An Eternal Perspective

Introduction

It’s already been announced. We have special guest speaker with us today, Brother Doy Moyer. Doy’s originally from California. He’s been preaching the gospel for about 35 years. He’s here today with his wife Laurie, and they’ve been married for 34 years, have three grown children, and probably more importantly, seven grandchildren. Doy is currently working with the Vestavia Hills Church of Christ in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Prior to that, he was working with the Cork Church of Christ in the Tampa area while he was teaching at Florida College. Doy has a special interest and studies in apologetics and authority. And Doy’s done a lot of writing recently about our current conditions. And more importantly, about our faith in the midst of these current conditions. Because of Doy’s work in that area, the shepherds here felt like that it was appropriate, rather than canceling our gospel meeting during these uh difficult times, to have him come and spend this day with us on this important topic.

His lesson is entitled An Eternal Perspective, How to Think and Stay United in Trying Times. He’s going to speak to us now and then tonight. Remember at 6 o’clock tonight, uh, if you’re a member here in the regular Zoom classroom, uh, or it will be on our YouTube page as well. We hope that you can join us, and we look forward to having our faith uh encouraged and our unity uh emboldened by the words that Doy brings to us this morning. Doy. Well, good morning.

Very thankful to spend some time with you today. I know that the world is in turmoil. And it’s difficult when the world is in turmoil for us not to feel somewhat in turmoil as well. And I have, over the last several months, been trying to figure what is the best way to handle a number of these issues that we face. It seems like everywhere we turn, it’s bad news. The West is on fire. That’s where I came from. People are divided by such things as masks. People are struggling over what to do about injustices in this world. And cities are facing riots and other difficulties. And so, as Christians, we we struggle with how to understand and think and act particularly toward one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

And it’s not easy. I’m not here to tell you that the things that we face and the way that we deal with one another is always going to be easy. It’s not. Anytime we’re dealing with personalities, we’re dealing with difficulties. And people are going to react differently to the various issues that are going on. Some will struggle more than others with this particular issue or that. But yet there are underlying principles that children of God need to understand. And there are two passages that I keep coming back to. And I’m really just naming the chapters here, Philippians 1 and 2 and 2 Corinthians 4 and 5. And what I’d like to do this morning is bring some thoughts from these passages that have helped me anyway.

I want to be able to help others as much as I can, but the reality is the things I talk about and do here are really things that have helped me cope with some of the issues that we face. And I hope maybe can help you as well.

But I want to note something here of particular interest, I think, when you consider that Paul is dealing with his own set of difficulties. Paul talks about his own sufferings in 2 Corinthians. That includes some of the physical sufferings that he went through. You could go to chapter 11 and see the various things he had to go through, the beatings that he took, being shipwrecked, the various problems that he faced as he went about preaching the gospel. He also talks about here in 2 Corinthians the fact that there are false apostles who are trying to discredit him. But he’s dealing with a host of issues that any of us would be struggling with to a great degree. And I want you to notice something he says in verse 8 of 2 Corinthians 1.

He says, We do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. Now that says a mouthful. We could spend the entire time right there, but I want you to notice something Paul says here. In contrast to what we sometimes say, we might say sometimes, well, we’ll never get anything that we can’t handle. Paul says specifically that’s not the case. He says, we were burdened beyond our strength. We couldn’t handle it, is what he says. Now, you and I both know there’s more to the story here.

Because the very next verse, Paul says, the reason why it got to that point where we couldn’t handle it was so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. And may I suggest to you then that in those times where we are dealing with difficulties and trials and problems to the point where we feel like we can’t handle it anymore. And I, and if you’re like me, there have been points in these last several months where I have felt like that. I don’t know how much I can take of this. Because we’re missing our fellowship with one another. We’re missing our brethren. We’re missing seeing each other and interacting with each other. And we need that. And there are points where we feel like we can’t do this anymore.

1. How We See Life Itself: To Live Is Christ

But again, that’s something Paul felt, probably more so than I ever have ever felt. And he says this was to be the case so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God. And I want to suggest to you that these passages we’re looking at here really do highlight that point. That we need to learn to trust in God during these difficult times. And so I want us to think about how we can have an eternal perspective on a number of things here. But first, just in a broad sense, how we see life itself, including the difficulties that we may have. So I want to turn over to Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1. And it’s interesting to me when you kind of compare and contrast 2 Corinthians with Philippians 1.

