Part 2 - 02-18-19

Title: Men Livin' on Ten Part 2
Teacher: Brother Bennett
Date: February 18, 2019
Attendance: 5
Premise: Understanding and appropriating 10 virtues of Christ Jesus.
Opening Prayer: Brother Crawford

Sermon: Good morning, people of God. Last week we began a message titled, Men Livin' on Ten. We are going through ten virtues of Christ Jesus to understand them better, but learning how to better appropriate them so that, like Christ, we can be men livin on ten. So far, we have gone through four virtues. Can anyone here tell me what those four virtues are? Brother Justin, can you give me two of them? "Love and peace," that is correct. Can anyone give us the other two! Brother Crawford? "Joy is one of them. The other is self-control." Love, joy, peace, and self-control are four of the ten virtues men livin' on ten possess. This week we will learn the virtues of hope, patience, and kindness/goodness; we will start with 5) Hope; let us turn to Hebrews 6:19-20 (read); I've heard it said that death humbles us all. This is definitely true. But why? I believe because it is the inevitable reality of all humankind. We all will, at some point, die. And the mention of death, or the presence of it through the loss of a loved one, even a stranger forces us to face this reality. I would say this reality is more of a constant for men on death row like ourselves. Yeah, it safe to say death has a way of stealing from us all we hold precious. Our love, our joy, our peace, and our hope. With no hope beyond this present life, these virtues are about as temporal as this present life. But with our hope in Jesus, the Anchor of our souls, deaths victory and sting is swallowed up in the victory of Christ Jesus. Dear brothers and friends, we may exist in this temporal life, but we live in eternal life, eternal hope. Let us turn to Hebrews 11:1 (read); Faith assures us of eternity, but we live in and are anchored by the hope that Christ is at the other end of this journey. Amen? Amen. To better understand the virtues of hope, so that we can become men livin on ten, it is important to understand what faith is. When we exercise faith, when we choose to exercise faith, we have no idea what is coming ahead, but we trust in God; we trust that He knows that He loves us and that He is in control; no matter what. We can see this throughout the Bible, starting in Genesis Lets turn to Genesis chapter 12 and see how God worked in Abram's life and how Abram responded by faith. Genesis 12:1-4 (read); Abram expressed faith, and the word tells us in verse 4, "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him." Abram listened to God and acted on what God said. Hebrews 11:1 gives us a memorable definition of faith. Hebrews 11:1 tells us, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." If faith is where we begin, then hope is where we end. Hope is the conviction of knowing where the road of faith ends; it is confident in what God says! Just like Abram. Hope gives us the ability to endure the hardships and struggles along the road of faith. We walk by faith in the hope of the Lord. I want to say that again. "We walk by faith in the hope of the Lord." Let us say this together, "we walk by faith in the hope of the Lord," Amen. Now that we have a better understanding of what and who hope is let's talk about what hope is not. If we live in the hope of present circumstances and get better, this is a bad idea. Why is this a bad idea? I'm so glad you asked. It's a bad idea because we cannot sustain this type of hope. In Ecclesiastes 1:14, Solomon writes, "I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold all is vanity and striving after wind." Solomon wisely learned that we all get old, our hair and teeth will fall out, things will stop working correctly, and as we discussed earlier. We all will one day die. Putting our hope in the people, places, and things of this life will lead to disappointments. Solomon called life without reference to God, meaningless, "a chasing after the wind." But Jesus, the living hope, offers something more. He provides what is true and secures the hope of eternal life in Him. Let us turn to Romans 8:23-25 (read). As Christians, we must place our hope on the promise of what God has told us will come, and that Jesus is on the other side of this life. Titus 3:7 (read); It is this hope that gives the ability, the perspective, to endure the inevitable bumps and bruises we experience in this life. Daily, especially in prison, we have little choice but to stay focused on the physical world. We got things not going right, things taking too long, we got noise keeping us up, the trays late, then the cold and short when they do get here, it seems so many things just take our attention. The hope of a future where God already resides and is in control, coupled with a home prepared for his beloved children, encourages us to keep looking forward, fixing our eyes on Jesus and not on this world. Hebrews 12:1-2 (read); Our minds can be our greatest enemy or our strongest ally. Proverbs 23:7; tells us, "So shall a man think so shall he be…" How we think, what we "choose" to set our minds on, is what we will do and ultimately become.
Romans 8:6; tells us, "For the mindset on the flesh is death, but the mindset on the Spirit is life and peace" Colossians 3:2 (read); Focusing on hope for today, our future and into eternity, creates a positive, optimistic, steadfast and secure mindset. This is what I like to call a "Hopeful Conviction." In this very negative, mean spirited environment and culture we live in, the person with an attitude of hope will not only be healthier mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually but will also draw others to this real hope. Let us reread Colossians 3:2. The Bible describes this as a new way to think. For millions of Christians, the hope of Jesus Christ, who is above seated at the right hand of God, allows them to survive all odds, even to die in peace under dire circumstances. Dear brothers, beloved friends, the good news is we can face death in hope, but the even better news is we do not have to wait. We can experience the hope of Jesus Christ now! Psalm 33:20-22 (read) Men who choose to rest in the hope of the Lord are Men livin on ten.

