This adult Sunday school class
was held on December 30th, 1984 at the Trinity Baptist Church
in Montville, New Jersey. Now those of you who regularly
attend upon the ministry of the word in this place know that
normally you would be sitting under the ministry of Professor
Martin who is presently leading us in a very profitable study
of the epistle to the Hebrews. However, from time to time it
becomes my privilege as well as responsibility to lead this
combined adult class. And when I do, I usually seek
to use it as a forum to discuss matters of practical pastoral
concern, concerns either introduced by you in the form of questions
or notes passed to me indicating that you have a subject you feel
ought to be discussed, or subjects introduced by me and then discussed
by us all with our Bibles open before us. And this morning we're
going to take that latter course. I wish to introduce and lead
a discussion on a very practical, and I think you will be convinced
with me, a very relevant subject. But before I introduce the subject
and open up the discussion, I want to give a few guidelines for
the conducting of our class. I would remind those of you who
are with us over a long period, and for those who may be visiting
with us, inform you that our goal in the class format is not
the airing of personal opinions. The late Dr. A. W. Tozer, with
tongue-in-cheek, defined a symposium as the pooling of our ignorance
Well, that could also be a synonym for much that is called a forum
for discussion of Christian themes and biblical issues. Our goal
is not the airing of personal opinions. The scripture tells
us that in the public gathering of God's people, 1 Corinthians
14, all things are to be done unto edification, that is, the
building up of the people of God. And since it is truth, and
truth alone which nourishes the souls of God's people, then our
concern, even in an open forum format, is not the airing of
personal opinions, but the sharing of God's holy truth. And secondly,
we need to understand that in doing this, This is not a public
forum, but it's an exercise of the Church family here at Trinity. Now, we always welcome into every
public meeting those who are not members of the family who
are our guests, and on behalf of the entire congregation, I
personally extend to you a warm welcome into our midst. and we
trust that your presence with us will be unto edification.
However, when it comes to making contributions and the raising
of questions, we would appreciate it if we would acknowledge that
this is a family gathering, essentially and primarily, and we would ask
that you respect our desire that the contributions and questions
be raised from our membership only. Now, we do that not because
we want to put down our guests. but because we can assume that
those who are members are asking their questions and making their
contributions within the basic framework of the doctrinal perspective
that they have confessed in becoming members. Furthermore, just in
terms of social politeness, I know the names of our members, and
when a hand is raised, I can recognize such a person by name. And there have been a few times
in the past when visitors have been amongst us who have either
been so desirous of sharing a perspective or so pressured with a given
question and sometimes, I'm ashamed to say, I think so insensitive
to just common social mores that they have put me in a very embarrassing
situation. I did not want to put down a
visitor and a stranger, yet if I didn't, I'd be put down in
the eyes of my own people for tolerating the foolishness that
they spoke. Now that's not a very enviable
position. That's between the rock and a
hard place or even a harder place. And so as your elders met last
night, we sharpened up our policy in these open forums and we have
determined that it would be unto maximum edification if in these
sessions only those who are members of the church would contribute
by way of questions or contributions when they are sought. All right,
so much then for What I'm doing here, and how I propose to lead
the class this morning, now the subject that I want to introduce
is this. How to avoid spiritual regression
during a holiday season, vacation, or a day off from our normal
work. How to avoid spiritual regression. That's just a fancy term for
backsliding. how to avoid spiritual regression
during a holiday season, Christmas, New Year's, etc., vacation, or
a day off from normal work. Now, there is something assumed
in my question, is there not? And what am I assuming in raising
this issue? Someone tell me, what am I assuming? Someone tell me. All right, Jay has said that
I'm assuming that spiritual regression is a real possibility, not in
general, but in specific connection with holiday seasons, vacations,
or days off from normal work. Now, if I'm assuming something
that isn't true, everything I've prepared into which I'm trying
to guide you, I might as well tear it up, throw it out the
window, and say, any questions on general biblical themes? So
now we've got to establish the relevance of my subject. Now
that means you've got to get honest. With Judgment Day honesty,
as I ask my first question, and my first question is this. How
many of you have found, as a general rule, not every single time,
not in every single instance, but how many of you have found,
as a general rule, that holidays, vacations, and days off have
often resulted in spiritual regression. I want you to raise your hand.
