“In Life and Death”

FORGOTTEN VIRTUES SERIES

From series by www.Lifechurch.tv

Matthew 26:33-35; Samuel 15:19-21

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Introduction: In the last 2 weeks we have talked about the virtues of honor and purity. In the next 2 weeks we will talk about integrity and gratitude. But today, as we continue in our “Forgotten Virtues” series, we are going to talk about the virtue of LOYALTY. In a poll that was taken, the top virtue that people thought that was forgotten was loyalty. People believe that disloyalty is a problem in our world.

However, if you ask people if they are loyal, most will say they think they are. By show of hands, how many of you think that you are a loyal person? This is then where the tension lies, in that disloyalty is a significant problem, but nobody thinks of themselves as a disloyal person. “Disloyalty is very difficult to see in the mirror.” (Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor, LifeChurch.tv)

You might have heard the story of 2 boys who were investigating a cave when all of a sudden they heard a bear. The one boy started to run, whereas the other boy stopped and changed from his hiking boots to his tennis shoes. “What are you doing?” the first boy asked. “We have to outrun that bear.” To which the second boy said: “No I don’t, I just have to outrun you!”

We think that we are loyal, but when push comes to shove, we are only loyal to ourselves.

I. The act of being loyal- (Matthew 26:33-35; Proverbs 20:6; 2 Samuel 15:19-21)

a. Loyalty is proven, not proclaimed-Let me give you a prime biblical

example. The disciple Peter was given the name “The Rock” by Jesus. This was because Peter was going to be the rock that kept the church alive after Jesus left this earth. So, you would think that Peter would be a very loyal disciple. And Peter thought himself to be very loyal as well. Let me set up the scenario here: Jesus has served the Lord’s Supper to His disciples. Judas has left to go and betray Jesus. So the disciples were aware of this disloyalty. We pick it up in Matthew 26:33, where Peter speaks to Jesus, and says: “…, ‘Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.’” This is a bold statement….Peter is declaring his undying loyalty to Jesus.

But Jesus challenges Peter in this, when He responds in verse 34: “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” Not exactly the words Peter wanted to hear. He probably wondered how Jesus could doubt his loyalty. So Peter comes back with even stronger in verse 35: “But Peter declared, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the other disciples said the same.”

And if you know the rest of the story, after Jesus is arrested, Peter is around a crowd, and on three separate occasions people point out Peter as a follower of Jesus, and on all 3 occasions Peter denies even knowing Jesus, much less being a follower of His!! After the third time the rooster crows, and if you read between the lines, you can sense that Peter realizes what he has done. He realizes that he had said he would be loyal, but he was disloyal to the most loyal one he had ever known, not one time, but three times! The Bible tells us that Peter went out and wept bitterly.

The truth is, true LOYALTY is proven, not proclaimed. You can say that you are loyal, but what shows that you are loyal is how you live out your life. As Proverbs 20:6 says, “Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is who is truly reliable?” As followers of Christ we have to understand that it is important to not just say that we are Christians, but show it in how we live.

EX. In 1945 Jackie Robinson started playing baseball for the Dodgers. What was significant about this was that Jackie Robinson was the first black player to play in the majors. Jackie played second base and his friend Pee Wee Reese, who was white, played shortstop. In one particular game in Cincinnati the crowd started to boo him and throw things at him, and say horrible things to him simply because of the color of his skin. Pee Reese threw down his glove, walked over to Jackie Robinson and put his arm around him. At this the crowd grew silent. Jackie Robinson later said that this act probably not only saved his career, but did more for him as a person than anyone could have ever known.

This act was so significant that they made it into a statue as an example of loyalty between 2 special friends! Loyalty is proven, not proclaimed.

b. A biblical example- There have been many great examples of

loyalty in the Bible, David and Jonathan being a well known one. But let me share with you anther act of loyalty that was shown to King David. This one is not as well known. We find it in 2 Samuel, chapter 15. The context is that his son Absalom committed a great crime by killing someone. Even though David was there for him, Absalom went on the run. When he returned some time later, he returned with an army to overthrow his own father, David. David had been faithful to him, but Absalom was disloyal to his father. So David is now on the run trying to stay alive. Along comes a man named Ittai, a mercenary, a hired soldier, who volunteers to fight for David. We hear again 2 Samuel 15:19-20, “The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland. ²⁰ You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your people with you. May the LORD show you kindness and faithfulness.” David is giving Ittai a free pass to not have to be involved in this terrible situation.

But listen to Ittai’s words to David in verse 21: “But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.” Here we see Ittai not only proclaiming loyalty to King David, but he proves it as he fights faithfully beside King David. In fact he fought so valiantly and faithfully that later King David promotes him to oversee about a third of all the troops of David. David does this because of the loyalty Ittai had shown to him.

II. Being disloyal- (Malachi 2:15-16; Proverbs 17:17; Acts 2:42-45)

Let me do something a little different for a moment. I am going to help you

understand how to be more loyal, but sharing with you how you can be disloyal. I hope that by my doing this, I will ingrain into your minds what disloyalty looks like, and this will help you to refrain from being disloyal. Let’s look at 3 opportunities we have of being disloyal…

a. Disloyal to your spouse- A great place to start, if you want to be a disloyal

person, is to be disloyal to your spouse. Of course, to do this you have to reject what the Bible says in Malachi 2:15-16, “Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and remain loyal to the wife of your youth. The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the LORD Almighty.” Of course the way you are disloyal to your spouse is to commit adultery. About 40-60% of married people commit adultery! OR, if your spouse isn’t making you happy, then divorce.