Let us turn to Proverbs 14:29 to learn our next virtue. Let us read Proverbs 14:29 (read) The next virtue of men livin on ten is 6) Patience; "Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding. But he who is quickly tempered exalts folly." What I want us to focus on here is the order. We will be using a simple "cause and effect" to do this. "Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding" Patience, being slow to anger, is the effect of a cause. So what is the cause? That's correct; understanding is the cause. Look at the verse again, "Whoever is slow to anger "has" great understanding… our understanding ultimately determines how patient we are. Our understanding of people, places, and things help us to be patient, and ultimately, as we grow in our understanding of God, He helps us to be more patient. Let us turn to Ephesians 4:1-2; (read); In the NT, the Greek word "macrothumos" is often translated into English as "patience." This Greek word is a compound word. That means its made up of two words put together. Those two words are "makro" meaning, long, and "thumos" meaning, wrath. When you put these two words together, it carries the idea of "taking a long time to burn with anger." Some translations use the word "long-suffering." The idea is that we will display restraint in situations where the world would feel we have the right to criticize, complain about, defend against, or even attack another person's behavior. But this virtue goes even deeper to the idea that we will reflect mercy toward the other person as a sign of our inner character's strength. "Whoever is patient has great understanding. But those who are quickly tempered exalt folly." So what is this understanding that allows us to be patient, long-suffering? As we discussed before, it is our understanding of others, our experience. But it is also seeing them through God's eyes. 2 Peter 3:9 (read); We understand that we love them by being patient with them. By faith, we understand that a greater work, his work, occurs when we are patient. We must also see them through the understanding of our own experiences. We once, in some way, we're just like them, and because of His grace, because of His patient, we have been delivered. Romans 12:3; 1 Corinthians 6:11 (read);

There is another compound word for "patience" in Greek. It's the word "hoop-om-en-o;" The two words that make up this word "patience," often translated "perseverance," is "hoop-o" meaning, under, and "mano" meaning, to remain. When you put these two words together, they carry the idea "to remain under" the unavoidable pressures of life. These are the pressures that are just a part of life. These situations, for the most part, are out of our control. Does anyone here know what self-imposed pressures are? These are the pressures we place on ourselves due to the poor choices we make. I think it goes without saying, these pressures should be avoided. Whether the pressure is a part of life or the result of a poor choice we have made, God encourages us "to remain under pressure." For many many years, I choose to relieve the pressure, most of which was self-imposed, by doing something that only made the bad situation worse. Instead of drawing closer to God, I chose everything else. Let us turn to Romans 5:1-5 (read); Look at verse 3, "And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations. Knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance…" (Some translations use the word "patience instead of "perseverance.") It says, "Knowing that." Remember our key verse for this virtue, Proverbs 14:29 "Whoever is patient, "has great understanding." Now look at Romans 5:6; again… "but we also exult in our tribulation (here it is), "knowing that" tribulation brings about perseverance/patience." Do you see the parallel principle here, it is the believers understanding that not only allows them to be patient but also allows them to exult in the trials and troubles of this life. So what is the Christians "understanding" that produces patience, this "knowing," which allows us to exult in times of tribulation? Let us turn to Hebrews Chapter 12; we'll read verses 4 through 11. In our Christian walk, the only way God can teach us patience is to allow circumstances by which we must wait on him. All too often, though we get tired of this process and start trying to make things happen or exercising patience, by trusting in God, we choose another way – drugs, devices, fighting, cursing, suicide. Dear brothers and friends, these pressures are real, but so is His hope. Let us turn back to Romans 5 again, read verses 3-5; "…and hope does not disappoint…" The word "hope" here means great expectation, confidence. Dear brothers, it is here we find our understanding. Our understanding that choosing to be patient toward others proves the greatest work as we trust and obey God and our understanding that what we are experiencing can be used by God to cultivate virtue and moral perfection as we trust in him. "He who is patient has great understanding," let us turn to Ecclesiastes 7:8; "The end of the mother is better than the beginning" There is a great work that is brought forth from understanding, and this work is that of wisdom. The word "understanding" in Proverbs 14:29, our key text for this virtue of patience, is what is called a wisdom word as it represents the act of wisdom. Job 26:12b; Proverbs 8:1; and James 3:17-18 (read) all give an example of this concept. Men Livin' on ten have great understanding, and men with a great understanding of dear brothers, have patience. One of the greatest testimonies of our faith in God is our patience through the inevitable trials and tribulations of this life. This is a direct reflection of our faith in God.