Okay, so it's a relevant subject then. Okay, very good. I can
keep my notes and we don't need to change the subject. Now that
we've established the relevance of our subject, let us attack
the subject with at least two or three more questions that
will form the framework of what I trust will be to each one of
us at least part of the biblical answer to the question, how can
I personally, one of those who raised his hand, how can I personally
avoid spiritual regression in a holiday season, vacation, or
a day off from normal work? So, that brings us then to this
next question that is foundational to wrestling with this subject,
and it is this. What are the specific factors
which often contribute to spiritual regression in these times? What are the factors which contribute
to this regression during holidays, days off, and vacations? If we're going to make any progress
in reversing that tendency, which many of us have acknowledged
we know all too well, then we've got to start by analyzing what
is it that contributes to and causes the spiritual regression
during these times. And I want you now to think before
you speak. Some of us have already thought
much of this, I'm sure, because all true repentance begins with
thinking. Revelation chapter 2. Remember,
from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first
works. So an element of sober reflection
is involved in all true exercises of renewed repentance. So you
tell me, what factors in your own experience and observation
specific factors, not just general things, the devil, the flesh,
but specific factors contribute to spiritual regression, not
all the time, but in a very special way, in a holiday season, a day
off, and in vacation periods. All right? Mr. Gergelis? All
right, a change of schedule. And how does that, in a specific
way, Mr. Gergelis, contribute to spiritual
regression? What is there about a change
of schedule that is connected with spiritual regression? All
right. Okay. Okay. All right. So one of the factors
involved in this change of schedule routine, you've mentioned one
of the specifics, is lateness in rising. All right, now, is
there anything wrong with sleeping in a little later when you have
a vacation or a day off? I mean, isn't that part of the
purpose, to get some rest? Is God some kind of a cruel taskmaster
who resents the fact that you get an extra hour or two of sleep
in a vacation or a day off? What's the relationship between
this lateness of sleep and spiritual regression? God put his servant
Elijah to sleep, woke him up enough to have an angel feed
him, and put him back to sleep. He needed a vacation, and he
gave him lots of sleep on his vacation. At least that's what
I read in my Bible. Isn't that what God did? His
servant was worn out from great spiritual and physical expenditure
of energy, and got discouraged. And what did God do? God didn't
send him on a fifty-day fast. God put him to sleep, and woke
him up, fed him, and put him back to sleep. That's what you
read in your Bible, that's what I read in mine. What's the connection
between this and spiritual regression? We're assuming it, I'm sure,
but we want to state it explicitly. All right, Mr. Spence? Okay, often then you slip then
into a more normal routine, and if you've blocked out those early
morning hours for quiet time, or time alone with God in the
Word, sleep has consumed them, so you leapfrog that and move
right into going off to shopping, doing all the projects you've
got planned for your day off or for your vacation, visiting
here, visiting there, etc. So there is then an undermining
of the ordinary, necessary means of grace because of the change
of schedule. Would you say that answers to
your experience? Okay. All right. What other factors?
Not only vacations, but holiday seasons, days off. What are some
of the other specific factors that contributed to spiritual
regression? All right. Pat, and then Jim. Alright, so what you're saying
is that we have a tendency, if we are given a legitimate opportunity
for physical and emotional relaxation, We have a tendency to relax our
spiritual watchfulness. Is that what you're saying? If
I'm hearing you rightly. All right, and what happens when
we relax our spiritual watchfulness? All right, the relaxation of
watchfulness, and we're sort of anticipating what was going
to come in the next question, but let's try to hold these things
in there. proper categories, all right, a relaxation of spiritual
watchfulness which leaves us more vulnerable to the attacks
of the enemy of our souls, all right? Other specific factors.
All right, Jim? I find that sometimes on vacation,
if you change your geography, for example, you go away to your
relatives for a time, maybe four or five days, then it's very
difficult to get some kind of overnight schedule where you
can find time alone. All right, so another specific
factor is the change of circumstances may make, in vacations particularly,
change of even physical circumstances may make it difficult to even
find a place to be alone. All right? What other factors
now? All right? Yes, Barb? I have
spoken and said that it's time to relaxation, so I don't think
this is a holiday at the time of greater activity. That's why
we let women speak here. That's right. All right, carry
on. Okay, very, very vital contribution
for some of you, especially for many of you women. Times of holidays,
vacations, and days off for your husband become times of intensified... Let's use a term, all right?
Intensified... You know what I mean by that? Marthaism. Remember, Mary and Martha? Martha,
Martha, thou art troubled and anxious about many things. So that's a very, very, very
critical thing. And you see, if a husband is
dwelling with his wife according to knowledge, and nurturing and
cherishing her spiritually, he's not going to be either willfully
indifferent or ignorant of this principle. But he's going to
take steps to make sure that she doesn't regress spiritually
while he's having extra time to be alone with God. So when
we come to some of the antidotes, we need to keep that in mind.
