But tonight, we're going to look
at Ephesians 4, verse 32, and I want to, for a little while,
just work on three words. Three words. I call this Heaven's
Watchword. Heaven's Watchword. Let's read
the 32nd verse. And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God. And here
they are. How many times have you heard
this used as a term of blasphemy? I was in the Navy and working
a steel mill a while. I heard people say, oh, it's
for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. You ever heard
that? Blasphemy. Blasphemy. But I'll tell you,
these three words are three of the most important words in a
Christian's vocabulary. If you can, if I can, if we can,
get a hold of these three words, for Christ's sake, for Christ's
sake. Even as God, for Christ's sake,
has forgiven you. This is heaven's password. If
God were to ask me tonight, why should I love you? Why should
I forgive you? Why should I receive you into
my glory? I just have three words, for
Christ's sake. I don't know any other thing
to reply for Christ's sake. It's a foundation of prayer whatsoever
you ask the Father for Christ's sake. It's the martyr's cause. Let me ask you to turn to a few
scriptures. Turn to Matthew 24. There are
people who have gone to the flames. There are people who have gone
to prison. There are people who have died,
been martyred. And here, this tells you why,
in Matthew 24, 9, our Lord said, Then, for what you believe and
what you preach, shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall
kill you, and you shall be hated of all nations for My name's
sake. That's why, for My name's sake. This is the preacher's motive.
The Apostle Paul said, We preach not ourselves, but we preach
Christ the Lord and our servants and your servants for Christ's
sake. For Christ's sake. That's why
we're your servants. This is a comfort to the afflicted. Turn
to 2 Corinthians 12. Here's a scripture that we need
to look at. This is the comfort for the afflicted in 2 Corinthians
12, 10. Listen to Paul. And if anybody knew something
about trial, Paul did, infirmities, afflictions. He said in verse
10 of 2 Corinthians 12, Therefore I take pleasure. I take pleasure
in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecution,
in distresses, for Christ's sake. That's the only way you can take
pleasure in infirmity and affliction, is for Christ's sake. But if
you know it's for Christ's sake, then you can take pleasure therein.
This is the missionaries' reason. Turn to Matthew 19. Somebody
talked about Walter and Betty and Milton and Claudia and all
these missionaries going to the foreign field and taking their
little ones and suffering and so forth. In Matthew 19, 29,
it tells you why. Our Lord said to His disciples,
and every one, verse 29 of Matthew 19, every one that hath forsaken
houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father or mother, or wife
or children, or lambs, for my name's sake, shall receive a
hundredfold and shall inherit eternal life." These three words,
heaven's password, the martyr's cause, the preacher's motive,
it's the comfort of the afflicted, it's the missionary's reason
for what he does. And these three words actually
are the center and essence of all that the Father has done,
is doing, and will do. He does it for Christ's sake.
I'm talking about everything from the first word of creation
to eternity future. Everything the Father is doing,
has done, will do, is for Christ's sake, for the honor and glory
of the Son. Let me just show you that briefly. Turn to Colossians
1. In Colossians chapter 1, if we can get hold of this, We're
going to move right into this, but if we can get hold of it,
we'll never be the same. Because here's the thing about
it, what we do is not nearly as important as why we do it.
That's right, a good act, a good deed can become a bad deed because
of a bad motive. Preaching can be bad from a bad
motive. Giving, you just gave your gift, can be rotten if there's
a bad motive, if there's a bad attitude behind it. Even coming
to the house of God can result in our condemnation if we've
not come for the right motive. And if we can get hold of this,
there's not anything that'll be more important to you this
year than if you can get hold of these three words and see
the depths of them, the glory of them, the meaning of them,
the value of them, and make them applicable, me and you too, to
our hearts. I say everything God has done,
everything the Father has done, past, present, and future is
for Christ's sake. And if he blesses you, it'll be for Christ's
sake. It'll be in Christ. He doesn't single you out for
a blessing. Christ is the firstborn. He's
the first elect. He's the first cause. He's the
fountain. He's the Father's well-beloved, only begotten. Everything the
Father has is in Christ, bestowed upon Him. He's got a name exalted
above every name. If I have any relationship with
God, it'll be through Christ, for Christ, and because of Christ. If God blesses me in any way,
I know that. Listen, in Colossians 1, 16,
talked about verse 14, in whom we have redemption. Verse 15,
He's the image, the exact image of the invisible God. He's the
firstborn of every creature that's Christ. For by Him were all things
created by Christ 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. For him. That's where it is. No question
about it. Case is dismissed. For him. By him. All right, another verse. Turn to Romans 14. That's what
God has done. This is what God is doing. Romans
14. Romans 14, 7 through 9. Listen to this. Present for none
of us. Romans 14, 7. None of us liveth
to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Whether we live,
we live unto the Lord. Whether we die, we're down to
the Lord. Whether we live, therefore die, we are the Lord's. For to
this end, Christ both died and rose again and revived that he
might be Lord, undisputed Lord, complete Lord of the dead and
the living. He's Lord. He's Lord by design. He's Lord by decree. He's Lord
by death. He died that he might be. He
bought this world. He bought this world. Thou hast
given him authority over all flesh. That's what he said. He
said to his disciples, all authority is given unto me in heaven and
earth. And then future, turn to Ephesians 1. Talk about the
future, what God's going to do, what the Father has done, it's
for Christ's sake. What the Father is doing, it's
for Christ's sake. What the Father will do, it's
for Christ's sake. Ephesians 1.10, you have it?
