Heart Beat Away
One of the things I neglected to do before when I was doing the announcements is, we do have a special guest with us, a family that is with us from Canada and friends of ours, brothers of ours in the Lord, Roger Samir, sitting over here. Raise your hand. People know the right maybe you should stand, so people know who you are. This is why I want everybody to know you. Go ahead and stand.
Diane doesn't like that, but I'm gonna get to do it anyway. This is Roger and Diane Sameur, and well I can do a whole lesson on the things we've been through, but he is the preacher for the, which is the Lord's church in Montreal, Quebec. And we've gone full cycle in what 14 years, 13, 14 years together. He and his wife were watching TV 1 night 14 years ago and they turned the channel and there on TV was this much slimmer, hairier looking preacher. And a program was called Bible Talk and it was teaching the bible and round table discussion about the bible and he sat there and he watched that and he turned to his wife and he said, that's exactly what we're looking for, a church that preaches the bible and just follows the scriptures.
Let's go check it out. And they came to check it out and they were baptized into Christ and he was such a tremendous enthusiastic young Christian. He began to bring his cousins and his brother-in-law and the family and he must have baptized 20 people that year just from Roger and Diane's work and then he started teaching the class and leading singing and doing it all. And pretty soon, he was taking over the work and God opened the door of opportunity for Lee's and I to go work in another area. And Roger took over the work of that particular young congregation that we had established and he's been with it since.
They have a building now paid for in the heart of Montreal, right next to a subway line and he is supported by the Edmond Church of Christ, that's why he's in town. But the interesting thing is this week, he's here at Choctaw and guess what he's doing? He is producing in our little studio over here, French language video tapes that will be sent to Haiti to train preachers in that country and in other French countries in Africa and in Europe. So the cycle has gone full circle. He began by watching me on TV and that brought him to the lord, now he's creating television material that will bring others to the Lord.
We praise God for that wonderful work that he's given him. And if you appreciate Roger and Diane, please do say amen. Amen. Another wonderful thing that's taken place, if you haven't bought it already, the Midwest City Sun, the Midwest City Sun, right. That's the newspaper, the Sunday Sun.
It's got a lovely article about the Choctaw congregation with a picture. And if you didn't get that, that's the picture we took last week out in the front. They've got that picture, nice article about the history of the church and they also have an article about our brother Harold Weaver with his picture in there as well that we have put in there. So if you didn't get your copy of that, just as a souvenir for that wonderful homecoming Sunday, pick it up at your local newsstand today. That was the only commercial I'm going to do here.
You know, they say that, close, you hear this, I hear this all the time, you know, when I play, once a year I play horseshoes at the family picnic. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. There's nothing more painful than coming close to winning, right. Coming close to a goal and then missing it. I mean, if you're not even close, who cares?
But I mean, if you just come within a whisker and you don't get it, that hurts. And I watch TV, athletes on television, after losing the world championship of something, and they interview the losers, and they put on a brave front, you know, it's, Well, it's only a game. They say, It's only a game and they compliment the other team or the other boxer, well, you know, they were the best team, you know, and they put on a brave front. But you know what? On the inside, boy, their hearts are melting.
And in private, they often weep at the bitter thought of having come within one point, one run, one second, one millisecond of greatness, to be in the history books of sports. And they just come this close because you know, they don't put who came in second in the history books. Now how many people remember who were the losing team 3 years ago in the World Series? Some of you baseball buffs maybe, but most people forget. The Bible has its share of heroes as well and heroines, those who showed great courage and faith.
But according to my lesson this Sunday, it also provides us with examples of people who came close to greatness. Want to talk about that? You know, sure, I always talk about the heroes. I want to pump you up, give you examples of people who made it, who succeeded, who were heroes. But this morning, I want to go the opposite direction.
I want to talk about the also rands, the 2nd place guys, the guys who came, oh just a whisker away from being great but didn't quite make it. So I want to share their stories with you this morning. And as is our custom, perhaps draw a few lessons from their story. Well, I guess the first guy you think about who came close was Cain, you know, Cain and Abel back in Genesis chapter 4. Cain's story is a familiar story.
We don't need to read that. He was the firstborn to Adam and Eve. He chose to work the land like his father, Adam. And from this land he offered a sacrifice to the Lord, which was rejected because of its content and because of the condition of his heart. And we know that he became jealous of his brother Abel's sacrifice, which was accepted.
Abel's sacrifice was accepted. And we read that this anger, this jealous rage, led him to kill his brother Abel. And after this, he became a wanderer. He didn't work the land anymore and he was responsible for the establishment of cities. Now we know Cain's story but do we ever realize what this guy could have been?