They’re very different epistles. And yet, as we’ll note here, there are principles that undergird both of these books that I believe are very much the same. Think about how Paul viewed life. And he has this great desire to see and be with the Philippian brethren, and realizing that he can’t, he’s in prison, and he has this great hope. But he realizes that even though he may face death, he realizes that there are things he needs to do while he’s here. And see, he says in verse 21, for to me to live is Christ. And to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me, and I do not know which to choose, but I’m hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.

Yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I know that I’ll remain and continue with you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again. Paul says, I don’t know exactly what the future may hold here, but I know I’m here for a reason, and I’m here to help you. I’m here to be a benefit to others, and what principle underlies all of that is stated in verse 21. For me to live is Christ. To die is gain.

To live is Christ. Colossians 3 talks about Christ who is our life.

name it, life is football, life is baseball, life is whatever. The rest are just details.

For the child of God, that statement is life is Christ. Everything else is just details. That everything that we do and everything that we think is geared toward glorifying our Lord and serving one another, because that’s what he did. As I continue reading in verse 27, he says, only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. So that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you, that you’re standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, in no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in him, but to also suffer for his sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me.

To live as Christ. That means that I am to conduct myself in a manner worthy of the gospel. To understand what it means to live as a child of God and serve him with all my heart, to love him with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind. And that means that everything that I’m engaged in needs to be seen through these eyes. Or as Hebrews chapter 12 tells us in verses 1 through 3 that we are to fix our eyes on Jesus. He’s the author and perfecter of the faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And our focus needs to be on him. To live is Christ.

And conduct yourselves in a way that reflects that fact. That includes how we act in person toward one another. And it includes the way that we engage ourselves on social media as well. I often ask myself, if people come to my page on social media, what do they see? Are they seeing something that reflects Christ? Are they seeing something that reflects the idea that my life is surrounded by Jesus Christ? That my life is fixed on doing what is right with him. Because conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel doesn’t stop when we leave the building here. In fact, it never does stop.

Again, in the context of Paul talking about the various sufferings that he had, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verses 16 and 17. And really, I want to take the time to talk about this whole chapter, and we’re going to come back to several other verses. But notice in particular right now, verse 16. From now on, we recognize no one according to the flesh. Yet now we know him in this way no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creature. Old things passed away, behold, new things have come. That statement, we recognize no one according to the flesh. Because we’re new creatures. That, I believe, is saying something very similar to what he says in Philippians 1: that to live is Christ. That our worldview is built around seeing people through the lens of God’s word.

Through the lens of Christ Himself. We don’t see people according to the flesh. We don’t act according to the flesh. We act in a way that is worthy of the gospel. So the difficulties that we face, the trials that we undergo, the turmoil that we are looking at in this world, needs to be approached from a perspective of seeing Jesus Christ in everything.

2. Our Commitment to Both Unity and Reality

So the second thing I want to say about this is looking at the eternal perspective on how we see our commitment to both unity and reality. In Philippians 1 and verse 27, as we read a moment ago, you’re conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. Now that speaks to commitment. That we are dedicated and committed to living in a certain way, to live in a certain path here, as shown to us in God’s word as we follow the example of our Lord. That is not something that’s going to happen accidentally. We’re not going to just trip over this. We have to be intentional. We have to be purposeful about the things that we choose and the way that we live our lives. So think intentionally.

Be purposeful in the choices that you make. Before I say something, before I write something, before I put it out there for the world to see, am I intending to be focused on Christ? Am I intending to show forth Jesus Christ and His Word? You know, Paul made the point in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 2, I determined to know nothing among you except Christ and Him crucified. There is a sense in which that needs to be our understanding as we go into the world, as we have a commitment to Christ and Him crucified, that people can see that that’s what we’re about. They can hear that that’s what we’re about. And I think about that a lot right now, especially.