All right? Some other factors now that contribute to regression
in these times. All right? Let's see. All right,
Gary, I believe you had your hand up before, so we'll recognize
you again. Back to you, Henry. Yes? Often during the holiday
season, there's a change in the company in which we keep, and
so we have unsafe relatives or people at the office that we're
spending extra time with. All right. Often in these times,
we have a more concentrated exposure to and interaction with the ungodly. You have to make decisions about
whether you're going to attend the office party, and if so,
how long are you going to stay there? If so, what are you going
to do and not do? At what point do you bail out? At what point do you stay a part
of that for the sake of testimony? Jesus ate and drank with publicans
and sinners, and yet it is said of him, he was holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners. He did say, if he abideth
in him, ought to walk as he walked. Where do those lines cross? Sometimes
we obviously miss it because we become defiled, polluted,
dragged down in our own experience because of this more concentrated
exposure to the ungodly in this interaction. All right, another
factor. Let's see, who did I say was next? Oh yes, Henry. You
were going to say the same. All right, then let's come on
back. Someone else had a hand up over here. Do you have a different
thing? Yes, Sens. Say that louder. Oh, you can
say it louder than that. Too much what? Too much eating! It's amazing how many of you
were skirting this issue. That's right. During these times,
usually, there is more food available, prepared for special occasions.
And again, if we read our Bibles, there is a biblical doctrine
of feasting. There is a biblical doctrine
of feasting. Feasting is not sinful. Having special foods
prepared in special amounts for special occasions is not sinful. And for anyone to say it is,
Paul says, such a doctrine is a doctrine of demons. The first
forms of heresy came in the area of attacking the dignity and
the sanctity of God-given appetites. So you read in 1 Timothy 4, that
doctrines of demons will be spawned which deny that we should eat
certain foods, that we should deny a normal God-given sexual
expression within the bounds of God-given sanctions such as
marriage, or I should say, in marriage, period. And so we can't
take the position that feasting under any circumstances is wrong.
However, the Bible does condemn gluttony. Not simply in ordinary
days, in ordinary seasons. God never relaxes his condemnation
of the sin of gluttony. In fact, it's interesting when
Jesus warns about the things that will turn people's hearts
away from the kind of expectancy for his return that will render
them unprepared. You remember what he warns against
in Luke 21 in verse 34? Take heed to yourselves. lest perhaps your hearts, the
seat of spiritual life, be overcharged with surfeiting, banqueting,
excessive eating, and drunkenness, excessive drinking, and Marthaism,
the cares of this life." Now, notice he says, your hearts are
affected by what goes in your mouth. You haven't thought of
that, did you? But that's what that text says,
doesn't it? That's what my Bible says. Your heart can become overcharged
with surfeiting. Well, wait a minute. My food
goes into my belly, not my heart. Ah, yeah, but you put too much
food in your belly, and you're doing something to the seat of
your spiritual life. You're sinning against God. You're
wounding your conscience, and when you've wounded your conscience,
you've cut yourself off from communion with God, and if you're
a true child of God, then you become miserable to live with,
and then usually a miserable Christian sins in terms of being
quick, short, short-fused, quick-tempered, grousey, grumpy, and then it
gives birth to all other kinds of sins. So Jesus said, Beware,
lest your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, with drunkenness,
Now you see, if Jesus had taught his followers that the imbibing
of alcohol under any circumstances was sin, why would he have to
tell them, beware lest your hearts be overcharged with drunkenness?
