is there beginning in verse number seven where the Bible reads but which of you
having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will say unto him by and by when
he has come from the field go and sit down to meet and will not rather say
unto him make ready wherewith I may sup and gird thyself and serve me till I have
eaten and drunken and afterward thou shalt eat and drink doth he thank that
servant because he did the things that were commanded him I trow not so
likewise ye when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you say
we are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do what
I want to preach about this morning is the subject of setting the bar too low
in our lives or just doing the minimum in our lives and that's what Jesus is
talking about here a servant who does the minimum that is expected of him he's
just doing his duty and the Bible says look the master isn't really going to
thank him for doing that you know it'd be like if you went to your job and you
put in your time and you did the minimum do you get thanked every day by your
boss at work just for showing up to work and doing your job he doesn't thank you
for doing what it is your duty to do he doesn't thank you for doing what you are
paid to do and that's what Jesus is saying here look if you had a servant
and you know he comes in from plowing the field for you you don't sit there
and serve him and do everything you tell him no you serve me you know you
get my food ready and then after you've eaten and drunk then you will give him
something to eat and you're not necessarily gonna thank him for doing
what it's his job to do what he's being paid to do what it's his duty to do and
it says in verse 10 so likewise ye when ye shall have done all those things
which are commanded you pat yourself on the back and say I am an amazing servant
I am just an unbelievable servant of God because I did what I was supposed to he
says no say that you're an unprofitable servant because you've only done what
he's saying here is that you've only done what was your duty to do meaning
you have done the minimum you've done the minimum go to Romans chapter 12 you
see sometimes we could become prideful or puffed up we start to get some things
right in our life we start serving God we start going to church we start reading
our Bibles and it's easy to become puffed up and say wow I'm a pretty good
Christian I read my Bible every day I pray every day I go to church three
times a week I'm out soul winning well I am just an amazing Christian and you
know what that pride and that arrogance is something that we need to make sure
stays out of our life because we ought to always stay humble no matter how much
we do for God we can never do as much as he did for us so we should stay humble
and remember that all the time look at Romans chapter 12 the Bible says in
verse 1 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God watch this which is
your reasonable service is that going above and beyond I mean is that just
some amazing thing that you did you believe it he is actually willing to
offer his body as a living sacrifice under the Lord Jesus Christ God saying
look that's your duty to offer your body a living sacrifice it's your
reasonable service and and this is why it's your reasonable service go to 1st
Corinthians 6 right after Romans is the book of 1st Corinthians see we just need
to get the right attitude in our minds that is a humble attitude not an
attitude that praises ourself and lifts ourself up but an attitude that says you
know what serving God is something that I'm supposed to be doing it's something
that I'm required to do it shouldn't be something that I look at as above and
beyond like anything that I give God he should just be happy for what it was
what he can get from me right and if I throw God a bone every once in a while
by going to church and if I show up at church every once in a while and if I
show up you know at soul winning every once in a blue and if I read my Bible
every once in a blue you know what God should just be happy with what he gets
from you know whatever I do hey at least I'm doing something you know and I hope
God's really gonna bless me because I'm doing something but look what the Bible
says in 1st Corinthians 6 19 what know ye not that your body is the temple of
the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have of God and you're not your own for
you are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your
spirit which are God's the Bible says you've been bought with a price your
body belongs to God your spirit belongs to God and so it is your reasonable
service it is your duty it is what is expected of you to use your body and
your spirit to glorify God to serve God to offer your body a living sacrifice to
God to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God not
to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of your
mind look God expects of us to serve him when we serve him we're not doing some
extra good deed wow we did something for God know you're doing the minimum when
you serve God because God demands it he expected he owns us and so we should not
become too prideful number one but number two we should also not set the
bar too low in our lives once we realize that okay the zero line see we put the
zero line at just doing nothing for God that in our minds we think of that as
zero if we don't go to church at all if we don't read our Bible at all if we
don't go so any at all if we don't pray at all we'll call that zero in our minds
right and then anything we do above that we think hey we're in the positive we're
doing something for God God's got to be thanking us for what we're doing because
