Where are the Radicals for Jesus Christ?

And what a joy to be with you all here this morning.

It is an honor for me to be here, represent North Greenville University,

one of your three South Carolina Baptist Convention universities here in our state.

Anderson University, Charleston Southern University, along with North Greenville,

are institutions that you support.

Part of the gifts you give to this church that are then in turn given through the cooperative program,

and the South Carolina Baptist Convention enable us to do the things that we do there.

And it is a joy for me every single morning to be able to get up and go to that campus

where we believe Christ makes the difference

and be able to have some small part in raising up transformational leaders for church and society.

That's what we're about at North Greenville University.

So on behalf of our president, Dr. Gene Fant,

let me thank you for your part in helping us do what we do.

At North Greenville University.

And Brother Fred, thank you for your kind invitation.

I don't get a lot of invitation to come back a second time,

so I'm very grateful for that.

As we prepare our hearts this morning to look together at God's Word,

would you join me as we pray?

Heavenly Father, thank you for just the privilege,

every time we're able to gather as a body of believers,

to join our hearts in worship,

to be reminded that none of us would be here today

were it not for your amazing grace.

And Father, out of that awareness,

I pray today that we just present ourselves before you in humility

and Lord in all emptying of self

to just sit before your Word today.

And we pray that your Holy Spirit would be the one who teaches us this morning.

And I pray that this Word that we hold in our hands this morning,

paper and ink,

this written Word,

Lord, I pray that it will now become a living Word

in our hearts today.

Speak to us.

May we be good stewards of every moment you give us

in this time together.

It's the prayer that we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

He was considered by many

to be the fastest man in the world.

They called him the Flying Scotchman.

He was 22 years old.

And in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, France,

Eric Little was to have competed in the 100-meter dash.

Again, he was the fastest man at that particular race,

fully expected to win the gold medal.

But Eric Little was also a Christian.

He was a strong believer.

And just a few days before the 100-meter dash was to have been run,

he discovered that the qualifying heats for that event

were going to be held on a Sunday.

And Eric Little had strong convictions about the Lord's Day.

And he determined if those qualifying heats were going to be run on a Sunday,

he could not participate.

Now, as you might imagine, a great uproar followed that decision.

The Olympic Committee in that day got together,

held an emergency meeting,

called Eric Little in and said,

Look, man, everybody's eyes are on you.

You've got to run this race.

He said, No, I can't do it.

He was summoned to a personal meeting with the Prince of Wales

who had come to watch that race

and was told again,

Eric, we need you to run.

He said, I cannot run.

Finally, Eric Little received a telegram

from the Prime Minister of Great Britain,

giving him an ultimatum, in essence.

Eric, you don't have a choice.

You have got to compete in this race.

But he stood firm.

He did not run.

And many people looked at Eric Little and said,

What a waste.

You have given up fame.

You have probably given up fortune.

You have certainly given up the gold medal,

which everyone realizes you could have won.

And yet, this young man at 24 years of age

determined that nothing was more important in his life

than his relationship with Jesus Christ.

And he would not do anything that he considered

would compromise his stance for Jesus Christ.

So he did not run that race.

He did not win that gold medal.

But his commitment and his conviction stirred a generation.

And many people looked at what Eric Little did

and were moved to follow Christ

and this young man's example.

This morning, I want to ask you a question.

Where are the radicals for Jesus Christ today?

Where are they?

Where are those who would stand up today and say,

I boldly proclaim that there is nothing in my life

more precious to me

than my relationship with Christ,

than living for His glory.

And I want to ask you this morning,

just right out of the gate,

would you be willing

to be that kind of person?

I don't know any day

there has ever been when we need more

Eric Littles

who will stand up

with conviction

and proclaim

my life

belongs

to Christ

fully,

finally,

forever.

I have given

my life

to Him.

Today,

I

sort of want to get in your face a little bit.

Is that okay?

Just get in your face a little bit

this morning

and try to give you something to live for.

