Amen.
Man, the title of my sermon this morning is A More Excellent Way.
A More Excellent Way.
The Bible reads in Romans chapter 2, beginning in verse 17, Behold, thou art called a Jew,
and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest
the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law.
Now what is the context there of things that are more excellent?
Of course, the Apostle Paul is going to go on to condemn the Jews because they don't
actually follow the law that they've been given, and just like the Gentiles, they are
sinners as well.
This is going to culminate in chapter 3 with him saying that all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God.
There's no difference between the Jew and the Greek, and that we are justified freely
by God's grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
We all are sinners, therefore we all need to be saved through Christ.
But in the immediate context of this statement, when he says approve the things that are more
excellent being instructed out of the law, what he is saying is that the way of life
that is described in the law of God is superior to the way of life that is lived by the nations
of this world, by the Gentiles of this world.
God's word, the law of God, shows us a more excellent way to live our lives, a superior
way to live.
You know there's this idea out there that's called cultural relativism, and it says that
all cultures are equal, they're all equally valid.
We don't want to be ethnocentric, you know, where we think that our culture or our religion
or our way of life is superior than other ways of life, you know, it should just all
be looked at as equal.
Well let me tell you something, that is just false, it's just wrong, because Christianity
and Christian culture is superior than any other way of life in this world.
Unequivocally it's just better.
And think about how silly this argument of cultural relativism would be if you carried
it out to its logical conclusion, that would mean that, for example, when the Spaniards
showed up in Mexico and found the Aztecs murdering human beings, doing human sacrifices, ripping
their hearts out, and doing all of these grotesque rituals, and worshipping what even secular
scholars would say are monsters and hideous demons.
I guess that culture was just as good as our culture in America in 2023, just as good as
any Christian culture, even though they're mutilating themselves, mutilating corpses,
doing human sacrifices, worshipping monsters and ghouls and demons and gods that they believed
needed to eat human blood every day in order to survive, so they just have to keep killing
humans in order to make the sun come up in the morning.
But I guess that's just an equally valid culture to ours.
That's bizarre, right?
But according to that logic that says that all cultures are equal, that means cannibals
and weirdos of this world, it's all equally valid.
Folks, that's insanity, okay?
And look, I'm not just getting on the indigenous of Mexico, because guess what?
We could talk about European pagans and Vikings that did all kinds of gross and violent and
wicked things.
It's really all of the pagans of this world, all non-Christians of this world are godless
and wicked in their own way, and there's one way that is the right way, the more excellent
way, and that is the Christian way, okay?
This is what the Bible clearly teaches.
The Bible doesn't teach that all religions are equal, all ways of life are valid.
No, the way of life that God gives us through his word is more excellent.
It's better, it's superior, it's the right way to live your life.
But even today in America, and if you would turn to Deuteronomy chapter 4, even today
in the United States of America, even though our culture is somewhat of a Christian culture,
although it's getting more and more secular and turning more and more atheistic by the
day, even in our American culture, obviously most people are not following the laws of
God, and we have a choice to make as 2023 Americans whether we're just going to go the
way of our increasingly godless American culture or are we going to go the way of the Bible
no matter what the culture around us does.
We've got to follow the word of God.
If you want to live a more excellent life, if you want to live a superior way of life,
you follow the Bible.
What do I mean by that?
I mean you're going to be happier, you're going to be healthier, you're going to be
more prosperous, you are going to do better in life following God's word than following
the ways of this world.
Now I'm not preaching a prosperity gospel that says that you aren't going to go through
any pain or suffering or any trials and tribulations, but I will promise you this, that if you follow
Christ all of your trials and tribulations, all of your pain and suffering will mean something
and in the end you will be successful, you will be blessed, you will be prosperous in
the end.
You're going to go through trials and tribulations in the short term, but mark the perfect man,
the Bible says the end of that man is peace.