To enter into political seasons. And I’m not here to tell you much about that, other than to say this. Your decisions right now still need to be based on God and his will. Your decisions right now still need to be grounded in walking worthy of the gospel. Your decisions still need to be based on an intentional desire to glorify God in everything that you do. Have you ever thought about the fact that two of Jesus’ disciples? Matthew was a tax collector. And there was another disciple named Simon, who was called a zealot. These would be guys who were at the polar opposites of the political spectrum in their day. Because to Simon, Matthew would be a traitor. And Simon would have believed in taking things by force and fighting for it and killing people to take back the system.

Matthew worked for the system. You’d be hard pressed to find people at greater odds. They both became apostles of Jesus Christ. And I don’t know much about it after that. We really don’t read too much about that. But somehow, somehow they found a way to be united in Christ. And that’s what we need to be doing. To see unity from the real perspective that there is an eternity in view. And it goes beyond just the here and now and the things that may happen in the near time frame. It’s an intentional desire that we have to serve the Lord first and not ourselves. In Philippians 2 and verse 12, we read, so then, beloved, just as you have always obeyed, now as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing. Did you hear that? Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I have reason to glory, because I did not run in vain or toil in vain.

To a way of thinking and a way of living and in a way of working and in a way of seeing one another that is vital. Now I turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And I’ve often thought about this with Paul. What is it that allowed Paul to suffer the way that he did? I mean, we noted, you know, he’s writing 2 Corinthians an epistle that is dealing with a great deal of his own sufferings. Why would he do this? What gives him this sense that this is something that he’s willing to do? And I think a lot of people would have thought that way. I mean, the book of Hebrews is written to people who are tempted to get out of the persecution, to get out of the pending persecution they may be facing, and so go back to something that is easier.

We’re always faced with that. When Paul says, and I’m going to drop down to verse 16. Again, there’s a great context here to think about and study. But he says in all of this, therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. There’s a key to the Christian’s worldview right there. To be able not to be focused and looking at the things that are seen, but the things that are not seen.

Paul says in verse 17, our momentary light affliction. And that always strikes me as odd. Light affliction. And I think, Paul, have you read your own chapter in chapter 11? Being beaten and shipwrecked and stoned and left for dead and all the things that he talks about, and he’s talking about a light affliction. I mean, for us, if the air conditioning goes out, the world is coming to an end. Light affliction. But he sees it in comparison to the greater, to the eternal. It’s not to say that we don’t deal with things here in time. Yes, we must. We have to talk about the things that are happening in time, and we have to take our responsibilities seriously. We have to identify sin for what it is.

We have to do those things because God teaches us to do those things. But we still have to do it against the backdrop that there is an eternity here that we need to continually be ready for. And so coming into chapter 5, he talks about that fact that, you know, in this house, this earthly tent, this body, we groan. We’re longing for that which comes from God. A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. That’s what we’re longing for. And in verse 9 of chapter 5, he says, we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent in this body, we have as our ambition to be pleasing to him. There is the intentional aspect of this again. Our ambition, our aim, our goal is always to please God.

And that affects then the way that we view reality, and it affects the way that we view unity with one another.

3. How We View and Treat One Another

And to kind of highlight that, I want to think about this in connection to how we view and treat one another. So let’s turn back to Philippians 2. We already read a moment ago, 2 Corinthians 5, 16 and 17, that we’re no longer looking at people according to the flesh. But we see people from a different point of view now. A point of view that understands that there is value to other people. There is intrinsic value to who you are. Because every human being is made in the image of God. And that speaks volumes about the way that we need to see one another right from the beginning. Why is it that we ought to be concerned about injustice, for example? Because people are made in God’s image.

That’s why. Why is it that children of God need to rise above the divisions of the world and stay together, stay united? Why is it that we can identify such things as racism, as vile sins? Because we understand that people are made in God’s image. And there is never a reason to mistreat anybody. So Paul writes in Philippians 2 and verse 1. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, of any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. That says everything we’re talking about right here. You’re intentional, you have a purpose, and you’re doing it with a view in mind toward how you look at your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

That we are united because we are of the same mind. And we are of the same Lord. As Ephesians 4 reminds us. And so he says in verse 3, do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interests of others.