I want to give you something to live for

because I am convinced

every one of us,

you this morning,

are standing

on the precipice

of a great adventure,

if you will take it.

And I don't want you to waste your lives

in a valley of insignificance.

I do not want you to fall prey

to what I have called

the mind-numbing,

spiritual,

anesthetizing,

destiny-dimming

enticement

of the American dream

that simply says to you

and me today,

if you'll just

get a good education,

if you'll get a good job,

if you'll raise a good family,

if you'll live a good life,

then you'll have a good time

and your life

will be a good life.

Can I tell you this morning,

unhesitatingly,

you were created

for something more than that.

In fact,

you were created

for a whole lot more

than that.

So I want to say to you this morning,

whether you're a student

with the majority of your life

ahead of you,

or whether you've already retired

and trying to figure out

how you can make the most

of your final years,

I want to point you

to something this morning.

So I want you to take

your copy of God's Word

as you have it there with you,

or maybe you're going to

look this up on your phone

or some other device.

I want you to look with me

at a couple of verses

in 1 Corinthians 6.

Let me just say to you,

if we really understand

what these verses say,

they may be

some of the scariest,

most intimidating verses

in all of the New Testament.

But we're going to look

at them anyway.

1 Corinthians 6,

1 Corinthians 6:19

verses 19 and 20.

1 Corinthians 6,

19 and 20,

parts of these verses.

I want you to listen

to what Paul,

under the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit,

writes to you and to me.

Now, you belong to God.

You do not belong to yourselves.

God has bought you

with a great price.

Hear that again.

Now, you belong to God.

You do not belong to yourselves.

Why?

Because God has bought you

with a great price.

Do you understand this morning?

If you are a Christian,

if you would stand here

and dare to name the name of Jesus

as Lord and Savior of your life,

do you understand?

You are not your own.

You do not belong to yourself.

It is not your life.

Christ bought you.

He bought me

at the price of His own death

so that now we doubly belong to God.

We belong to God, number one,

because He created

every single one of us.

And then if we are believers,

we belong to God

because Christ purchased us.

He purchased our salvation

at the price of His death

on the cross.

And that means my life

is no longer my life

to do with however I want to do with it.

Your life is not your life

to do whatever you want to do with it.

I've heard people say before,

you know,

you grow up in America,

you can become anything you want to be.

Can we stop telling our kids that lie

if we're followers of Christ?

You can become anything God wants you to become.

You can do anything God wants you to do

because your life is not your own

to do with what you want to do with.

And neither is mine.

We're not free to chart our own course,

pursue our own desires,

chase our own dreams.

Restricting, huh?

A little bit.

Boxes you in, doesn't it?

Cramps your style,

infringes on your freedom, right?

I mean, that's what the world

will tell us.

That's what it told Eric Little.

But this morning,

can we look for just a moment

at what God's Word really has to say about this?

And I want to illustrate

this 1 Corinthians text in several ways.

First of all,

I want to illustrate it

by looking at the life of a man in Scripture.

His name was Epaphroditus.

We find his story in Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

So I encourage you to mark 1 Corinthians chapter 6,

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

but turn over into the New Testament.

A few books here.

To Philippians.

And we're going to look for just a moment

at Epaphroditus.

Now, this is the only place in Scripture

we find Epaphroditus mentioned,

but he is memorialized here.

He is ensconced

because of what we see about him

in this text.

Now, before we look at the verses

describing his life a little bit,

let me give you a little bit of a background

to this book of Philippians.

Epaphroditus was a member of the church

at Philippi.

The Philippian church had heard

that Paul was in prison in Rome.

That's where Paul was

when he wrote the book of Philippians.

And so the church at Philippi

determined that it would come together,

it would take up a collection,

an offering,

and they would send it to Paul in Rome.

And Epaphroditus was the one

who was given the task

to take that gift to Paul in Rome.

As a matter of fact,

we might say that the book of Philippians

is sort of Paul's extended thank you letter

to the church at Philippi

for the sending of this gift to him

in prison in Rome.