You've seen the end of the Lord, you've heard of the patience of Job, Job went through all
kinds of terrible things, but you've seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very
pitiful and of tender mercy.
And how did things end up for Job?
They ended up great.
Your life is going to end up the way that you want it to end up if you follow Christ
and if you follow the ways of this world, you're going to be living an inferior life.
You're not going to be living the best life that you could be living according to the
word of God, the more excellent way.
You see the Bible says in Proverbs 12 26, the righteous is more excellent than his neighbor.
Did you get that?
The righteous is more excellent than his neighbor.
You see, living God's way following the Bible is just a superior way of life, but the way
of the wicked seduces them, right?
So the righteous is more excellent than his neighbor, but yet wicked people are seduced
by this ungodly way that the devil puts forth.
Look at Deuteronomy chapter four verse five.
The Bible reads bold.
I've taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord, my God commanded me that you
should do so in the land, whether you go to possess it, keep therefore and do them for
this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear
all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
See the Bible saying that even worldly outsiders should be able to look at God's people and
see them following God's laws and say, wow, these are some wise and understanding people.
Look at that excellent way of life.
Look at those laws and statutes and just how much sense they make.
These people have God with them.
Look at verse four for what nation is there so great who have God so nigh unto them as
the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for and what nation is there
so great that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I said before
you this day, you say, what nation is that?
Is it the United States?
No.
Is it Israel?
No.
That nation is the nation that is made up of all Christians.
God has made us in the New Testament, a holy nation, a peculiar people and people outside
of that nation, meaning outside of Christianity, outside of the faith, they're going to look
at us and say, this is a righteous nation.
This is a godly nation.
These people, you say, wow, pastor Anderson, that's about Israel and the old folks learn
how you got to learn how to read the Bible.
Okay.
These Old Testament script, scriptures are written for our admonition upon whom the ends
of the world are come.
And in the New Testament, it's not the nation of Israel.
It's not the United States.
It is the nation made up of all Christians, according to first Peter chapter two.
Look if you would at Matthew chapter five, Matthew chapter five, the famous Sermon on
the Mount.
The Bible says that people from the outside back in those days would look at the nation
of Israel and say, wow, this is a righteous nation.
They'll look at us today as Christians and say, this is a righteous nation.
These people have God nigh unto them.
Look at the wisdom and understanding, and it's not because of any wisdom or understanding
that we have personally, it's just that we're following the Bible and the Bible is such
an excellent way of life that it gets people's attention when they see you following the
Bible.
Look what the Bible says in Matthew chapter five verse 13.
It says, you're the salt of the earth.
So we are Christians are to have a different flavor than the world that we live in.
We're different.
We're the salt of the earth, but if the salt of lost his savor, another way of saying that
would be if the salt have lost his flavor, right?
Wherewith shall it be salted?
How's this world going to be salted if the salt doesn't taste like salt, right?
We as Christians are the salt of the earth.
We're supposed to taste like salt.
We're supposed to be distinct from the people around us.
And it says, it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot
of men.
Ye are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do
men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick and to give it light
unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, watch this, that they may see your good works and
glorify your father, which is in heaven.
He's saying, look, let the people of this world see the good works of Christians and
let them be impressed by it.
Let them glorify God, let them acknowledge it as a more excellent way.
You say, what does this have to do with the law of God?
We'll look at the very next verse after he talks about the good works, he says, think
not that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets.
I'm not come to destroy but to fulfill for verily I say unto you till heaven and earth
pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men.
So he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whosoever shall do and teach
them the same should be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Now obviously from the Old Testament to the New Testament, there's a change in God's law.
The Bible says for the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of
the law.
We are no longer under the meats and drinks and divers, washings and carnal ordinances
of the Old Testament, right?
But the moral law of the Old Testament still stands, right?
The civil laws of the Old Testament are still good examples that our civil governments today
would do well to follow.
Now here's the thing about that.