we're doing so much for any time we get above the zero line but you know what
God does not set the zero line at nothing God has bought us and God said
zero at doing all the commandments of God if we do all God's commandments if
we just do the minimum of just you know church soul-winning Bible reading prayer
if we do the minimum of those things but we're still doing them all that's what
he calls zero we did below that we're in the negative with God because the
Bible says to him that know it to do good and do it that not to him it is
sin that sounds like you're in the negative when you're not doing stuff
you're supposed to do that sounds like not reading the Bible at all it's not
zero it's negative not going soul-winning at all is not zero it's
negative Jesus said he that is not with me is against me and he that gathers not
with me scatter it he didn't say well if you're not gathering with me if you're
not a fisher of men if you're not bringing people into the kingdom of God
well then you're just not in the battle he said no you're scattering it's
negative my friend it's below zero you see zero is when you're doing everything
you're supposed to do at a minimal level you know what when you go above and
beyond when you do more when you read the Bible more when you pray more when
you go soul-winning more when you're more involved in church you know that's
when you're going the second mile that's when you're doing something great for
God and we should still never get puffed up but let me tell you something many of
us think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think because we think of
doing nothing as zero when actually doing nothing you're harming the kingdom
of God you're you're actually defrauding the Lord Jesus Christ who has bought you
with the price you're basically like a servant who's being paid who's been
hired who's been bought with a price and then you're just loafing on the job
you're you're committing fraud you're stealing from the boss if you did that
or in an earthly sense well you know what when you defraud the Lord Jesus
Christ if your body and spirit which are God's and you yield your body and your
spirit under the world and you yield your body and spirit under the the the
devil and the cares of this world and you serve pleasure and sin and and
drunkenness and wantonness you know what you are below zero so we need to first
of all make sure that we do the things that are commanded us we need to make
sure that yes we are reading our Bible we are praying that we do go to church
that we do go so any but you know what that's just to be a zero Christian but
then we should try to strive to do more to take our Christianity to greater
heights and to really excel in our service for the Lord Jesus Christ that
he will say one day well done now good and faithful servant enter thou into the
joy of the Lord and that we would not be unprofitable servants basically a
breakeven servant it's like a servant that you hire and they don't really make
you money but they're not really costing you money they're just kind of a
breakeven guy that's not what we want to be if you're that way on your job you'll
probably get fired you know some some employees the company probably loses
money on them but you know what we want to be a profitable servant one who
brings profit into the company not one that does the minimum go to Matthew
chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 so we don't want to set the bar too low in our lives
we don't want to be one that just does the minimum and you might say well you
know I'm just gonna do the minimum I'm just gonna go to church minimum I'm
gonna go soul winning men and you know going to church minimum is probably like
Sunday morning you know if you show up every more Sunday morning that's pretty
much what most people consider okay I go to church if you go to church less
than every Sunday morning then you're considered like a hit-and-miss kind of a
guy right but if you go on Sunday morning and you're there every Sunday
morning you're considered a faithful member of the church you know most
people would consider you you come in faithfully but you know what I don't
want to just be at that zero level of just I come to church on Sunday morning
I'd rather get into some bonus right let's get into Sunday night let's get
into Wednesday night hey let's go above and beyond let's do something great for
God and not just be a minimum kind of guy you know soul winning you know
probably a minimum that most people would think of is maybe you're going out
once a week for an hour right you know what kick that up to an hour and a half
two hours three hours you know you can do more for God don't set the bar low in
your life you know a minimum I would and again am I God no so when I say you know
Sunday morning is kind of like just showing up once a week on Sunday
morning's kind of the zero line or that you know going soul winning for an hour
weeks kind of that zero line you know that that's just my that's just my
opinion right it's really between you and God and I don't really know what God
up in heaven considers the minimum before he gets upset you know what I
mean because I know I know that if he looks down and you're not going to
church at all he's upset and I know that Christmas and Easter only is making God
upset if that's if that's your church attendance probably everybody in here
would agree that that is not the level of church attendance that God expects
Christmas and Easter right and you know what I know if you're not going soul
winning at all that God's upset because he commanded us to go out and preach the
gospel to every creature I know if you're not reading your Bible at all
that God's upset and I don't think reading one verse a day is making God
