Study the Word

Thom Keller: Consider the great love of God with us next on Study the Word. God’s love for us is not conditional. You living in that reality—that God loves you even though you’ve messed up horribly, even though I’ve messed up horribly, He still loves me—that is a key to you not living a judgmental life toward others. If you think God’s love for you is conditional, then you will be conditional in your love toward others, and you will think God is conditional in His love toward others.

I’ve never seen a person apply a double standard. If they’re judgmental toward others, they’re judgmental toward themselves. If they’re tough on themselves, they’re tough on others. It’s the key—that He loves me in spite of my failures. It’s the key to forgiveness. He’s forgiven me because Jesus died on the cross.

Guest (Male): Calvary Chapel Lebanon, Pennsylvania presents Study the Word with our pastor and teacher Thom Keller. Class is in session—a discipleship class, that is. We’ve heard it said you cannot out-give God, and it’s true. But that not only relates to how we give our money, but time as well. It’s one of the many lessons we’ll glean from 2nd Samuel Chapter 1. Here’s Pastor Thom.

Thom Keller: When you go into a room, just think about in that room, who would Jesus walk up to? That’s a pretty good question. There’s a statement: I like myself the best when I’m with you. There is probably no higher compliment that someone could pay you than for them to say to you, "I like myself the best when I’m with you."

Why is that? They feel safe, they feel valued, they feel believed in. Every spouse should be able to say that about their spouse: "I like myself the best when I’m with you." If you’re a good boss, your employees should even be able to say something like that: "I like myself the best when I’m with you. In my home, no one believes in me. You do. I appreciate that about you."

This thing about time and that woman in the back—when I was at Keller Brothers, before I came here full-time, when I was doing both things, running the dealership and pastoring a church, I had this nagging, reoccurring fear that when I died, people would come to my funeral and as they would leave, they would say, "He was a busy man."

Where did they get the idea that I’m a busy man? Because they saw I was rushing around and didn’t have time. Would they have said that about Jesus? No, they wouldn’t have said Jesus was a busy man. What would they have said? He always had time for me. How could they say that? Because I think He was focused on every single person He was speaking to. Part of this is trusting God for the timing.

I just want to say something about time. When I talk about tithing, I explain tithing not from the perspective of why you should give. I explain tithing from the perspective of it is so incredible that God allows us to move into that supernatural realm where ten minus one doesn’t equal nine. Where ten minus one equals eleven because it’s a supernatural world. His computer doesn’t work like ours.

God wants us to learn that in money so we can transfer it all around the place. He made the tithe. He could’ve said, "I want you to tithe your time." He could’ve proven it just as easily with time, and then we could’ve applied it to money from there. But He starts with money. Why? Because we love our money, and we notice if it’s missing, and we notice if there’s more and there shouldn’t have been more, but there is.

As a pastor, I consistently run into people that are big givers. People that are big givers are normally good with money. That’s how they got money to be big givers. This is what they say consistently: "Thom, I’m pretty good with numbers, and I can’t explain how I give as much as I do and I end up with so much back. I don’t understand it."

I hear it all the time. I heard it today, talking to a guy, a big giver. He gave me money to give to people in need. He said, "Take it to the church." He said, "I don’t know how it works. I keep giving more away, and the more I give away, the more shows up. I don’t know how it happens." And he’s really good with numbers.

God wants us to realize from tithing that you can enter into that supernatural realm. You can also enter into that supernatural realm in time—that you can give God more time and have more time. Just like tithing, it’s a numerical thing with money. You see the numbers. You won’t figure it out, but you see it. Time is a little bit more elusive, but it’s still the same principle. You can’t out-give God in money; you can’t out-give God in time.

Let me give you some examples. When I was in the business, I’m an A-type. I make lists. I get them done. I want them to be done by the end of the day. I want to check off the box, go home, list done, hurrah—a successful day. So, 2:00 in the afternoon, somebody comes into my office and I have a chance to witness to them.

I’m thinking—I’m just being honest with you—this is going to get in the way of all I have to do today because if I go down this trail, this is an hour. I don’t have an hour. I don’t have an hour today. Maybe I did some other time, but I do not today.