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven,
which are on the earth, even in him. Look across the page
at Ephesians 2, 7, that in the ages to come he might show the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. What about Philippians 2? And
God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name. that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow in heaven, earth, and under the earth, and every
tongue proclaim that he's Lord to the glory of God the Father. One great old writer said this,
we are to venture the whole salvation of our souls and bodies on Jesus
Christ alone. We are to cast loose entirely
from all other hopes. We are not to rest partly on
Christ and partly on other things. In the matter of justification,
redemption, regeneration, sanctification, Christ is all. He is Alpha and
Omega. He is the beginning and the end.
He's the author and finisher of our faith. Heaven is before
us. Christ is the only door. He said,
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall deceive. Hell is beneath us and Christ
our only deliverer. He came to save his people from
their sins. The law of God is against us
and Christ is our only righteousness. He was made sin who knew no sin
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Justice is offended
with us. Christ is our only justifier. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Death
is awaiting us. Christ is our life. He said,
I am the resurrection and the life. Believest thou this? The
grave is our destiny and Christ is our only victory. Thanks be
unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
All right, let's look at these words again. Ephesians 4, 32.
Now I want to divide this message into three parts. For Christ's
sake. Let's lay hold upon these words
by the power of God's Spirit for the glory of God, for our
eternal good. First of all, for Christ's sake
is the motive for mercy. That's the motive for mercy.
Secondly, for Christ's sake is the motive for obedience. And
thirdly, for Christ's sake is the motive for service. and sacrifice,
or whatever we do in the name of God. Now, first of all, for
Christ's sake is God's motive for mercy. It says here, God,
for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. God hath forgiven you. Do you hear that? God hath forgiven
you. Turn to Romans, if you will.
Chapter 4. I want to read you a passage
of Scripture. Romans chapter 4. In the 4th chapter of Romans,
it says here, beginning with verse 5, now can you comprehend
what we're saying here? God, all of your sins, all of
your sins, past, present and future, all of your sins, the
sins you know about and the sins you don't know about, your sins
of omission and commission, all of your sins, All of your sins,
your sins of thought and imagination, of deeds, your sins, all of your
sins, all of them are put away. They're forgiven. God has forgiven
all your sins, all of your sins. Do you know what that means?
Listen to verse 5 of Romans 4. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they, O happy are they, whose
iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered, blessed, happy
is the man, to whom God Almighty will not charge one sin. God hath forgiven all your sins. Hebrews chapter 10, turn over
there. Hebrews, the 10th chapter, let's begin reading with verse
12. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 12. Listen to it now. We're saying,
God hath forgiven you. God hath forgiven you. You think
of anything you've ever said, done, or thought, God hath forgiven
you. God hath forgiven you. God hath
put it away, cast it into the depths of the sea, separated
it from you as far as the east is from the west. Listen to this,
Hebrews 10, verse 12. But this man, speaking of Christ,
After he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God, from henceforward expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is
a witness to us. For after that he said before,
he had said before, this is a covenant. that I will make for them after
those days, saith the Lord, I'll put my law in their hearts and
in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more." Isn't that great? Isn't that a blessing?
Just think of it. God has forgiven you. But now
wait a minute. Why and how? Look at the verse
again. Even as God has forgiven you
for Christ's sake. Now that's why God's forgiven
you, for Christ's sake. God has forgiven you for Christ's
sake. All of God's favor, forgiveness,
and mercies are yours because of another, for Christ's sake.