happy either I don't think that that's what God considers Bible reading because
he said that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded
out of the mouth of God the Bible says we should read therein all the days of
our life and I believe that God expects us to read the entire Bible not just
part of it the whole Bible all 66 books he gave it to us as as doctrine he gave
it to us as a comforter he gave it to us as encouragement he gave it as our food
job said I've esteemed the words of my mouth more than that the words of my
mouth more than my daily food
look I know that God expects us to read the Bible every I know that praying not
at all makes God upset but where is that minimal line where God says hey you know
at least show up once a week to church you know at least and I would I would
say a minimum and again this is just my opinion
I'm just throwing this out there you know I'd say a minimal Bible reading
should be to read your Bible cover to cover once a year like in a year's time
get through that's just my opinion 15 minutes a day get through the whole
thing in a year I'd put that as a zero line again just my opinion you know
prayer what's the minimum of prayer I mean for sure praying every day I mean
how long of prayer per day I don't know you know God doesn't really give us hard
numbers but I do know that God expects us to pray without ceasing to pray every
day I know Daniel pray three times a day I know David said he seven times a day
praise the Lord because of his righteous judgments I don't know exactly what the
minimum line is but I'll tell you one thing I don't want to do the minimum
whatever it is say well Oh God just told me what the minimum is stop don't tell
me I don't care because I don't want to do the minimum I want to do more because
we should not strive to be an unprofitable servant we should not
strive to be a zero Christian an absolute zero Christian that's just
right there just doing the minimum to get by and let me tell you something we
should be pressing on the upward way and gaining new heights every day look
what the Bible says in Matthew 5 it says in verse 43 you've heard that it has
been said thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy now stop first of
all that's not something that God ever said a lot of people misunderstand this
and say oh the Old Testament teaches you to love your neighbor and hate your
enemy no the Old Testament tells you to love your enemy the Old Testament tells
you in the book of Leviticus that if you're if your enemy's ox or ass falls
into the ditch you lay hold on it and lift it out I mean the Bible teaches you
to love your enemies okay but it says here that it has been said not saying
that God said it just that someone has said it or that people have said it but
I say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that
hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you
that ye may be the children of your father which is in heaven for he make of
this son to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust and we learned that the last three days on the camping trip that God
does send rain on the just also but anyway it says in verse 46 for if you
love them which love you watch this if you love them which love you what reward
have you now look isn't loving people that love you something that we should
do if we did not love those who love us wouldn't we be in sin wouldn't we be
doing something amiss we'd be below the zero line but you know what if we just
love those that love us that's zero that's the minimum you see what I'm
saying that's why he says what reward have you because you're not really doing
anything above and beyond that's what I'm saying showing up every Sunday
morning at church you're not really going above and beyond just reading your
Bible a minimal Bible reading every day you're not going above and beyond just
doing a little tiny bit of soul winning you're not going above and beyond he
says look if you love those that love you what reward have you that's just the
basic decency of a human being to love those that love them he says and if you
salute your brethren only what do you more than others do not even the
publicans the same he's like just a minimum that if you're out and about
and somebody says hi to you you don't just you know you know hey how you doing
and they're just kind of I mean look if you go to church right and somebody says
hi to you at church and you just ignore them wouldn't you say that's rude hey
hey brother Corbin how you doing he's just like you know that's right right
okay but here's the thing he's saying look if you say hi to those that say hi
to you that's just a minimum you know basic politeness and courtesy but what's
better is when you go out and greet someone else what does it mean to salute
someone we're not talking about you know this kind of when it says to salute
someone it means basically to say hi to him to greet them hey how you doing right
so if you come to church and you only interact with the people that come talk
to you and come say hi to you okay thank you for showing us that you're not a
complete barbarian but what is better is if you would actually approach someone
and salute someone else then you have reward now you are going above and
beyond now you're doing well and you're not just doing the minimum do you see
that there or you know even out and about just just greeting people just
being friendly says if you salute your brethren only what do you more than
others do not even the public and so be therefore perfect even as your father
which is in heaven is perfect now look a lot of people probably think that if you
did the minimum church minimum Bible reading minimum prayer minimum
