The greatest men are those who have fallen deepest into the mire, sinned most, suffered most, and then have fought their evil natures and conquered.”
                    –Zane Grey  (The Light of the Western Stars)

       “He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.”
                    –Psalm 40:2 (Amplified)
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               “He paid a debt He did not owe
               I owed a debt I could not pay…”
                     –Ellis J. Crum

Upon reading this psalm/song of Paul’s the words to the song by Crum came immediately to mind.  William Barclay says that “In many ways this is the greatest and most moving passage Paul ever wrote about Jesus.”  

          4 — Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
          5 — Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
          6 — who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
          7 — but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
          8 — And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  (NKJV)

There is so much doctrine and theology in these verses from Philippians 2, but there is also the aspect of practical theology as well.  Much could be said, and has been, but let’s just look at a few things in our short time this morning.  Someone has said, “Right thinking produces right actions.”  Therefore, our actions are the fruit of our deepest thoughts.  I would ask, how close are you to Christ?  How often do you think about Him and then, what are those thoughts?  Notice, that the “mind” is mentioned; we are to have the mind of Christ, that is why Paul wrote to the Romans that we must have the “renewing of our mind.”  No longer are we to act and think worldly thoughts, thoughts that do not belong to Christ.
     Much of these verses then deal with the Incarnation–that great mystery of God.  Right from the start we see Paul telling us that “Jesus was essentially and unalterably God.” (Barclay)  Jesus was equal, which means He was fully God.  The term used here means an essential for which never alters.  Jesus did not think it robbery to be equal with God.  J.B. Phillips translates it this way, “For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God’s equal.”  He placed that aside in His humility to come to earth to take on our great debt.
     Barclay explains what the term “robbery” relates to.  “It can mean that Jesus did not need to snatch at equality with God, because He had it as a right, and/or that He did not clutch at equality with God, as if to hug it jealously to Himself, but laid it willingly down for the sake of men.”  The next verse hits me, He emptied Himself; He took the position of a slave.  The meaning of this phrase means “removing things from a container, until the container is empty; of pouring something out, until there is nothing left.” (Barclay)  Think of that, He emptied Himself of His royal deity.  No, He did not cease to be God, never think that, but He came to earth as man.
     Think about Jesus and His life on earth.  One of the clearest aspects of His character was his humility.  Barclay writes, “The great characteristics of Jesus’ life were humility, obedience, and self-renunciation.  He did not desire to dominate men but only to serve them; He did not desire His own way but only God’s way; He did not desire to exalt Himself but only to renounce all His glory for the sake of men.”  So anything that is selfish, or self-seeking, or putting ourselves out for self-display destroys our likeness to Christ.  Remember!  We are to have the mind of Christ!  Think of His humility.  William Hendircksen calls our attention to it when he says, “So poor was He that He was constantly borrowing:  a place for His birth, a boat to preach from, a room for the Lord’s supper, a tomb to be buried in.  Moreover, He took upon Himself a debt–the guilt and sins of us all.”
     Listen then carefully to the sermons you hear.  How do they portray your thinking in regard to that of Jesus?  What do the self-help books say about you?  Are you a somebody, or are you in the image of Christ?  Can you make it by yourself, or do you need a savior to take care of your sins?  

               “You who were God beyond all praising,
               Because You loved me became a man
               Stooping so low, but sinners raising
               Heavenwards by Your eternal plan.”
                     –Frank Houghton

 

As long as you let your conscience needle you, you wouldn’t slide into that dark abyss.”
                     –James D. Best  (Leadville)          

