Turn to Genesis chapter 30. Title of this message, For Christ's
Sake. For Christ's sake. If we can learn this, if we can
learn that all things are for Christ's sake, we've learned
the gospel. We've learned something of the
purpose of God in all of this, for Christ's sake. I've heard
people use that phrase in anger, when they've been angry, and
they use that phrase and they blaspheme God's name. But I'm
telling you this, this name, these three words, moves heaven, moves the power
of God used properly for Christ's sake. Now Jacob in this chapter
was ready to go home. He had enough of Laban. He had
enough of his uncle. His uncle had used him and abused
him. His uncle was not what you would
call a good man or a fair man. Not at all. And Jacob was ready
to go home to his family, to Isaac. Jacob was ready to go
back to Bethel. He'd been away now about 14 years. And he's ready to go back to
Bethel. Have you ever been away from the service for a while
and you're ready to go back? You're anxious to go? There was
two weeks vacation I took. I was ready to come back here.
I've had enough time off. But he was ready to go back.
He was ready to leave and go back to Bethel, but God had not
yet told him to go back. You see, he was ready to go back,
but it was not yet God's time for him to go back. Waiting upon
the Lord is not easy. It's not easy. Patience is definitely
not a human virtue. That's definitely not a human
virtue, patience. Scripture tells us that God works
all things after the counsel of His own will. And I tell you this, He works
it according to His own time also. His own time. Now if you'll see over in chapter
31, Look over in chapter 31, verse
1. And he heard the words of Laban's son. You see, God told
him not to go back. I mean, not yet. He wasn't ready
to go back. God had not revealed to him that it was time to go
back. And Laban, when he found that out over in chapter 30,
he said, no, no, no, you stay for a while. No, you don't go
back yet. Well, he stayed, I believe it
was, for another six years. So he ended up spending about
20 years There at his uncle's house in Heron is where he stayed.
But now, after about six years, it's time for him to go back.
It's the Lord's time for him to go back to Bethel. And you'll
notice providentially how God, and it'd be interesting just
to have a sermon on here, the providence of God opening and
shutting doors. And it's so clear in this chapter,
but I'm not going to deal with that tonight. And he heard the
words of Laban's sons. saying, Jacob had taken away
all that was our father's. See, Jacob made a fair deal with
Laban. He said, I'll take all the spotted
and all the... Well, everything started coming out spotted and
speckled. And Jacob was becoming powerful and rich. And Laban wasn't increasing. And Laban's sons became very
jealous of Jacob. And Laban started turning against
Jacob. He says here, and he heard the
words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that
was our father's, and of that which was our father's hath he
gotten all this glory. He's gotten all this because
of our father. No, no, no, your father has all this because of
Jacob. I'll show you this here in a minute. And Jacob beheld
the countenance of Laban, his demeanor. When he was around,
you know, it wasn't the same. And Jacob perceived that Laban
wasn't too happy with him anymore. And this is God's providence,
because now it's time to go. It's time to go. God gave him
favor, but now God turns that. He lets Laban and his sons, he
lets their envy and jealousy start to get the best of them,
because he's going to move Jacob out of there. And the Lord said
unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred,
And I'll be with thee. It's the promise that God gave
him. And so Jacob calls his wife out of the field and they slip
off. They slip off in the night. They sneak out of town. That's
what they do. They sneak out of town. We'll look at that next
week. They slip out of town. But he
tells him to go back home here. But I want you to notice something.