What greatness was in this man's grasp? But he just missed it. I mean, he was the firstborn of Adam and thus he would have inherited the dominion and the rulership responsibility that was held by his father, Adam. And more importantly, he could have been the one through whom the Messiah would have come. It was the eldest son.
It could have been through him that the Messiah would have eventually come, but that privilege went to his younger brother, Seth. Greatness eluded Cain because he couldn't deal with his emotions, he couldn't control his temper. He wouldn't repent of his envy and his jealousy. Another guy that comes to mind, the old testament, Rehoboam, less familiar character perhaps. 1st Kings chapter 12 verse 1.
Now Rehoboam was the son of Solomon, one of the sons of Solomon. Solomon, of course, reigned for 40 years and during that time, Solomon amassed a great fortune as well as respect from all of the neighboring nations, and he built a magnificent temple and during his reign people enjoyed a period of prosperity and peace from their enemies. And at Solomon's death, his son Rehoboam ascended to the throne And here this young man had a marvelous opportunity to consolidate Solomon's political gains and to spread the light of the Jewish religion to all the nations because he had the respect of all the nations. He could have done tremendous work in spreading the news of Jehovah God to all the other nations. And he could have gained the love and the loyalty of his people for a lifetime by treating them fairly and honestly.
Well, soon after his crowning, a delegation of the people came to him with a request for a well deserved tax break. His father had put crushing taxes on the people and so the people came to him and said, Now there's a new time, a new reign, a new era in our nation. Please give us this tax break and we'll be loyal and faithful to you for a lifetime. Well, of course, his senior advisors told him, Hey, this is a great opportunity to consolidate everything to get the people behind you. Give them this chance.
You don't need the money. We're rich. Everything is great. And then his younger advisors came to him, his buddies, the courtiers in the court, and they said, No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that.
Just treat these people with contempt. You're the king. You're the boss. Don't let people tell you. Don't let people lead you around by the nose.
And so he chose, Rehoboam chose to go with the younger man at their advice and he threatened the people in order to keep them in line. Well, we know the result of the story. This attitude caused the revolt among the people which led to civil war, which the revolt among the people which led to civil war, which ultimately divided the kingdom into 2. And in the end, Rehoboam was left with about 15% of his territory and his wealth. And now he had a constant enemy to the north, and the division weakened the Jews in the face of other nations.
Other nations now felt, wow, these guys are easy pickings. Before they were a united nation, they were strong, they were rich. Now they're cut in 2, now they're 2 nations. They're fighting against each other. Maybe this is our chance to get in there and do something.
And ultimately, the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom fell into idolatry and they were both destroyed. And in the very end, only the southern kingdom remained and only a fraction of what it was at the separation. You know, Rehoboam could have corrected the mistakes of his father and been a great king in the eyes of man and in the eyes of God but instead, he goes down in history as the one who caused the separation and the ultimate destruction of the Jewish nation. So close, so close and yet did not make it. Then if we flip to the New Testament, another example of someone who came close to greatness was the rich young ruler in Mark chapter 10.
Mark reveals a young man who truly had the potential for greatness. He was young, as I said, and wealthy, And being young and wealthy in a society that saw this as a blessing and a favor from God, when he walked down the street people thought of him as a person who had been tremendously blessed by God. He was a sincere believer who acted upon his beliefs. He didn't just hear the word, but he tried to do something about it. And most importantly, he found Jesus, and he came personally to the Lord to receive some teaching for a lack that he had in his life.
Here was a guy who was on the ball. He is one who could have been great. You think about what this person could have done? He could have been a disciple of Jesus and consequently a leader in the early church. He could have received gifts from the Holy Spirit and done miracles like Philip did miracles and others.
He could be with Jesus today in heaven as one of the early martyrs. His name could have been in the scriptures as one of Jesus' disciples that he truly loved because it says in Mark that Jesus loved this young guy. His heart went out to him. It could have been John and this person, the disciples that Jesus truly loved. He was this close.
He was speaking face to face with the Son of God and yet he still failed. He was so close to immortality and joy, but when Jesus asked him to trade his earthly treasure for heavenly treasure, he wouldn't do it. And the Bible says, he went away sad. And I think that he sensed how close he had come to greatness but had failed, had failed to hit the mark. You know, the men that I have talked about lived 1000 of years ago and they lived 1000 of years apart.
