[0:00] Hey everybody, good to see you. Good to have my good friend Pastor Mike Lynn here tonight. Would you say hello to him? Say hello Pastor Mike. Yeah, good to have him here. Came all that way from Bangor.
[0:10] It's not Bangor. He'll make fun of you. Do that. It's Bangor. And it's good to have him here and good to have all of you here tonight. I want to thank Ava again for being willing to play with me like that.
[0:21] I'm always thankful for a teenager that's willing to be seen in public with me, let alone play with me. But good to have you here tonight. You know, the Monday night crowd. And Maida asked me to share this with you.
[0:33] The Monday night crowd has always been roughed up. Mondays can be rough, can't they? You made it okay today. And the Monday night crowd kind of reminds me of two brothers I heard about that came up with a get rich scheme.
[0:47] They said, let's introduce bungee jumping to the Mexicans. So they went down there. They lived in California. So it was just a hop over the border and they took all the big tower and they started advertising bungee jumping.
[0:58] Seventy-five bucks. Well, nobody knew what it was. So they said, what we need to do is we need to demonstrate it. So one of the brothers took the rope and tied it around his ankle and jumped off and came back up. He was covered with cuts. Went down again, came back up. He's covered with cuts and blood.
[1:11] His brother reached out, pulled him back on top of the tower and said, what in the world is going on? Did we make the rope too long? What's the deal here? His brother said, I don't know. But what in the world is a pinata? I think Mondays have a tendency to make us feel like pinatas, don't they?
[1:27] But good to have you here on this Monday night and hope you've had a great day. We are memorizing a verse together. Remember, the Jews would have sung this, but we're just going to quote it. It goes like this.
[1:37] Psalm 119, 97. And what's the first word, congregation? Oh, not this. No, David's excited. He's moved. I hope you are too when it comes to the word of God. Oh, how love I thy law.
[1:49] It is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119, 97. Say with me, would you please? Psalm 119, 97. Oh, how love I thy law.
[2:00] It is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119, 97. Good job. Good to have you here tonight. And may I just kind of amen what Pastor said about just inviting people to come out and even your own church members look around you.
[2:15] Know who's not here. Encourage them to be here. That would be a loving thing for you to do, a good thing for you to do. And so may I encourage you to do that. But good, I'm so glad you made it tonight. It's interesting.
[2:25] We have a bigger crowd on Monday night than we did on Sunday morning. That's unusual. And so thank you for being here this evening. Let's get into it. Could we please? Could I invite you to grab your...
[2:36] By the way, before I tell you that, I need... Look, I forgot to say this yesterday. On the little table back there in the foyer, in the hallway back there, I've got four CDs for sale.
[2:47] They're each $15. But if you buy the whole set of four, I'll give them to you for $40. I can take plastic if they help you. But also back there is my prayer card. It's a little bit different than the prayer card I gave you two years ago.
[2:58] I did a little adjustment on the photo. Then the information on the back, I think, has been updated. But if you would like... They're absolutely free if you want to take one of those. And I would just really appreciate and covet your prayer.
[3:10] But if you'll take one of those, they're certainly available to you, okay? All right. Let's get into it. Would you go to your Bible, please? And turn to... Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.
[3:26] And I'd like to take you to chapter four. And let me tell you what's happening in Ephesians. It was Paul's fingerprint that he would always give this great doctrine at the beginning of his letter.
[3:36] And then in the second part of his letter, he would say, this is how you live it. This is how you apply it. So when you come to Ephesians chapter four, where I'm going to have you tonight, please know that Paul has given us some great, wonderful doctrine about the church.
[3:50] And then in chapter four, immediately he starts talking to us about here's how you live it. And friends, may I just remind you tonight that your walk, the way you live, is vitally important to God.
[4:03] Vitally important to you. It should be anyway. The way that we live, and the word for that is the way we live is very, very important.
[4:14] Even you children, even you young people, the way you walk is very, very significant. Very important to God. I like to tell teenagers all the time, and congregations like you, that the Bible has three major themes.
[4:27] Three major themes. Number one, how you and I can know for sure we're going to heaven. That's a big thing. The second theme is, how do I live when I'm going to heaven? Friends, when people know they're going to heaven, it has a direct effect on the way that they live.