So Epaphroditus is tasked

with this responsibility.

He is taking this gift

from the Philippian church to Rome

somewhere on the journey

from Philippi to Rome,

or perhaps after he got to Rome,

we don't really know.

But Epaphroditus became seriously ill.

We don't know what the illness was

that he had,

but if you look at verse 27,

you will see,

of Philippians chapter 2,

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

you will see that it was serious enough

that the man almost died.

And so the Philippian church

was concerned about Epaphroditus.

Somehow they'd gotten word

that he was at the point of death.

So after he recovers a little bit,

Paul says in verse 28,

I'm going to send Epaphroditus back to you

so that he can be with you,

he can be with his family,

he can be with his church family,

and can recover.

So that's the background.

What I want you to see here,

the verses,

verses 29 and 30,

because this tells us something

of Epaphroditus

that is really the focus

of what I'm trying to help

all of us come to terms with today.

Verse 29,

Paul says,

as he sends Epaphroditus back,

so receive him in the Lord

with all joy

and honor such men,

for he nearly died

for the work of Christ,

risking his life

to complete what was lacking

in your service to me.

Now there's a little key phrase here

that Paul uses

to describe Epaphroditus.

He says,

he risked his life.

He risked his life.

Now,

in the common language

of the people in Paul's day,

that little phrase,

risking his life,

was borrowed from

the gambling world.

It was a gambler's term.

It meant to place a bet.

It meant to make a wager.

It meant to roll the dice.

Literally, Paul said,

let me tell you about Epaphroditus.

He was willing to gamble

his own life

for the sake of Christ.

He threw himself out there

on the game board of life.

He rolled the dice with his life

and he literally risked losing it all

to do what Christ had called him to do.

Epaphroditus was God's gambler.

And he gambled everything

because he placed his very life

on the line

to do what Christ

had called him

to do.

I want to tell you about

one of my favorite

historical

Christian

characters.

her name was Ann Hazeltine.

She was the youngest

of five children.

And she was doted on

by her family.

She had a wonderfully

happy childhood.

And by her teenage years,

she was sparkling,

full of joy,

popular,

very attractive,

always in demand

at parties

and all kinds of

social events.

events.

In her youth,

her main concerns

were her friends,

socializing,

having fun.

Her father actually

constructed on the back

of their house

a dance hall,

a big room

that was used

just for dancing.

So Ann's home

really became

the center

of social life

in the town

where they lived.

Now like most of the people

who lived in that

small town,

the Hazeltines

went to church.

But religion was,

it just wasn't

very demanding

at all.

Didn't require

much of them.

And most of their time

was spent

just doing

what they wanted

to do,

having fun,

being with friends.

So in Ann's own words,

she said,

you know,

I was consumed

with the things

of the world.

Even though I profess

to follow Christ,

I know my focus

was on the things

of the world,

having fun.

I was largely directed

by peer pressure.

And so I want to read

a few things to you

this morning

that come from

her diary.

And I'm just going to

read it off this sheet

of paper because

I want you to hear

verbatim

what Ann wrote

about her understanding

of Christianity

at this young point

in her life.

Here's what she said,

quote,

During the first

16 years of my life,

I very seldom

felt any serious

impressions about

anything.

I was early taught

by my mother,

though at that time

she was ignorant

of the nature

of true religion.

I was taught

by her the importance

of abstaining

from those vices

like telling falsehoods,

disobeying my parents,

taking what was

not my own.

She also taught me

that if I was

a good child,

when I died,

I would escape

that dreadful place

called hell,

the thought of which

sometimes filled me

with alarm and terror.

So,

I therefore made it

a matter of conscience

to avoid

these kinds of sins.

I'd say my prayer

every night

and every morning.

I would try not

to do the things

that I knew were wrong,

never doubting

that such a course

of conduct

would ensure

my salvation.

At the age of 12 or 13,

I attended the academy

where suddenly

as I was exposed

to many more temptations

than ever before.