The next virtue found in Men Livin' on Ten is 7) Kindness/Goodness. Let us turn to 1 Thessalonians 5:15; (read)… "but always seek after that which is good" the word "good" comes from the Greek word "agathos" meaning, that which is beneficial. What is beneficial? Jesus Christ and His Word! Amen? Amen. We are told in verse 21, "hold fast to that which is good," the word "good" here is from the Greek word Kal-os, and it describes the intrinsic value of something or someone. In verse is the context is "why" we should "seek after good for (the benefit) of one another and all men." The meaning in verse 21 is "what" or "who" is right. We are told, "for the good and benefit of others hold fast to Christ and his word." If you recall early on in this message, in talking about the virtue of love, we read Matthew 5:43-44; where we see mostly the same principal, and instruction, as in the verses we just read. We are called to love our enemies, to "Seek after that which is beneficial to them." Dear brothers, loving our enemies, loving one another, showing Kindness/Goodness, is beneficial. Returning evil for evil, hate for hate, this only perpetuates the evil or hatred.

Dr. Martin Luther King said, "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Logically, when we repeat something, we duplicate and increase it. Countering evil and hate with Kindness/Goodness, with love, stops the increase. The lifestyle for the Christian should be the actions of Jesus, not the reactions of the world. Do we not see that it is our actions that either encourage or discourage others from loving and from doing good. The best way to change others is by changing ourselves. Why? Because the change in use will be demonstrated. Let us turn to 1 Peter 3:1 (read);… "even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by their wives' behavior." Now I'm sure some of you may be thinking, "this verse is talking about husbands and wives what does this have to do with the message?" Bear with me here, dear brothers. We just talked about patience! My goodness. Okay, first, we will identify the principal. Let's begin about the third line, right after husbands" So that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives." The actions of the wife have the ability, the power, to win the disobedient husband. Remember, the best way to change others is by changing ourselves. Why? Because this change will be demonstrated, and that demonstration influences others. Now let's modify the verse and apply it to the message "…even tho the world may be disobedient, unloving, cruel, selfish and evil, they may be xxxx by our behavior." When we demonstrate Kindness/Goodness to those around us, we give them something new, something good, to react. We present them Jesus Christ, Dear Brothers. Kindness/Goodness is the outcome of an intentional Christian lifestyle. Let us turn to Luke 10:30-35 (read) Do you see it, verses 33-34 "…but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all men" This is precisely what the Samaritan did.

Now we all know someone who will do a good deed occasionally, who will exhibit kindness toward you, but you wouldn't necessarily describe them as a "kind person." In the same manner, we can also think of someone who exhibits kindness consistently because this is "who" the person is. There is a difference between "doing something kind" and "being a Kind person." Often doing something kind comes with strings attached. No, where does this seem more evident than in prison, especially between inmates and officers? Being kind is not only an investment to the benefit of others; it's a dividend that comes as we appropriate Christ in our lives. We are kind becomes he who lives inside us is kind. Each day we should ask God to give us opportunities to take the Kindness/Goodness he is depositing in our lives and give it to others. In every conversation we have, we have to try to do or say something kind because it is "for the good of others." So often, Kindness/Goodness is merely short-lived efforts to woo someone for the benefit of the person doing the deed. We want to be kind because it has a return. We should be kind because we are kind. Not long ago, I read a short story that illustrates this point.

"One day, a man was entering a restaurant at the same time as a woman. The man, noticing the woman approaching, stepped to the side, opened the door, and said "after you ma'am" The woman stopped and, looking at the man said, "You just opened the door because I'm a woman huh" to which the man replied with a smile, "No ma'am. I opened the door because I'm a gentleman." His kindness was not determined by who she was, but by who he was Kindness/Goodness, men Livin' on Ten, act as they are no matter the individual. Let us turn to 2 Peter 1:7-11; (read); Kindness is a virtue of Christ, and the more we practice this virtue, the more efficient we will be in the lives of others. We must exhibit the Kindness/Goodness we now possess and desire to see in others. So that all men may be men livin on ten.

Alright, dear brothers, we will pause right here. Next week we will wrap up this message with the final three virtues Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Humility. Brother Charles, will you take us out in prayer, please.