[4:42] That's why in 1 John it says, he that hath his hope purifieth himself. Something about knowing that I am saved, and that new nature that's within you and within me has a pull on our lives, where we want to live differently.
[4:54] We want to live according to the Bible. So the second great theme of the Bible is, how do I live once I do know I'm going to heaven? The third theme might shock you. The third theme from cover to cover all through the Bible is, how do you spot a phony?
[5:09] And the way that you spot a phony, people, is by the way they live. By their fruits, you shall know them. That is a theme all through the Bible. So when somebody says, I'm saved, but yet they're not living like it, chances are they're not really saved.
[5:21] It's very easy to fool even our own hearts when it comes to salvation. So when you come to Ephesians chapter 4, Paul, it's a transition. He's a great doctor, as I've said, and now he's going to really hit how we live.
[5:33] And when we read chapter 4, 5, and 6, for the rest of Ephesians, he talks a lot about your tongue, about your marriage, about your work ethic, about your thought life, about gentlemen, how you love your wife.
[5:45] And I remind you that the way you love your wife is very, very significant. Whenever I do a marriage, I always make the groom memorize 1 Peter 3, 7 that says, dwell with them, talking about his wife, dwell with them according to knowledge, lest your prayer It kind of frightens me to think that my prayer could be hindered by the way I treat my wife.
[6:06] Your prayer, sir, can be hindered by the way you treat your wife. So one of the ways that we know that we're saved is the way we treat our marriages are different than the world's. Everything about us, our music, he talks about music in Ephesians chapter 5.
[6:18] Our music is different, what we like. There's a difference in our lifestyle when we know the Lord. And that's kind of the theme that we're going to hit tonight. And you can see that big time in Ephesians chapter 4. And look with me, if you would, please, at verse number 1.
[6:31] And before I read it, I want to teach you, and maybe some of you already know it, but I'd like to teach you kind of a little saying that came up, that was written by a missionary. And listen carefully, because you're going to quote it here in just a minute, okay?
[6:43] I'm going to give you a chance to say it. The quote goes like this. Maybe you've heard it before. Your walk talks and your talk talks. But your walk talks louder than your talk talks.
[6:56] How many of you have heard that before? Would you raise a hand? Most of you have. How many of you have never heard that before? Okay, good, good. I'm glad you're here tonight. Teach us something new. Your walk talks and your talk talks. But your walk talks louder than your talk talks.
[7:09] Isn't that interesting? Say it with me, please. Your walk talks and your talk talks. Your walk talks louder than your talk talks. One more time for Grandma. Your walk talks and your talk talks.
[7:22] But your walk talks louder than your talk talks. Now, that's exactly what Paul is going to hit big time hard in Ephesians chapter 4. And immediately the very first verse is our springboard.
[7:34] Would you look what it says there in verse number 1? Paul says this. I, therefore. Note the word therefore. It's a literary bridge. He's alluding to the first three chapters. I, therefore. The prisoner of the Lord.
[7:46] Could I just stop there for a moment? This is free. But I love how Paul calls himself a prisoner of the Lord. Never once in your Bible does Paul ever call himself a prisoner of Rome.
[7:57] Even though as he's penning this, he's a prisoner of Rome. He's in Rome as a prisoner. But he never calls himself a prisoner of Rome. Let me, let me tell you about that. That absolutely flew in the face of Paul's critics.
[8:10] There were all kinds of critics going around saying, oh, Paul, he's in prison because of God's judgment of what he had said about Judaism. He's in prison. God's judging him. And Paul says, no, he's not.
[8:21] I'm right in the middle of God's will. I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I'm a prisoner of the Lord. I'm right where the Lord wants me. And we are glad that he was where the Lord wanted him because all kinds of people got saved in Rome, including somebody that you know very well by the name of Onesimus, that slave that you read about in Philemon.
[8:41] All kinds of people got saved there in Rome. In fact, when you read Philippians chapter 1, there's a revival going on in the Roman government because of all kinds of soldiers getting saved.
[8:52] But anyway, so he calls himself a prisoner of the Lord. Let me read on, please. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called.