I want to read two passages. First, Ephesians 1. What a blessed
promise. What a rich inheritance. For
Christ's sake, all of my sins are forgiven. In Ephesians 1,
verse 6 and 7, listen. to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace." Romans 8, turn
to Romans 8. Now here the Apostle Paul declares
in verse 33 of Romans 8 that no one can lay anything to the
charge of God's elect. And no one can condemn those
who believe in Christ, and he gives the reason in verse 34. He says in verse 34, who is he
that condemneth? Who can condemn me? It is Christ
that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. God hath forgiven us for Christ's
sake. For Christ's sake. Well now,
wait a minute. When a person does something
for the sake of another, there's got to be a reason. Why is the
Father moved to show mercy to folks like you and me for Christ's
sake? Why is the Father moved to forgive and pardon us for
Christ's sake? Why is the Father led, for Christ's
sake, to put away our sin? Now, what does Christ have, or
who is He, or what has He done to cause God Almighty to look
with favor upon us, for Christ's sake? Let me give you briefly
just five things. First of all, God forgives sinners
for Christ's sake, first of all, because of His relationship to
the Father. That's the first reason. He said
from heaven, this is my beloved Son. This is my Son. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. This is my beloved Son, hear
ye Him. In the fullness of time, God
sent His Son into the world, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them born under the law. That's the first reason
why God forgives a sinner for Christ's sake because of who
Christ is. Christ is God. Christ is man. We trust in a man. But it's not
a mere man or ordinary man, he's the God-man, he's the Son of
the Living God. That's the first reason, his
relationship with the Father. Secondly, God forgives sinners
for Christ's sake because of the glory of his person. As I
said, he's no ordinary man. Turn to the book of Hebrews.
Now, if you want a key to the book of Hebrews, if you want
some kind of understanding of what this book is all about,
this will give you a start. The Apostle, whoever the writer
is, some say Paul, some say someone else, but the Apostle is writing
to the Jews, to those converted Jews. And those people who have
so many years, they've looked to Moses, and looked to Abraham,
and looked to the tabernacle, and looked to the priest, and
looked to the atonement, looked to the sacrifice. He's writing
of Christ who's the fulfillment of all of these things. Christ
is the fulfillment of every promise, prophecy, and type and picture
in the Old Testament. And he says throughout the book
of Hebrews, verse 4 gives you a clue. It starts out this way,
verse 4, chapter 1, being so much better than the angels.
Christ Jesus, our representative, our Lord, is better than the
angels. To which of the angels saith
he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee?
And then he says over here in chapter 2, I believe it is, in
chapter 2 of chapter 3, verse 3, what's this? For this man
calls Christ a man because he barely was a man. He came into
the world in the flesh, obeyed the law, fulfilled the law, satisfied
the law in our place as our representative, but he's the God-man. But this
man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, than Moses. And then he talks about Christ
is greater than Ava and Christ is greater than the priesthood
and Christ is greater than the tabernacle and Christ is greater
than all. Christ has been given a name
which is above every name. When you get to Him and call
on His name and trust in His name and look to all that His
name indicates, you're high as you can go. You can't appeal
anyhow. And if He saves you and He receives you and He blesses
you, then everybody else has to listen. Mary, angels, Moses,
Aaron, the priest, anybody. Because God Almighty hath highly
exalted him and given him a name above every name. All right. God will forgive sinners for
Christ's sake because of His relationship with the Father.
This is my son. To none of the angels said he at any time died
my son, to only one died my son, this day have I begotten thee."
He, because of the glory of his person, his person, he has a
name above everything, everything. Thirdly, because of his relationship
with us. Now watch this, Isaiah 53, this
is so important. If you can realize this, you
can go out of here with some hope. If you can lay hold on
this, it'll give you some kind of encouragement. You know He's
related to the Father. You bow, you worship Him. Let
the angels of God worship Him, the Scripture says. Let the angels
worship Him. Let everything in heaven and
earth worship Him. And you worship Him, you know
He's related to the Father. He's one with the Father. I and
my Father are one, Christ said. That's when they took up stones
to stone Him. You know He has a name above every name. But
did you know that He is emphatically, indefinitely, positively related
to me? That's right. We're one. Christ
and I are one. Did you know that? That's right.
