Sermon on selfishness

 

1.    CDC – When we hear these three letters we likely think of the “Centers For Disease Control.”

2.    When that organization has something to say, the news is often not very good.

3.    A few days ago (July 7^th), the CDC made an interesting announcement.

4.    The director of this group said Americans are putting “too much emphasis on treating disease.”

5.    It was said that we do not want to wait until people get sick and then try to cure them.

6.    We need to start “protecting health” (be proactive instead of reactive).

7.  Rather than restoring bad health, we want to prevent bad health.

 

8.    I am no doctor.  I make no claims about being a doctor. 

9.    There are some doctors who have made some comments relative to protecting health.

10.  This past week I re-read a book I purchased in February of 1989.

11.  This volume was written by a medical doctor by the name of S.I. McMillen.

12.  This physician contends that following the instructions in the Bible leads to better health.

13.  One of his illustrations is based on 1 Cor. 13.

14.  I have included on today’s outline a chart from Dr. McMillen’s book.

15.  This chart is based on what is often called the “love chapter of the Bible.”

16.  He lists the basic qualities for love and then gives the “corresponding disease-causing emotions.”

17.  McMillen took the negative emotions from a psychiatry textbook.

 

18.  We could go through this chart line by line and study each characteristic.

19.  For today I am going to just extract just one of the things from this list:  Selfishness.

20.  This is about midway through the chart; it is the opposite of “love is not self-seeking.”

21.  McMillen repeatedly demonstrates something in his book.

22.  He says certain behavior will lead to or can create health issues.

23.  How interesting that the CDC says “we need to take preventative steps to keep people in good health.”

24.  Doctors like McMillen tell us this information is in the Bible; it is readily available to all people.”

25.  Our world responds with:  “We do not want to use the Bible; that book is bad news.”

26.  By rejecting many of the basic principles in the Bible, doctors say we are asking for bad health.

27.  By setting aside the word of God it is no wonder people are is physically, mentally and spiritually sick.

 

GOD’S WORD IS THE BEST GUIDE FOR MAN.  THE SCRIPTURES OFFER THE BEST LIFE HERE AND NOW AS WELL AS ETERNITY.

 

a)      One thing that can interfere with man’s happiness and his relationship with God is selfishness.

b)      Selfishness can be a problem with children as well as adults.

 

2)      Not long ago I was speaking with a man who has been a Christian for a long time.

3)      He has a job, but does not make a lot of money.

a)      This brother often rides a motorcycle.

b)      He received a request for help from someone he knows; a preacher in Africa was desperate for assistance.

c)      The African preacher is trying to support himself so he can preach the gospel.

d)      His work is raising chickens—“industrial chickens” (this terminology means good quality chickens).

e)      Industrial chickens are the type we would expect to find in the U.S.

 

4)      When the request for help came, the motorcycle rider was ready to go out and spend about $250.00.

a)      He wanted some special rain gear to keep him dry during a rainstorm.

b)      The preacher in Africa needed this same amount ($250) to keep his new chickens alive.

i)        He was just starting his chicken business and $250 was going to allow him to continue or fail.

c)      The Christian in the U.S. had to make a choice: buy special rain gear or help a friend keep his business.

d)     If we were the motorcycle rider, which choice would we make?

e)      Would those chickens still be alive or would they have died from starvation?

 

5)      Selfishness is the opposite of giving and generosity.

6)      Throughout the Bible we find that saved people are not selfish people.

a)      In Ex. 35 we are given some history about how the tabernacle was constructed.

b)      The tabernacle was a “portable place of worship.”

c)      We have looked at this chapter a few times over the years.

d)     This morning we want to emphasize just one thing.

e)      God wanted people to contribute for the tabernacle, but He wanted a specific type of giver.

 

7)      Ex. 35:5 – READ

a)      God said He wanted givers who had a “willing-heart.”

b)      This implies that some did not have a willing heart.  Some were selfish.

c)      There would be those who had things that could be used, but they wanted to keep them.

d)     The first item listed in verse 5 that was suitable for tabernacle was “gold.”

 

8)      Now gold costs about $900 an ounce.

a)      Do we as individuals (or a family) possess any gold?

b)      What if we had lived under the Old Testament system and God said:  “We need help.”

c)      “We are going to construct some things for worship and one of the items we need is gold.”

d)     Would we have a generous attitude, or would we be selfish with our gold?

 

9)      Some may not be able to ever envision that they could part with anything as valuable as gold.

10)  Silver, maybe.  Bronze, a lot more likely.  A few dollars, no problem.

a)      Unselfish people give.

b)      Stingy people try to keep what they have.

11)  A similar thing is true with time.  Do we have “willing-heart” with our time?

12)  Are we selfish with our time or are we generous?

a)      In previous weeks we have started to look at the word “immorality” (another way of describing sin).

b)      One example of sinful (immoral behavior) is selfishness.

c)      Children may be selfish for several years because they are still in the process of growing and learning.

 

13)  Adults are to be grown-ups; they have set aside things like selfishness.