4. How We Understand Christ’s Death and Mission

But with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. That’s how we view and treat others, and that’s how we stay united. Intent on the mind of Christ. And I want to come back to this point here because this I think ties it all together. How we understand Christ’s death and mission is vital in this very context. So let’s keep reading in verse 5. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.

The key to our unity, the key to understanding reality, the key to understanding how we need to be living and acting in this world is right here in verse 5. Have this mind or attitude which was in Christ Jesus. The mind of Christ. This is key. Key to everything that we’re doing. And what does he say happens in this? He exists in the form of God. He is God. But he didn’t regard that equality something to seize. Something to seize upon, even while he was here on this earth. That’s why he would say in John 5, I do nothing of my own initiative. He didn’t come to do his own thing apart from the Father. But rather it says he emptied himself, verse 7, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men.

Now, I want you to, for just a moment, focus on verse 6, or 7, rather, focus on verse 7. And answer this question. The text says specifically, he emptied himself of what? He emptied himself of, fill in the blank. Now, as you got your eyes on the text, you might be saying, well, my Bible doesn’t say he emptied himself of something, does it? Yet that’s what we often say about this text. Well, he emptied himself of this and of that and of this and of that. That’s not what the text says. The text says he emptied himself. Think about that. Not that he emptied himself of things, but he emptied himself. And that’s a different statement. I think about that in connection to Luke 9 and verse 23, and I would say that this may be the most difficult command in all of the Bible, at least it is for me.

Luke 9, 23, if anyone will come after me, let him deny himself. Take up the cross daily and follow me. Doesn’t say deny yourself of things. It says deny yourself. That’s a different statement. Jesus isn’t asking for just a few things from you. Jesus didn’t just give a few things of himself, he gave himself. And this is the mind of Christ. This is the key that we’re talking about right here. What does it mean in this context? It means that Jesus did nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility of mind, he esteemed others as better than himself. And if Jesus, God manifested in the flesh, could do that, who are we to think that we shouldn’t be doing that?

And so in this age of let it be all about me. Take care, number one. That is not the child of God’s perspective here. The mind of Christ is what that is about. And we’ll turn back for just a moment to 2 Corinthians 5. As we think about how we understand Christ’s death and mission and what that means for us and our mindset. And as I say, all these points are interwoven here. Verse 12 of 2 Corinthians 5 says, We’re not again commending ourselves to you, but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you’ll have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God. If we are of sound mind, it is for you.

For the love of Christ controls us. Having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died. Notice verse 15, and he died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf. Who are you living for? Christ died for you, therefore you died. Not so that you can live for yourself, but that you can live for him who died for you. That’s his point. This is the mind of Christ. Down in verse 18, all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Namely, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he’s committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Therefore, Paul says we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were making an appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made him who knew no sin to be sinned on our behalf, and we might become the righteousness of God in him. That appeal.

This is what God has done through Jesus Christ. And that means that as I approach the world, I want to have that in mind. I need to see people, everybody, as souls made in the image of God who need to be reconciled to him. And so I don’t want it to be about me. I want it to be about him. Everything we do, grounded in serving and pleasing God. And this is an appropriate passage, then, for us to end on. As we think about reconciliation to him. Notice it doesn’t say that God was being reconciled to the world. It’s the world being reconciled to him. He’s the standard. And he’s the one that we need to be reconciled to because we understand that there is an eternity yet to come.

Conclusion

It’s already there. But there’s going to be a point where we make that great change. As 1 Corinthians chapter 15 talks about, there will be a great change. And we’ll step into eternity in a way that we have yet to know. And the only thing that will matter at that point is whether or not you were reconciled to him. Paul reminds us in Romans chapter 6 that when we’re baptized into Christ, we’re baptized into his death. And we’re raised up to walk in new life. That is to say that baptism in many ways mirrors the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And I’m just going to leave you with this question this morning, then. Have you mirrored the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Baptized into Him.

And as children of God, remembering these passages that we’ve talked about this morning, He died so that I can live for Him. And to live as Christ. And how I treat you and how I treat others is grounded in Jesus Christ Himself who died for us. So we’ll sing a song here in just a moment. And I encourage you to think about this. I would beg you, don’t walk out of this building this morning uncertain of where you stand with God. We can help you. Let’s stand and sing.