I'm as much in Him, I'll be careful with this, I don't want to blaspheme,
but I'm as much in Him as He's in the Father. That's what Scripture
says. I in them and thou in me." You
know what it said? That they may be one as we're... Joe, is that right? As we're
one. You know what Scripture said? Now, if you can get a hold
of that, you can see something here. Look at Isaiah 53. This
is why he suffered. This is why the Father condemned
him. This is why he was nailed to a cross. This is why he died.
Because he was a transgressor. He was numbered with the transgressors.
We were one with him. If you don't get this, you missed
the gospel. In Isaiah 53.10, it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. Isaiah 53.12, what I want to read, Therefore will I divide
him a portion with a grape. He shall divide the spoiled with
the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death. He was
numbered with the transgressors. He was numbered with the transgressors. In other words, he's one of us.
That's right, he was one of us. One more scripture. If that didn't
show it, Terry, turn to Hebrews 2, this will. Hebrews 2. In Hebrews 10, the Scripture
says He's bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. This is how
God, for Christ's sake, can forgive us because of His relationship
with us. When He met the law, I met it.
When He died under the justice of God, I died. Hebrews 2, verse
16, For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but
He took on Him the seed of Abraham, wherefore, in all things, It
behooved him to be made like unto whom? His brethren. The
only begotten Son of God has brethren? Oh yes. Who are they? Us. That's right. He's not ashamed
to call us brethren. That's right. We're the same
family. We're born into this family and He took that nature
deliberately and willingly. He identified Himself with this
family. He joined it. and took the consequences of
it, that he might be, he's one with his brethren, that he might
be a merciful, faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God to make reconciliation for the people. For Christ's sake,
all right? Thirdly, that's thirdly, because
of his relationship with us, and then fourthly, because of
the worthiness of his work. This is why God, for Christ's
sake, can forgive us, put away our sin, because of the worthiness
of his work. He said, I finished the work
you gave me to do. What work was that? Well, when
the angel announced his birth, the angel announced his work.
The angel said, call his name Savior, he shall save his people
from their sins. Paul identified his work. He
said, this is a faithful saying, Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. I finished the work you gave
me to do." Turn to Hebrews 9. Let me show you something here.
Hebrews 9. Here in Hebrews 9 are three appearances of Christ on
our behalf. Three appearances. Three important
appearances. In verse, first of all, verse
26, in the last line it says, "...he hath appeared in the end
of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
He came right down here to this world to put away sin. How? By
the sacrifice of himself. Verse 24, back here in verse
24, For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with
hands, which are the figures of the true. In other words,
he didn't go in Moses' tabernacle, but into heaven itself now to
appear in the presence of God for us. You see that? He appears,
He's the only mediator, one God, one mediator between God and
man. All right, verse 28, the last line. To them that look
for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. He's coming back. Identified
with us, the work He's done, He hath appeared on this earth
to put away sin. He appears at the presence of
God to intercede and He's coming again for His reward. All right,
I said for Christ's sake is the motive for God's mercy. Secondly,
for Christ's sake is our motive for obedience. Now see if you
can get a hold of this. Turn back to Ephesians 4. I want
you to look at this before I get into this explanation. Let's
look at the text one more time, Ephesians 4. See if we can get
a hold of this. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another. You do this. You do this. As you would that men should
do unto you, do you unto them. You do this. Love one another. Love your enemies. I preached
down in Louisiana the other night on this subject, love. And I
talked about loving everybody, loving your enemies, loving those
who do not love you. And a very honest man came up
to me after the service. I've known him for years. He
said, Brother Henry, I love Christ, I believe. I love the gospel.
those who love Christ. But, Brother Henry, how do you
love everybody? Now, he said, I just don't know.
And I need help on that. I said, well, I said, I know
love is by degrees. I know that you don't love your
enemy as much as you love your wife or children or neighbors.
