What Does God Expect From Me in This Life?

Good evening. So, during the festival this year in August, the Fringe Festival that is,

I went with a couple of other people, who will remain nameless, and saw a comedian.

He's from the Republic of Ireland. He's a sort of minor TV celebrity over there.

Just up in this little tiny back room up in Bristol Square.

And he started his set by talking about drudgery and just being a bit miserable.

And how the people he knows, and generally sort of in the Republic of Ireland,

among the people he knows, people like drudgery.

Which didn't make a lot of sense.

But he explained, he said, you know, it's like the person next door, he gets a new car,

he gets this fancy big BMW or whatever, and then you think, oh, I wish I had that.

He's gone on a big holiday. I wish I had that. I wish I had went there.

And it goes on.

Until it's at the point now that it's just part of the culture.

It's part of the norm.

And it keeps people going, and they have this weird enjoyment of it.

And then, he turns to us, the audience, and asks, do you have that here?

And I was sitting in the front row, and me being me.

I was like, yeah, of course.

Big part of our culture as well.

We like more than about things other people have that we don't.

And we had a bit of our conversation, a back and forth about it then.

And that came to mind as I was thinking and dwelling and reading about this topic.

What does God expect from me in this life?

As part of our questions series just now.

Because we can have this thought that God expects all these things from me.

And I need to do all these things.

And that leads to drudgery.

Or we can take the opposite view when we read God's Word and we see, man, he's asking a lot.

He wants a lot.

And I don't want to give him half quarter of all that.

And do all that.

I don't want that.

I've got enough rules to follow.

I've got enough to do.

And that leads to a kind of drudgery.

Seeing God and God's law and God's Word is a kind of drudgery.

And so there are two dangers with this question.

And we are trying to get through the middle of them.

And those are the two dangers, as I've sort of mentioned.

And with all these questions, there are always questions and issues underneath and sort of behind them as well.

And one of the issues, particularly with this one, is, like I've said, does God, as I read his Word, want me to obey everything he says there?

And if he does, how do I do that?

How do I obey all this?

Because it seems impossible.

And that's true.

It is.

And the other side, again, we don't need to do all that because I'm a Christian.

I've been saved by the grace and love of Jesus.

So I'm not required to do and required to keep all these things.

And both of these things really fundamentally are a misunderstanding and a misapprehension of who God is and what he's like.

So just as we go forward tonight and think about this question and try to come to an answer,

one verse I want to think about and dwell on and sort of direct is Psalm 37, verse 4, which is up there on the screen.

Psalms 37:4

And it says, take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Because this is a question of desire and what we want, who we want to serve.

And so this verse in our culture might seem topsy-turvy, counter-cultural, and it is.

And it should be topsy-turvy because it talks about taking delight in the Lord and he'll give us the desires of our hearts.

And surely a lot of us will think to him, but I want that guy's BMW next door or whatever that doesn't seem to fit, just for an example.

So we're going to hopefully use this verse to guide us and take us along the path to some sort of answer tonight.

So we're going to, as we go, discuss and think about these two dangers I've mentioned.

And then we're going to come to the answer.

So the first danger is joyless obedience.

We read our Bibles, we study, we come to church, and a lot of things get said about what God wants, what God says,

his rules and his commandments, and especially in the outside world, they think, oh, this is such a drag.

You know, but then a lot of us will have the thinking that if I just keep myself right and really try hard, really buckle down, pay attention,

I'll be able to follow a lot of these, I'll be able to keep a lot of these rules.

Others will be put off right away and think, close that, put that away.

Not for me, thanks.

So, and with the first view of I can do this, I can keep these rules.

I can do like God wants me to do.

I can be a good person, a good Christian.

You always sit and think, I can do that.

He says, don't murder.

Like that guy at work, he is annoying, but I'm not going to murder him.

I can do this.

But that thinking is just topsy-turvy, it's wrong.

And we're going to look at an example in our Bibles now of why that is wrong.

So if you want to look in your Bibles at Matthew chapter 19, Matthew chapter 19, verses 16 to 22.

