus said the thief comes satan comes but to steal kill and destroy but i've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly this is what jesus offers us his abundant life in him but it requires a dying to self in order to live for him in order to receive the life that he offers for us if you only live for this life you will come to miss the life to come but if you surrender this life to jesus if you die to self and follow jesus you will not only find fulfillment and satisfaction and contentment in this present life but also in the life to come which is eternal life there is a reward that awaits every believer in jesus heaven is opened wide to all who would confess their sins believe in jesus trust him as lord and savior and when you come to that place of full surrender then you will really find life die to self living is dying dying is living when you find jesus as your lord and savior let's pray together father in heaven we thank you for this time and your word these are paradoxes lord they seem contradictory but we know that these are principles that are true because they come from you help us to live out these things and on this last point lord i pray for those who have been searching for the meaning and purpose of life but they've come up empty and today i pray that today would be the day they find ultimate fulfillment and wholeness in jesus but in order to do that lord in order to find life they're gonna have to lose their own so i pray today that men women and young people would be courageous enough to make a decision to lose their own life for the sake of christ to say in effect enough of living for myself enough of me being lord of my life i want to die to that and i want to accept christ as my savior and i want him to be lord of my life then i can find ultimate purpose and satisfaction and then not just for here but also in the life to come so father move in the hearts of people who need you right now people some people lord hearing this right now or later by podcast they will admit they are tired of trying to find some sense of peace some sense of joy some sense of satisfaction things and people have disappointed left them empty but lord you are the one they need to meet right now so i'm going to pause in my prayer your head's still bowed i just want to invite you lose your life for the sake of christ receive him today he is king and lord and savior acknowledge him today as that receive him you can find that peace that passes all understanding in christ you can find that fulfillment that this world can't offer in christ if you would just surrender to him die to self i'll lead you in a prayer if that's your desire just pray this prayer right where you're seated you can pray this prayer with me you can just say lord jesus i'm a sinner like everybody else and i need you as my lord and savior so i die to self right now and i accept you as my lord and savior that i might really live i trust you right now by that you died on a cross for my sins and i surrender to your lordship i lose my life that i might find it in you save me today jesus i receive you by faith in your name i pray amen and amen listen if you prayed that prayer with me there's going to be a pastor down front to hand out bibles to anybody who wants to take a bible home to remember today's decision same thing if you online are watching you can text into the church at 703-844-9969 we'll send you a bible to lose your life is to gain it in christ amen amen god bless you all have a great day god bless you thank you you

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

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Length: 35min 18sec (2118 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 07 2021