You see, the position that teetotaling is a moral mandate simply will
not stand up to the test of Scripture. Now a person may choose to be
a teetotaler for good and wise reasons, and thank God we've
got people in this congregation who have vowed before God to
be teetotalers till they die. But we don't regard them stronger
or weaker for that. We regard them as wise in terms
of knowing themselves and their own potential for sin. But Jesus
still warns his own people, beware lest the heart be affected with
surfeiting, banqueting, drunkenness, and Marthaism. The cares of this
life, three things that in a special way can be aggravated and to
which we can be unusually exposed in a season of feasting, a season
of banqueting, holidays, not so much days off, but perhaps
on vacations. And so we've got to put in here
excessive food and drink, and we've already dealt with the
matter of Marthaism, the cares of this life. All right? Some
other things that contribute to spiritual regression. Dottie,
you had your hand up raised before. that you might have a chance
to go to other church services in the community, and many times
you will take that church service and use it instead of a devotion. For instance, on Saturday morning,
I used to like to listen to the science creation program on WFMB. But when it was over with, I
realized that I wasn't having my devotions that morning. Alright, the temptation then,
with that change of schedule, sort of a subheading of that,
is to rationalize about weak substitutes for really having
first-hand dealings with God. That if you tried to rationalize
about them in an ordinary day, your own sophistry would blow
up in your face and you'd say, come off it, who are you trying
to kid? But the fact that it's a different day lends some credibility
to it. I think that's the point you're
making, Dottie. Yes, and we're more liable to
fall before that sophistry and subtlety on a day off or on a
vacation time or a holiday. But I think that's really a subheading
under here. All right? Yes, Charles? During certain holiday seasons,
I think we're particularly vulnerable to worldly philosophy, such as
during the Christmas season, the materialism that comes to
bear upon us. All right, certain holiday seasons
leave us more vulnerable to worldly philosophy, underscoring particularly
Christmas with its obsession with things and the spending
of money and what I can get and what I can accumulate. So we
could put that, let's see, how can we express that? On certain
holidays, we're exposed to exposure to concentrated doses, concentrated
doses of the world. Okay? Yes, Arlene? And what happens to the person
who lives on the crest of his emotions? Sooner or later he's
going to have a what? One word. A what? That's the
word we use. Oh boy, that's going to sound
good on the tape, Bill. It's going to sound like the
word I'm fishing for, crash. It's going to sound like we had
a crash. Isn't that right? Isn't that what they call it?
People that are living for a high and they come down off their
high, they crash. You don't need to be doing drugs
to crash. All you need to be doing is floating
around on the so-called lovely, ebullient Christmas spirit, or
holiday spirit, or vacation spirit, and you're really not having
communion with God in the Holy Spirit. And what happens? You
get up, and you've got a grainy day, and the air is heavy, and
everything feels heavy, and boy, you come down from that thing
down. Boom. Just like that. You dive on the
deck. And you hit, and when you hit
and splat, everyone around you gets splattered, because you've
come down off this high. That's right. So that's a very
good point. How are we going to put that on the board? The
danger to live too much on our emotions in such seasons, okay? The danger... I want a guy to
tighten these up. He's got strong hands. Okay,
there we go. on emotions, okay? Any other significant factor?
Yes, David? I wondered who again was going
to be honest. That is one of the things. Greater exposure
to, let's just call it what it is, alright? TB abuse. TB abuse. greater exposure to. Here's a man that when he goes
out to work to catch the 6.45 or the 7.12 or gets his car out
of the garage at 7.30, he doesn't have to worry whether or not
he ought to watch this, that, or the other on the television.
He's out of the house and he ain't home till 6 o'clock, but
now he's got a day off, and he's just relaxing. So he figures,
you know, mental diversion, I'll just watch a little TV. He doesn't
know what's on, He doesn't have a TV guide, he's not selected,
he just kicks his feet up, turns the TV on, and before long, what
happens? He says, you know, I really shouldn't
be watching, but, you know, I'm mature. I can take that. And he starts to rationalize,
and by the end of the day, what's happened? He's got a conscience
spattered with all kinds of mud, and either he tries to rationalize
and just slough it all off and say, well, I'm just really being
overly legalistic, or He's going to have to have dealings with
God and with Christ and with the blood of cleansing. He's
going to have to have renewed repentance because of the abuse
of his TV. And it may be in two areas. What are the two areas? What
he watches. In some cases, it may not be
that they're in his default, but for how long? Now, some of you guys, I'm really
getting down to meddling here. You know what next Monday and
Tuesday are, don't you? Some of us, because of the pressure
of responsibilities, can watch very little college football
on Saturdays. Throughout the fall, when New
Year's comes, we can get it up to our ears from, what, about
12 noon on New Year's Day till the last game is over somewhere
around 11 o'clock at night, and now they're stretching out the
various bowls to two or three weeks before and after. And so the whole matter of the
biblical doctrine of let all things be done in moderation
goes to the winds with regard to how long as well as to what.
So David's point is well taken that holiday seasons, days off,
and vacations expose us in an unusual way to TV abuse. Now, some of you harried mothers,
be thankful. At least that's one thing you
don't need to worry about, see? So your responsibilities can
be a means of grace to keep you from sin. So that may help you
when you feel so harried to say, at least I ain't sinning like
my husband, sitting there, watching things I shouldn't. All right. Yes, Gene? Alright, so the disruption from
our normal framework, that would be another subheading, I think,
under the disruption of our normal schedule and our normal associations
geographically. And the whole matter of saying,
well, I'll probably end up being disappointed if I go here, there,
simply to spend the Lord's Day without seeking to gather with
God's people. All right, any other significant
factor that we've overlooked here? Jonathan? All right, so now we're getting
down to some of the principles that we'll need to come to grips
with, so if I can hold that off, Jonathan, because you've really
stated what is my final practical directive. Plan the time to reflect
commitment to the constants and sensitivity to the variables.