soul-winning minimum courtesy at church minimum works they'd say you're perfect
you're doing everything you're supposed to but God says you're not perfect unless
you're doing above the minimum above what is expected of you go to second
Corinthians 10 and I'm going to show you why a lot of people tend to set the bar
very low in their lives and why they think more highly of their service for
God than what they ought to think here's the reason why a lot of people set the
bar too high second Corinthians 10 12 says this for we dare not make ourselves
of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves commending
yourself is what praising yourself thinking that you're great
watch this the Bible tells us about people who praise themselves and think
that they are wonderful it says but they measuring themselves by themselves and
comparing themselves among themselves are not wise so what is the Bible
telling us here that some people think more highly of themselves than they
ought to think basically they commend themselves look how great I am by
comparing themselves to other people and by comparing themselves to other people
they're able to lift themselves up and commend themselves by comparing
themselves amongst themselves and measuring themselves by themselves that's
all plural they're not just racing with themselves but they're looking at the
people around them and saying why I'm better than so-and-so now look at you
would Luke chapter 18 with that in mind Luke chapter 18 you see in America today
the bar is pretty low if you want to start comparing yourself amongst
yourselves I mean if you want to feel like you're just a really great
Christian yeah you can just compare yourself to the most Christians in
America today in 2013 I mean if you want to feel pretty good about our church if
you want to think that our church is just the greatest church in the world you
know what just start comparing it to the typical Baptist Church in 2013 I mean if
you put faithful word Baptist next to a typical Baptist Church it's going to
look great but wait a minute is that the standard now put it next to the book of
Acts you know what I mean and now all of a sudden we're thinking wow our church
has a long way to go you know if we look at faithful word Baptist Church and and
put it in the light of God's Word in the light of the book of Acts in the light
of what Jesus did then we feel humbled then we feel like yeah let's do more
let's take it up a notch let's do better but we can just find some liberal loser
Baptist Church down the street and say well look how much better we're doing
for them they do zero soul winning look how much we did they they preach to
Bible verses on a Sunday morning we had 50 you know they're doing that look at
them all scantily clad you know at least at least we're wearing clothing but let
me tell you something that is not the standard and God says if we start
comparing ourselves to other churches to make ourselves feel good we're not wise
that's a bad comparison forget what other churches are doing forget what the
rest of independent fundamental Baptists are doing forget what the liberal
Southern Baptists are doing or all these other denominational Baptist forget what
other Christians are doing forget what the non-nomination look what are we
doing and how does it measure up with what the Bible says now we're humble now
we're saying oh man we need to be more like Jesus in this way we need to be
more like the Apostles in this way we need to be more like the early church in
the book of Acts in this way and it causes us to grow see it says in Luke 18
here's the example of the guy who compares himself to other people Luke 18
verse 9 says he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and despised others right they think they're great by
looking down on someone else two men went up into the temple to pray the one
a Pharisee and the other Republican the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himself he's not even praying to God he's praying with himself he's just
going through the motions of prayer he's just saying where it's not even directed
to God he's saying it to himself he prayed thus with himself God I thank
thee that I'm not as other men are that's how I start all my prayers to man
I'm so glad I'm not like other people I'm so glad that I am NOT as other men
are and look what he lists off extortioners unjust adulterers or even
as this publican now look those are some major sins extortion adultery I mean
these are huge massive sins so this guy pats himself on the back by saying well
hey least I'm not committing adultery least I'm not an extortioner and look
that's a way to make yourself feel pretty good I mean if you want to feel
good about yourself if you want to feel like you are just an awesome person and
you are just a stellar Christian I mean I know you barely ever make it to church
I know you barely ever go soul winning I know you barely revolve a man you are
awesome because you are at least you're not an adulterer you are the man I mean
that's what this guy's saying hey at least I don't work for the government at
least I'm not a publican you know at least I'm not an extortioner at least
I'm not an adulterer you know I'm not like this guy and he says you know I
fast twice in the week I give tithes of all that I possess right okay but here's
the thing isn't tithing the minimum I mean tithing is just something that God
tells you to do that doesn't even belong to you you know he says that the tithe
is the Lord's so I remember you know one time this lady walked up to my pastor
back in Sacramento and said you know I want to know where the money I've been
given to this church has been going and he said okay have you been giving some