Matthew 19 · chapter mention Matthew 19:16–22

So it says,

Just then, a man came up to Jesus and asked,

Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?

Why do you ask me about what is good?

Jesus replied, there is only one who is good.

If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.

Which ones?

He inquired.

Jesus replied,

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false witness.

Honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself.

All these I have kept, the young man said.

What do I still lack?

And Jesus answered,

If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor.

And you will have treasure in heaven.

Then come, follow me.

When the young man heard this, he went away sad because he had great wealth.

So with this passage, it can seem because of that last verse,

when the young man heard this, he went away sad because he had great wealth,

that the issue primarily is one of just purely money, possessions,

and the things he had and how he didn't want to give them up.

But the issue really is far deeper and more serious than that.

So the issue really behind all this and this young man and his attitude

and what he says to Jesus and how he went away disappointed

is that he was seeing God's law, God's rules, God's word as a checklist,

something to be obeyed and followed,

putting ticks in boxes and keeping yourself right.

And in fact, what he's missed, the big, huge, massive thing he has missed

is the person that's given the law.

He's missed the good God behind the law.

God gave the law as a kind of mirror to hold up to us and our state

and who we are and to show us who we really are,

apart from anything else and all the other influences and things

that tell us who we are and try and show us who we are.

There's a lot of other mirrors out there, but God's word is the true mirror.

All the other mirrors are like mirrors in a haunted house

that distort the body and are sort of trick.

So when we look in this mirror, the mirror of God's word and God's law,

it's like any other kind of mirror.

You look in it and you see you've not got anything in your teeth,

that you're all right, and then you leave the house.

And so God's law is like this as well.

It's a mirror, as I've said.

We look in it, but unlike other mirrors where we see that we're all right

and sort of fix ourselves, make sure our hair's looking all right,

it shows us the sorry state we're in in our hearts

and before God in terms of sin and rebellion.

It shows us sort of like a West Coast expression.

Look at the state of you when we look in it.

We look in the mirror of God's law and see someone there with food all down them,

bloodstains, oil, bruised, and all these terrible things you would fix in a normal mirror.

And that's just our state before God.

We're dirty and we are not fit for purpose when we look in God's law.

And it's a huge way to try and think of keeping and making sure we obey all of God's law

and we just can't do it.

It's an unbearable way for us, ourselves, and in of ourselves.

And that's the whole point of this mirror.

That's the whole point of God showing us the state we're in.

We're in is that he holds the mirror and then we are drawn from the mirror

to the person holding the mirror and what else he tells us.

We're drawn from the law to the author of the law

who's going to clean us up and give us new clothes and dress our wounds

caused by a rebellion against him.

And the author of the law, God, wants us to come in this simple faith

and rest in him and not worry ourselves with trying to keep this law to the letter

because we just can't do it ourselves.

So in verse 20 of this passage in Matthew, the young man says,

I've kept all these since I was a youth in reference to the commandments

that Jesus shares with him and reminds him of.

But the young man knows in himself there's something else here,

there's something more, I need to go deeper.

And he presses Jesus and he says to Jesus in the rest of the verse,

what else is there, what else do I still lack?

And it tells us in verse 22, again, that the young man went away disappointed

because of Jesus' answer, because of his great wealth and possessions.

But all through this conversation that this young man has with Jesus,

he's asking about how he can get eternal life.

And there are a couple of things in this conversation

that the young man does correctly,

which we don't always think about with this passage or talk about,

which, you know, we should think on the good things that are in it

from the young man's point of view.

First off, he shows this concern for God's kingdom.

He comes to Jesus and says, how can I get into the kingdom?

How can I be a member?

How can I get involved?

And that's right.

And we need to follow that example and show this concern,

how we can get into God's kingdom and how we can be involved.

So that's one positive element that we can take away from this story

and what the young man says.

And then the next thing that I noticed that the young man does correctly

and does right and that we can take away from as a positive for us

is that he sought out Jesus to ask about the kingdom of God

and he sought out Jesus for answers to his questions,

to these ultimate questions of life and death and eternal life.

