A sermon on "How much of self?
1) There is a hymn entitled, “None of Self and All of Thee.”
a) The first words in this hymn are, “Oh, the bitter pain and sorrow.”
b) The writer of this song suggests that man can make one of four choices concerning God.
c) In the first stage man is selfish; he is consumed with his own desires and wishes.
d) Words in the hymn describing this self-centeredness include, “When I proudly said to Jesus.
e) Then we have a key refrain: “all of self, and none of thee.”
f) As the song moves to the second major point the level of selfishness is reduced.
g) Rather than all of self and none of Christ, it changes to some of self and some of Christ.
2) About midway through the hymn we find “day by day His tender mercy” is become more and more apparent.
3) The writer imagines a man being brought “lower” and finally whispers “less of self and more of thee.”
4) Then the writer says Christ’s love finally “conquers all.”
5) In the fourth and final stage the song says, “none of self and all of thee.”
6) One can only wonder if the writer of this hymn did not see this four step journey in his own life.
7) Whatever the basis for the words, they communicate some important truths.
THE BIBLE CLEARLY RECOGNIZES THE FIRST STAGE IN
THE HYMN: ALL OF SELF AND
NONE OF CHRIST.
a) In 1 Cor. 10:24 Paul said “let no man seek his own” (this is worded with the present tense).
b) This morning we cited Lk. 18; the story of the rich young ruler.
c) This man said he wanted a life of faith and service.
d) Jesus said “go and sell all you have.” The man did not do that.
e) Lk. 18:23 says he “went away sorrowful.”
f) Money was not the problem; letting money be the boss and controller of his life was the issue.
g) In view of the hymn that was cited, we can see where the man in Lk. 18 was in his life:
h) It was all of self and none of Jesus.
i) It was not some of self and some of the Lord,. It was not less of self and more of the Lord.
j) It certainly was not all Jesus. Possessions were the thing that directed his life, not God.
8) Whether religious or not, it is possible for people to be full of self and shut out God.
a) Consider another passage that also makes this point.
b) In Lk. 15 we are told about a young man who wanted to leave home.
c) He asked for his inheritance and his father gave it to him. The son went into a “far country.”
d) The money he received was wasted; he spent what he had and then reality took hold.
e) He decided to make his way back home, and was successful in returning.
f) His father was delighted to see him, but his older brother was not quite as enthused.
9) Let’s look at some specific facts starting with Lk. 15:25 – READ.
a) The older son was “in the field.”
b) Maybe he was just out checking on the crops or maybe wanted to get some exercise.
c) It is also possible that he had been working out in the fields.
d) He approached the house, heard some festivities, and wanted to know what was taking place.
e) He secured this information from a servant (verse 26).
10) Notice how verse 28 begins – READ 28a.
a) The older son was “angry.”
b) We know very little about this son prior to this time.
c) Verse 29 tells us he claimed to have faithfully served his father for many years.
d) In verse 28 we are introduced to someone who is immersed in selfishness.
e) It is literally all of self and none of God or the principles in God’s word.
f) The young man was so upset he “would not go in” to the house – 28b – READ.
g) If a person is being guided by the Word of God, they would rejoice when a wayward person comes home.
h) This boy refused to do that. His father came out and begged him to come in to the gathering.
i) The older son then began to complain and perhaps whine – verse 29 – READ.
j) Then his tirade continued – verse 30 – READ.
11) People can be full of self and have none of God in them.
12) In the past this choice has been made by a lot of individuals and is still being made.
13) A second way to live life is “some of self and some of God.” I think of this as the 50/50 split.
a) This is a popular choice in America.
b) It sounds a bit like a good stock portfolio.
c) People will, as the old saying goes, “hedge their bets” (not put all their eggs in one basket).
d) If we have some of self and some of God, we feel like we are well diversified.
e) This sounds a lot like the strategy Ananias, with Sapphira used in Acts 5.