Do you think when God said that the nations around them would look at them and say, wow,
what a wise and understanding people with all these wise statutes and judgments and
laws.
Do you think that when God said that, do you think he was talking about the ritual observances
of meat, drinks and divers, washings?
Or do you think that he was talking about the moral laws and the civil laws?
I mean, stop and think about it.
Do you think that the people around them are just going to be so, wow, you guys don't eat
pork.
Wow.
You guys have such wisdom.
Do you really think that that's what he meant or do you think maybe he was talking more
about the laws and the rules about righteous living, about marriage, about, you know, how
to live our lives, not to steal, not to lie, not to curse, uh, you know, uh, our neighbor,
not to curse the death, not to, what do you think he's talking about?
You know, loving your enemy as the Old Testament law teaches that if your enemy's ass falls
in the ditch, you pull it out and you help even your enemy.
You see his, his, uh, animal going astray and you lead it back to him and you love your
neighbor as yourself and you don't commit adultery and you don't bear false witness.
What do you think he's talking about?
That kind of stuff or stuff about meats, drinks, divers, washing, carnal ordinances.
Obviously he's talking about the moral and civil laws that haven't changed in the New
Testament because we're still following those same laws or statutes about what is right
and wrong in the New Testament, not arbitrary things about just diet or cleanliness or things
like that that don't necessarily actually have, uh, you know, universal wisdom that
people would look to, but more had religious significance.
This is more talking about even unbelievers just looking at the nation of Israel and just
saying, wow, you guys run a tight ship.
This is talking about worldly people looking at the way Christians live their lives today
and saying, well, you know, I'm not even a Christian, but this guy is a great worker.
I'm not even a Christian, but this is the way to run a family.
This is the way to run a business.
You know, this is a godly way of life.
That's what we're talking about.
Not arbitrary things, but God's timeless laws, moral laws, civil laws that we find in the
Old Testament that are reiterated in the New Testament that have never been done away
in the New Testament as far as being a guide for how to live our lives.
Here's a famous story in First Kings.
Go if you would to chapter 10 of First Kings about the Queen of Sheba coming and visiting
Solomon.
And of course the Queen of Sheba is a powerful person, a successful person.
She has all kinds of wealth and impressive things going on herself.
But she hears in her country of the fame of Solomon and so she travels to Israel to come
to see Solomon and she comes with a little bit of a skeptical attitude.
She wonders if Solomon's really going to live up to the hype because she's heard a lot of
hype where she came from.
And so it says in verse number one, when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon
concerning the name of the Lord and notice Solomon's fame is based upon the name of the
Lord.
God's getting credit for Solomon's greatness throughout the world.
It says she came to prove him with hard questions.
So what does it mean to prove him?
She's going to test him out and she's going to ask him some really hard questions and
see if he can actually deliver.
And it says in verse two, she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels, the
bare spices, very much gold and precious stones.
So she's a powerful person in her own right.
She's not just some small regional leader, but she's actually a great ruler and she comes
with all of these things.
And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
Now notice the change of language here because it starts out she's going to prove him with
hard questions.
Now she's communing with him.
It doesn't become an interrogation where she's grilling him and checking him out.
It becomes more of a dialogue, a conversation, communing with him.
And then it says she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
I mean, she basically really opens up to him because she realizes, wow, this guy really
is a source of wisdom.
I'm not just going to ask him hard questions.
I'm going to ask him questions that matter to me.
I'm going to commune with him of everything that's in my heart, things that are actually
important to me, things that I actually want to know the answer to.
And Solomon told her all her questions.
Verse three, there was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not.
I mean, this guy had all the answers for her.
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built and
the meat of his table and the sitting of his servants and the attendance of his ministers
and their apparel and his cup bearers and his ascent by which he went up into the house
of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her spirit here, meaning breath, right?
She's just basically exasperated.
She's just out of breath.
She's just breathless in her admiration for King Solomon.
And she said to the king, it was a true report.