There's loads of other sources for answers,

but the other sources are wrong and are incorrect.

There's any number of places that people and we can seek out answers,

but there's only one source of truth and authority in these issues of life

and death and eternal life that we have been thinking and talking about

in all these sermons and many others,

and that is Jesus himself.

Both then when he was speaking to the young man

and now as we hear his voice speaking to us in the Bible.

But unfortunately that's really where the positive aspects

of this passage in Matthew end,

where the young man is concerned.

But there's more to learn from this conversation

and it helps us inform our journey to our answer.

What does God expect from me in this life?

So the young man, as I've said, comes to Jesus

and through what he says we see that he has this misunderstanding

of who God is and what he wants, what he expects.

For him God's law is about gaining brownie points,

earning kudos from God.

And he's really looking at the sort of bare minimum he can do

and achieve in his own strength and in his own way

to get in, to get through the door.

And for him the law and God are sort of really detached by this point

and are unrelated to each other.

Really the correct view is that the law and keeping it

is about glorifying God and it's about enjoying God,

not just ticks and boxes and keeping yourself right

and keeping yourself on the straight and narrow

and the hope that with that, that'll be enough,

that'll get me in, that'll get me over the bar

and across the threshold.

So that's what God wants from us

and expects of us from this point of view.

He wants us to glorify and enjoy him.

And that's what the law is about,

as well as pointing to our condition, our sinful condition.

He wants all of us to enjoy him.

He doesn't want us just to obey him without thinking

and without that enjoyment and without that joy.

Not just for, we're not just to enjoy the commands in and of themselves,

but we're supposed to enjoy the good and gracious God

who gives the law and who is holding that mirror that we thought about.

So, we thought about that angle.

And then the second danger in this topic and with this question

is what I've deemed Christian freedom.

And I'll explain in a moment what I mean by that.

So, as part of my studies up at ETS,

in the first year we had to read a book,

which is called, should I put a picture up of it?

But, too late now.

And that book is called,

if you have a pen and a piece of paper there,

you should take a note of it,

and I'll talk about it again later.

It's a book called The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson.

And Sinclair Ferguson is talking about this issue

of sort of legalism and speaking about obeying the law

to the best of your ability and just cracking on,

trying to put ticks in boxes.

And then the other side of the debate and the issue,

this Christian freedom of,

well, I'm saved.

I'm a Christian.

I'm enjoying the grace of God.

This has relieved my worries and my stress.

I can go about and do as I please now.

And in this book,

although the two seem like completely unrelated,

completely nothing to do with each other,

Sinclair Ferguson really thrashes it out.

It's a really hard book to read for me anyway,

but well worth the read.

He calls Christian freedom and the other danger of joyless obedience,

this legalism,

as non-identical twins from the same womb.

So they seem completely at odds with each other,

but actually he says,

no, in fact,

these things are the two,

one and the same.

They're the same thing and from the same place.

That misunderstanding of who God is

and what he wants and what he expects.

And these are both errors.

And both of them really see God

cast as a sergeant major in a uniform

and he's barking orders

and one says,

aye, aye, sir,

I'll get that done.

I'll do that.

I'm going to stick to this.

And the other says,

no way,

I don't need anyone else barking orders at me

and tell me what to do.

So,

just like the young man,

as we thought about,

and people

here in Brunsfield

and other churches

and various other places

in the outside world

who see this all negatively,

who are obeying joylessly,

they see God and his word

as lifeless and joyless.

And then on the other side of it,

with this one,

it's people seeing the grace of God

that is there

and we should enjoy

and we should love

and revel in

that we have this joy

and this grace of God.

They see it

as a get out of jail free card

from like Monopoly

where you play the card

and you're off scot free.

That's what salvation and faith is

to them to some extent.

And an example of that,

in our sort of modern culture

would be like a Christian

boyfriend and girlfriend

who start having sex

and doing that

without ever being married.