I now began to go

to dances and parties.

I found my mind

completely occupied

with the things

of the world.

And for two or three years,

I scarcely felt

an anxious thought

at all relative

to the salvation

of my own soul.

Even though,

now listen,

even though,

I was rapidly heading

towards eternal ruin.

I was surrounded

by my friends

who were wild

and volatile

like myself.

And I often thought

myself,

one of the happiest

people on earth.

My time mostly occupied

with clothes,

boys,

and an amusement.

That was her life.

That was her own assessment

of her life

at 16 years of age.

Now,

she went on to say

that from time to time

she would sort of be

convicted about things

in her life.

She knew she was doing things

she had no business doing,

involved with people

she shouldn't have been with.

But because of peer pressure

and her desire

to be popular,

she said,

you know,

I was just,

it was too embarrassing

for me to try

to take a stand

for Christ

or to really get

too serious

about spiritual things

or try to be godly.

But then,

as a 17-year-old girl,

Anne Hazeltine

had a personal,

powerful encounter

with Jesus Christ

that radically

changed her life.

Suddenly,

she was overwhelmed

with a sense

of her own guilt

before this holy

and righteous God.

she said,

I suddenly became

aware of His majesty,

His holiness,

His greatness,

the grace

that He had extended

to me.

And I became overwhelmed

with my own sinfulness

and suddenly

I just had this

consuming desire

for my life

to bring glory to God.

So at 17 years of age,

she set out

to live her life

in complete commitment

to the Lord.

And she said,

Lord, here it is,

whatever you want to do.

She said,

what Epaphroditus said,

here's my life,

I roll it out there.

Let me tell you

what happened.

Anne Hazeltine

eventually married

a man

by the name of

Adoniram Judson.

I don't know

if that name means

anything to you or not.

If you know anything

about mission history

whatsoever.

Adoniram Judson

was one of the first

Protestant missionaries

sent out from North America

to the non-Christian world.

He was one of the

great missionary pioneers.

And so,

Anne ended up

getting to know

Judson

and they decided

to get married.

Let me read a part

of a letter to you now

that Adoniram Judson

wrote to Anne Hazeltine's

father

asking for her hand

in marriage

and also asking

permission to take Anne

with him

as a missionary

to India.

Now, if you're a father

out there with a daughter,

I want you to listen to the...

It ought to impact

every one of us,

but I want you to listen

to what Adoniram Judson

wrote to Anne Hazeltine's

father.

I have to ask you now

whether you can consent

to part with your daughter

early next spring

to see her

never again

in this world.

Whether you can consent

to her departure,

her subjection

to the hardships

and sufferings

of missionary life,

whether you can consent

to her exposure

to the dangers

of the ocean,

to the fatal influence

of the southern climate

of India,

to every kind

of want

and distress,

to degradation,

insult,

persecution,

perhaps even

a violent death.

Can you consent

to all this

for the sake

of him

who left

his heavenly home

and died for her

and for you?

Can you do this

for the sake

of perishing

immortal souls,

for the sake

of heaven,

for the sake

of the glory of God?

Can you consent

to all this

in the hope

of soon meeting

your daughter again,

not in this world,

but in the world

of glory

with the crown

of righteousness

brightened

with the acclamations

of praise

that shall resound

from her Savior,

from those

heathen people

saved through

her testimony

from eternal woe

and despair?

What questions?

Her father said

what I would have

probably said.

I can't do that,

but I will let her

make up her decision.

Anne said yes.

I will go.

And Anne

and Adoniram Judson

went to India.

There they lost

three of their children.

Adoniram himself

was thrown

into a Burmese prison

where he languished

for two years.

Anne herself

at 37 years

of age

died in Burma.

Her body

wracked by pain,

ravaged

by tropical illnesses,

emaciated

from lack

of proper food,

beaten down

by the struggles

of pioneer missionary life

just as her husband

Ad predicted

would happen.