That's my little formula, so you've already anticipated it,
so can I hold off just in the sense of trying to keep this
thing in some kind of order and moving the class to where I hope
to go? All right, any other significant factor now? Yes, Larry? All right, those of you who have
families, you know that there's nothing relaxing about long trips
in a car with little kids, unless you have those rare exceptions.
Now, I marvel Some people have these kids, you put them down
anywhere with a little book or a little something to scribble
on and they're oblivious to the rest of the world for one hour,
two hour, they'll sleep in a car and the rest, we don't know what
that's like. We didn't have any kids like that. All due respects
to one of them who's here, two of them who are here, I'm sorry,
didn't mean to forget you son, but we didn't have kids like
that. He belongs to someone else now,
so I'm trying to think of someone else. That's a separate entity now.
It's amazing how quickly you get adjusted to that. So I don't
think of him as part of the family. He's left us to clean. No, that's
right. That's right. But that's another
whole subject. We won't get into that. Okay.
All right. So what could we call that? Some of the draining pressures of a vacation, because they do
become great. Well, I'm sure we could flush
out a lot of... There's another very specific and concrete and
significantly different one that hasn't been mentioned, because
I do want to move along and not just be on the negative. Charlie? All right, okay, so this would
again come under the matter of some of the differing schedule
leaves us vulnerable to undercut the matter of our devotional
exercise. Well, I'm sure others could be added, but we're within
twenty minutes of zero hour, and I don't want to leave us
hanging in the air, all right? So now, what I want to do, having
laid out together some of these ten of these specific ways in
which spiritual regression occurs, the factors which contribute
to it during vacations and holiday seasons and days off. Now I want us to consider the
next question. What steps can be taken to reverse
this pattern and to make these times times of spiritual progress? And you see what's in my question?
I'm not simply asking, what can we do to negate the regression,
but what can we do to seize these times to be the occasion of specific
and positive progress? And why do I ask the question
that way? Because that's the way the Bible approaches ethical
issues. For example, turn to Ephesians
chapter 4. Now we'll begin to get into specific
scriptures. In Ephesians chapter 4, notice
how the apostle treats the problem of a Christian who still tempted
to thievery. Stealing, pilfering, was a part
of his pre-Christian experience, part of his pre-Christian lifestyle.
It may have been pilfering paper clips from the office, money
from the petty cash, or it may have been larger pilfering, but
he still hasn't gained complete victory over his pilfering, his
stealing. Now, what does God say to him?
Verse 28. Ephesians 4, 28. Let him that stole, steal no
more. Let him cease his morally negative
activity. But rather, let him labor, working
with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have whereof
to give to him that hath need. So you see, God is not only interested
in negating and cancelling the morally negative activity, God
wants it replaced with its opposite virtue. He's to stop this, and
he's to cultivate the ability so to work as to have enough
to give to others. Now you find the same perspective
in verse 29. Let no corrupt speech proceed
out of your mouth. Well, there's a sure way to obey
that. Just never say anything. Just keep your mouth shut. In
all circumstances, apart from asking for something needful
for your own sustenance, keep your mouth shut. But that isn't
what the text enjoins. Notice, let no corrupt speech
proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for the building
up as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear.
We're not to be content that our speech does not corrupt,
We must strive to have speech that gives positive edification,
and that's the pattern all the way through scripture. So as
we attack this ethical problem, how can I secure, by God's grace,
my times of vacation, holidays, and days off, it must be not
simply with the mentality that they do not become times of regression,
but how can I make them under God times of positive spiritual
progress. That should be our concern. You
see the principle now in Scripture? Now then, I throw it out to you.
What can we do? And my suggestion is that we
think of our answers in two categories. There are certain biblical perspectives
that need to be kept in our minds, and then there are certain practical
directives that need to be implemented. Now, what are some of the biblical
convictions that need to be brought to mind on the threshold of a
day off, a vacation time, and a holiday season? What biblical
perspectives will particularly help us to make positive spiritual
progress in these seasons? What are some of the convictions
that we have as Christians that need to be brought into conscious
focus at such times. Can you think of them? Yes, George?