The verse I want us to look at is verse 27 in chapter 30. And
then we'll go over to Ephesians chapter 4. And Laban said unto Jacob, I
pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry, for I have
learned by experience, over these fourteen years you have been
here, I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me
for thy sake. Laban said, I have learned this,
Jacob, I have watched. I've observed, you know, before
you came, I didn't really have anything. And since you have
been here these 14 years, things have really increased. He said,
and I've learned that for your sake, your sake, the Lord has
blessed me. He realized this, and I tell
you this, this world right now. Is blessed because God has an
elect people in it. You take the church. out of this
world, and it's gone. There will not be a blessing
found in it." Well, Laban was Jacob's uncle,
and this man really had nothing before Jacob came to him. He
didn't have anything, really. And it's because of Jacob, God's
elect, as God said concerning Christ over in Isaiah, So Jacob is God's elect, the
one who God loved, is the reason Laban is blessed. He's the reason
now. Laban was himself not an honest
man. He's not what you would call
a good man. Look over in chapter 31. Jacob says here in verse 6, he's
speaking, And you know that with all my power I have served your
father, speaking to his wives, and your father hath deceived
me and changed my wages ten times. Ten times. But God suffered him
not to hurt me, not to do me any harm. But he's changed my
wages. How would you like that to happen?
Ten times he changed my wages. So he was not a good uncle. He
was not somebody good to work for. But Jacob, being the child
of God, he stayed there. And he was honest and he kept
his word and worked and did as he said he would do. But Laban was blessed. He was
blessed because of Jacob, because of God's elect, because of God's
son. Jacob is God's son. He's a son
of God. And because of him and his relationship to God Almighty,
that house was blessed. even though Laban himself was
no good. Well, you can see what's coming here. You and I are blessed
even though we're no good. We're blessed for Christ's sake.
Turn over now to Ephesians chapter 4, and from there I'll finish
out this message. In Ephesians chapter 4, look
in verse 32. And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you." God did not forgive me for my sake.
God forgave me for Christ's sake. If you've been forgiven, God's
forgiven you for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. Three most
important words and all the Word of God for Christ's sake. This is the foundation for forgiveness. You want forgiveness? I'm serious.
You want pardon? You want forgiveness? Justification
to be cleared of all charges? Here's the foundation of it for
Christ's sake. It's not complicated. It's not
complicated for Christ's sake. Not for my sake, not for the
sake of me being sorry. God grants repentance. God grants
faith. But now listen, He didn't forgive
me because of faith. He forgave me for Christ's sake.
And the evidence of that is faith and repentance. He sends the
Holy Spirit to call you and regenerate you and work within you faith
and repentance, which are the gifts of God. But it all started
for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. This is the
foundation for all spiritual healing. For Christ's sake. This is the one name. This is
the one name that gives you and I access to the Holy of Holies. Christ said, whatever you ask
in my name. And he said, whatever, sir, you
ask for my sake. In my name is asking for Christ's
sake. He said, you'll have it. This is the one name that gives
us access to God, access to the throne of grace, access to mercy,
for Christ's sake. Laban said, I have learned by
experience, and I believe that everyone here who believes the
gospel can say, I have learned by experience that God has blessed
me, God has blessed my house, God has given me what I have
for Christ's sake. Because you know yourself. You
know it's not for your sake. Like Laban, you know, we're just
rotten by nature. When God defied the purpose to
create the world, when He created the heavenly host, when He created
Adam, He put man on this earth, when He did this, He did this
for Christ's sake. When we say for Christ's sake,
we are saying for His honor and for His glory, God did this.
And all this that we see was for Christ's sake. It says over
here in Colossians chapter one, look over at Colossians one,
you know this verse well, but let's read it again. In verse
16, for by him were all things created that are in heaven, that
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
And for Him, for His sake, all things were created by Him, by
the Lord Jesus Christ, and for His sake, for Christ's sake. Look over in Hebrews chapter
2, Hebrews chapter 2, in verse 10, for it became Him,
listen now, here it is, for whom are all things, for whose sake
are all things, And by whom are all things, and by whom are all
things, and bring him many sons unto glory, to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through suffering. But all things are
for his sake. Now, men have done many things
for the sake of others. They have. Some have gone into
battle. Some have followed their leaders
into battle and died for the sake of their leaders. They thought
so much of them. You know, the soldiers that followed
Alexander, you know, they went into battle just to die for Alexander. You know, they thought so much
of him. Men have followed other men to
other countries because they thought so much of him. Men have
done many things for the sake of their families. But everything,
everything that God has done, that God is doing, and that He
shall do, is for Christ's sake, for the glory and honor of His
Son. And the sooner I learn that,
I mean, learn it every day and never forget it, the better off
I'll be. Everything He has done, He's
done for Christ's sake. Now, since God has done everything
for Christ's sake, What does that say about this man, Jesus
Christ? If I do something, or if everything
that I do is for the sake of a certain person, what does that
say of my thoughts and my feelings toward that person? Well, I'd
say there's no one you think more highly of than that person,
if you do everything for their sake. And since God has done
everything for the sake of His Son, what does that say about
this person? Well, I'll tell you what it says.