I know you don't love your enemy like you love yourself. We're
supposed to love our neighbors ourselves. But I said, if you
can grow in this thing, this is the thing. We're born into
the family of God totally sanctified, totally redeemed, totally regenerated,
totally sufficient for heaven, or the thief on the cross would
have had to go to purgatory to get ready. He went straight from
the cross to glory. He went straight from the cesspool
to the throne. He went straight from the dunghill
to the throne. When we're redeemed, we're sufficient,
we're made sufficient, we're meet to be a partaker with the
saints of the glory of God. That's just so. But now we grow
in love, and we grow in faith, and we grow in gentleness, and
we grow in understanding, and we grow in humility, and we grow
in holiness, and we grow in godliness, we mature. We grow in giving,
we grow in mercy, we grow in forgiving, but what's the motive
for this thing? Like that man, what's the motive
for loving everybody? Provide things honest in the
sight of all men. What's the motive for that? Be
ye holy as I am holy, God said. What's the motive for that? Be
ye merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful. Where am
I going to get my motive for that? Well, realistically, this
is one thing that motivates us. It shouldn't be the chief motive,
but it is one, realistically. You know what it is? F-E-A-R,
fear. You can't deny it, it's so. Turn
to Proverbs 3, and it's not all bad. If it's the only motive
you've got, it's bad. But it's not all bad. In Proverbs
chapter 3, in the third chapter of Proverbs, verse 7, listen
to this, it's not all bad. But if we'll be totally honest,
we obey the commandments of God, we obey the precepts of God,
we try to obey the things that God commands us to do out of
pure fear, many times. In Proverbs 3, 7, "...be not
wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil."
Is that all you've got, Christian? No, sir. Proverbs 16. Let's turn
over here. Proverbs 16. Proverbs 16, verse
6. Are you with me? By mercy and
truth, iniquity is purged, and by the fear of the Lord, men
depart from evil." By the fear of the Lord. You know, our Lord
was walking down the street with his disciples one day, and they
came upon a man that was blind. And he'd been sitting there begging.
He was dirty and ragged and had an old blanket wrapped around
him, and his beard was grown, and he held out these dirty hands. for some kind of gift or alms,
and one of the disciples stopped and spoke. He said whatever one
of us probably would have said, thought, anyway. Who did sin,
this man or his parents, that he was born like that? In other
words, so often we are motivated to do things, to give our offerings. I heard a preacher one time say,
if you don't tie it, God will take it out the back door in
a coffin. Well, that's pretty rotten motivation. If you don't
give, God will burn your house down. One preacher said not long
ago, if you give to the missionary program of this church, some
bad things that would have happened won't happen. If you don't give,
some good things that would have happened won't happen. That's
pretty rotten motivation. You know that. But we're motivated
like that. A desire for reward. Fear and
a desire for reward. A desire for reward. The rich
young ruler came to Christ and said, what good thing shall I
do to inherit eternal life? Brethren, what do you think is
the proper motivation? Now, I'm not saying that fear
won't work. It will. It will. And hope for
reward will motivate people. Yeah, you can get them to give.
You can, like Oral Roberts said the other week that Jesus appeared
to him and talked to him seven hours, that the conversation
was still going on. and told him that he was going
to find a cure for cancer in his research center out there
in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And the Lord Jesus, I hate to
say the Lord Jesus because it wasn't the Lord Jesus, it was
just his Jesus talking to him. And he said, tell everybody to
send $240. And everybody, I don't know why that figure, but the
Lord hit on that, Jesus hit on that figure, he said. And folks
will send it in. I guarantee you they'll send
it in. I guarantee you. It's driving a bargain with God.
Now, God doesn't drive a bargain with anybody. Nobody. I'll tell you the motive. Look
at our text again. You be kind. You be tender-hearted. Verse 31 says, put away bitterness
and wrath and anger. Be kind, tender-hearted, and
forgive one another. You know why? For Christ's sake.
Now, that's the proper spiritual motive. That's the motive God
will honor. if we can get hold of it. I know it. I know a lot
of folks say it won't work. They say you've got to give people
rules and regulations and laws and promise them rewards if they
keep them and a beating if they don't. But I'm simply saying,
if that's so, then this is not so. And I believe this is so. Now let me give you some Scripture.
I'll try to hurry. First of all, let's find out why we're to love
one another and why. What's our motive? John 13. Now
watch this. Go with me, will you? Just briefly,
I'll hurry. John 13, 34. Our Lord said, this
is a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another
as I have loved you. Let that be your motive. Will
that work for you, Mark? You love one another as I loved
you. Is that all right for you? I believe that's all right. That
you love one another as I loved you. Alright, here's another
one, humility. Turn to Philippians 2. Now we
want a humility, we want to prefer others above ourselves, we don't
want to exalt ourselves. God hates a proud look, an arrogant
spirit, a haughty spirit goeth before the fall. God despises
that. Well, what's going to be our
motive for humility, for lowliness of mind, alright? Verse 3 of
Philippians 2. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. Let's esteem others
better than ourselves. Look not every man on his own
thing. Don't be concerned for your own welfare, but every man
on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which
was in Christ Jesus, who thought it not robbery, who being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but he made himself of no reputation and took on himself the form
of a servant. and became obedient unto death. Our Lord made in
the likeness of men, being fashioned as a man, he humbled himself,
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Is that
sufficient motivation? To come down off your high horse
as Christ came down from glory. Is that enough? It seems like
to me that's better motivation than, you ought not be proud.