       “So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.”
                    –Acts 24:16 (ESV)
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Many years ago I learned the lesson that the Holy Spirit either enrages or He convicts.  With that, when He convicts it often turns into rage when it is rejected.  The fact is that man in his fallen state loves darkness.  John tells us, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19, NASB)  Man doesn’t want to be told he is evil, that he is a sinner.  And those, well, those who totally reject the Light are enraged when they are exposed to the truth that comes through the Light.  If you don’t think so, just take a glimpse at the news.  From the streets of Portland and other cities, to those cities in the halls of government there is rage.  Besides their actions and words their faces show the evil that is inside them.
     Most people recognize that there is a right way to go.  Few have their hearts so calloused that they cannot see the truth, or feel inside them the working of conviction.  Paul writes, “…They show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” (Romans 2:15, NASB)  I will say again, that most people still have a conscience, or at least a remnant of one.  Andrew Murray said that, “Conscience is the guardian or monitor God has given you, to give warning when anything goes wrong.”  Conscience–listen to it.  Not only was it placed inside you by God, but it is what the Holy Spirit works upon.  Add to that the Word of God and there is not escaping the Light–the truth of God’s Word.
     Instead of rejecting the Light we should run towards it.  Jesus–the Light of the world, our hope, our salvation, our sustainer, and our soon coming Lord.  The writer of Hebrews implores us to draw near to God, “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (10:22, NASB)  I like the way the NLT puts this, “Let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him.  For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”
     We are to live in the knowledge of God’s Word.  The Holy Spirit uses that to help us along the journey of life.  Murray states, “Up to the light you have, give heed to conscience.”  See, as Christians, we have the Light; we have the Holy Spirit, so when we feel a tug of conscience heed what it is saying.  The unbeliever does not have this benefit of God’s Spirit living within them, but they still have some knowledge of right and wrong placed within them.  I am reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew, that it is the pure in heart that will see God.  Therefore, we, as Murray says, should “ask God, by the teaching of His will, to give us more Light.”  Keep your heart pure, your mind focused on proper things and then, “Conscience will become your encouragement and helper, and give you the confidence, both that your obedience is accepted, and that your prayer for ever-increasing knowledge of the will is heard” (Murray).

 

Foolishness is like the sun, it shines brightly everywhere.”
                    –Ralph Vaughn  (Hell Comes to Paradise)

       “…Behold the word of the LORD is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.”
                    –Jeremiah 6:10(NKJV)
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Finally home and getting back on track.  It was a nice vacation, but now back to our study on Proverbs.  Let me remind you of some things.  Remember that Proverbs is an ethical book and is not necessarily doctrinal.  That is not to say that there are no doctrines, for in studying Proverbs we get a better understanding of God’s character and how we are to live.  Proverbs is a practical book dealing with the art of living.
     Proverbs 7:24-27, again warns about sexual impurity and immorality.  It is definitely directed to the individual, but is also a warning regarding spiritual adultery, which was the great sin of Israel.  Spiritual adultery is anything that leads away from the worship of the true God and living for Him; it is anything that is a perversion of the Gospel.

          24 — Now therefore, listen to me, my children; pay attention to the words of my mouth.
          25 — Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths;
          26 — For she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men.
          27 — Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death.  (NKJV)

     Bob Beasley writes this regarding spiritual prostitution, “Like prostitutes hanging from their doorways in any red light district, spiritual prostitutes visit doorsteps with their false doctrines, seeking to lead people away from the Savior.  They preach a different Christ than the One of Scripture, and lure the unwary with lies and half-truths that sound good to the spiritually gullible.  Beware of people like these.  Don’t let your heart turn to their teaching.”  Look at the world around you, glimpse at the news and you see people constantly being swayed to a lifestyle contrary to the Word of God.
     Anything that is calling you away from Christ is a spiritual prostitute, and they not only wait on street corners but they come knocking at your door.  She comes in through various means:  radio, music, television, movies, social media, etc., always wanting you to compromise.  (J. Vernon McGee)  There is the push of “internal deception” (Chalmers).  Someone said that this is the move from “loving much to loving wrong.”
     The allurement of heresy is much like the immoral woman.  It looks good, it is flattering and it feeds the desires of the flesh.  Heed the words of verses 25 and 26.  How many strong men found their demise at her door?  How many good men fell to the charms of flattering lips?  Death lies at her door.  “If you go to her house, you are on the way to the world of the dead.  It is a shortcut to death.” (Flores)  Self-seeking, self-indulging, self-interest if these are calling you–watch out!
     Think for a minute of Gideon, that mighty warrior of valor.  Gideon started well, humble, valiant, but then, something happened.  Read in Judges 8:22-27, that while he refused to become king, he still turned to spiritual adultery, made a golden idol and Israel then prostituted itself by worshipping the idol; “it became a snare to Gideon and to his house” (vs 27).  The words of Warren Wiersbe should stop us in our tracks forcing us to take a careful look at ourselves, “It isn’t enough for Christians to protest evil; we must also practice the good.”