But Anne

helped to translate

the books

of Daniel

and Jonah

into the Burmese language,

the gospel

of Matthew

into the Thai language,

so that

multiplied thousands

of Burmese

and Thai

people

could come

to know the Christ

that she knew.

She rolled

the dice.

She gambled

her life.

She said,

Lord,

there is nothing

more precious

to me

than living

for your glory.

I do not

belong to myself.

You have bought

me with a great

price.

I throw myself

out.

You use me

however you want

to use me.

Now here's

the question.

is that

something you

have ever

seriously

in your

entire life

considered

doing?

Would you

be

an Anne

Hazeltine

for this

generation?

Would you

be an

Epaphroditus

for this

day?

Would you

consider that

God may have

brought you

into His

kingdom

for such

a time

as this?

Would you

be an Eric

Little

for this

generation?

Can I

say to you

this morning

that I

believe

Christianity

has largely

lost its

teeth

in America?

There is

no risk.

We play

it safe.

We know

exactly what

we're going

to do each

and every

day that we

live.

We're not

throwing

ourselves out

there for

the sake

of Christ.

There is

no challenge.

There is

no costly

commitment.

There is

no great

courage.

There is

no great

cause

that we

consider

worth

this kind

of price.

There is

very little

in our

culture

or in the

church of

Jesus Christ

today that

is driving

us to

be all

that this

word says

we ought

to be.

So can I

just be a

voice today?

Maybe it

is a voice

crying in the

wilderness.

I do not

know, but

could I say,

could I throw

out to you

this morning

this possibility?

Would you

embrace

being

everything

that this

word says

Christ

created

and bought

you to

be?

Would you

hear me say

to you,

don't

waste

these few

precious years,

this tiny

increment of

time that

God has

entrusted

to you.

Don't

waste

your life.

Now listen,

I understand

this morning,

I'm not

naive,

and I

understand

this morning

that from

the perspective

and the

values and

the priorities

of this

world,

what looks

like a

waste is

to give

yourself to

Christ in

this kind

of way.

That's what

looks like a

waste in

the eyes

of the

world.

It looks

stupid,

tragic.

It's a

waste because

becoming a

follower of

Christ means

sacrifice.

It causes

us to

embrace

suffering.

It tells

us we're

going to

face

persecution

and loss

in this

world.

Over and

over and

over again

in the

New Testament

we see

that.

If anyone

would come

after me,

Jesus said,

let him

deny

himself.

Say a

big fat

no to

your own

life.

Let him

deny

himself,

then take

up a

cross.

That's

not the

shiny

little

emblem we

wear around

our necks.

It was a

Roman

execution

device.

That's

what everybody

understood

when Jesus

said,

if you want

to follow

me, be

ready to

take up

a cross.

Be ready

to give

everything

that you

have even

in your

own life

if you want

to follow

me.

That's

what Jesus

said.

He has

called us

to a life

in the eyes

of the world

of a seemingly

pointless denial

of many of the

things we think

make our short

lives here on

earth tolerable.

He calls us

to walk a path

that leads in the

opposite direction

that everybody

else is going

in.

I'm going

to tell you

identifying

with Christ

risking your

life in this

kind of way

can involve

the loss

of reputation

it can involve

the loss

of intellectual

respectability

it can include

the loss

of status

according to

the world's

version of

wisdom and

honor

looks like

a waste

of life.

But it's

really the

very opposite.

Jesus said

if you want

to gain

your life

lose it.

I'll tell you

how to lose it.

Try to hang

on to your

life.

Try to do it

your way.

You'll lose

your life.

You'll come

to the end

of your life

and you'll

look back

and you'll

have a pot

full of

regrets

and you'll

yearn for

what might

have been

in your

service to

the Lord

Jesus Christ

and how he

might have

taken your

life and

used it

as a vehicle

for his

glory.

You know

what?

I didn't

finish the

story about

Eric Little.

Let me go

back to

that.