[9:03] You see that word beseech? You might want to circle it. It's a very, very powerful word, church. The word beseech literally means to beg, to plead.
[9:14] Paul is literally pleading and begging with us tonight that you have a life that measures up to the faith that you profess. Again, I repeat, the way that you live right here in New England, the way you live, Christian, is vitally important to God.
[9:29] May I remind you that the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest message ever preached, is all about God telling you through his son that God is far more concerned with what you're like on the inside than what you're like on the outside.
[9:41] God's very concerned about it. Let me tell you why. If you are what you should be on the inside, the outside's going to take care of itself. Paul's very, very concerned that you and I have a life that measures up to what we profess.
[9:56] And so he's literally with these Ephesian believers. He's really, literally begging and pleading. He's almost, almost, please, please, hear me, hear me, hear me. Paul is very, very emotional. It's a very emotional word, that word beseech.
[10:08] And church, can I just plead with you, here you are in very dark New England. How desperately does New England see Christians who live like Christians? You're the light that God has called you to be.
[10:19] Your walk is very, very important to God. So I beseech you. Let's read on. Could we please? It says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy.
[10:32] That word worthy, folks, is kind of fascinating. It's a very, very interesting word. And what I would like to do here tonight is I'd like to kind of demonstrate what worthy means. So I've asked a couple men to help me.
[10:43] So Matthew, would you come up here, please, and just stand maybe right here where this music's in. I'm going to demonstrate to you guys tonight the word worthy, okay? So Matthew, if you would stand right here facing this way, would you please, okay?
[10:54] And then who else was I going to get? Dana. Dana, come up here. Okay, Dana. All right. Dana, would you come up here over here by pastor and face them. Matthew in this direction.
[11:05] Guys face each other, okay? Now, church, I purposely picked these two men because I wanted to get two men that I thought might be roughly about the same weight, the same size.
[11:17] I think I did a good job, okay? I think I did a good job. Now, I would like you to pretend something. I'd like you to pretend that Matthew and Dana are on a teeter-totter, or do you guys call them seesaws?
[11:31] Seesaws, okay? It's interesting how that gets changed from areas in the country. They're on a seesaw, okay? I got Dana over here, and I got Matthew over here on a seesaw. Now, I don't know if you know this, but in California, there are counties that have outlawed seesaws in the playgrounds because California children kept falling off.
[11:48] But anyway, I hope that doesn't happen tonight. So, I've got Dana over here, and I've got Matthew over here on a seesaw. Now, let me ask you a question. Which one would win?
[12:00] Which one would win, okay? Some are pointing at Dana, okay? You don't know, do you? May I remind you that muscle is heavier than flab, okay? Okay, so, you know, and who knows, Dana may have more muscle than Matthew.
[12:16] I don't know, but I know that Matthew's in the construction. He's got a job where he plays with mice. So, you know, anyway, so they may be, I think they might be pretty even.
[12:27] I don't know. All I know is these guys have been on a seesaw. They're probably pretty even, I think. Well, folks, listen. Listen very carefully. This is exactly what the word worthy means.
[12:38] Let's pretend that Matthew represents the Bible. Matthew represents doctrine. Dana represents your life. Dana is representing the way that you, Christian, live the Bible.
[12:52] May I remind you, if you're really saved, there's a desire in your life, there's a desire in your heart, sir, I want to live the truth. Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word.
[13:03] We're all about the Bible and living the Bible. Very, very significant to God. So we're going to let Dana represent your life. All right? So what Paul is saying, what God is saying to you, Paul, is may your life equal, like on a teeter-totter, Matthew or doctrine that you believe.
[13:21] Okay? Do you got the picture? Now, Emma, would you come here, please? Emma's going to help me tonight. Not only is her sister getting a milkshake, so is Emma because she's helping me tonight.
[13:32] Now, let's offer, do all of you know Emma? Emma? I told Emma she didn't have to say anything. She just had to stand here, okay? But would you all say hello, Emma? Okay, let's pretend Emma.
[13:42] Emma's a girl, so no doubt she's pretty confident. Most girls are. Emma walks to the playground, and she sees these guys on the teeter-totter, and she comes over to Dana, and she says, please, Mr. Dana, I want to turn.