Every single time that I pushed that aside and witnessed, I ended the day with more time than I thought I’d have left. How does that work? It’s the same thing. Just like the money, how do I give money away and end up with more back? I don’t know. How do I take the time to witness and at the end of the day have more done? I don’t know, but it works that way.

So, this whole thing of timing, give your time to the Lord. Just back away on being so obsessed with time and getting things done and just trust the Lord in that. How do you do that? You rest. You just rest. Do you know the difference? Do you know what it’s like to go through a day versus just letting it all out? You know what that feels like in the course of a day? Just let the rest happen.

So, I use the example: you’re trudging your way through the Sahara Desert and you’ve got a skid on your back of 600 pounds of weight. You’re bent down and you’ve got this thing you’re forward carrying—it’s a wooden skid with 600 pounds on top of it. You’re trudging through, dragging your feet, and you’re just making it through the desert.

It’s so heavy. Then one day, as you turn left, you notice out of the peripheral view there’s a shadow of something. You look back, and here there’s a forklift that has been following you all these years. Its forks are stuck in your skid, and it's dropped two inches down. All you would have had to do was to let go, and it would have dropped on the forklift, and that would have taken the weight.

That’s what our days are like. You can go through your day, your week, with that tension that I’ve got to get it done, or you can just let the Lord take it. Just try that. Just give your time to the Lord and just see what He does with that. Seriously, it’s resting versus driving.

One real quick thing on resting versus driving: we’re supposed to rest in the Lord. We’re not supposed to strive. People will say, "What’s the difference between resting and striving practically? If I have a project at work and I strive after it, are you saying I’m going to burn a thousand calories, but if I rest through it, I’m going to burn 500 calories? Are you saying that if I strive I’m going to work harder at it, and if I rest I’m not going to work as hard?" No, that’s not it at all.

The difference between resting and striving—and this is really important—is that after you’ve done your work, when you strive, you think you’re responsible for the outcome. When you rest, you realize that God is responsible for the outcome. Because that’s where the anxiety comes from. The anxiety doesn’t come from the labor; it comes from the worry about what’s going to happen with your labor. What’s on the other side of that? That’s what brings anxiety. That’s what brings unsettled peace.

Here’s the genius of that: when you do your work and then rest, and then God answers it, you’ll know that God did it because you gave it to Him. You’re not responsible for the outcome; God is responsible for the outcome. You’re responsible to do the work; you’re not responsible for the outcome. If you get confused in that, if it works out, you’re going to tend to take the glory because you’ve been obsessed over this thing all the way through. But if you rest and you say, "God, You’re responsible for the outcome," and then it works out, you give God the glory because you knew He was responsible for the outcome, not you.

This is huge. The anxiety comes from being afraid of the outcome. You’re not responsible for the outcome. You’re just responsible to do the work, then rest. Give it to the Lord. That’s when you really can count on that.

I have taken three thoughts concerning Jonathan’s love for David. Let me apply the same to Christ’s love for us and begin by saying it also is pure in its origin. When did the Lord begin to love me? I don’t know. Certainly, it was long before the day He said, "Let there be light." That’s a profound truth.

This should be the emotional connection to God’s love. We should connect on this level because this is the key to everything. This thought of His reckless love for such an undeserving sinner as I am—that should be the key. That should be the connection to your love for the Lord is your awareness that He is reckless in His love for you and me, vile sinners as we are.

When you understand that, when you live in that reality, then you’re not afraid to let people know of your weaknesses because I’m loved in spite of my weakness. God’s love for us is not conditional. It is the key to you living a non-judgmental life toward others. If you think God’s love for you is conditional, then you will be conditional in your love toward others, and you will think God is conditional in His love toward others.

I’ve never seen a person apply a double standard. If they’re judgmental toward others, they’re judgmental toward themselves. If they’re tough on themselves, they’re tough on others. It’s also the key to works righteousness—that I have to work in order to earn God’s favor. It’s the key that He loves me in spite of my failures. It’s the key to forgiveness. He’s forgiven me because Jesus died on the cross.

It’s the key to gratefulness. Again, this is even the key to gratefulness. In my Bible, in Luke, Jesus said this: Godliness is best demonstrated by generosity. That’s very interesting, that generosity follows godliness. Why is that? Why is it that generosity is an evidence of godliness? I think the reason is a person is not generous until they’re content.