14) The first Christians had some special needs and possessions were sold to help meet those needs.
15) Luke says Ananias and Sapphira had a possession (some land) and they sold it.
16) There was nothing wrong with selling land. There was nothing wrong in their contributing money.
17) There was something wrong with lying, and both of them lied.
18) This couple indicated they had sold some property and were giving the total amount of the sale.
19) This was a lie; they were giving part of the proceeds and keeping some for themselves.
20) If they had been honest about this, everything would have been fine.
21) They decided that they would have “some of self, some of God” but leave the impression that it was “all God.”
22) They erred on two point.
a) The lie was enough to destroy them.
b) They also failed in regard to “some of self and some of God.”
c) Luke implies this couple wanted some type of standing or recognition.
d) When people want credit and recognition, a big part of self still exists.
23) Third in our hymn is the idea of “more of thee (Christ) and less of me.”
a) There is a state where we can tie in verses about Christian growth and maturity.
b) In Eph. 4:14-15 Paul spoke about “no longer being children.”
c) Children are by their nature typically centered on their own lives.
d) As they grow and learn more, that center of attention should shift (change).
e) Such is also true in the spiritual realm; more of Christ and less of self.
f) In Eph. 4:15 Paul said, “grow up in all things into him, who is the head” (Christ).
24) In Rom. 8:29 the apostle Paul spoke about being “conformed to the image of Christ.”
a) What do we find in the life of Jesus?
b) The Lord was someone who came to do the will of the Father.
c) It was “all of thee and none of self” in the life of Jesus.
d) Paul spoke of us growing and maturing to this point as well.
e) A daily goal for us should be more of Christ and less of self.
f) It’s a bit like weight loss – more exercise and fewer candy bars.
g) For us to reach the fourth and final state, we must pass through “more of Christ and less of self.”
h) If we do not go through this growth process, we will never find “all of Christ and none of self.”
25) In Phil. 1:6 Paul also spoke about God “perfecting” maturity in the lives of His people.
26) Maturity is less and less of self and more and more of the Lord.
27) There are a number of ways this maturing process works.
a) There is prayer. We have the Bible and by studying it, and it helps lessen the attention on self.
b) We have fellow Christians who can serve as examples as well as encouragers.
c) God’s people can also help point out deficiencies in our Christian lives.
d) Trials will certainly help us love ourselves less and allow us become closer to the Lord.
28) If we know anything about the Bible, two things should not interest to us.
29) The idea of “all of self and none of Christ” is detestable.
a) “Some of self and some of Christ” is also not a place where we want to be.
b) Where we want to be in our life is “less of self and more of thee.”
30) What if we could somehow divide up our lives?
a) Maybe we could graph this, put it on a scale, or use another type of measuring device.
b) We will use the image of a scale for our illustration.
c) On one side of the scale is a balance marked “self” (me/I).
d) On the other side is marked “God.”
e) If we compared the “me side” to the “God” side, which would be heavier?
f) If we were to say, 50/50, would that percentage please God?
g) Our minimum goal should be 51% on the side of God and then we work to increase it.
h) What has just been described is what we actually sing about in some of our songs.
31) Our ultimate goal is none of self and all of Christ.
32) This is what Paul did (Phil. 3:8—“I suffered the loss of all things”).
33) Daniel knew a rule had been passed about prayer but he did not violate God’s will (Dan. 6:7-10).
34) He was willing to continue in his dedication to God in spite of a very serious threat.
35) He put God over self.
36) Moses could have had a glamorous time and life in Egypt but he said no to self (Heb. 11:24-27).
37) Four clear choices are available:
a) All of self and none of God; some of self and some of God;
b) More of God and less of self; all of Christ and none of me. Which have we chosen?
c) Which will be the way we live our lives this week?
d) On the day of judgment, what way will the Lord say we picked?
If we have not made the right choice, there is still one more change to get things right.