Sort of in the thinking that,

oh, we're Christians,

it's okay,

we're saved,

we're going to get married someday,

it'll be fine.

We're just wanting to have

a bit of fun now.

So that's just

massive misunderstanding

of God and his grace.

And this problem

was even present

back in the sort of

early church

right at the very beginning.

And I want to

look at another passage

just now

in 1 Peter.

So Peter sort of

addresses this kind of problem

and this thinking

that was prevalent

in being taught

in the early church

by some teachers.

So 1 Peter,

just chapter 1.

If you look at that,

we'll look at it in a moment.

So 1 Peter,

part of this book

addresses this problem

with this Christian freedom.

I'm saved,

I've enjoyed the grace of God

and now I'm free

to do as I like.

And people are actually teaching

that the more we sin,

the more God

pours out his grace,

the more he's gracious,

which is just so

topsy-turvy.

And that thinking,

sin particularly

was used

as a

reason

for

immorality

of all sorts,

but especially

in the sexual realm

where people were

having affairs

and having sex

with each other

in the church.

And it was just like

the more we sin,

the more God

pours out his grace

and we're saved

so we are free

to enjoy our bodies

and use them

as we see fit,

really.

So Peter writes

this letter

to correct this,

to address this

and in 1 Peter chapter 1

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

he does this

in a positive way

and then in chapter 2

he does it in a more

stronger way

where he's correcting

the errors

and really

sort of calling

these false teachers

out for their errors

and for leading

God's people astray

into this wrong thinking.

And he's not just

interested in saying this

and he's not just

saying this to these

Christians because

it's violating God's law

so it's just like

stop doing that,

you're being naughty,

you better stop that,

that's wrong.

He's really invested

in caring

about God,

not just his law

but about God himself

and he is

obsessed with

and his desire is

that God

would be glorified

and that these people

would come back

to glorifying God

properly

and enjoying God

and enjoying the

inheritance

and the good things

of God.

