Successful Living:  Church, Family, Job, School, Life

DPTD from JJ Turner, Positive Sermons that Encourage, p 42 ff, but mainly p 46.

Introduction

God has not given three sets of standards

               One for the church and religion

               one for work and the world

               One for the family and home

There is only one standard of living for Christians

               The word of God

               It must be applied to life

                              Church and our relationships with other Christians

                              Work and school and the neighborhood

                              Home and family

              

Directions for a Successful Christian Life ... and more!

1.   Set your mind on things above  Col 3:1-3

1 If then you have been raised up with Christ,

keep seeking the things above,

where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2 Set your mind on the things above,

not on the things that are on earth.

3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed,

then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Marriage is ordained of God  Gen 2:18, 11-12

18 Then the Lord God said,

“It is not good for the man to be alone;

I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

...21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep

        to fall upon the man, and he slept;

then He took one of his ribs,

and closed up the flesh at that place.

22 And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib

which He had taken from the man,

and brought her to the man.

23 And the man said,

“This is now bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called Woman,

Because she was taken out of Man.”

24 For this cause

a man shall leave his father and his mother,

and shall cleave to his wife;

and they shall become one flesh.

After quoting this, Jesus said:  Matt 19:6 

6 “Consequently they are no longer two,

               but one flesh.

What therefore God has joined together,

let no man separate.”

2.   Imitate Christ's humility  Phil 2:5-8

5 Have this attitude in yourselves

which was also in Christ Jesus,

6 who, although He existed in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant,

and being made in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

3.   Love one another  John 13:34

34 “A new commandment I give to you,

that you love one another,

even as I have loved you,

that you also love one another.

35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples,

if you have love for one another.”

Matt 4:44-48  Love even your enemies

44 “But I say to you, love your enemies,

and pray for those who persecute you

45 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven;

for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good,

and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

4.   Forgive one another  Col 3:13

12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God,

holy and beloved,

put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility,

gentleness and patience;

13 bearing with one another,

and forgiving each other,

whoever has a complaint against anyone;

just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

14 And beyond all these things put on love,

which is the perfect bond of unity.

5.   Confess your sins to one another  I John 1:8,9

8 If we say that we have no sin,

we are deceiving ourselves,

and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins,

He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned,

we make Him a liar,

and His word is not in us.

Jas 5:16

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another,

6.   Do not lord it over one another  Matt 20:25-28

[After Peter and John's mother asked Jesus

               to let them sit on his right and left in the kingdom]

25 But Jesus called them to Himself, and said,

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles

               lord it over them,

and their great men exercise authority over them.

26 It is not so among you,

but whoever wishes to become great among you

               shall be your servant,

27 and whoever wishes to be first among you

               shall be your slave;

28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,

               but to serve,

and to give His life a ransom for many.”

7.   Be kind to one another   Eph 4:32

31 Let all bitterness and wrath

and anger and clamor

and slander be put away from you,

along with all malice.

32 And be kind to one another,

        tender-hearted,

forgiving each other,

just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

 

8.   Comfort one another  I Thes 4:18

18 Therefore comfort one another

               with these words.

[concerning the 2nd coming of Christ]

9.   Prefer one another  Rom 12:10

10 Be devoted to one another

               in brotherly love;

give preference to one another

               in honor;

[KJV: "in honour preferring one another"  ]

10. Bear one another's burdens  Gal 6:2

2 Bear one another’s burdens,

and thus fulfill the law of Christ.

11. Edify, build up, one another  Rom 14:19

19 So then let us pursue the things

               which make for peace

and the building up of one another.

12. Encourage one another to do good  Heb 10:24

24 and let us consider how to

        stimulate one another to love and good deeds,