of your money and she said well yes I've tithed and he said well that's not your
money did you give above your tithe because if you give above your tithe
then you're giving your money but the Bible says the tithe is the Lord's so
this guy's basically saying I did the minimum because I you know and the
fasting thing okay he gets props for that I don't I've never fast I'm not
gonna fast twice a week okay so I will give him credit let's give credit to
this Pharisee you know whatever he's not eating as much as I eat okay so I will
give him that point I eat like I eat five meals a day but anyway so what I'm
saying is you know he's the stuff he's listing you know outside the fasting
okay that's pretty good you're doing that twice a week but then again I mean
you know that who knows how long that fast was maybe he's just fasting one
meal twice a week I don't know but I'm gonna tell myself that but anyway what
I'm saying is this guy said oh I tithe everything yeah but isn't that just what
God told you to do I'm not an extortioner Wow big deal hey I'm not
committing adultery oh wow great job man that's amazing you didn't commit
adultery good job but look he's using that to lift himself up because you know
what he can find some people that are extortioners like that publican or he
can find some people that did commit adultery right and they will hey at
least I'm not as bad as so-and-so is committing adultery I mean and you'll go
out so many and people will say that they're going to heaven because they
haven't done anything that bad and they'll be like well I'm not like
Jeffrey Dahmer I mean I'm not like Charles Manson I'm not like Adolf Hitler
I mean it's like wow great job that's not really something to get excited
about that you're not a mass murderer you're not a serial killer you know put
her there pal but do you see them the mentality here of one who compares
himself to others in order to make himself feel good well you know some
people don't even tie the least I'm tithing some people are out committing
adultery at least I'm not committing adultery yeah but look is that what
you're trying to do just the minimum now look for marriage yeah the minimum is to
not commit adultery right minimum is just to stay married and just be there
and do it suppose do yeah but is that what you're trying to do in your
marriage be the minimum husband be the minimum wife is that what you're doing
in your parenting just being a minimum parent a minimum child children is that
what you're doing just the minimum obedience look if you say but every time
my mom tells me to clean my room I do it you're unprofitable we're not going to
thank you for cleaning your room every time she tells me to unload the dishes I
do it that's what you're supposed to do you expect to be thanked but you know
what we'll thank you for is when you do something without being told are you
listening kids when you take your chores that have been given you and you
take the task that you've been given you of cleaning your room or mowing the lot
and then you go out and you do something else extra you clean the kitchen you
clean the bathroom you sweep the floor you do something above and beyond that's
where mom and dad are gonna say well thank you for doing that that is
something I mean look wives who probably never cook at home they probably expect
to be thanked like a hundred times for cooking like a real meal once look I
actually cook something from scratch look that's life that's your job you
know that's like that's like is my wife gonna thank me every day I come home
from work thank you for going to work again thank you for working eight hours
again thank you for doing another eight hour shift thank you for breakfast thank
you for lunch thank you for dinner thank you for baby but I mean look that's just
way too many thank yous but let me tell you some if maybe I could see if I worked
a 12-hour day or a 15-hour day or a 20-hour day right I come home late at
night I'm all grimy and she says man thank you for working so hard you're
such a great provider you know or you know what I'm saying is that we need to
strive to do more we need to not try to just be people who do the minimum you
know sometimes I'll jokingly somebody will say hey thanks for doing sus and so
I always say well you know that's the least I could do you know that's a
saying that people use a lot and I always say and that's always what I can
do though that's always what I do the least I can do that's what I like to do
the minimum whatever the minimum is you know as a pastor that's what I want to
do as a pastor I just want to do the minute I mean what's the what's the
shortest shallowest sermon I can preach and people will still consider it a
sermon you know what I mean I mean what what's the minimum sermon I can do where
I just get up and I get I got some outline I downloaded off the internet
some book that I got that's you know a 13 part series on grace or whatever that
I bought from some ministry somewhere you know if I can just get up and just
go through those points and just go through the motions a 20-minute sermon
and just give out the minimum truth the minimum Bible the minimum doctrine just
so that people will feel like it was worth the drive no I want to preach the
best sermon that I could possibly preach I preach the minimum what's the
minimum Bible knowledge I should have as a pastor what's the minimum level of
service for God I should do look these questions should never enter our mind
and I think that's part of why earlier in the sermon I had to guess about the
minimums because God doesn't even tell us the minimums because he doesn't want
us to do the minimum because if he told us here's the minimum Bible reading
here's the minimum Church here's the minute you know what that's what most