Establish priorities ahead of time. All right. Establish priorities ahead of
time. Let's sort of write these off
in the margin. I think the ones that I've put down in the order
I have them will eventually come in and so I'll, since I've already
tried to think them through and arrange them in some order, let
me put them here as you give them to me. Establish priorities,
key word, ahead of time. Okay? Something else. Yes, Jim? All right. God is God. We are His children at all times.
Could we summarize that by saying we must continually live in the
fear of God? All right? Live in the fear of
God. Alright, now someone from this
side had a hand raised. I don't want to ignore anyone
over here. Yes, Jeb? Okay, that even as we approach
such seasons, God's norms for what is sin and what is virtue
do not change. The unchangeableness of God's
law. Unchangeableness of the law of
God. What God condemns, On Monday,
he condemns on Monday, whether it's a holiday or whether it's
an ordinary day. If something is sin, it is sin
at any time. All right? Yes, Gary? All right? The constant recognition
that we are purchased property. Okay? We are not our own. We have been bought with a price. 1 Corinthians 6.20. All right?
Jonathan? Our spiritual and physical needs
do not change just because their circumstances happen. Excellent. Our spiritual and what? Physical
needs? Our basic needs do not change. Basic needs are unchangeable
or constant. We can't live on yesterday's
manna for today. We need fresh manna, even on
holidays. All right? Yes, Rich? All right. All right. Okay. Well, I'm sure we could bring
in many such things. Let me lay them out as I've thought
them through, and I think you'll see that all of these are included,
at least in principle. My suggestion is that, first
of all, the biblical convictions that we need to bring to mind
fall under two categories. Number one, be convinced afresh
that Satan Indwelling sin and the world declare no unilateral
truce on these special days. Now, you know what a unilateral
truce is. When one of the two warring parties says, I put my
arms down between now and next Monday. A bilateral truce is
one where the two parties meet at a conference table and they
say, look, this fighting of each other and all the rest getting
rough, let's declare for three days we stop fighting. We'll
lay down arms, we'll agree to it. Now, if you can get the devil
and the world and the flesh to sit down and make a truce with
you and say, let's come to an agreement that for between December
24th and January 2nd, I, the devil, will leave you alone.
I, the world, will leave you alone and I, the flesh, will
go on a vacation. Well, then you can afford to
act as though those things are not out to do what they are prepared
and determined to do at all other times. What is the devil determined
to do at all other times? Well, according to 1 Peter 5.8,
your adversary, the devil, walketh about, and there's no parentheses
saying, except on holidays, days off, and vacations. He walks
about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may depower, and he does
this continually. And what about the world? It
is continually attempting to squeeze us into its mold. Romans
12, 2. Let not the world squeeze you
into its mold. It is constantly squeezing, and
it doesn't release its grasp because it looks at the calendar
and says, oh, how did they come up? I'll just declare a little
period of neutrality. And I will not seek to take Christians
and conform them to my patterns. And likewise with the flesh,
Galatians 5, 17 says, The flesh is lusting against the spirit,
and the spirit is lusting against the flesh, and these two are
contrary the one to another. Parenthesis, except on holidays,
vacations, and days off. Doesn't say that. Now that's
reality, Christians. That is reality. That is reality! And the person who doesn't reckon
with that reality is off in a never-never land, and he'll suffer for it. He'll suffer for it. So as we
approach days off, holiday seasons, vacation times, face them with
the renewal of this conviction, this biblical conviction, that
Satan, indwelling with sin in the world, declare no unilateral
truths on these occasions. And then secondly, be convinced
that there is no alteration of the fundamental ethical demands
of the gospel. Be convinced, as you approach
a holiday season, that there is no alteration of the fundamental,
the baseline, the changeless, ethical demands of the gospel. That is, the demands that come
down upon your shoulders because you stand under the gracious,
redemptive mercies of God in Jesus Christ. And what are those
demands? Matthew 22, 36 to 40. To love
this God who has redeemed you in Christ with all your heart,
mind, soul, and strength, even on holidays. And to love your
neighbor as yourself, even on holidays. You see how that touches
you husbands? If holidays bring an extra burden
on your wife and you're loving your wife as yourself, will you
act as though the holidays do not bring an extra burden on
her? If you do, you're violating the second great commandment.
The mandate to nourish and cherish your life is not negated, suspended,
or canceled because it's New Year's. And if you do not show
a willingness to pitch in and bear some of that burden, you
are violating a fundamental gospel duty. The great command, Matthew
22. The great priority, Matthew 6.33. Seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness. On holidays, yes. Vacation days,
yes. Now, what that means in specifics
will come to some of the principles as we have the time, but that
priority never changes. The great pursuit, Hebrews 12,
14, pursue holiness without which no man will see the Lord, except
on holidays, vacations, and days off. No, the great pursuit is
never to change. You're to be as thirsty to be
a holy man or woman on a holiday as you are on the Lord's Day.