14)  One of the things that helps adults avoid selfishness is gratitude.

a)      Our next citation comes from Lk. 8.

b)      Jesus and the 12 apostles were going about and preaching the kingdom of God.

c)      Verse 2 tells us that Jesus did more than preach.

d)     There were “women” who were ill.  Some of them had been possessed with evil spirits.

e)      One lady had been possessed with 7 wicked spirits and she had been freed of this possession.

 

15)  Today there are those who have a change in life’s circumstances.

16)  Things were not going all that well, but one day things change.

17)  When that change comes the person can say, “I have my life back.  Things are good.  Things are very good.

18)  “I am going to keep all that I now have for myself and enjoy it.  I want to fully enjoy all I have.”

a)      These women in Lk. 8 could have reasoned in this manner.

b)      Luke (verse 3) tells us about some of the specific women Jesus helped.

c)      In this verse we are told that several of these ladies “ministered unto them of their substance.”

d)     These ladies were generous.  Jesus was not the only one they helped.

e)      It was not the Lord and a couple of the apostles.  Here were 13 men that needed help.

f)       These women used their resources to help the Lord and all His apostles.

 

19)  Why were these women generous?  What prevented them from being selfish?

20)  It was gratitude.  They knew they had been sick.  They knew they had been possessed.

21)  Because these women had been helped, they were more than willing to respond in kind.

a)      We live in country with abundance on every hand.

b)      Last night I heard someone say that America has just 4% of the world’s population.

c)      That is not very much.  We have a small percent of the population, but a giant percentage of money.

d)     29% of the world’s wealth rests in America.  We are blessed beyond belief.

e)      We may not always have exactly what we want or may need to pay more than we want for things.

f)       Compared to the rest of the world, we live like kings.

g)      If we have a dollar in our pocket or bank account, we are richer than a billion people on the planet.

h)      Many live on a dollar or less per day.

i)        When people from other countries go through places like Wal-mart, they sometimes cry.

j)        They have never seen a store that is so well stocked and so many choices.

k)      Some want to live like a selfish king; making this type of choice is immoral.

l)        Great wealth means great responsibility.

 

22)  2 Cor. 9:7 says God “loves a cheerful giver.”

23)  Verse 9 in this chapter says, “he scatters abroad.”

a)      This is another way of describing “generosity.”

b)      God is pleased by people who give cheerfully and unselfishly.

 

24)  Those who try to latch on to what they have and keep it for themselves are in for a bad time.

a)      Think of the rich man and Lazarus in Lk. 16.

b)      The rich man ate wonderful food and dressed in fine clothing on a regular basis.

c)      He had a beggar at his gate—a man virtually laid at his door.

d)     Lazarus would have taken the crumbs from the rich man’s table.

e)      We are not told how Lazarus died, but maybe Jesus had in mind starvation.

 

25)  The rich man was selfish.

26)  Verse 22 says that the rich man eventually died and he was punished.

a)      In eternity we are told how he was told to think about Lazarus and his former life.

b)      He was reminded that he had been selfish.

c)      Abraham told the rich man that Lazarus had suffered while he had enjoyed plenty.

d)     We can choose to be selfish in life.  It is a possible choice.  God says one day we will die.

e)      If we were selfish, we will account for living in this manner.

f)       Lk. 16:23 says the selfish man in Jesus’ story was in torment.

g)      Surely selfishness was not this man’s only sin.

h)      It was one of the sins that was able to condemn him for eternity.

 

27)  Earlier in this book Jesus offered another teaching with a similar theme.

a)      A man had more wealth than he could possibly use.

b)      A rich farmer said he had so much it was a storage problem (Lk. 12:17).

c)      Jesus gave no indication that this fellow thought about giving away some of what he had.

 

28)  Were there not some poor people who could have used some of what he had?

29)  That was not the way he thought.  He wanted to keep what he had.

30)  He was ready to tear down his barns and build even bigger ones.

a)      This man said he had so much it would last for “many years” (verse 19).

b)      He was thinking to himself, “me, me, me and me.”

c)      Jesus said the man was a fool (verse 20).

 

31)  At the end of this verse the Lord said, “You are going to die; who will get your possessions?”

32)  Selfishness means people try and hold on to what they have.

a)      Jesus said that life does not work like that for the saved.

b)      Do we not remember Mt. 10:39?

c)      There the Lord spoke those who want to “find” their life.

d)     This is consistent with a selfish person.  Life is all about them.

e)      All they can think about is self.

f)       Jesus said that such a person will “lose” their life and He was not kidding.

g)      We see this in the stories of the rich man and the wealthy farmer.

h)      If we are willing to “lose our life” (not givers—refuse selfish), we will “gain” our life.

 

33)  We will make gains in this life as medical doctors have affirmed and be benefitted in eternity. 

34)  If God were to make a judgment about us this morning, what would He say?

35)  Would He say we are selfish or unselfish?

36)  The process to an unselfish life begins by becoming a Christian.