If you be proud, God will make you sick. I'll send you to hell
if you pray. I believe a better motivation
is if Christ could come down from the highest point of glory
and take on Himself the form of a servant for my sake, I believe
I could come down for His sake. Huh? All right, let's try another. What about cooperation between
people and sympathy? Turn to Romans 15, Romans chapter
15. Let's see what this says over
here in Romans 15. Let's see about some motive for being sympathetic
and compassionate. Verse 1 of Romans 15. We then
that are strong, we ought to bear the infirmities of the weak
and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his
neighbor for his good to edification. Why? For even Christ pleased
not himself. As it's written, the reproaches
of them that reproach thee fell on me. That's the reason for
Christ's sake. What about marriage? Turn to
Ephesians 5. What about this thing of husband and wife getting
along, you know, and building a home, and avoiding the divorce
courts, and staying together, and raising their families, and
going through life together, and loving each other, wife in
her proper place. What's going to be the motivation?
Well, let's look at Ephesians 5, verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands, here it is, as unto the Lord. And verse 25, Husband, love your
wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. That's
your motivation. There's your motivation. Start
at verse 22 and let's read all of that. Wives, submit yourselves
to your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband's head
of the wife is Christ, who is the head of the church, and he
is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto
Christ, let the wives be subject to their own husbands, and everything.
And the husband to love his wife is Christ's love. There's our
motivation. What about you fellows that are
bosses and work people, and you fellows that to hire people and
they work for you. Turn to Colossians 4. Here's
a man who's a boss. He has a company and he works
men, or he has an office and he works women in his office.
How should he treat them? What's going to be his motive
for treating them right? Paying them a good salary and treating
them like they should be treated. Let me give you the motive. Colossians
4.1. Masters, give unto your servants
that which is just and equal. Why? knowing you have a master
in heaven, there it is, for Christ's sake. He motivates that, you
see. If a man knows that he has a
master in heaven and Christ has dealt bountifully and mercifully
with him, he'll do the same for us. Well, what about the servants? Here's a man who works for us.
And today seems to be the day when there's a lot of friction
between what we call management and labor. Management doesn't
pay right and doesn't treat folks right and all that. But labor
does a sorry job. People brag about how little
they work. I've heard men say, well, I'm out there eight hours,
but I don't work but one. Stuff like that, you know. Is
that right? Is that the way you're supposed to do things? Let's
look at Ephesians 6 and see. What's to be a motivation for
giving a good day's work or treating your master's business like it
was your own? Listen to Ephesians 6, verse
5. And that's what we who work for others are, we're servants.
Be obedient to them that are your masters, according to the
flesh, with fear and trembling, with singleness of your heart,
as unto Christ. Read on. Not with our service
as men-pleasers and apple-polishers, but as the servants of Christ,
doing the will of the God from the heart with goodwill, doing
service as to the Lord. You're working for Christ, not
for men. That boss gives you something to do, sweep the floor,
sweep it like Christ told you to sweep it. He tells you to
put that wall up like Christ told you to put that wall up.
Put that roof on that house like Christ was your foreman. That's
what he's saying, for Christ's sake. I believe that's what he's
saying. And I'll tell you, boy, I can't think of a better motive. Children, how about children
obeying their parents, Ephesians 6, right across the page. Children,
obey your parents. Or God will chasten you. Obey
your parents in the Lord. This is right. In the Lord. Turn to Colossians 3. Same thing.
In the Lord. For Christ's sake. Because it
pleases Christ. Because this is His will. Colossians
3 verse 20. Listen to this. Children, obey
your parents in all things. This is well-pleasing to Christ.
That's your motive. This is Christ's will. That's
who I'm talking about. That's who's with me. That's
the one that dwells in my heart. All your good deeds. Turn to
Matthew 25. Matthew 25. Bob, we were talking about this,
you and Paul and I, at noon today. Matthew 25. Start with verse
34. Verse 34. Now what you do, now
let's get down here to the bottom. It says about the same thing.