The great command never changes. Love God with all your heart,
enable yourself. The great priority to seek first
the kingdom of God never changes. The great pursuit never changes.
And the great climate of your life is to be what? 1 Peter 1,
15 and 17. As he which hath called you is
holy, be ye holy in all manner of conversation. And if you call
on him as father, who without respect of person judges every
man, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. We read in the book
of Proverbs, Be thou in the fear of God all the day long. The great climate of life is
never to be altered, even in a holiday season, on a day off,
or during a vacation. So, what we need to do, and no
one can do this for us, going over them here this morning won't
do it for you. As you face the next couple of days, try to put
some of these things into the hopper of today's meditation
and reflection. and see if it doesn't make a
radical difference in terms of what happens over the next couple
of days on this New Year's weekend. Be convinced that your enemies
declare no truths. The world, the flesh, and the
devil are going to be as active, even more active, because of
your increased vulnerability over the next few days. and then
be convinced that there's no alteration of the fundamental
ethical demands of the gospel. Now, within that framework, what
are some of the practical directives that under God can help us to
make spiritual progress in times that, alas, too often have been
the occasion of spiritual regression? What are some of the practical
things? Well, here's my little formula, all right? I'm going
to give you a formula. And God is always saying, there ain't
no formulas, He's going to give you one. All right. But this
formula is simply trying to capture the biblical principles. Here
it is. Plan your time to reflect commitment to the constants and
sensitivity to the variables. Plan your time. All right. There's a block of time, whether
it's three weeks vacation, whether it's a day off, whether it's
three days off over a holiday weekend, plan. There's the key
word. If you simply wake up on your
day off saying, oh, well, what if you like doing? And you sort
of wait for some impulse. You're waiting for something,
like the guy waiting for the perfect wave, and he's going
to get up on you, just sort of floating out there offshore on
your surfboard, waiting for the perfect wave. Well, suppose the
first wave is one gendered by your remaining corruption. What
a way to start. By the stirring up of your indwelling
sin, it'll be a wave of aversion to prayer. So you won't go to
your Bible, and you won't pray. Now you've left yourself vulnerable
to all other kinds of waves. So, the key issue is this. Plan
the time so as to reflect commitment to the constants. What are those
constants? Well, we've considered them.
The great command, the great priority, the great pursuit,
and the great climate of life. That means, all right, instead
of getting up at 5.30 or 6.00 or 6.30 as I normally do, I'm
going to sleep till 8 o'clock. From eight to nine, I'm going
to have time alone with God. And from nine to such and such,
I'm going to have time to pray with my wife or with my family,
whatever it is. You make plans. You say, oh,
that spoils a day off to have plans. Any day that you live
in an unplanned manner, that day will be the mother of sin.
God has made us like himself. He's a God of plan and a God
of order. who does in time what he's purposed
in eternity. We're to be his image bearers.
What we do in time is to reflect not what we purposed in eternity,
for we are not from eternity, but what we rationally purposed
to do in the light of our biblical mandates and directives. So plan the time to reflect commitment
to the constants. That means you don't do any unguarded,
unstructured TV watching. You don't leave yourself vulnerable
to these things. You don't leave yourself vulnerable
to gluttony and just eating whatever's in sight all throughout the day. You don't leave yourself vulnerable
to those sins. The constants are there. So in your prayer time, what
will you do? You will especially concentrate
your prayers to be kept from the very sins that will, in an
unusual way, be put before you in the way of temptation. Lord,
help me to enjoy your good gifts of food and drink without the
excess that will turn my heart away from you. You see? Lead
us not into temptation. You take that general petition
and you make it concrete in terms of the specifics. So plan the
time to reflect commitment to the constant. That means, as
the head of a household, as you plan your vacation, where in
that vacation time are you going to be able to carry on your family
worship? Where are you going to be able to carry on your time
of devotions with your wife? Plan it in! And as soon as you
get into your new circumstances, you look over the physical surroundings,
the schedule, if you're with people, and you organize the
situation so that the priorities have their proper place. Plan the time to reflect commitment
to the constants and sensitivity to the variables. Now God's given
you a day off that you might get some of your projects done
around the home, perhaps spend a little more time with your
wife, spend some quality time with the children, get some extra
rest. Consider the variables and structure
them into the time as well. But this is something that you
must do, and do it without having a guilty conscience. There is
nothing wrong with eating more at a New Year's meal than you
eat ordinarily for your evening meal. Feasting is not sinful. Gluttony is. Now where's the
line? I don't know where it is for
you. I know where it is for me. And some of you, perhaps, are
rationalizing because the scales are telling you that you ain't
quite adjusted the line right. Now that's good to have a check
on ourselves. But you see, this is something you must do. You
say, but I'd like something more. No, we're all a bunch of legalistic
heart and Pharisees and we want somebody to spell it all out
for us in a nice little neat checklist. No, you must live
in the fear of God in terms of what that means for you. For
some people to do on a day off what I do would be sin. For me
not to do it, I believe for me it's sin. You say, what's that?