He must be, He must be the most excellent person of all. None
compared to Him. Fairest among 10,000, the Scripture
teaches us. Fairest among 10,000. It says
He must love Him. or how he must love him. The
Father loveth the Son, and hath put all things into his hands.
If he hath done everything for his sake, he must be the most
excellent of all, and infinitely loved by the Father." Well, what
makes him so excellent? Well, here it is. He's God. He's the Son of God.
He's the second person in the He said, over in Proverbs, I
believe it's chapter eight, I was with him. I was as one brought
up with him. I was what? Daily his delight. This is his son. This is the
son of God. This is God. In every way, this
is God. In every attribute, this is God.
He is the most excellent person. And then he's a perfect man.
Have you ever met one? Have you ever met a perfect man
or a perfect woman? Have you ever met one that's
even close to it? The only thing we really know
about perfection is how to spell it. That's all we know about
it. He is a perfect man. He knew no sin. He loved God
all his heart and his neighbor as himself. You know, he never
felt this man who loved God with all his heart, soul and mind
and his neighbor as himself. This man never felt. I was telling
this to Vicki last night because I was upset about something. And then I looked at her and
said, you know what? The Lord has never felt animosity. I said, he's never felt animosity.
He's never felt anger. And I mean the anger of wanting
to wring somebody's neck. He's never felt that. He said,
Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're
doing. When they slapped him in the face, he never felt that.
He never felt that urge to get back even. You know, he never
felt that. Never felt it. When they humiliated
him, when they slapped him, When they crucified Him, the only
thing He said was, Father, forgive them. And just for the first time,
because I just thought, the first time it really hit me that strong.
He never felt this. He knew no sin. God has a holy anger, a holy
wrath. It's holy. It's not like I'm
yours. Ours is full of sin. Ours is
just get even. I'm going to get you. That's
what we have. But he never had that. He never.
He was a perfect man. Love God. Love your enemies. He did. And you and I who believe
the gospel, we are living proof of it. We were enemies in our
minds at one time by wicked works. And now here we stand believing
the gospel. Here we stand singing his praises. And at one time
we were enemies. He said, love your enemies. You
never know, that one might be a brother sooner or later. Might
be. The man, Christ Jesus, is the
chiefest. Now listen to this. I thought
about this today. He is the chiefest of God's creation. That man. Unto us a son is given. Unto
us a child is born. his humanity, his body, his soul
was created by the Holy Spirit. He's God eternal and yet he's
a man who was made in the womb of a virgin by the Holy Spirit. What a man, what a man, what
a person, what an excellent person he is. It says in Hebrews 1 that
he is the expressed image He is the express image of God.
He said, you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And listen, for Christ's sake,
is one of the great motives for mercy from the Father. You want
mercy from the Father? I mean, do you really want it? You really want forgiveness?
I want it. You know, a believer wants it daily. A believer seeks
for mercy and forgiveness daily. It's not a one time act. It's
something we seek daily. Well, if we really seek it and
ask for it, for Christ's sake, you'll get it. You'll get it. When he looks upon his beloved
son, when he sees his blood, when he sees his sacrifice and
he hears his intercession, he forgives for Christ's sake. Father,
forgive me for Christ's sake. Oh, what a powerful, what a powerful
argument. You can have no more powerful
argument than this. Forgive me for Christ's sake.