Verse six, that I heard in my own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
Howbeit I believe not the words.
Remember how I told you that she was a little bit skeptical.
She's going in to really see if he lives up to the hype.
She just admits it now.
You know, I didn't really believe all the hype.
I believe not the words until I came and mine eyes had seen it.
And behold, the half was not told me.
I didn't even believe you could live up to the hype.
You're double what I expected, she says.
The half was not told me thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.
Happier thy men, happier these thy servants which stand continually before thee and that
hear thy wisdom.
Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighteth in thee to set thee on the throne of Israel
because the Lord loved Israel forever.
Therefore made he the king to do judgment and justice.
What a great testimony.
Look, it's because of the name of the Lord that she had heard of this fame.
And when she comes to him, it's the wisdom of God that is really impressing her because
Solomon has been divinely given wisdom by God.
And we have access to that exact same wisdom today because the Bible says, if any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God, they give it to all men liberally and are braided not.
You see, we all have the Bible, we all have the Holy Spirit, and we all have access to
the same wisdom that God gave Solomon so we can know the truth.
We can have wisdom.
We can have great understanding if we read the Bible.
The more you read the Bible, the wiser of a person you're going to be.
The more you pray, the more you live for God, the more you're a doer of the word.
You are going to get wiser and wiser and wiser by doing that.
You know, sometimes ungodly people will criticize Christians and say, you guys think that you
have all the answers.
You know, you think you know everything.
You think you have all the answers.
I do have all the answers right here.
You know, these are the answers.
Okay.
Now, I'm not saying that I personally inside me know all the answers, but I have the answer
key right here.
These are all the answers.
And so just as Solomon knew all of the answers to the Queen of Sheba's questions, you know,
typically a preacher who's been studying the Bible for decades.
Yeah.
If you ask him questions about life, he's probably going to be able to pull up the correct
Bible verse to answer that question and also just godly men and women who've been in church
for years and read the Bible for years.
Yeah.
They're going to have answers at the tip of their tongue because they've been reading
the Bible and so they've got that same wisdom that was given unto Solomon.
Turn if you would to first Corinthians chapter 13, first Corinthians chapter number 13.
The Bible says in Daniel chapter six verse three, you're turning to first Corinthians.
Even this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was
in him and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
All throughout the Bible we see even non-believers, even the heathen recognizing wisdom in God's
people if they're following the word of God, right?
If we let our light shine, they will see our good works and glorify our father, which is
heaven.
Why?
The idea of life as Christians is a more excellent way of life.
Just objectively it's better.
That's not, well, that's just your opinion.
That's just your ethnocentric viewpoint.
No, no, no.
That's just a fact.
It's just better.
It's just superior.
It's just a more excellent way.
God's way is better.
Everything that this world does in opposition to what the Bible teaches is inferior.
It's a step down from the way God tells us to live our lives.
Well, you know, if we believe that then we need to start following the word of God in
our daily lives.
Why would you live, uh, an inferior way of life?
You know, you're saved this morning.
You believe on Christ, you're going to heaven, but if you're still living according to this
world's cultural ways and practices and doing things their way, then you're living an inferior
way.
Why don't you live a more excellent way?
Now not only does the Bible teach that the laws of God are a more excellent way because
it said in Romans chapter two that you approve the things that are more excellent when you're
instructed out of the law.
Okay, so following God's laws is a more excellent way to live your life, but not only that,
The Bible also teaches that living a life that is characterized by charity is also a
more excellent way.
Look what the Bible says in first Corinthians 12 31 so look at the last verse of first Corinthians
12 it says, but covet earnestly the best gifts and yet show I unto you a more excellent way.
And then the more excellent way that he goes on to show is the way of charity.
In chapter 13 he rolls right into this discussion of charity in first Corinthians chapter 13.
So what's the context in chapter 12 in chapter 12 he's talking about all kinds of spiritual
gifts and how the body of Christ, the local church is made up of many members and each
member contributes something different and everybody has different talents and abilities
and callings and gifts of God.