But verse 42, let's start there. I was hungry and you didn't give
me any meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
no drink. I was a stranger and you took
me not in. It's not what they did, it's
what they didn't do. Naked, and you clothed me not. I was sick
and in prison and you didn't visit me. And they shall answer
and say, Lord, when did we ever see you hungry, thirsty, stranger,
naked, or sick or in prison? If we'd have known you was that
way, we'd have done something for you because you could reward
us. We'd have done it. You could
have blessed us. We'd have got something in return.
When did we ever see you like that? And then he shall say,
I say unto you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least
of these, you did it not to me, for Christ's sake. You minister
to that hungry and thirsty and weary and lonely, you're ministering
to Christ, for Christ's sake. And I can say there are a lot
of motives, and men have a lot of motives for their giving,
for their service, for their pursuit of holiness and righteousness.
And I know that, I know the pulpit sounds forth with the terrors
of the dam and the fear and all these things, but I still believe
that the Word of God teaches that the proper motive for mercy
is for Christ's sake and for obedience is for Christ's sake.
If you ever get a hold of that, it's honoring to God. Same way,
your children, what kind of obedience do you want from them? You can
make them. You're bigger. You weigh 200
pounds. That little guy weighs 38, 39 pounds. You can put your
foot on his neck and make him do. Is that what you want? You're
welcome to it. You're welcome to it. But he
ain't going to be 200 pounds one of these days. There's going
to be a confrontation. Or you can buy him. You can buy
him. You can keep buying him. But I'll tell you, if he ever
falls in love with you and you with him, and that relationship
is based, and I know this may not be a good example, but our
Lord used it. He said, if you, being evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more shall the Father
give Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? If some kind of relationship
can be set up so that he loves your law and he loves your commandments,
and He respects your authority. That's the best relationship.
And I want this with my Lord. I don't want to labor out of
fear and a hope of reward and all these. I want to walk with
Him with this attitude and relationship for Christ's sake. All right,
I'll close with this. This is something I picked up
to go along with. For Christ's sake is a motive
for service. Service and sacrifice. You know,
when I think of what men have done for the sake of discovery,
and I'll just take this for example quickly. There are men who have
sailed uncharted seas in small vessels, fought wild pagans in
dense jungles, and starved to discover a new world. They've
left home and family and gone out and spent years hunting new
territory, pioneers. Just for discovery's sake, just
to come back and say, I planted the flag on some new territory.
Well, I think what men have done for the sake of their country,
some of you men did it, left your home and your wives and
children and your loved ones and trained in an army or navy
or marine base and went overseas and slept in trenches and 8K
rations and stayed over there two or three years. Why? For
an idea. for a government, for a flag, for people. Some gave
their lives, gave their blood. When I think what men have done
for the sake of science, there are men who have burned the midnight
oil, studying that there might be doctors, physicians, that
they might heal the sick, that they might find a cure for this
and a cure for that. Some of them have even died to
find new cures and new ways to help people, to invent new things.
They've given their lives for it. And then for the sake of
false religion, you know this and I know this, they marched
in crusades and died in crusades for false religion, they crawled
on their knees before statues, they crawled on glass, they lie
on beds of nails, they throw their children to the fire, and
then I come down to this, what have I done for Christ's sake? Now I know some have. And I've
chastened myself with this. Missionaries with no weapon but
the Bible have landed on foreign soil among cannibals and heathens
with no motive but for Christ's sake. Just Christ's sake. I read about the old Moravians
who sold themselves as slaves to preach Christ to the slaves.
Did you know they did that? And some had themselves confined
to leper colonies for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. Some of us have never even given
a good witness. Some of us have never invited
anybody to church, never brought anybody, never gone out and endeavored
to reach anybody. One man said to me recently,
I remember this church, he said, I don't know what sacrificial
giving is. I've never given sacrificial. I've always given off the top.
I've always had plenty left for Christ's sake. That ought to
be our motive for service. I don't know how to instill it
even in myself, let alone in you. But I don't always preach
the things I do, I preach the things I believe. If I preach the things I did,
I'd be perfect. I'd be like God, and I ain't.
But I'm declaring the things that I know are so. I know this
is so. For Christ's sake is why God forgives sins. For Christ's
sake is why we obey His commandments. And if we can ever get a hold
of, for Christ's sake, motivating us for what we do, Well, that'll
be it.