After Eric

Little decided

he would

not run in

the 100

meter dash

because of

his convictions

about running

on a Sunday

a teammate

of his

on the

British

Olympic

team

a man

by the

name

of

Harold

Abrams

came up

to him

and said

Eric

I'd be

willing to

switch

events

with you.

I run

the 400

meter race

why don't

I run

that

and you

run the

100

and I'll

run the

100.

See

Harold

Abrams

was a

Jewish

man

and so

he didn't

have any

convictions

about running

on a

Sunday

it wasn't

a big

deal to

him.

Problem

was

Eric

Little

had never

trained

to run

the 400

meters.

100

meter

was more

of a

sprint

the 400

meter

was a

long

distance

race

he just

hadn't

trained

had never

run that

race

before

inexperienced

but hey

the opportunity

was there

and he took

it and so

they switched

events.

Before Eric

Little got

ready to run

that 400

meter race

another athlete

from the

American

Olympic team

who was

also a

Christian

and who

also understood

the kind

of sacrifice

that Eric

Little had

made

came up

to him

right before

he started

that race

and handed

him a little

piece of

paper and

on it was

scribbled

a short

note.

You know

what it

said?

God

honors

those

who

honor

him.

Do you

believe

that?

God

honors

those

who

honor

him.

Eric

Little

not only

won the

400

meter

and gained

that gold

medal but

he set a

world's

record

that stood

for a

decade

and he

became a

national

hero.

Everybody

wanted to

be around

Eric

Little.

They

revered

him

in Great

Britain.

He

could have

had

anything

that he

wanted.

He

could have

yelled

jump and

all of

Great

Britain

would have

said okay

how high.

That's the

status that

he held

after winning

that 400

meter.

But exactly

one year

after winning

that gold

medal Eric

Little walked

away from

everything to

become a

missionary with

the London

Missionary

Society and

he went to

China and

he carried

the gospel of

Jesus Christ

to the

back country

of that

great

nation.

About that

time Japan

invaded China.

Second World

War broke

out.

Eric Little

was captured

by the

Japanese

declared to

be an

enemy

national

thrown into

a prison

camp.

There he

was one

of 1,300

prisoners

crammed into

an area

maybe a

little bit

bigger than

this worship

area.

Housed in

dormitories

three feet

by six

feet.

He was

beaten.

He was

starved.

He was

denied adequate

medical care.

He was

physically abused

and mentally

abused.

But still,

he held

athletic

competitions.

He taught

hymns.

And he

shared the

gospel of

Jesus Christ

with his

fellow prisoners

and with his

Japanese

captors.

Just one

month before

the liberation

of China,

February 21,

1945,

Eric Little

died in

that prisoner

of war

camp.

Largely

unknown.

Was it

a waste?

Well,

it would

have been

a waste.

In fact,

let me just

be honest

with you.

Everything

I've

shared

with you

this

morning

would be

a waste

if what

the Bible

has to say

about Jesus

Christ is

not true.

If what

is in this

book is

not true,

then yes,

it is

all a

waste.

But if

what is

in this

book

is true,

if Jesus

Christ is

the very

Son of

God,

who in

love for

you and

me,

willingly

set aside

the glory

and the

status that

was his

with his

heavenly

father in

heaven,

if he

took on

the full

measure of

our

weakness

and was

born into

the human

family,

if he

lived a

life of

perfect

obedience to

his father's

will,

if he

died a

sinless

death on

the cross

to pay the

penalty for

your sin

and my

sin,

if he

rose from

the dead,

if he

ascended to

the father,

if today

he really is

the savior

of all

who trust

in him,

if one

day he

is going

to return

to this

earth and

receive his

people to

himself and

assume his

rightful role

as judge over

all the

earth,

king of

kings and

lord of

lords,

if what

this book

has to say

about Christ

is true

and it

is true,

then my

friend there

is no price

in the world

that is too

great to pay

for him.

There is no

loss in the

terms of what

is valuable in

the eyes of

the world,

no loss too

much to

endure for

him.

Before

Anne Hazeltine

left the

shores of

America to

sail for

India and

Burma where

she died,

this is what

she had to

say.