And so he says in verse 31, covet earnestly the best gifts, you know, seek that you may
excel to the edifying of the church by excelling in spiritual gifts, Romans 12 is another passage
on spiritual gifts, Romans 12, first Corinthians 12, these two chapters go over that subject.
And then he says, yet show I unto you a more excellent way.
The more excellent way, the ultimate way of living your life is to live your life through
charity.
Now is this so different from the first half of the sermon?
Because in the first part of sermon we talked about how God's law is a more excellent way.
Now we're saying charity is a more excellent way.
Love is a more excellent way.
Charity is another word for love.
But here's the thing, the Bible says that this is love that we walk after his commandments
in the book of Second John.
This is love that we walk after his commandments.
You know, the Bible says for this is the love of God that we walk after his commandments.
First John five three.
The Bible also says love worketh no ill to his neighbor.
Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
The Bible said that the greatest commandment in the law was thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart and soul and mind and strength.
And then the second greatest commandment in the law is thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself.
And the Bible says on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
And the Bible says that all the commandments thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit
adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet.
And it says, and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this word, thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
One word sums up the law of God, love, according to Romans chapter number 13, one word, love.
So it makes sense that both walking after God's commandments and both walking in charity
are both a more excellent way because these two things go hand in hand, right?
If we live our lives according to God's word, we are living a superior way of life.
We're living a more excellent way.
Also if we walk in love, we're, we're living a more excellent way.
Now how does this work?
Well, the thing is if we actually love God, then we're going to keep his commandments.
You know, Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments.
And then the Bible said, love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling
of the law.
You see, if we go through life as a loving person, right, and, and I'm not talking about
just a generic kind of love, but I'm talking about the kind of love that comes from actually
being a saved Christian and being indwelled by the Holy Spirit and the love that is a
fruit of the spirit.
Okay.
Biblical love, Christian love.
If we actually live our lives in a way that is characterized by love, we are going to
do the right thing.
I almost want to just say automatically, okay, now obviously we're not going to do the right
thing automatically by being saved.
This is what a lot of people teach, oh, if you're saved, you know, you're going to, you're
going to follow God and follow Christ and do all the right things.
It always cracks me up when I ask people out door to door so many, you know, what, what
do I have to do to go to heaven?
They just say, well, just live like Christ.
And I, you know, I don't want to mock people when I'm out so many, but I just want to say,
oh man, that piece of cake.
That's so easy.
All I have to do is just be like Jesus.
Well, why didn't you tell me before that it was so easy to get to heaven?
Because how ridiculous, how absurd is it to think that I can actually live up to that
standard if that's the way into heaven is to live like Christ.
Now obviously we should all be striving to live like Christ, but here's the key word
striving because we've all come short and we all will continue to come short.
But it's so funny how nonchalant people are just, oh, just live like Jesus.
Oh, you know, just, just walk on water, you know, just, just never sin.
Oh, okay, great.
Piece of cake.
People are nuts.
That's when you're lucky enough for people to actually bring up Jesus in their answer.
A lot of times Jesus doesn't even factor into the answer for the, you ask, what do I have
to do to be a good person?
Live a good life.
One of my favorites that I've literally probably heard 50 times, believe in yourself, believe
in yourself.
Okay.
Should I receive myself as my own personal Lord and savior while I'm at it?
What in the world?
But I've literally, who's heard that answer outside?
Believe in yourself to be said, wow.
You know, or I've, I've even heard answers like, you know, you just got to rescue pets
and and you know, I've rescued nine pets and that's why I believe I'm going to have it.
I've literally had somebody tell me that and they weren't getting, you know, without
our dogs.
All right.
Is what they, they missed that part.
But you know, the Bible says that everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God for God is love.
Right?
Real love emanates from the saved Christian.
Okay.
