In a family setting, fathers must play many different roles in order to make family life function well. Some of these roles may include garbage man, plumber, handyman, TV repair man, chef, groundskeeper, and others.
But I think the role that fathers have really perfected is that of motivational speaker. These speakers talk sometimes for 30, 40, maybe 50 minutes, sometimes maybe an hour, and they expend a lot of words trying to inspire you and motivate you.
Fathers, on the other hand, have motivational speaking down to a science. All they need sometimes is one phrase to get their kids going in the right direction. Think about the motivational power in phrases like: “If I have to stop this car;” “If I have to get out of this chair;” “Don’t make me come in there!” Or what about the other side of things? Think about the motivational power in phrases like: “I’m proud of you, son;” “That’s my girl.”
Like a good coach, many fathers offer their children a combination of both positive encouragement and negative reinforcement to motivate them toward proper behavior. Since God refers to himself as our spiritual father, it should be no surprise that God offers us the same thing to motivate us to obey Him. He offers us the promise of rewards and the warning of discipline to spur us on to obey His commands.
It is important for us to address this matter as we conclude our study of eternal security, because many people criticize the idea of eternal security along these lines. They say that eternal security leaves us without a strong motivation to obey God. So if eternal security is true—as I have argued it is over the last several weeks—then what is our motivation to serve God?
As we will see today, we have many motivations to serve the Lord—both to enjoy positive blessings and to avoid negative experiences. Let’s talk about these negative experiences and get them out of the way!
What are the negative experiences that we may face for sinning against the Lord?
I. We may face the natural consequences of our sin
A. Punishment from legal authorities—Romans 13:1–5
If we choose to sin against the Lord, we may also find ourselves in trouble with the law. This won’t always be the case, because not everything that God considers sinful is necessarily illegal. For example—if we lie on the witness stand, that’s called perjury, and that’s illegal. But if we lie in our personal relationships with one another, that’s usually not illegal. But if we sin in a way that violates God’s law and the laws of our city, state, or country, we could find ourselves in trouble with the law. Notice what Paul had to say in Romans 13 [READ Rom 13:1–5]
What Paul says about human government here can be tough to swallow because human governments all have one major problem—they’re made up of humans! Humans are imperfect and sinful, so human governments face the same problems—they make mistakes and they may even pervert God’s standards of right and wrong. But nevertheless, the purpose of human government remains—they are to reward good and punish evil, so if we choose evil, we may face legal punishment as a consequence for our sins.
But Romans 13:5 brings up another consequence that we may face when it mentions the conscience…
B. Psychological suffering (guilt, anxiety, etc.)—Psalm 32:2–5, Proverbs 28:1
Look at Psalm 32:2–5 [READ Psalm 32:2–5]. David is describing here how he felt when he sinned against the Lord and failed to renew his relationship with the Lord by confessing that sin. He was riddled with guilt, which started to take a physical toll on him. We might experience the same thing—guilt may keep us up at night; it may increase our stress level as we worry about whether someone is going to find out about our sin. Proverbs 28:1 describes this kind of fear—“The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
In addition to these natural consequences is the second experience that we may face for sinning against the Lord. Not only might we face the natural consequences of our sin, but…
II. We may face divine discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11; 1 Cor. 11)
The consequences that we just discussed flow naturally out of sinful choices; they are natural consequences that are to be expected. But in certain situations, God may choose to intervene directly in our lives to bring about some kind of consequence. Look with me at Hebrews 12:3–11 [READ Hebrews 12:5–11].
These verses compare God to a loving father, and for good reason. When he disciplines us for doing wrong, it is to help us grow, to help us learn so that we won’t pursue the same course of action again. God wants something better for us, so he lets us know that what we did was wrong. When we were young and we went out and played in the street, our parents disciplined us because they knew the danger involved, and they wanted something better for us. When we shoplifted that candy bar from the gas station, they disciplined us because they wanted something better for us. That is God’s motivation, too! The Bible says that God is love, so everything he does is tempered by an inclination to work for our good, not for our harm. This is how we need to view God’s discipline, because his discipline is kind of like a visit to the dentist—it doesn’t feel good, but it’s still good for us.
In extreme cases, God’s discipline may even involve sickness and death. That was the case in the church at Corinth, where some people were showing contempt for the Lord’s Supper in the way that they were treating their fellow Christians. 1 Corinthians 11:30 says, “That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.”
Some of you will remember The Cosby Show, where Bill Cosby played Dr. Cliff Huxtable. Dr. Huxtable had a line that he used to deliver to his kids when they were in trouble. He would give them a look, and then he would say, “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!” What we need to understand is that God really does have that right! Life and death both reside in the divine prerogative of God—the creator and giver of life.