They didn't know each other, they had very little in common. And yet, there are some common characteristics that they shared that denied them the greatness that was so close at hand. When you look at their three lives, there are things about them that repeat themselves in their lives and that show us why they failed to attain the greatness that they came so close to in their lifetime. Couple of these traits I'll share with you. 1st, they didn't recognize their opportunity.
They didn't recognize their opportunity. In the case of Cain and the rich young ruler, these men were dealing with God face to face, and yet they were unaware of the majesty before them and the opportunity that this presented. And Rehoboam, for his case, he had the chance to be greater than his father who had been the greatest up to that time. But what did he see? He only saw the threat to his position, but not the opportunity that it presented.
These men's vision was clouded so that when the moment came, they didn't recognize it. You know, there's an old saying that says, blessed is the man who is ready when his time comes. In our lifetimes, every one of us in our lifetimes, there's a moment that comes, an opportunity of some kind. Happy are we when we recognize this is it, this is my time, my chance, my moment. These guys here did not recognize their moment when it came.
Another thing that they shared, they aspired to the wrong kind of greatness. Yeah, they wanted to be great but it was the wrong kind of great. You see, it's not that these fellows did not want to be great, they didn't want to achieve, they were simply shooting for the wrong goal. For example, Cain, he wanted to dominate his brother instead of pleasing God. That was the goal.
Well, winning over his brother gained him one position. Yeah, he got rid of his brother but pleasing God would have given him the primary position in history. You see what I'm saying? He just wanted that one up from his brother and God was offering him one total up, the first. But he couldn't see that.
Rehoboam, he wanted the people to fear him as a king, instead of loving and respecting him as a benevolent ruler. You know, a small portion of the people, they did fear him and they followed him, but the rest of them abandoned him. And instead of building upon the legend of his father, he remains a legendary failure. And then the rich young ruler, well, he wanted his good life on earth and he wanted his good life on earth to remain forever, instead of finding a new and better life in heaven. Keeping his temporary riches caused him to forfeit his eternal treasure.
Each fellow, each person gained something in one way or another, but it cost them the greatness that they could have had. And so they sought for the wrong kinds of greatness. They didn't see the opportunity that was before them. And finally, each one ended up defeating himself. Nobody came and, you know, like a shoestring tackle, the guy's got the ball and he's always going into 40, the 30, the 20 at the last minute.
The defenders, you know, lunges and he, oh, just grabs his foot, you know, a last minute tackle on the 2 yard line, you know. He could say, well, that guy, you know, tripped me up. No one tripped him up. Each one of these men defeated themselves. And there was a management expert that came to give a speech at a meeting.
I was at preacher's luncheon the other day and they brought in a management expert to talk about, how to accommodate change and all that kind of stuff. And he spoke about human development and motivation and he said, very interesting, he said, we are 100% responsible for what happens to us. And people were grumbling, well, I don't know about that. He said, Hey, you're 100% responsible. And he gave an example.
He says, you know, you're hit by a car coming behind you. You know, you're at a stop sign, minding your own business. A car comes and hits your car. And the accident of course is the other person's fault. But he says, you are still responsible because you chose to drive that day and you chose to drive that way and you chose to drive at that particular hour.
He says, You know, there's a big difference between fault and responsibility. He says, You're responsible for a 100% of the things that happened to you. Now his point was that our big problem many times is that we try to blame circumstances on other people for our problems but we rarely see that we are usually responsible to some degree, if not all, for the things that happened to us. Well, these men were responsible for destroying their chance at greatness. Cain, for example, refused to deal with his anger and he let it boil over into resentment and ultimately to a murderous rage.
He refused God's warning and he ruined his brother's life as well as his own. It was his fault. God warned him, sin is at the door. You've got to deal with it. How many times that happened in our life?
How many times in our conscience, our conscience says to us, you better get a hold of that. Are you doing that again? You better get a hang on this. How many times has your conscience said that? What do you do?
You kind of move it over and say, well, I'm not listening to that today. Okay. I heard you back in the box. Right? That was what happened to Cain.
God said, boy, you're mad. Aren't you? You're hot, aren't you? And he says, boy, I'm hot. God says, you better deal with that.
And he said, yeah, tomorrow. And on the morrow, he went out into the field with his brother and killed him. Rehoboam chose to listen to the advice of those who told him what he wanted to hear instead of the advice of wisdom. How many times did we do that? We do what we want to do.
We buy what we want to buy. We eat what we want to eat. We drink what we want to drink. We sleep with those we want to sleep with. And sometimes all against the prompting of our conscience.
But we go ahead and do it anyways. We go ahead and do it anyways. Wisdom is always there saying not to do that. You have to hold back. You have to wait.