If they walk in the spirit because the fruit of the spirit is love.
You see, here's the thing about that.
Being saved doesn't make you automatically do the right things.
Otherwise God wouldn't have to keep telling Christians how they need to do the right things
and put on the whole armor of God and put on the new man and put off the works of the
flesh and and mortify the members of your uncleanness, right?
Because it's not automatic.
We have a choice every single day of whether we're going to walk in the new man, walk in
the old man, walk in the spirit versus walk in the flesh.
And so it's not automatic.
But here's the thing.
If you are walking in love, if you are a loving person, that love will lead you to do the
right things automatically.
You know, you wouldn't, you won't even have to sit there and think, well, what is the
commandment on this?
Because automatically love fulfills the law because love works no ill to his neighbor
is what the Bible says.
And so charity is the ultimate goal of the Christian life is being a charitable, loving
person.
And this will lead you to do the right things and lead you to live a more excellent way.
Look what the Bible says in first Corinthians 13 one, though I speak with the tongues of
men and of angels and have not charity, I'm become a sounding brass or a tinkling symbol.
And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I'm
nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
So these first few verses are just making it very clear that charity is an essential
ingredient in being a good Christian.
You can't be a good Christian without having love in your heart and charity for your, your
fellow man.
That's what the Bible says.
Even if you did all these wonderful works, they're meaningless if you don't actually
have charity.
Charity suffereth long and is kind.
Charity envieth not.
Charity vaunteth not itself is not puffed up.
What is the Bible saying?
This is the superior way of life and you've got all kinds of people today in our world
putting forth ways of life, philosophies for how to live, right?
There are all kinds of social media influencers out there saying, hey, this is how you need
to live your life.
And a lot of it's targeted at young men saying, hey young man, let me teach you what your
parents have failed to teach you.
Let me teach you what dad didn't teach you or whatever.
I'm going to teach you how to be a man.
I'm going to teach you how to live your life as the superior man, the alpha man, how to
be a manly man, right?
And there's all of this teaching coming from men online telling you how to live your life.
But let me ask you something about these men that are teaching you supposedly what they
claim is a more excellent way.
Are they those who vaunt not themselves?
Do they vaunt themselves?
Are they puffed up?
If these men are puffed up, if these men vaunt themselves, hey, look at me.
Look at my success.
Look at how much money I have.
Look at my physical body and my physique and my fitness.
Hey, look at how I'm living a better life than you.
Be like me.
Follow my ways because look at me.
You know, this person is living an inferior life.
They are the inferior man.
They are not more excellent.
They are less excellent.
They are less effective.
I don't care how much money they have or how much of a physique they have because that
is not the measure of our success as human beings.
Obviously, we're all out there making money.
We're all out there trying to keep ourselves in the best shape and be as healthy as we
can be, but you know what, that's not what life's about.
That's not the measure of success.
The more excellent way is the Christian life focused on spiritual things and living a life
of love for God and love for your neighbor, not, hey, everybody, look at me.
Look at my success.
You see, I'm not getting up here saying, everybody, just look at me.
Look at my life and you know, here's what I'm saying.
Look at the Bible.
What did I say is the superior way?
My way?
No, no.
The Christian way.
It's not about me because this way existed before I was born and it will exist after
I'm gone.
It's the Christian way.
It's the Bible way and anybody who's vaunting themselves and is puffed up in themselves
is not the excellent man that they're claiming to be.
You know, a lot of these guys, they could talk a big talk about how happy they are and
how wonderful their lives are.
You don't know these people.
You don't know them.
You're looking at a bunch of pixels on a screen.
You're looking at a bunch of colored flashing light coming at you and a bunch of electronic
waveforms coming out of those speakers.
It's not real.
Okay.
It's an actor.
It's a man who goes on screen and says that he has it all together.
You don't know if he has it all together.
You don't know how he feels when he's by himself.
You don't know what's going on in his heart.