people die end up doing but you know what we don't want to do the minimum go
to numbers chapter 32 numbers 32 so what we've learned so far in this sermon is
that we need to adjust our zero line we don't want to think of zero as doing
nothing for God and anything we do for God is great no we should think of doing
the basic commands of God at a minimal level we should call that zero because
if we're not doing what we know to do that's good it's sin so that just gets
us up to the zero level when we're just doing a minimal Bible minimal whatever
what we want to do in order to be a profitable servant what we want to do so
that God is thankful to us is to do something extra go above and beyond be a
Christian that is not just doing the minimum or going the one mile but rather
Jesus said to go the second mile if any man will compel thee to go a mile with
them go with him twain look God is compelling us to do certain things in
our life let's do let's do more than what he told us to do I like what Paul
said to Philemon he said what did he say to Philemon let me turn I have I have the
book of Philemon memorized but when you get up here you know and everybody's
looking at you sometimes you draw a blank but he says having confidence let
me find here we go having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee knowing
that thou wilt also do more than I say did you hear that having confidence in
thy obedience I wrote unto thee knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say
and look yeah that's that's that's Paul talking to Philemon but that's also the
Lord talking to us that's also got you know there's a spiritual application
it's not like the book of Philemon was just for Philemon that's not for us that
was just for Philemon that's like these people say you know Matthew that's just
for the Jews that's not for us you know Hebrews is just for the Jews not I mean
who in here is a Hebrew okay why do we ever why did I preach to that book verse
by verse on Wednesday night then total waste of time right no because every
promise in the book is mine every chapter every verse every line the
Bible is written into us and when the when Paul says to Philemon having
confidence in thy obedience I wrote to thee knowing that thou wilt also do more
than I say that's what God's saying to us he's saying look I have confidence in
your obedience I want you to do more than what I say when I tell you to go a
mile I want you to go two miles I want you to be a profitable servant I don't
want you to do the minimum that it's your duty to do but rather to do extra
my friend in every area of life this will change your life go to your job and
don't say what's the minimum I have to do to get by no do more do extra you
want the boss to thank you do extra do more go above and beyond in your
marriage in your child rearing and your job and your service for God at church
don't be a person that tries to do the minimum do extra do more see we set the
bar too low in our lives now here's a great example of this I'm going to
finish off with this point in numbers 32 because we see in numbers 32 the tribes
of Reuben and Gad basically what we see is that they get satisfied without
reaching the final destination ok because Reuben and Gad were two of the
tribes of Israel that came out of Egypt God wanted to bring them all the way
into the promised land God wanted the children of Israel to go to this
wonderful land flowing with milk and honey the land that he had sworn under
their fathers and that was the goal and that's where they needed to be but what
happened is when the children of Israel defeated Aug and Sihon the kings of the
Amorites before they crossed the Jordan River into the promised land on the
east side of the Jordan River ok before they crossed over they defeated Aug and
Sihon and Reuben and Gad looked at the land of Aug and Sihon and they said look
this is good enough for us we don't need to go over Jordan we don't need to go
into the promised land we don't need the land flowing look we have cattle this is
a great land for cattle we just want to stay right here we're satisfied with
this land and Moses rebukes them and says look you need to go all the way go
into the promised land and they say no this is where we want to be and he says
ok you know they basically come to a a compromised agreement that says well if
you come in to the promised land fight the battles with the rest of the children
of Israel help us inherit all the land then when that war is over you guys can
come home and this will be your land and they left their children and their
little ones there they built them booths to dwell in they built houses they
planted everything and they left it there and they said okay we will pass
over armed with the children of Israel we will help them inherit the promised
land but we are going to inherit this land on the other side we're going to stay here
we're comfortable here we're happy here we like it look what the Bible says in
verse 5 where you're at there it says wherefore said they if we have found
grace in thy sight let this land be given unto thy servants for possession
and bring us not over Jordan and Moses said unto the children of Gad and the children
of Reuben shall your brethren go to war and shall ye sit here and wherefore
discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land
which the Lord hath given them thus did your fathers when I sent them from
Katish Barnea to see the land. Look he's saying when you guys stay behind other
people are going to start getting the same idea thinking well maybe we should
all just stay over here I mean this is a nice land and if he rebukes them and
tells them they must go to war they're not going to sit here they're going to