[13:54] Would you get off, please? And so Dana, being the kind-hearted man that he is, sits down on the front pew next to Pastor, and who are you? Emma gets on the teeter-totter across from Matthew, okay?
[14:08] What's going to happen? We would be looking for Emma in the clouds. Yes. Boing! Now, friends, I'm glad that a few of you in a day tonight are laughing, because what a picture of some of you tonight.
[14:24] I wonder how many of us, by the way that we live, and I think all of us could name people that we've seen this, could name people where their life is much like Emma, kind of small, kind of not growing much, not much of a testimony, and I'm not talking about Emma.
[14:42] I'm talking about what she represents. I wonder how many of us, in the way that we live, and folks, I see it all the time, how many of us, in the way that we live, cause the world to laugh at Christianity?
[14:55] Look at them. Look at her. She wears what I wear. Look at him. He talks the way I talk. Look at those teenagers. They listen to the same music I listen to.
[15:07] Folks, can I just ask you to ponder something tonight? What is different about you because you're saved? What is a teenager? Are you going to be a Christian? What is different about you? Children, what is different about you? We're very, very concerned that our lives, no matter who we are, we're very concerned that our lives, my Christian...
[15:24] The world's laughing at American Christianity.
[15:35] This is the kind of area tonight that's close to my heart. I was a youth... And I had a young man get saved in my youth group.
[15:47] One of our youth sponsors led him to the Lord. I led his best friend to the Lord a couple weeks before, Brian. Brian went off to Northland Baptist Bible College and graduated from a Bible college.
[16:00] Brian tonight is on... I don't know if you're familiar with the TV show. I hope you're not. And I'll tell you a little bit. There's a TV show on. I've never watched it, nor will I ever. But there's a TV show called The Voice.
[16:12] The Voice. It's a lot like America's Got Talent. Have you ever heard of those shows where these kind of come out of nowhere? I think it's all based on... The original show came out of Britain.
[16:24] Britain's Got Talent, whatever. But anyway, Brian, Northland Baptist Bible College graduate, is on The Voice. And I watched a little bit of it on the internet, on Facebook.
[16:35] Some of it's been posted there, and I watched a little bit of it. And folks, I'll be honest with you, my heart is broken. There's Brian with a mohawk cut. He's probably in his late 30s, early 40s.
[16:47] He knows better. He's had all kinds of problems and trained just like you. And there he is rocking out. I'm in his hard rock. He's singing, screaming, like the rock artists always do.
[17:00] And Brian claims to be a Christian. And I'm not here to debate that. I believe Brian is saved. I really do believe that. But there's Brian taking the name of Jesus Christ and taking it through the mud.
[17:12] What a poor testimony. Brian is Emma. Brian is causing the world to laugh at Christianity. And I wonder at your workplace, sir, at your workplace, ma'am, are people laughing at Christianity because you lose your temper just like they do?
[17:29] You use the same cuss words that they, you listen to the same music, you dress the same kind of style, you have the same kind of language coming out of your mouth? Friends, that is a big, big battle for all of us.
[17:41] And Paul is pleading with you, have a life. Have a life that measures up to the doctrine that you believe. That's what the word worthy means. And Paul is saying, may your walk, may your life.
[17:53] And folks, may I plead with you, even you retirees, being stubborn and being arrogant and proud and sulking and pouting or whatever is a form of just flesh.
[18:08] And friends, may we be reminded tonight, may we be convicted tonight that my life is very much washed. And a lot of people will, especially that are young in the Lord, will kind of hear this principle and their attitude is, well, they shouldn't be watching me.
[18:27] They should not judge. My answer to that is, grow up. Grow up. Christian, you should welcome the fact that people are watching you.
[18:38] God has called you to be light. Light is easy to see. You've been called to be a light house. You've been called to be an example.
[18:49] And you should welcome people watching your family. You should welcome people watching your life so that you get thirsty for what you have. We should all welcome that. I think I've shared this here before, but I'm a professional hockey referee.
[19:01] In fact, I fly home on Thursday, and that night I'm doing a game there in Greenville for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. And I love hockey. By the way, Emma, you can sit down. Dana and Matt, thank you very much.