Pardon me for Christ's sake. Save me for Christ's sake. Well,
if I could just get that across. This is going to be the first
radio message I take today. I want people out there to understand
that mercy and forgiveness is to be had, but it is to be had
for Christ's sake. And boy, if you have it for Christ's
sake, you've got it. You've got it. Christ is the
priest over God's house. He is that prophet. He is the
Lord of heaven and earth. His name is Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
And for His sake, for the sake of this one, God the Father shows
mercy. And He can show mercy because
of this one. Oh, for Christ's sake. And here's
the motive for our obedience. It's not commandments. It's not
ten commandments. It's not thou shalt do and thou
shalt do not. That's not the motive for obedience.
I mean, the Jews spent thousands of years proving that. That's
not the motive. Here it is. Paul said this. The
love of Christ constrains me. The love for Christ's sake, that's
what constrains me. I love for Him and for His sake,
for His glory, for His honor. That's what constrains me. You
know, growing up, I can say growing up, even though there's a lot
of things I wanted to do, Dad wouldn't let me do, but there's
a lot of things I didn't do because I didn't want to embarrass my
parents. I didn't want to do that. And right here is the best motive
for obedience for Christ's sake. Peter said, Lord, you know I
love you. He said, then feed my sheep.
He didn't say, Lord, and then start quoting off some commandments.
And the Lord did not quote off some commandments to him. He
just said, then feed my sheep. We walk in godliness for Christ's
sake. We do what we do for Christ's
sake. We suffer what we suffer for Christ's sake. We give up
what we must give up for Christ's sake. We serve one another for
Christ's sake, for the honor and glory of Christ. That's what
we do. And then the one great motive
for service is this, for Christ's sake, have I got that across
tonight? And I've gotten that across. That's one of the things
I can remember so well about Scott Richardson. When he preached,
he would get a subject, something like this. And I'm telling you,
by the time he was done with it, you knew what he was talking
about. He would wear that subject down.
And I hope I do that now. For Christ's sake. It is one
thing to punch a clock and put in an eight-hour day Then collect
my wages for it. But that's not how we serve Christ,
is it? We do not serve Christ on the clock. We are not serving
Christ for rewards. There are no rewards. God said
to Abraham, I am thy exceeding great reward. Now, what else
would you want? What else is greater? I am thy
exceeding great reward. We labor in His vineyard, and
we labor in His vineyard for Christ's sake. And I'll tell
you what this labor is. It's a labor of love. It is a
labor of love. If it's not, you've missed it. We labor in His vineyard. We
give what we give and do what we do on the radio, you know,
to help the missionaries. And I pray I do, I pray God. It is truly for Christ's sake. For His glory and His honor. Consider. Consider what He went
through to save us. Consider what He went through
to save us. The Son of God, who was His Father's delight, came into this world, became
bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, rejected by men, despised by
men, forsaken by God, made to be sin, he who knew no sin made
to be sin, left alone, there was no one
ever as alone as him, and he did all this that he might bring
us to God. We labor in His vineyard. It's
a labor of love. And it's for His sake. For His
glory. For His honor. What He did for
us. What He did for us. Everything
we do, we do for Christ's sake. And then last of all, this is
the key. This is the key to true prayer. This is the key. If we can pray
for forgiveness, if we can pray for spiritual healing, if we
can pray for our family, our loved ones, and we can say, we
can truly say, Father, at the end of the prayer, if we can
truly say, Father, for Christ's sake, We pray these things for
His honor and glory. If it be for His honor and for
His glory, we pray these things for Christ's sake. It's the name
that opens heaven. It's the name that opens the
door to the throne of grace. It is the name that God rises
up and acts, if I can say it that way, for Christ's sake. Oh, what God will do. What God
the Father will do for Christ's sake. It's the key. It's the
key to prayer. And I can assure you, if we can
truly pray, whatever it is we pray for, for
Christ's sake, God will answer that prayer. Because He'll answer
it for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. Old Laban said, hold on now. He said, hold on now, Jacob. Not so fast. I have learned by
experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake. And I believe we can say, I know
we can say, we have learned by experience And God the Father
has blessed us for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. Let everything
be done for Christ's sake.