go to war now if you think about it in the end Reuben and Gad kind of end up
with the worst of both worlds because they still have to go fight the same
battles they still end up going into the promised land fighting all the battles
and then going back to their lesser land. So basically when we look at this if we
were to apply this to our lives it's getting satisfied before we reach the
destination. What is the destination in our lives? Look well the destination in our
lives is to be like Christ to be conformed under the image of the Son of
God. The destination in our lives is that we would serve God to the fullest right
that we would get all the sin out of our life you know that we would basically be
living a Christian life where we're doing the minimum and then we're going
above the minimum we're reading our Bible more we're praying more we know
we're living the best possible Christian life we can we're as fully surrendered
to the Lord as possible in every area of life you know that's our goal now are we
ever going to fully get there in this life are we ever going to get to a point
where we could really say I've arrived I have no more room to grow I cannot do
any better than I'm doing right now I cannot learn anything else from the
Bible I know everything in the Bible I need to know no we're never going to get
there but that's what we're aiming for Paul even the Apostle Paul who we'd look
at Paul and say wow this guy has arrived he is the ultimate Christian he said not
as though I had already attained either were already perfect but I follow after
that which for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus he said
brethren I count not myself to have apprehended he's saying I haven't
arrived but this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forth under those things which are before I press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus he's saying look I have
not arrived I'm still wanting to grow more and I'm striving and I'm pressing
toward that mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus so all of us are
pressing toward that mark in our lives we're never going to get there but we
get closer and we get closer and we get closer we get back look your life's
never going to be perfect it's just never going to be but you're getting
better right you're better than you were last year you're better than you were
the year before hopefully you should be otherwise your backslidden if you're not
growing if you're not moving forward so you're doing better you're doing better
you're doing better you're doing better but see a lot of people before they get
to that destination they get to a point where they just say you know I'm
satisfied where I'm at I'm satisfied I don't want to grow anymore at this point
I just want to coast I don't really want to go further and you know that's like
the children of Reuben and Gad you know they fought some battles they've won
some victories they've inherited some land and they say you know what this is
good enough and I heard somebody say good enough never is go all the way go
to the destination don't stop short don't settle for something that's second
best in your life go all the way to the promised land do the the high calling of
God not the medium calling well I'm not doing the zero column I'm doing medium
no go for extra-large go for family size econ you know you're not trial size
not fun size something fun about fun size fun size should just be renamed too
small okay the fun side fun size is king size that's the one that's fun I mean
ask a kid which one's more fun you know king size or fun size okay so what I'm
saying is I don't want to live a fun size life I want to live a king-size
life you know I want to live a life that is always pressing upward always pushing
the boundaries always doing more always growing always taking it further not
like Reuben and Gad who quit before they make it to the promised land and look you
know why people quit before they make it to the promised land because here's what
they think well it's easier to stay on this side Jordan it's easier this will
be easier it's already done the battles are fought we're done we just stay here
and it's done but then Moses has to mess it up by saying yeah you can stay here
long as you fight all the same battles everybody else does so look it seems
like it's going to be easier but it's not because God you know Moses
representing God here God steps in and says oh no you don't you're not going to
park it here I mean look if you want to go back to Egypt and and and and and go
back into bondage and slavery that's one thing that's not where these people are
at these people want to observe God they want to do right they want to inherit
the land but they don't want to go all the way and God sees them trying to get
comfortable halfway a halfway measure well we're not in Egypt we're not in the
wilderness but we're on the promised land we're just kind of right there and
God sees you stopping short God sees you where you say well you know what I want
to serve God I want to be near the promised land you know I want to do
something for God but I just don't want to go all the way I don't want to fully
surrender to God's will in my life I don't really want to push myself as far
as I could I just want to just kind of just find a comfortable place near the
will of God and I mean come on it's right near the will of God but it's more
comfortable it's easier there's less fighting there's less blood and guts and
shouting and you know just get a little more comfortable and God sees you and he
says oh no you oh no you don't I'll make sure that you fight all the same
battles and have all the same blood and guts and screaming and you know what