[19:12] I appreciate that. Appreciate your help tonight. That was perfect. Emma, you did a good job. Your mom is doing a good job. I don't know about your dad, but your mom is doing a good job. But I've been doing this now for about 10 years.
[19:26] They use me when I'm in Greenville. And when I first started working with these guys, you've got to understand, the hockey culture is really, really rough. It's a rough arena.
[19:37] It's rough, as all professional sports are, I'm told. And the guys that I worked with, it didn't take them more than five minutes to realize there was something different about it.
[19:48] I didn't talk about the Lord yet. Oh, I have. Don't get me wrong. I have sense. But when I first got there, I was just kind of meeting people, and they study you. They know immediately, you're not using the F word.
[20:02] You're not using the cuss words. There's something. Immediately, I was pegged. And folks, you should welcome that. You should welcome that. I had a man come to me, a Jewish man who was on the crew a couple years ago, come to me.
[20:15] And he said, Mike, you seem to have your act together. Could we have lunch? I want to find out what makes you tick. I want what you have. Now, he didn't get saved, but I sure had an opportunity to have a Bible study with him and plant the seed.
[20:28] Friends, we should welcome that. There should be something different about you so that people, when they watch you, they realize, hey, you're different. Friends, we, that, that, our teeter-totter, may our, may your teeter-totter be not laughable, but something that is a good example that people could watch and learn and get thirsty and want what you have.
[20:47] And friends, we, that doesn't happen when we run to a corner and hide. We, we, we should be friendly and outgoing and, and being aggressive and, and doing what our pastor says about giving out those, those flyers and, and just being, just having, you shouldn't welcome that.
[21:02] You should welcome that because you want to be a testimony. So that's what Paul's talking about. So would you look how he ends the verse, okay? Let me go back to verse number one. He says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, plead with you, I beg you, that you walk worthy of the, next word out loud, church.
[21:21] I have made it a personal conviction and I am not suggesting for a moment that you do the same. This is totally Mike Schrock.
[21:32] But I, for the last 10 years, ever since I started really understanding this verse, I have never walked up to anybody that's a Christian and said, what's your vocation? I will not do that.
[21:44] I've never done that. I wouldn't, I would not walk up to Matt and say, what's your vocation? Let me tell you why. Because chances are, you're going to give me the wrong answer. The answer that I would get, if I were to walk up to Matt and I say, Matt, what's your vocation?
[21:57] Matt would say, well, I'm a contractor. If you walk up to my wife and you were to ask her, what's your vocation? She would say, I'm a nurse. Now, I don't know what you do, but I never ask a man.
[22:08] What I do say is this, what do you do to make an income? What do you do for a living? Now, let me tell you why, friends, because your vocation is not your job. Your vocation is your faith.
[22:21] That job is just a stepping stone. That job is just a tool to put bread on the table. Your vocation is the Lord Jesus Christ. You ought to be known for the Lord Jesus Christ where you work, where you live.
[22:35] That is your number one calling, your number one vocation. Let me illustrate. As you know, many of you know, I love football. I really do. I love football.
[22:45] I'm a big football fan, and I know some of you are too. I like the Patriots, okay? They're kind of my second favorite team. The Seahawks are my favorite team because I was raised there. Please don't think less of me. But for a while, my favorite football player ever, so you New Englanders are going to like this, my favorite football player ever was a man by the name of Doug Flutie.
[23:08] Doug Flutie. I just loved Doug Flutie. I have a picture in my office where Doug Flutie has his hands on my son's shoulder. My wife took it. He was at a local Costco down there in Hartford for some kind of promotion, and my wife and son were there, and she got his autograph.
[23:26] Anyway, anyway, I like Doug Flutie. Let me tell you why, people. Doug Flutie is this big. You are looking at the physique of Doug Flutie.
[23:37] You really are. Now, let me tell you about guys this size. Guys this size don't make it in the NFL. They don't make it in football. They die. They get killed. But Doug Flutie is just absolutely amazing.
[23:50] He was a phenomenal, and I realize I'm selling ice to Eskimos right now. All of you know exactly what I'm talking about. But Doug Flutie was really popular at Boston College while I was attending kind of the rival to Boston College called Boston University.