So in 1 Peter

I want to look

from verse 13

sort of on

for a few verses

I'll just read that

Therefore

with minds

that are alert

and fully sober

set your hope

on the grace

to be brought to you

when Jesus Christ

is revealed

at his coming

as obedient children

do not conform

to the evil desires

you had

when you lived

in ignorance

but just as

he who called you

is holy

so be holy

in all you do

for it is written

be holy

because I am holy

since you call

on a father

who judges

each person's work

impartially

live out your time

as foreigners

here in reverent fear

for you know

that it was not

with perishable things

such as silver

or gold

that were redeemed

from the empty

way of life

handed down to you

from your ancestors

but with the precious

blood of Christ

a lamb

without blemish

or defect

he was chosen

before the creation

of the world

but was revealed

in these last times

for your sake

through him

you believe in God

who raised him

from the dead

and glorified him

and so your faith

and hope

are in God

now that you

have purified yourself

by obeying the truth

so that you have

sincere love

for each other

love one another

deeply from the heart

for you have been

born again

not of perishable seed

but of imperishable

through the living

and enduring

word of God

so Peter's

bringing back to them

and reminding them

what's been done

for them

and why

what they're doing

and what they're thinking

and teaching

and believing

about grace

and about the law

is wrong

and topsy-turvy

and upside down

Peter's saying to them

these people

in the early church

and to each one of us

here tonight as well

just as much

set your attention

and desire

on the things of God

and not this

cheap

petty

selfish

worthless

and ultimately

temporal

like

it'll run out

it'll expire

way of life

that you had before

God

who you've

got this faith in

and who you've

received faith from

is eternal

and he's glorious

he's our glorious

heavenly father

who sent his own

beloved son

not just anyone else

his own beloved son

into the world

to redeem you

by his blood

you weren't

redeemed

by earthly things

jewels

gold

silver

or whatever else

but by the blood

of the son of God

so you need to

just see the great

thing this is for you

and how important

it is

to

throw off

these things

and get rid of them

to come back

to where you were

before

seeing the goodness

of the word of God

the law of God

and what it tells us

about our salvation

and God's grace

that he has for us

so this word

redeemed is important

in this passage

and a lot of other

passages

in the New Testament

because it comes

out of the

slave trade

which is different

from modern slavery

and American

chattel slavery

that we often

think of

when we say

that word

and

to redeem

people out of

slavery

you would go

to the slave market

and you would see

some person

that you wanted

to be taken

out of slavery

and you would

pay a sum

for them

in money

or land

or whatever else

and you would

give them

their freedom

so that

you would pay

a price for someone

and it would be

a hefty price

so Peter

is really driving

home to them

and they would

have had a much

better understanding

of that language

than we do

in our own

modern context

but that's some of it

that what a dear

and huge price

God has paid

in sending

his own son

to us

we've been

redeemed

not just

with money

or land

or whatever else

was used

but by the life

of the very

son of God

so that we can

become members

of God's family

it's not just

in those days

when people

were redeemed

from slavery

they wouldn't

then get into

the royal house

or whatever

the emperor

or king

or local lord

or whatever

but this is the

case

in our redemption

in our purchase

from slavery

that we become

members of the

royal house

of God's family

which is so much

bigger than just

receiving your freedom

there you're free

go and do as you

please

we're bought into

this new

better family

so surely

in reading this

passage

and various other

places as well

with what Peter

is saying

and what he's

teaching us

surely we should

do is he

encourages

and set

our desire

on God

and his glory

rather than

our own

for the glorious

thing that has

been done

on our behalf

so that is

sort of the

two sides

of the equation

that we can

that we're all

danger of falling

into in both

and we will fall

into at different

times and in

different ways

so what is

the answer

Peter you'll

like that one

with the

rubric cube

so the answer

to some extent

and it's a huge

topic for discussion

and better minds

and people than me

have written

extensively on it

and spoke about it

but it is

joyful obedience

that is the answer

to our question

tonight of

what does God

expect from me

he wants

obedience from us

because of the

love that he has

for us

and the good

thing that God's

law is and what

it's been done

for us like we

thought about

from Peter

he doesn't want

us to be robots

who see ourselves

as programmed

to do what we

have to do

because God

said it

just plain

and simple

black and white

to get into

heaven just to

get us in there

just do enough

to earn our way

to earn our passage

but he wants us

to be people

who have had

their desires

changed completely

because of the

faith we have

and the work

of the Holy Spirit

who is indwelling

in us

who makes

our desires

change

who makes

the things

we want

change to the

things that God

wants and the

things that God

desires

and the love

the things that

God loves

which is an

encouragement for us

because as I said

I've thought about

we can't do this

ourselves

so the Holy Spirit

has been sent

to help us in this

through this faith

in the Lord Jesus

that we're given