I'll close

with these

final words

from her

diary.

I have at

length come

to the

conclusion that

I must spend

my days in a

foreign land,

but I am a

creature of

God and he

has an undoubted

right to do

with me as

seems good in

his sight.

I rejoice

because I am

in his

hands and

when I am

called to face

danger to pass

through scenes

of terror and

distress, he

will inspire me

with fortitude.

He will enable

me to trust in

him because

Jesus is

faithful.

His promises

are precious.

Were it not

for these

considerations, I

should sink

down in the

depths of

despair,

especially as

no female has

to my knowledge

ever left the

shores of

America to

spend her life

among the

heathen in

this way.

Nor do I

yet know that

I shall have a

single female

companion where I'm

going, but

whether I spend

my days in

India or

America, I

will spend

them in the

service of my

God and my

Savior and look

forward to

spending an

eternity in

his presence.

folks, this is

hard for us to

hear, but this

is not a

higher life.

This is not a

deeper life.

This is normal

Christianity.

Normal

Christianity.

Christianity.

It seems

radical to us

because we have

departed so far

from what Christ

calls us to be and

do in this book.

So because it

seems radical to

us, I will ask

the question,

where are the

radicals for Jesus

Christ today?

Who would rise up

and say, nothing,

nothing, nothing in

my life is more

precious to me than

Christ, than living

for his glory?

Will you be one of

those?

Wow.

Do we need some

Anne Hazeltines

today?

Do we need some

Eric Littles

today?

Do we need some

more folks who in

the spirit of

Epaphroditus would

say, Lord, here's

my life and I

will roll the

dice, not

knowing what

all that means,

but here is my

life today.

I give you all

of me for the

sake of multiplied

billions of

people who are

dying every day

without knowing

this Savior that

we know.

Would you be that

kind of person for

this generation?

Isaac Watts

wrote a famous

hymn, When I

Survey the

Wondrous Cross,

and in the

closing stanza of

that verse, he

captured exactly

the truth of

Scripture.

And I share these

words with you in

closing this morning.

Isaac Watts said,

were the whole

realm of nature

mine?

If I had

everything a person

could possibly

have, were the

whole realm of

nature mine, that

would be a present

far too small.

Love so amazing,

so divine,

demands my soul,

my life,

my all.

Pray with you.

Heavenly Father,

Lord, we stand

this morning

underneath the

authority of your

word and the

truth that it

proclaims.

And I pray in

these moments,

Father, now that

we have heard, we

might recognize our

accountability to

you for what you

have entrusted to

us through the

pages of your

word.

And Lord, through

that great cloud

of witnesses, those

who have gone on

before us, like

Epaphroditus, like

Eric Little, like

Ann Hazeltine, who

now from the

grandstands of

heaven cheer us

on.

God.

But even these

examples pale in

comparison to the

example of our

Lord Jesus, who for

the joy that was set

before Him endured

the cross, scorning

its shame, who took

on human form and

human flesh and

came and dwelt

among us, leaving

the glory and the

splendor of heaven

behind.

Who took on human

form and human

flesh and being

made in human

likeness and being

made in appearance

as a man, taking

on the form of a

servant.

He humbled

Himself.

He poured

Himself out and He

became obedient unto

death, even death

on the cross.

That is our

ultimate example.

That is the one to

whom we give our

lives.

And so, Father, I

pray this morning that

as we prepare in just

a couple of minutes

to walk out the

doors of this

building, that we

would not walk out

the same way we

walked in.

That we would be

your gamblers.

that we would make

the wager, place the

bet, roll the dice

with our own lives

and just say, Lord,

here we are.

We roll ourselves out

before You.

Our lives are not

our own.

We have been bought

with a great price.

Now take us and use

us to make a

difference here in

Pickens, South

Carolina, in a nation

that desperately needs

to know the

difference that only

Jesus Christ can make

and among the

nations.

It is the prayer that

we pray in Jesus'

name.

Amen.