[24:02] They're all on the same avenue, Common Hill Avenue. But anyway, I got to watch Doug Flutie. I really, really, I followed his career very, very carefully. He's still on TV, by the way. He's a commentator.
[24:13] But Doug Flutie, for those of you ladies and men that might not be familiar with him, he played for Boston College. He won the Heisman Trophy, which is the premier trophy that a football player can win on the college level.
[24:23] He was really, really good, and he was a quarterback. He was a scrambler. He was fast. I loved to watch him play, and I just was so, so for Doug Flutie. Well, one summer, while Doug Flutie was still the athlete that he was, he played for, he set all kinds of records up in the Canadian Football League, and then he played for the Buffalo Bills, and he played for the Chicago Bears, and he played for the New Jersey General that was owned by Donald Trump.
[24:49] Anyway, let's not go down that road. So anyway, one summer, my wife and I are traveling. We were at a hotel, and I think my wife is in the bathroom, you know, to shower, whatever, and so I flipped on the TV.
[25:01] It was like July or August. I think it was July because it was our anniversary, and I flipped on the TV, and there was Doug Flutie, okay, but he wasn't playing football. Doug Flutie was in a contest called a hot shot.
[25:14] I don't know if you remember this, but what they used to do is they used to take superstars like Doug Flutie and Lance Armstrong and Terrell Owens and these guys, and they had them competing in sports that were not what they were known for, and when I flipped on my TV, there was Doug Flutie playing basketball, and it was kind of a hot shot type where they had different spots on the court that if you made the shot from that spot, you got a certain number of points for that spot.
[25:38] Like if it was close to the basket, you got two points. If it was way far, you could get as much as five, and in one minute time limit, you had shot as many times as you could from the very spot on the court. Are you with me?
[25:49] Am I making sense? Am I going too fast? Okay. So anyway, it was Doug Flutie's turn, and he went out there and he shot the lights out. I mean, he's a good basketball player, and he won that contest.
[26:01] He won it. He won it. Now, I got a question for you. Before I ask it, let me tell you what I thought. There I was watching TV, and my man is playing basketball.
[26:13] I remember thinking, Doug, what are you doing? Why in the world would you lower yourself to play girly basketball when everybody knows you're a football player?
[26:24] Doug, what in the world? What are you doing? Congregation, let me ask you, what's Doug doing? Why is he playing basketball? Why?
[26:35] For a cause? What's that cause? A paycheck. He got thousands of dollars for winning that contest. He was being paid to play.
[26:46] But everybody knows, everybody knows who follows football that Doug Foody's a football player. Ladies and gentlemen, what a picture of you. What a picture of you.
[26:57] Everybody should know. Oh, she's a Christian. He's a Christian. He's always talking about the Lord. He's always promoting the Lord. He's always promoting heaven. He's always talking about the Bible.
[27:08] That job that you do, whether it's a teacher or a contractor or a nurse or whatever it might be, that's just to put money in your pocket. That's just to put bread on the table.
[27:19] But everybody should know you are a Christian. Folks, that's our number one calling. And Paul is saying here in Ephesians chapter 4 in verse number 1, may our vocation, our calling, be as it becometh, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[27:35] May our teeter-totter be what it ought to be, that my life measures up to what God wants to be. Folks, what a theme all through the Bible. That's a major theme.
[27:47] And Paul is going to, as he continues in Ephesians chapter 4, 5, and 6, he's going to talk about your marriage. He's going to talk about what kind of music you listen to. He's going to talk about the words that come out of your mouth.
[27:57] Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth in Ephesians 4. He's going to talk about your thought life. He's going to talk about all kinds of issues. And may God help us to measure up to what He would have us be.
[28:09] Amen? Amen. All right. Well, I am done. There's still 15 minutes left. I got lots of time to preach tonight. I'm going to let you go early so that you'll come back tomorrow night, okay? I've been preaching for about 35 minutes, and so I'm done.
[28:24] I guess we could have had more music, but thank you for being here tonight. Good to have you here. And may God bless you as you live for Him. Let's do a word of prayer. Heavenly Father,