we are also given

this sweet freedom

from these chains

that bind us

metaphorically speaking

from the chains

of sin and death

and that's great news

and we should all

celebrate that

and love that thought

and that is the way

God wants us

to be

he wants us to

celebrate these

things and revel

in them

and love

the freedom

that we've been

given in this

grace

in this

tremendous thing

that's been done

for us

but it doesn't

free us

just to live

and do

as we please

and it's a fine

line between

these two things

these two dangers

and both of them

like I'd said

at the start

involve this

drudgery

the drudgery

of being told

what to do

and thinking

what a drag

I need to go

and I need to

really crack on

and get knuckled

down and get

this done

and the other

side of the

drudgery of

I'm not interested

in this

this is far too

much and I'm

not going to do

it because it's

seen as this

drag

so it is this

fine line

between

just following

along

and the freedom

and just

exploiting the

grace that we've

been given

and abusing it

as well

in a sense

so the only

true solution

that we have

as a touchstone

is this

trust in Jesus

we thought about

the faith

and the

Holy Spirit

that's been sent

to Elvis in this

but it's through

this faith

in Jesus

so if we find

ourselves in the

first camp

of the

joyless obedience

following along

doing as we're

told

as best we can

for all intents

and purposes

where God's

like this

sergeant major

barking orders

at us

and we're

determined to

follow them

that will bring

us no pleasure

and we will

not grow

in our

Christian lives

whatsoever

we'll be

stunted

but in

saying that

if we do

find ourselves

there as we

will do

from time

to time

then

we have

to stop

and remember

the price

has been

paid for

us

by Jesus

and remember

as well

that it's not

down to our

work

the work

has been

done

the price

has been

paid

we are

redeemed

we can't

do this

work ourselves

we can't

pay this

price ourselves

but it has

been paid

for us

and that

was done

through

this perfect

obedience

to the will

of God

that Jesus

had all

through his

life

and we

can rest

in that

work

and thank

God for

it

and if we

find ourselves

rather

in this

second camp

of thinking

how we want

to break

free

get gone

run off

stop worrying

about all

these rules

and all

these setbacks

then stop

and remember

again

that Jesus

obeyed his

father perfectly

which we

can't do

but he

obeyed his

father perfectly

and cherished

the law

of God

and took

delight in it

says it all

through

the gospels

so if the

Lord Jesus

cherished it

and delighted

in it

and to obey

it as well

there must be

something good

about it

and we should

follow suit

as the Lord

Jesus did

and when we

ultimately do

find all of this

hard going

the two dangers

are there

when we find

all of this

tough

as we will

and it

happens a lot

to all of

us

remember

that Jesus

is sitting

there

at the

right hand

of God

to this

day

interceding

for us

and speaking

for us

on our

behalf

and as I've

said the

Holy Spirit

has been

sent to

help us

on our

way

to an

answer

to this

question

and to

help us

apply it

and live

it out

and if

we think

about this

if we

can

obey

joyfully

in light

of all

this

how good

will it

be when

people

in the

office

and in

the hospital

and wherever

else we

go on

life's

journey

how good

would it

be for

those people

we mix

with to

see people

who are

obeying the

law of

God

joyfully

and obeying

their heavenly

father

joyfully

like the

Lord Jesus

did

that have

been moulded

by the

love of

the Lord

and love

of his

word

because that

is true

freedom

for all

of us

and I

think that

would really

turn the

world

upside down

and so

that is

an attempt

to answer

the question

what does

God

expect from

me in

this life

and I

just want

to end

with this

verse

here

that's up

on the

screen

Psalm

Psalms 37:4

37

verse 4

take

delight

in the

Lord

and he

will give

you the

desires

of your

heart

how true

that is

when we

delight in

the Lord

we will

be rewarded

so much

more for

the things

that we

give up

here in

this life

and he

will give

us the

desires

of our

heart

which will

be so

much

sweeter

than

the

desires

we

had

previously

let's

just pray

and then

we can

have a

break

and get

a drink

heavenly

father

we

thank you

so much

for your

word

and for

your law

and how

you use

it to

teach us

and to

lead us

and to

show us

how much

we

need you

and we

need the

Lord Jesus

and the

Holy Spirit

that it

shows us

just in

what a

sorry and

poor state

we're in

by ourselves

but we

thank you

Lord that

you know

our hearts

you know

our minds

you know

our desires

you know

all these

things about

us

and yet

when we

come to

you in

faith

you accept

us

and we

thank you

that that

is because

of the

Lord Jesus

and his

work

and we

are given

that freely

and we

are represented

and we

don't need

to work

ourselves

and Heavenly

Father we

pray that

as we go

from this

place

tonight

into the

coming week

that we

will remember

that you

want your

children

your people

to love

you

and to

obey

and serve

you

not out

of

obligation

and not

out of

trying to

put ticks

in boxes

but really

out of

true love

and devotion

and we

pray Lord

like that

Psalm

Psalms 37:4

37

verse 4

says

we pray

Lord

that we

would take

the light

in you

and that

you would

be giving

us the

desires of

our hearts

and we

pray Lord

that you

would be

changing

the desires

of our

hearts

so that

we would

be

honouring

and glorifying

you

and we

just pray

this now

for all of

us in the

precious name

of the Lord

Jesus

Amen