A person isn’t content until they are first settled in their relationship with the Lord. See, if a person isn’t content, they won’t give because they would say, "I’ve been cheated out of life. I haven’t gotten what I deserve. Why would I give? I don’t have yet what I deserve. There’s still stuff I should get." Whereas a person that is content is content. It’s been said contentment is its own reward. When you’re content, you’re content. When I see people that are content, a lot had to happen to get them to that point. One of your goals in life is you want to strive toward contentment—that I’m content with where I am in life.

I’m going to read a section of Scripture from Matthew, and I would like you to close your eyes and listen to this. I don’t want you to imagine something; I’m not trying to take you somewhere. I just want you to listen to the Scripture. Just close your eyes and listen to this Scripture. This is Matthew 27.

Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire battalion. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. They made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on His head, and they placed a stick in His right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before Him in mockery, yelling, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They spit on Him and grabbed the stick and beat Him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocking Him, they took off the robe and put on His own clothes, and then they led Him away to be crucified.

As they were on the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and they forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. Then they went out to a place called Golgotha, which means Skull Hill. The soldiers gave Him wine mixed with bitter gall, but when He had tasted it, He refused to drink it. After they had nailed Him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for His clothes by throwing dice. Then they sat around and kept guard as He hung there. A signboard was fastened to the cross above Jesus’ head announcing the charge against Him. It read, "This is Jesus, King of the Jews."

Two criminals were crucified with Him, their crosses on either side of His, and the people passed by shouting abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. "So, you can destroy the temple and build it again in three days, can you? Well then, if You are the Son of God, save Yourself and come down from that cross." The leading priests and teachers of religious law and the other leaders also mocked Jesus. "He saved others," they mocked, "but He can’t save Himself. So, He is the King of Israel, is He? Let Him come down from that cross and we’ll believe in Him. He trusted God, let God show His approval by delivering Him, for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'" And the criminals who were crucified with Him also shouted the same insults at Him.

At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until 3:00. At about 3:00, Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought He was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to Him on a stick so He could drink. But the rest said, "Leave Him alone. Let's see whether Elijah will come and save Him." Then Jesus shouted out again, and He gave up His spirit.

Now, keep your eyes closed. I want to read what Redpath says. He says, "Let us sit down at the foot of the cross and just gaze at Him there. Mark that thorn-crowned brow. Look at those hands, look at those feet pierced with nails. Look at the blood. Look at that broken heart, the water and the blood, the gaping side, and think of it. This is the Lord of glory, dying amidst the scorn and mockery of the people He came to redeem. Think of Him in heaven with all authority in His hands and the angelic host around Him. Then look at Him hanging on the cross with that riff-raff of humanity sneering and gaping at Him. When I realize that there He took my sin, the pollution and filthiness of my life, as it were, His own, and then poured it into oblivion as far as the east is from the west, I say, 'Lord Jesus, Thy love for me was wonderful.'"

Keep your eyes closed, please. Just listen to these questions. Do you realize how completely unworthy you are of Him dying on that cross? Do you realize how completely undeserving you are of His forgiveness and love? Do you know how final and pure His love and forgiveness is for you? And do you live in that securely—securely?

Because it is security that allows you to surrender all. Okay, you can open your eyes. Thanks. It is the security, your confidence in that finished work, that allows you to surrender your life to His. The Bible says we love because He first loved us. The only reason we can love is because He first loved us.

I say this in most weddings that I do, but Jesus in the book of Luke says the woman that washed His feet and dried them with her hair—you know that story, that’s a profound one. I can imagine if John would have seen that, he would have asked some questions because she washed His feet for the whole dinner time. The whole time He ate, she’s down there on her hands and knees washing His feet, drying them with her hair, and these men watching on.

At the end of that account, Jesus said this—this is extremely profound—He said, "One who is forgiven little shows little love. One who is forgiven little shows little love." And so all that I read there, your confidence in His love for you, your confidence that His love is final, that there’s nothing you can do to cause He to love you less, there’s nothing you can do to cause Him to love you less—your confidence in that forgiveness is what will give you a capacity to love.

Listen again: "One who has been forgiven little shows little love." The more you live in the reality of His forgiveness—total, final, complete—the greater the capacity to love. Listen again: the more you live in the reality of His forgiveness, total and final, the greater the capacity to love.