None of your business. You see, that's the issue. I
must determine for me. You must determine for you. Now,
if you tell me that something that clearly violates a thou
shalt or a thou shalt not of God You can do it with a good
conscience. Then I say, you need to get your conscience straightened
up with the Bible. But in broad areas, we are left to our own
liberty before God. We are Christ-free men and women. May I suggest that in doing this,
look to the end of the day and say, what will bring me to it
with a good conscience, and what will bring me to it with a bad
conscience? Now, you football addicts, Let me ask you, how
many of you have ever been able to sit down and turn on the first
bowl game and watch clean through to your cross-eyed and red-eyed
at eleven o'clock at night and go to bed with a good conscience?
Anyone? I've gone to bed with a bloodied
conscience when I've done it in the past. Now you can't do
it because why? You know that even physically
and emotionally you've burnt yourself out for the next day.
You get up the next morning and you have a football hangover.
Right? Come on, admit it, huh? How many
of you know what a football hangover is the day after New Year? Okay,
got a few honest men here. That's right. And the same is
true with anything that is done to excess. So you've got to make
these decisions deliberately, rationally, prayerfully before
God. You say, Pastor, you've spoiled
the whole idea of a day off when you talk about planning and looking
to the end of the day and all the rest. All right. If having
a good conscience is too much trouble for you, I doubt you're
a Christian. If having a good conscience is
not precious enough for you to plan and think, I doubt you're
a Christian. If you're such a slave of good
feelings that the idea of a little responsible planning irritates
you, then what do you know of what our brother mentioned, taking
up your cross daily and following Christ? If your Christianity
is so devoid of that kind of responsible living, I wouldn't
give you a nickel for it, and I wouldn't want to die with it,
and I wouldn't want to go to judgment with it. And my friend, you're
going to die, and you're going to go to judgment, and I hope
you die and go to judgment with something better than a Christianity
that has no place for rational, prayerful, thoughtful reflection,
even on the threshold of holidays, days off, and vacation. I don't
want to spoil your fun. I want you to come back from
your vacation rested, refreshed, full of joy, and of the Holy
Ghost, and happy. Now, is there anything wrong
with that? I think that's a pretty good motive. I don't want you to have to meet
me with some forced grin to say, oh, I had a great time, and inwardly—no. Inwardly, your conscience is
screaming, and you say, oh, if I really were honest, I'd tell
the pastor it was rotten. My wife and I were at each other's
throats, and that kid—huh? That's what will be the fruit
of careless, unplanned, unstructured, unprioritized days off, vacations,
and holidays. I hope you agree with me that
this is a very relevant subject, and I trust you've found this
time profitable, but I've gone already four minutes beyond my
time. You had so much material under the first heading, you
pushed me to get through the last two headings. Well, let's
pray and ask God to help us in these things. Our Father, we confess in Your
presence that so often We have brought ourselves by spiritual
sloth and carelessness into a state that has resulted in our own
detriment and the robbing you of glory that is due to you,
and we would with shame confess our sin. And we pray in a very
special way that the things we've considered this morning will
be written upon the fleshy tables of our hearts by the power of
the Spirit, and that even as we face tomorrow, Tuesday, that
many will be able to testify that there was a radically different
fruition from this New Year's holiday season, that we and our
wives and our husbands and our families may enter the new year
with a good conscience, with renewed vision of the glory of
Christ and the significance of our part in advancing his kingdom. O Lord, Bless our most light,
happy moments, our times of feasting and laughter, that in all of
them our Lord Jesus Christ may be our welcomed guest, that in
a very real sense, as He joined in the laughter and the joy of
that wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, so He may be with us
in the feasting about our tables, in the laughter in our living
rooms, And in all of our legitimate recreation and interaction, may
He be present, and may He smile, and may we not grieve Him away.
Hear our prayer and receive our thanks for Your Word, which is
an adequate revelation of Your will, even for such practical
concerns as these. Thank You for giving us Your
Word. Give us grace to obey it. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.