So many people who have affairs or divorce their spouse do so because they are looking out for themselves. They might be unsatisfied with their relationship with their spouse, so they choose these options because they want to make sure that they are loyal to themselves. They just want to make sure they have what they think they want; what they deserve.

But there are more subtle and more creative ways to be disloyal to your spouse. For example, you might know a couple like this. The husband puts his wife down in public, but in a “joking” way. I was only joking, honey, he might say. And to get back at him the wife puts him down in front of the kids: “If only you were a better provider for our family like so and so.” OR, “If only you were a godly man.” We are disloyal when we put our spouse down.

Another way to be disloyal is by putting everything else ahead of our marriage. It could be our job, our hobby, our friends, our pursuit of material things. What happens is that we care about these things more than the one we have committed ourselves to in marriage!

b. Friends- A second group of people we can be disloyal to is our friends.

Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” Who can love at all times? Too hard to do, right? So why even try? To love someone when they are going through adversity takes sacrifice on my part.

If you want to be disloyal to your friend, gossip about them, or even listening to gossip about them and not correcting the gossip is disloyalty.

Another way to be disloyal is to lie to them. Maybe they ask you something, and you don’t want to hurt their feelings, so you lie to them. Your job is to make them feel good, not tell them the truth, right? So even if they are doing something wrong, you don’t confront them about something they are doing wrong. Don’t stand in their way when they are doing something destructive. And if you have an argument with them, and your friend hurts you, just walk away from the friendship. This is fairly popular in our society now. People don’t want to do the hard work that it takes to forgive and reconcile.

c. Christ’s Church- We can be disloyal to the universal Church, capital C,

or our local church. People who are disloyal to their church think that the people in the Bible were fanatical. They might say: “I want to be a part of a church, but not so much so that it interrupts my life, or takes me away from the things I really want to do.”

Acts 2:42-45 tells us, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” They were this community that did life together, cared about one another, and ministered to one another, and got deep into committed relationships. And all the believers had everything in common and helped those who were in need.

Then verse 46 says: “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts…” This is a daily commitment? I don’t have time for that. To be disloyal to the church, go to church sporadically. The average Christian in America goes to church one time a month. There is no commitment in this kind of attendance. And if you do go, go with a consumer mentality. How many people go to church with the attitude: what does it have for me? Instead of the attitude what do I have/ to give to Christ. How can I give myself over to worship?

And if you have a problem with something in the church, then just leave and don’t ever come back.

NOW IF THIS WAS HARD FOR YOU TO HEAR, KNOW THAT IT’S NOT EASY FOR ME TO PREACH. IT’S LIKE PREACHING ON OPPOSITE DAY! J

Why would I preach about how to be disloyal? Because we all think that we are loyal people. Disloyalty is hard to see in the mirror. So as I talked about how to be disloyal, maybe it spoke to us a little of how we have times of being disloyal.

III. A divided heart- (Romans 5:8; James 4:8-10)

The problem is that most of us are loyal…(Pause)…….TO OURSELVES. If

we are really honest, then we have to admit this. I know that first and foremost my choices revolve around ME. Let’s bring this subject into focus…

“All disloyalty is born out of a divided heart.” (Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor, LifeChurch.tv)

Think about loyalty from God’s perspective. God created us to show us His love and to have an ongoing fellowship with us. And He was so loyal to us, we are told in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Even when we are disloyal and faithless, He is faithful. God asks us for all of our hearts. As Jesus said in answer to the question what is the most important commandment?: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.” That is commitment to God. That is loyalty.

If we were to be honest, we have to admit that we have not given God our WHOLE heart. I’d like to think that I have, but I know that I haven’t. If I look at the way I live, I have to admit I have a divided heart.

My hope is that after hearing today’s message, you will have an encounter with God and you will not be the same. James tells us in James 4:8-10, (Read slowly) “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” There is nothing that I can say that can create this desire in you. Only the Holy Spirit can humble you in this way so that you give yourself over to God fully.

To be fully committed to God means that when I do something that is not what God would have for me to do, or want in my life, then it should GRIEVE me. It should move me to tears that I have been disloyal to God in this way. Do you grieve when you sin?

I want to be loyal, but only if that means I get what I want too. We have a divided heart between God and the world.

Conclusion: So what does this mean for us? I imagine that first it means that you have to admit to yourself that you are not as loyal a person as you think. You have to look at your life, and discover how you are disloyal, and who you have been disloyal to. How have you been disloyal to your spouse? To your friends? To the church? To Christ?

How can you be a better, more loyal spouse? Or if you are not married, how can you help your married friends be more loyal to each other?

How can you be a more loyal friend? How can you be that friend who sticks with others through times of adversity?

How can you be more loyal to the church? Church is not a place to go to. We are called to BE THE CHURCH. It is a place to live out our faith with the gifts we have been given. It is not a place to go to when we feel like it, but to go so that we might worship God and encounter God, and let God change us.

And lastly, we need to be more loyal to Christ so that we are grieved when we see ourselves being disloyal to what God calls us to do and how God calls us to live.

I imagine this is a message that is difficult to hear, because it challenges us to the depth of our being. It makes us look at ourselves in the mirror and make some changes; mainly, the change to becoming more loyal to Christ. I hope you let the Holy Spirit speak to you through this message. I hope you leave encouraged by the fact that in Christ, you can become more loyal, and by making this commitment, bring back the virtue of loyalty. Amen.