You don't know what's going on in his personal life.
He's just on there to make money.
It's a monetized video platform and it's not real, okay?
Because the excellent life doesn't just come down to a bank balance.
The excellent life doesn't just come down to a body fat percentage.
The excellent life doesn't come down to a deadlift maximum.
The excellent life doesn't come down to educational accolades.
The excellent life is defined by God.
It is the person who is living their life, following God's laws.
They're living a life of charity, real unfeigned love of the brethren, real love for God and
ardent love for their fellow man that comes from the heart.
That is the excellence that the Bible is talking about and it could be a little money
or a lot of money, that's not even the point.
It's about following God and having joy unspeakable and full of glory.
The real happiness that comes from being one of God's people, living an excellent way of
life that people can recognize and see.
You don't have to get up and tell them, hey everybody, look at me.
They're already looking at you and not just because of something shallow or carnal like
your physical appearance or the vehicle that you drive.
It's about your spirit.
The Bible says charity suffers long and is kind, right?
These are the attributes of the excellent man.
You young men are looking for excellence and manliness and you want to be a man of Christian
virtue.
Hey, what does the Bible say?
You should be a kind person.
You should be a person who has patience because you suffer long.
You're not just upset at the drop of a hat, but that you suffer long.
You're kind.
You don't envy.
You're not out there lusting after all the riches that this world has to offer.
You're not vaunting yourself or being puffed up.
You're not behaving yourself unseemly or inappropriately.
The Bible says charity seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil,
rejoiced not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
These are the attributes of the excellent man.
These are the attributes of the excellent woman.
So when we talk about a more excellent way, we need to make sure that it's coming straight
from the Bible.
That it's coming straight from the word of God and that it's coming from real love in
your heart.
Actually feelings of love toward God, actual feelings of love toward your brothers and
sisters in Christ, actual feelings of love toward lost people that you're trying to win
to Christ, that you want to lead to Christ.
And you know what?
People can feel that.
People can recognize that.
People can see that when it's real.
It's going to come out.
And the Bible says in verse 13, now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, but the
greatest of these is charity, right?
Charity is the ultimate.
Charity is the pinnacle of excellence in our Christian lives.
Go if you would to Philippians chapter one, Philippians chapter number one, what am I
talking about this morning?
A more excellent way.
All ways of life are not equal.
All people are not equal.
All people just aren't equal.
Why?
Because the righteous man is more excellent than his neighbor, yet two guys living next
to each other, one of them is righteous, one of them isn't.
The righteous guy's better.
That's what the Bible says.
The righteous man is more excellent than his neighbor.
But here's the thing about the righteous man.
You know what the righteous man doesn't do?
He doesn't walk out and say, oh God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men, even as my
less excellent neighbor.
See if you're thinking right now, you're right, I am more excellent than my neighbor.
Then you're not who I'm talking to.
The righteous man is more excellent than his neighbor, but he does not go through life
conscious of that.
The righteous man just objectively from the outside is more excellent than his neighbor.
The outsider looks and says, look, I'm looking at the Christian and I'm looking at the non-Christian.
I'm looking at this man who's following God.
He is more excellent.
But the excellent man doesn't go around proclaiming his own excellence.
Not even in his heart, not even in his mind is even thinking I'm better, I'm more excellent.
You know, he's going to be thinking God's way is better.
The Bible's better, Christianity's better, but he's not thinking in terms of I'm better
because that's a wicked way of thinking.
The Bible says that we should esteem other better than ourselves.
We should go through life thinking about ways in which other people are superior to us.
But I'm talking about taking the outside third party objective view.
Christianity is objectively better than all other religions.
Number one, because it's true and it's real and it's actually there.
But number two, it's teachings, it's precepts are just superior, which is why Christian
culture is better than non-Christian culture.
The righteous man is more excellent than his neighbor.
People who follow God's laws are a light shining in a dark world.