Now if that seems pretty extreme, one thing we need to remember is that even after we become children of God, our sins are not somehow less offensive to God. Even though we have an eternal, saving relationship with God that he will not sever, his justice still points toward discipline for sin.
Now before we move on, please understand this—God does not long for opportunities to discipline us, nor should we think that every bad thing that happens to us is an act of discipline from God. The book of Job teaches us that that is simply not the case. God is a just God which means that he will always discipline in a way that is fair.
So we may experience these things today, and we may experience some other things down the road. We must never forget that the Lord Jesus is going to return someday, and if we choose to sin against God…
III. We may face shame at Christ’s return
Just like we felt shame if our parents caught us doing something wrong, we will feel ashamed if the Lord returns while we are on a sinful path. 1 John 2:28 says, “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.”
But not only will we be ashamed at that moment—Christ will be ashamed of our actions, too. In Mark 8:38, Jesus says, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
How sad to think that the moment of the Lord’s return may actually be a moment of embarrassment and shame for us rather than a moment of great joy. As children of God, we have the privilege of looking forward to that day with great excitement and anticipation. We should be eagerly awaiting the Lord’s return, not worrying about whether he will come while we are walking a sinful path. How sad it will be if we stand ashamed before the Lord the first time we see him with our own eyes!
I think these motivations are very powerful in their own right, but there are also some positive motivations that should lead us to serve God.
What are the positive motivations that should lead us to serve God?
I. A desire to bring glory to God—Matthew 5:14–16
To glorify something means that you bring praise and honor to its name or reputation. When you glorify something, it has the potential to raise other people’s opinions of that object. With the choices that we make in life, that is exactly what we want to do in behalf of God. We want to show other people what makes God so great in the hopes that we might raise their opinions of God. Jesus describes this in Matthew 5:14–16 [READ Matt 5:14–16]
Now what Jesus is describing is not showing off or trying to look “holier-than-thou.” He is simply saying that there is an attractiveness to godly behavior that can be recognized by other people, and when people see that attractiveness in our lives, it may lead them to a higher opinion of God. It may lead them to glorify God because of what they have seen of him in us. What an awesome thought, to think that the people around us can be moved by what they see of God in us! The desire to see this response from others is a powerful motivation to serve God. If we believe that God is worthy of such high praise and honor, we should live in such a way that will lead others to acknowledge the same.
II. A desire to show gratitude to God—Colossians 2:6–7
Paul describes this motivation in Col 2:6–7 when he writes, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” I don’t think Paul is exaggerating here when he calls us to be “abounding in thanksgiving,” because we really do have so much to be thankful for. We can hardly thank God enough for all that he has done to provide us with forgiveness for our sins, and on top of that, God gives us new blessings each and every day. Every day that we have is a fresh gift from God. Every meal that we eat is a present from Him. Every little thing in our possession is a gift from his gracious hand.
This motivation is such a helpful one when we are going through difficult times. I think Johnson Oatman was right when he wrote, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings—name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” I think God’s blessings are only surprising to us because we have received so many of them that it’s hard to remember them all. So all in all, we have much to be thankful for, so gratitude for God’s blessings should be a powerful motivation for us to serve him.
III. A desire to enjoy the normal fruits of godly behavior—Proverbs
The entire book of Proverbs is based on this observation—that there are natural consequences for sinful behavior, and normal fruits for godly behavior. The Proverbs tell us what the normal outcome of our behavior will be unless God chooses to intervene in a different way for His own reasons.
The normal fruit of godly behavior is always something that is desirable. According to Proverbs, the normal fruit of hard work and diligence is success. The normal fruit of wise, honest financial planning is prosperity. The normal fruit of humility is honor from God. The normal fruit of appropriate discipline for your kids is godly character. This is the way that God has established his world, so that we would have the motivation to choose godly behavior.
IV. A desire to reign with Christ in His future kingdom—Luke 19:11–27
I won’t elaborate much on this idea because we talked about it extensively a few weeks ago. Just remember the basic truth that we’re talking about here—according to the Bible, Jesus will return to the Earth someday to establish a kingdom of peace and godliness over which He will rule for 1,000 years. Since we are His servants and His spiritual siblings, He offers us the opportunity to rule under Him in His government, but this is not a guaranteed reward for all Christians—it will be given to us in response to our faithfulness in this life. We will all live in Jesus’ kingdom and enjoy it, but we will not all be given the opportunity to serve Jesus in this special way.
We have been given so many remarkable reasons to serve our God. With all of these things in mind, is it not worth it to serve the Lord? Is it not worth it to bring honor to his name by displaying the beauty of his character in our lives? Is it not worth it to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him? Is it not worth it to endure shame and disgrace and hardship for him today, knowing that if we do we will hear from him “well done, good and faithful servant?” It is worth it, and we will discover that if we make that choice today.
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