Why don't you think about it 24 hours? You have to take this person's advice over here. You know, wisdom is always after us giving us this advice and what are we saying to wisdom? I'm gonna do it my way. Rehoboam's own foolishness led him to destroy his own throne and divide the nation.
Destroy his own throne and divide the nation. And then, of course, the rich young ruler, he refused to give up the comfort of this world for the promise of the next and his choice led him away from the company of Jesus, not only in this world, but led him away from the company of Jesus in the eternal world as well. Each one of these people came so close to true greatness. I'm not talking about the greatness of temporary applause of fame and fortune on this earth, but the true greatness that goes on forever. But these men sabotage their place in history by the choices that they made.
Because of this and others like them Yeah, I picked these 3. You think these are the only 3? I mean what about Lot's wife who almost escaped, and Esau who sold his heritage for a meal, and Saul who forfeited his crown, and Demas who left the company of Paul, and others. We could go on and on. All of these came close to greatness that they did not achieve on earth and will never see in heaven.
You know, do you realize that each one of us here is just a heartbeat away from greatness? You know, when you get to be vice president, so you say, heartbeat away from the presidency. You know, if the president dies, Hey, I'm president. You know, each one of us here is a heartbeat away from being great. Again, I'm not talking about winning a gold medal at the Olympics or being president.
These things are great, but they're just temporary. I'm talking about the greatness that exists in heaven. I'm talking about the greatest honor that exists in all creation and in all of history. Paul describes it in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 11 and 12. He says, If we died with Jesus, we shall also live with him, and if we endure, we shall also reign with him.
You know, in this passage, Paul refers to a death. You know, if we died with Jesus, he's talking about our death with Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism. In Romans 6:3, says, if we die with Jesus in the waters of baptism, you know, when we're buried in the waters of baptism, that's what he's talking about. If you've died with Christ, if you've confessed your faith, and if you have repented of your sins, if you've been baptized, that's dying with Jesus. He says, if you've done that, then you will reign with him and the position of honor he talks about is the right hand of God in heaven.
And so, essentially what he's saying is this, Christians who remain faithful until the end will reign with Christ at the right hand of God forever. Do you think about it? Can you get your mind around that idea? There is no higher honor, there is no greater privilege, there is no greatness that one can aspire to that is greater than this. What is greater than being at the right hand of God in heaven?
Is there some other thing we can do? Is there some other greatness? Is there a higher place? To be part of the Godhead and rule over the spiritual world, which we don't know, but we assume is more vast and varied than the physical world. Certainly, it is more glorious to see myriads and myriads of angels praising God in heaven.
Is this not more glorious than seeing the Grand Canyon or the Alps? This is the greatest and each one of you is a heartbeat away from that greatness. So my question to you this morning is this, which ones here this morning will be great and which ones here will merely come close to being great? You see the reasons for making it or the reasons for coming close are the same as they have always been. From Cain to the end of the world, the reasons for coming close are always the same.
Those who will become great are those who have obeyed God. In this case, repented of their sins and confessed Christ and been baptized and have remained faithful to him until that heartbeat moment. That's what I mean by the heartbeat. If you're wondering about the fragility of life, who would have thought a 10 year old boy full of vim and vigor and vitality, playing football, running up and down in the space of 24 hours would be in the hospital now and totally immobilized by a germ, a virus that none of us can actually see with our eyes that we have to look in a microscope to see. Who would have thought that?
Who would have imagined such a thing? That's what I mean by a heartbeat away. And those who will only come close will be those who put off obeying Christ in baptism until it's too late or those who fall away before he comes. And we have many among us who are close this morning but won't make it. Don't spend an eternity in regret because you were so close but did not close the gap in time.
I implore you, I beg you, obey the gospel. I beg you, obey the gospel. Obey it. Don't just hear me say it, obey it. Come and be baptized.
I implore you this morning, be restored. And you know what, I will not judge if you are faithful or not. God will judge that. And you know who knows? He knows and you know, if you've been unfaithful, be restored.
If you need to confess your sins and if you need to start serving, if your repentance and your restoration is as dramatic as coming forward this morning, so be it. And if it's as implicit as simply filling out that service sheet that we handed out to everybody and giving it to the secretary. If that's your way to say, here, I'm being restored. This is what I'm gonna do from now on. I pledged myself to serve or you know what, on the table or whatever.
Don't leave this morning don't leave this building this morning with still a gap between you and God. If you need to close the gap, we encourage you to come forward now as Vince leads us in our song of encouragement.