People who follow the word of God are the salt of the earth, flavoring this world for
the better, preserving this world for the better.
But not only is the one who follows God's word more excellent, the loving man, the loving
woman, the person who walks in charity is also superior to the person who's seeking
their own, full of themselves, puffed up, vaunting themselves, easily provoked, hateful
and hating one another toward people that, uh, you know, not, I'm not talking about what
the Bible talks about a righteous anger, righteous wrath or a righteous hatred, but I'm talking
about people who just go through life, despising their fellow man.
It's wickedness and it is not the most excellent way.
The excellent way is to be a loving, kind, gentle person.
That's what the Bible says.
So I don't know if it's manly to be kind and gentle folks, let me tell you something.
The Bible commands us to be kind and gentle.
Always fear the wrath of a gentle man.
But that's another sermon that shall be preached at another time.
And so the Bible says in Philippians chapter one verse nine, and this I pray that your
love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment.
He's praying that their love would abound more, that you may approve things that are
excellent.
Why?
Because love leads to excellence according to the Bible.
What does the word excellent mean?
It comes with the word excel.
It means it's better.
It is superior.
It is more excellent.
It exceeds or excels other things that you may be sincere and without offense till the
day of Christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ.
How do we get access to all of this virtue and excellence?
It's through Jesus.
It's through believing in Jesus, being saved or dwelled by the Holy Spirit.
The word of God gives us these things and ultimately it's unto the glory and praise
of God because they see our good works and they don't necessarily elevate us personally,
but they glorify our father, which is in heaven.
That's the goal.
That's the end of these things.
And so this morning I challenge you to live a more excellent life, a more excellent life
than you're living right now and a more excellent life even than the people around you, not
so that you can Lord it over them, but because we all want to be the best that we can be.
And how do we do that?
We do it by following God's word and by walking in love.
And these are the two sides of the same coin, but it's important that we think about it
and focus on both even though they're connected, right?
Because we could go down a dark path of, well, I'm going to follow all God's commandments
and then glorify myself and think of myself as better than everybody else because I'm
doing these commandments.
Look at all this stuff I'm doing and look at all these idiots around me that don't do
this stuff.
That could be a dark path because we don't have both sides there of walking after the
commandments and walking in love, or we could just set aside the commandments of God and
just focus on becoming really loving.
And then next thing you know, we're just kind of looking at sinful things and we're just,
we're too loving to condemn sin and we're just kind of tolerant and accepting of everything
and everyone and just anything goes right.
Right, so you can see how in order to have true love and in order to have true following
of the commandments of God, both have to work together.
We have to have both.
It's like a bird can't fly unless it has both wings, right?
It's not, it just has one wing.
I don't know.
Maybe it can fly in a circle or something.
I don't know.
Maybe we could take a bird, amputate one of its wings and, and you know, see how it does.
See what happens.
But I have a feeling that it needs both wings to fly.
Well, your Christian life needs both wings to fly.
You've got to have the commandments on one side and you got to have the love on the other
side.
And today we've got various groups that are trying to go with just one and not the other,
right?
We've got all kinds of big churches out there that are kind of the party fun center type
churches and, and man, they will talk a lot about love.
But then they don't want to hear about the do's and the don'ts, you know, and what are
they doing?
They're, they're flying around in a circle like that bird that we mutilated and they're
flying around in a circle and they're probably going to slam their head into things and,
and just, you know, birds are flying into windows and running into things, you know,
whenever, whenever they're not operating properly.
And then, you know, and then on the other hand, you've got all kinds of people who are
strict and fall in tons of rules, but then they're despising the people around.
They don't get it.
They're missing it.
That's not the excellent way.
The more excellent way is when we do both.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and thank you for not only saving us
and giving us a home in heaven, but thank you for also showing us a more excellent way
to live our lives.
Lord, help no one in this room to be foolish enough to go the way of this world when an
excellent way is available.
Help us all to be the best that we can be for your glory and in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.