 

All of life is a risk, and sometimes the smallest of risks can cause the biggest danger, like a cut that becomes infected.”
                    –C.J. Petit  (Retribution)

       “For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
                    –Zechariah 4:10(NKJV)
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Maybe you have heard that “practice makes perfect.”  Don’t you believe it!  The truth of the matter is that “perfect practice makes perfect.”  A person can’t go out and haphazardly practice or work.  They must be diligent in their practice.  The foundations must continually be practiced and practiced correctly.  Bad habits are easy to form, but on the opposite note, hard to break.
     I learned a long time ago to do it right the first time (“stupid!”).  Repeating a task is a waste of time and that shows poor stewardship.  You want to be greater, given greater tasks, then develop your ability in the small things that are given to you.  Develop your mind, your muscles, your stamina, so that when larger things come your way, if they ever do, then you’ll be able to handle them.  William Barclay puts it this way, “The reward of work well done was more work to do.  The greatest compliment we can pay a man is to give him ever greater and harder tasks to do.  The great reward of God to the man who has satisfied the test is more trust.”  I have seen over and over that this is true.
     You want to be strong and develop yourself, whether mentally or physically, then you must work at it.  One pushup may be all you can do today, but if you are satisfied with that then you’ll never get stronger.  And so many times I have seen individuals refuse to work on the little things that will make them better.  If you do not practice the basic fundamentals and develop the basic skills and strength you will never be given the task of going higher.  “If we discipline and train our bodies, they will grow ever fitter and stronger; if we do not, they will grow flabby and lose much of the strength we have.” (Barclay)  This is true of the mind, and I will add, of the spirit as well.
     One of the greatest compliments I received from my Dad involved a little thing.  Dad was a truckdriver, but I was given the task to back the truck up to the house when my folks were moving.  I pulled back, putting the truck right in place.  Dad smiled at me, “I couldn’t have done it better myself.”  A little thing, backing up a truck, but it held great meaning for me.  You want rewards, recognition, position, then get busy with the little things, and doing them right.
     I have heard people use the verse, “Well done, my good servant!” (Luke 19:17, NIV)  Look at that verse carefully.  We often misquote it by rendering it, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  Looking at the complete verse we see the “faithful” come into play.  “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied.  ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'” (NIV)  The NKJV translates it this way, “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in very little, have authority over ten cities.'”
     Let me ask, when you first received a credit card, did you have the tendency to use it on small things?  All of a sudden those incidental expenses became something extravagant.  Remember in all things we are to be good stewards; that includes doing the small, redundant, mundane things.  During the Vietnam War, many complained that the M-16 jammed too easily.  The rifle was an excellent weapon, but had no tolerance for grit or grime, those little things that might cause it to jam.  The wise soldier would make sure, doing the mundane task, of making sure he kept his rifle spotless and clean.  Hmmm, I wonder how much time we work on our spiritual weapons and lives keeping them spotless and clean?  Fenelon said, “Whoever knows how to put the small things to good use, spiritual as well as temporal, accumulates great wealth.”
     Before you can leap and bound, you must first learn to walk.  To walk, you begin with small steps.  Work with what the Lord has given you in all areas of your life.  Take hold of this great truth that Barclay expounds, “There is no such thing as standing still in the Christian life.  We either get more or we lose what we have.  We either advance to greater heights or we slip back.”  Perhaps, it would do us good to look more closely and consider the story that Jesus told of the Master and the Servants.