you'll just have a lesser result in the end and look where would you rather be
living if you're the children of Israel would you rather be living in the nation
of Israel with that geographical boundary of the Jordan River protecting
you or would you rather be in these borderlands of Gad and Reuben where
they're exposed to enemies they're constantly getting invaded read the Old
Testament they're getting invaded they're vulnerable look that was not the
best land to inherit the best place was God's original plan for them on this
side Jordan they settled for something else they settled for being near God's
perfect will and they ended up fighting all the same battles and going through
all the same stuff in fact they had the added strain of being separated from
their families because you know they left the families behind and they keep
going out and fighting these battles the other people had their families with
them I mean I'd rather have my family with me than just have my family you
know left behind in this in this land of the Amorites so all that to say this
look at Psalm 17 Psalm 17 15 we don't want to be a Christian that strives to
do the minimum we don't want to be a zero Christian first of all we need to
figure out what a zero Christian is it's not what you think it's not somebody who
does nothing it's somebody who does the bare minimum that's the zero Chris but
we don't want to be the zero Chris we don't want to set the bar really low for
ourselves and the way that we set the bar low for ourselves when we look at
other people because we can always find somebody that's worse than us we can
always I mean I mean Hitler probably made himself feel better like well at
least I'm not Stalin I mean it's you can always find somebody worse you know
Charles Manson's probably saying well at least I wasn't Dahmer you know what I
mean you can always find somebody worse but you know what that doesn't mean
anything that means nothing okay just to find somebody oh well we'll look at
that church it's even lamer than ours is you know look at that guy look at his
family look at what he's doing you know look what these people are living their
life look quit comparing yourself amongst yourself get the Bible in your
hand figure out what the minimum is and then do more figure out the mile that
God wants you to go and go two of those miles and say I want God to be pleased
with me I want God to be happy with me I want God to thank me I don't want God
to just look down and say oh well you were another minimum run-of-the-mill guy
very good at doing the bare minimum to scrape by and do more look what the
Bible says in Psalm 17 15 as for me I will behold thy face in righteousness I
shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness you know what we should not be
satisfied until that day when we are in the image of the Lord you know when we
are caught up together with him in the clouds we shall be like him for we shall
see him as he is that's when we should be satisfied when we're fully conformed
to the image of the Son of God until then we should keep striving toward that
mark striving to be Christlike striving to be conformed to the image of the Son
of God we're not going to make it in this life but let's keep pressing on the
upward way let's keep trying to do more let's never get satisfied and content
and say let's stay on this side Jordan no let's cross the Jordan River you
already crossed the Red Sea or you probably wouldn't even be in this church
you've already been across the Red Sea you've already wanted in the wilderness
it's time to cross the Jordan River and go all the way into the promised land
and then once you get in the promised land don't even be satisfied to be down
in the valley be like Caleb that says okay now I'm in the promised land now I
want to go to the top of that mountain and I want to fight an uphill battle all
the way against iron chariots because I can because I'm 85 years old and because
my strength is just as strong now as I was when I was 45 I'm gonna fight an
uphill battle all the way to the top of the highest baddest mountain because I
want to be a man that God looks down and says you know what you did very well I
mean look how much Caleb is mentioned in the Bible as just being a great guy you
know you'd hate to be off Neil it's just every time he's mentioned you know
Caleb's brother Caleb's brother kid it's like man off me I'll probably wish
this he could get out of Caleb shadow but you know what it's a pretty big
shadow because he said I want to go to the top I want to go all the way and
that's the mentality we should have in our lives not just a minimal you know
let's just scrape by let's brides never word of prayer father we thank you so
much for your word and we thank you for the the great things you've done for us
Lord we could never we could never do enough for you where it would even come
close to outweighing what you did for us so just help us to do the best we can
help us to strive to do more and and strive to be profitable servants help us
not to get proud and and and and haughty like that Pharisee who thought he was so
great just because he's not an extortioner help us not to get that
mentality help us to say you know what I can do better I'm gonna do better and
God please just help no one to get discouraged about the past part of that
formula that the Apostle Paul gave was forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forth under those things over help us to forget the past help us
not to beat ourselves up about past failures and oh man we wanted in the
wilderness for 40 years help us just forget that and just go into the
promised land and just go forward we love you and thank you for your grace
and in Jesus name we pray amen