The One In The Mirror by Kevin Allen August 28, 2022 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN) Kind: sermon Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:16, 2 Timothy 1:7, 1 Timothy 4:6-10, 1 Timothy 4:12, 1 Timothy 4:12, 1 Samuel 15:22 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kevin-allen--the-one-in-the-mirror Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ Things will feel a little bit different today. It's meant to be that way, so I'm not making any apologies. Just want you to know, from the very onset of this message, this is a very personal message. Can you say that? Let me say, it's personal. It's personal. Word. God's always personable today. I just feel like I need to emphasize that. I need to make that statement so that you understand it's personal. As I preach today, I want you to keep saying that to yourself: this is personal. I need to think about it. It's a personal word today. First Timothy 4, verse 16. Paul writing to his young protege Timothy. The chapter itself — Oliver — chapter 4, for the most part, especially from verse 6 through 16, he's given instructions to Timothy about things that he needs to do. But he, he brings it down and it gets real personal in verse 16. The Lord drew me here a few weeks ago. This one's been simmering in my spirit, and I pray that God help me deliver it to us today. It says this in verse 16: "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you." Once you notice in this verse, Paul's very specific, very direct with his instructions. He makes it personal when he says, "Take heed to yourself." Repeat that with me: "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them. In doing this you will save yourself and those who hear you." But you notice he did not say, "Take he to the doctrine and then to yourself." It was not his instructions. He, he put it in order the way he intended for Timothy to receive it: "Take heed to yourself and the doctrine." And if you do this — you do this — you cannot only change yourself, but those around you can be changed as well. It is this thought that I bring you this message titled, "The One in the Mirror." "The One in the Mirror." Will you bow your heads with me and close your eyes? Don't say a prayer. Holy God, right now I'll come before you, and I pray that your will would be accomplished in this message today. I pray, God, that I could deliver it the way you intended for it to be done. Pray, God, that I would speak the words only you give me, and no more. In Jesus' name we pray, and amen. As I stand here now looking in the mirror, I want to speak to the one I see staring back at me this morning. I have something to say to you, for God has given me a word, and I want you to hear me when I tell you that you need to listen to what I'm saying. The more I grow in my knowledge and understanding of God, the more I realize just how much God's desire for my life is to be successful. It is his desire for all of his children to be successful. I grew up a little different day than we're living in now. Over on Spring Street, Brother Tedrick used to often preach about heaven and hell and sin, and this was all good stuff. I needed it in my life. But for some reason, as a young man, I viewed God as if he was peering over the portals of heaven, looking down on me with lightning in his hand, just waiting for the moment that I would make a mistake so that he could crash down up on top of me. And this caused fear early on in my life. Now I want to say that Brother Teddy didn't do anything wrong. What he was preaching, he preached as God gave him the inspiration. But me and my, my young age, I had a, maybe, a skewed view of what God was really like, and it caused me to live with some fear. But as I began to grow older, and as I began to study the Word of God myself, I began to understand that this was not really the case. I began to see that God had mercy, and he was tender, and that he was long suffering, and he was a God that was good, and he was constantly trying to encourage me to become all that I could become, and he was making promises that he was given to me, that I could hang on to in my life. I seen this out of God: that he was patient, that he was kind, and his desire was that I would succeed in life. God wants to bless my life. That does not necessarily mean monetary gain, but it does not exclude that either. There are blessings for my life because of the goodness of God. The Bible is full of things that are for me — blessings and, and goodness for me to ingest, to become part of who I am — things for me to align my life with, according to his word, according to his plan, to bring about an expected end that he has just for me in my life. Paul was writing to Timothy, and much like a father writing to a son, he's given Timothy encouragement, because it seems like Timothy was struggling with some self-esteem issues. Paul said this in, in the, in the second book there to Timothy. He said in chapter one, verse number seven: "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." It was the same Paul writing to Timothy that they gave the instructions in chapter four that I read to you. But I want to back up just a little bit before verse number 16. I want to read verse number six, because he's saying this: "If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little — boy, somebody said amen out there, I know — but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of life that is now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe." Go into verse number 12: "Let no one despise your youth." Timothy — he comes to the end of the thought. It gets really personal with Timothy. He meets him right where he is, because we, we have a God in our life. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? We have a God in our life who knows exactly where we are, and he meets us right in our moment. He's meeting Timothy in this moment, and he's saying, "Don't let anybody despise your youth. I know the things you're thinking. I know the fear that's in your mind. I know how you've already built the case of why you're not going to be successful. But Timothy, don't let anybody despise your youth. Have confidence in the moment where you are and what you're doing. Be a believer. Lead them in conduct and love and faith and purity. Timothy, if you do all these things, however, if you miss my last point, it's all for nothing. Timothy, you must take heed unto yourself. If you forget this, the rest doesn't matter. It's all for naught." So I'm here this morning to tell you, the one in the mirror, I'm giving you the same message that Paul gave Timothy: you must take heed unto yourself. Listen to me, one in the mirror: if you get this right, not only will it have implications in your life, but it has the opportunity to spill over into the other lives around you. I know that you're aware that everywhere you go, and people that you're around, you impact, you make a touch. But are you doing it for the good, or are you doing it for the bad? Because Paul is telling you — he's telling you, one in the mirror — are you listening to what he's saying? That you have to pay attention to what you're doing. You have to pay attention to the life you're living. You must be aware of what's going on, because it just doesn't have an impact on you, but everybody else you come in contact with is impacted by the life that you're living. Pay attention, one in the mirror. You're not living on an island by yourself. You're not isolated all alone, but there's others that are watching every move you make and everything that comes out of your mouth. You're not by yourself. Pay attention. He says, "Take heed," but our modern language would simply be — and if you literally translated the Greek word, it says, "Pay attention." Listen to me, one in the mirror. You were here today not because someone else did something to you, not because someone else sold you out. The things that are in your life are not because others were there. Yes, they may have had a small part to play, but the reason you're here today is because the decisions that you've made, choices that you've made. You listen to me, one in the mirror: it's things that you've done that's led you to where you are right now in this moment. And Paul is telling you have to pay attention to what you're doing. Paying attention will save you. Save you from what, you ask? Not from sin. One in the mirror, are you listening? Yeah, I'm listening. What are you saying? What are you saying to me right now? I'm saying that you can save yourself. From what? I can't save myself from sin. I can't save myself from hell. But you can save yourself from pain. You can save yourself from heartache. You can save yourself from misery and regret and remorse, if I'll just pay attention to myself. The blood of Jesus is powerful. It can take away any sin stain that is out there. It will save to the outermost uttermost. But the blood cannot save me from myself. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? The blood can't save me from me. It can do everything else, but it can't do that. Paul's advice was to Timothy: to pay attention. Timothy, could it be that my greatest enemy — maybe it's not the devil. Maybe my greatest enemy is me. I have all power that is there available to me, but I can stop it. I can stop it inside of me. You and I don't really need a devil to be bad. We can do a pretty good job of that by ourself. We have a fallen nature in us, and the blood of Jesus covers sins, but I have to pay attention to myself. The promises and blessings of Scripture are there if I adhere to them in my life, but it negates the promise and blessing if I don't pay attention. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? Obedience is a must. It's not optional. I don't have an option out. Are you listening to me? Regardless of how society sees it, I have a King, and the King demands my allegiance and my obedience. Are you listening to me? What's that you say? You don't like some of what the Bible has to say, and what some of the things you must do? I don't either. There are some things in this thing that I don't like myself. There are some things in here, when I read it, that my flesh fights against. And if I'm being honest to you in the mirror, there are some things that I feel like I would enjoy if I got to do those things. But I don't have permission. The King hasn't given me the ability to do those things. Instead, he spelled it out really plain in his word: that there are some things I must abstain from, there are some things that I can't participate in, there's some boundaries I can't cross over, if I'm going to be obedient, if I'm going to follow after him. Are you listening, one in the mirror? There are some things I just can't do, because the King decreed that I can't do those things. Whether I like it or not doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how I feel about it. My emotions don't really come into play in this. The King has already spoken. His word is forever settled. It doesn't matter how I feel. It matters: am I going to be obedient? Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? There are some things I just can't do, no matter how bad I want to do them, no matter how much I disagree with it. The King has spoken. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? Pay attention. If you don't, you'll find yourself drifting again. You don't need the devil to be bad. You can do a pretty good job of that all by yourself. But Paul instructs you and I — are you listening? — to pay attention. I cannot hear what you say for what you are. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? I can't hear what you say because of what you are. It's not a matter of what comes out of my mouth as much as it matters what I'm actually doing. I can speak good things all day long, but if I don't live good things in my life, it matters not. It's not just that I can quote Scripture. It's not that just know the Word. It's not just I acknowledge that it's there, but I must be obedient. It must become the life I live. It must become a part of who I am. It must become a part of my every dude. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? The blessed life is a matter of choice. Do yourself a favor and pay attention, one in the mirror. Yes, you can choose to ignore me, to do whatever you want, whatever you please, to live without any obligations or restrictions. But you will not be happy with the outcome in the long run. It will not bring you what you desire the most. It will not bring you the blessings of God in your life. Paul lists six things that we must pay attention to, one in the mirror. Six things. Are you listening to me? He says in, in verse number 12 of chapter four: "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, and conduct, and love, and spirit, and faith, and purity." You have to pay attention to the words you say. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? You have to pay attention to the words you post. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? He drew my attention to this. He says I have to pay attention to my word. You cannot say whatever you want whenever you want. That means you cannot post whatever you want whenever you want. You got to be careful, one in the mirror, because there are others that will be impacted by what you do. Second: my conduct, or my conversation. How do I interact with others? It matters. The truth is this: usually people that don't like you, one in the mirror, are the very same people that you don't like. Could it be a reason why they don't like you? Because maybe you don't like them to start with. Maybe you need to work on your conduct. Maybe you need to work on your attitude. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? There's more at play than just the circumstances around you. The third thing he says is how I love and what I love. It says a whole lot about who I am and what I believe in. The things that I cherish and keep close to me. Fourth: what attitude am I going to keep in my spirit? It matters because it spills over. It's not just about me. I have to live something more than just me. It's bigger than you in the mirror. Are you listening to me? It's more than just you. The fifth thing: do I truly live a life of faith, or do I just want to talk about wanting faith? Is it just simply a word I use, or is it a life I live? Do I say I'm a man of faith, but I don't live by faith? Do I say I'm someone who has faith operating in their life, yet the first time the wind blows in a contrary way, it shatters my faith? Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? There's a lot more at play here. Six: what are my motives? Are they pure? Am I living in a pure, in a pure way? Ask yourself this question, one in the mirror: what was the decision that you made every day when you do it, when you, when you're out, when you're interacting, when you see someone, when you're talking, when you're conversing, when you're posting? What was the motive? What was the action? Because, one in the mirror, it boils down to two things: are you doing it out of love, or are you doing it out of faith? Are you doing what you're doing out of love? Are you doing what you're doing out of faith? If it was done out of love — love covers a multitude of sins. Love's long suffering. Love goes a long way. The Scripture tells what love is. Are you doing it out of love? Are you doing it out of faith? Because if you're doing it out of faith, real faith always holds out for a better answer. So what are you doing? How are you acting? How are you behaving? What's your conversation like? Are you doing it out of love? Are you doing it out of faith? What are you doing, one in the mirror? Are you listening to me? Far too many fail in this area, in the moral issues of life — places where they're never supposed to be. You see, one in the mirror, there are rules for life. Whether I choose to believe them or not, they still apply. God will not be mocked. He is not a liar. What a man sows, he will reap. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? Are you paying attention to what I'm saying? If I would take the time to learn the boundaries, if I'll take the time to comprehend the rules, my life will be better, and so were the lives of those around me. But if I choose to ignore them, pretend they don't exist, I will suffer the consequences — and not only me, so were those around me. Many in this world are trampling all over everything in their lives because they have established no boundaries. They have taken no time to understand or apply the rules or live them in any, any form, shape, or fashion in their life. No restrictions, no walls, no boundaries. And they wonder why they have no flowers, and while life is hard, and there's no joy, and there's no happiness. But the reality is, regardless of society's ideals and opinions on the subject, you simply cannot live any way you want without consequences. Oh, one in the mirror, will you listen to me? You cannot do anything that you want to do. You cannot do whatever your desire. You cannot live however you please and expect to have a blessed life. Oh, there'll be moments — temporary moments of, of pleasure, temporary moments of happiness — but it's not sustainable, because you built it on something that should not be a foundation, that will not stand the test of time. You see, again I draw you, one in the mirror, back to this: this is his word. It is forever settled. It is established. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? I can build my life on this. It's something that can be trusted. It's something that has stood the test of time. It's something that, that doesn't sway to the opinions of man or, or the winds of society, or what goes on. It is — it has been around from the very beginning, and it'll be here long after you're gone. This is something that you can build your life on. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? You have to live to something that's bigger than just you, bigger than just this moment. Don't get so captivated and caught up in the, in the entertainment of the moment that you forget that you're selling yourself short from what God really has in your life. If you will pay attention, you can position yourself for God to bless you, and through you, God to bless those that are around you. Listen to me, one in the mirror, while I tell you a story. I'll tell you a story of truth. In the garden of Sales, during the reign of King Louis XIV, the chief gardener became famous for laying out the beauty that made the garden so famous. But in the beginning he ran into a problem. His name was Andre. His sole desire was to make the most beautiful garden that the king could ever have. But his problem was that, no matter how hard he tried, he could not keep the guests of the palace from trampling his work, which ultimately killed the beauty that he was trying to make. People, in their desire to see the pretty things, ended up stepping and breaking and destroying the very things he was desiring to build in his life. Andre requested an audience with the king, and the king granted his request. As the gardener stood before the king, the king said, "Please let your desires be known, and see if I can help you with your problem." So he began to explain to the king what was going on, how he was trying to make for the king the most beautiful garden that man had ever been able to build. But because of all the guests and the visitors and the vendors that were coming into the palace, and because they were paying no attention, they, they would see something pretty in the distance, and they would, they would simply walk over something that was growing — had not yet come to the full beauty that life was going to bring it. They trampled it down because they seen something appealing just out of the way. "So, King, I don't know what to do. I'm trying my best to build this garden for you, but it's just not possible with everybody trampling it down." The king says, "I know what I'll do." And the king made a decree. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? The king made a decree. He had stepping stones built and boundaries established, and the decree went out into the kingdom that said, in order to come through the garden to the palace, you must stay on the stepping stones and don't go beyond the boundaries. And before long, the garden began to take life as the gardener had seen it in his mind — more beautiful than he could even imagine — because things were not being trampled down and broken in life, because people were being obedient and staying on the path and staying inside the boundaries. The garden was able to grow. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? Long before that gardener ever appealed before the king, there was a King of Kings who established boundaries for our life. He established stepping stones that you and I are supposed to look. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? You can't live any way you want. You may chase something temporary, temporarily, that will bring some beauty and a moment of joy in your life. But to see a long-standing garden of what God truly has for you — the expected end that he wants — you must be obedient and stay on the stepping stones that he's placed there in your life. You have to stay inside the confines and the boundaries that he's laid down in his word. And if you will do that — if you'll do that — if you'll pay attention to yourself and stay on the path he has for you, not only will you experience blessings in your life, but those around you will live a blessed life, because it'll spill out from where you are, and everybody around you will be able to benefit from a life well lived. Listen to me, one in the men in the mirror, as I get ready to bring this to a close today. What the gardener was able to do under the king, the same God desires for you and I. Gardens take time to come into their fullness. Life takes time to develop in all that it can be for you. For some reason — are you listening to me, one in the mirror? — for some reason, our world, our society has sold us this lie: that if I'll be compliant for a moment, I can have a lifetime of happiness. For some reason it's, it's, it's been ingrained that, that if I can just yield to all my desires without any restrictions, without any obligations, that I can truly, truly be free to whatever, whatever whim pops in my mind, whatever my emotions tell me to do, that that's living in the ultimate of freedom. That utopia there, that everybody can just do what they want. But the problem with doing what you want is, it always leads you to stepping out of bounds. And when you step off the stepping stones and you go over the boundaries, what you don't realize is, you're trampling underfoot something that's been planted to bring you joy. Now, it hasn't come up yet because there's not been enough time. See, the seed's been planted, but it hasn't come to fullness yet. But if you get caught up in a temporary moment — are you listening to me, one in the mirror? — if you start chasing the rabbits in the garden, you'll trample down the very thing that you desire the most. The joy of the Lord. See, your flesh is never going to admit to you that there's a greater joy than your joy. There's the joy of the Lord, and it comes into your life. Listen to me, one in the mirror. Don't miss this. You can live in overflow if you stay on the stepping stones and inside the boundaries. Here's the deal: King Louis XIV could not make anybody stay on the path. He could only tell them what would happen if they drifted off. Are you listening to me, one in the mirror? God will never force you to stay where you should be. He can only tell you the regrets you'll have if you live outside the boundaries. Oh, one in the mirror, if we could just live, if we could just say, if we could just be obedient, to know that salvation, in one respect, it depends on me. Jesus paid all that needed to be paid. He paid it all. And I'm not God. I can't die for sin. I can't forgive anybody. And I can't make anyone righteous. But, one in the mirror, I can make the choice of whether or not I'm going to be obedient, if I'm going to apply the word, and if I'm going to accept the sacrifice that he gave for me. Jesus paid all that needed to be paid, but I have the responsibility of being obedient. More than sacrificing my time, more than sacrificing my talent, more than sacrificing my money — obedience is his greatest desire. For we read in his word, in First Samuel 15:22, as the prophet looked at the king and said, "What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, are your obedience to his voice?" Listen, one in the mirror: obedience is better than sacrifice. The great life from our adversary has been, and always will be, that God's values are stealing my joy. If I go back to the original garden, the serpent looked at Eve and said, "Did God say?" And he caused a question, a moment of doubt. "If am I being less than fully embracing the joy that I should be due in my life?" And from that moment to this — listen to me, one in the mirror — from that moment to this, he's always been trying to convince you that God's value will rob you of your joy. What a lie. God's boundaries have never stolen my joy. They've only enhanced my life. It just happens over time. The more time I spend inside the boundaries, the more joy and happiness I have in my life. So many end up stepping outside the lines, outside the boundaries, off the stepping stones. And not only do they trample down their joys, but they also destroy them — the ones that God has placed in their life. Listen to me, one in the mirror. You gotta pay attention. The price is much higher than you could ever calculate if you don't. Listen to me, Center Point: you have to pay attention, because you're going to pay something. There's a price that will be extracted. But God afforded you the opportunity to choose. See, I know I'm not the only one that needed to look in that mirror today and speak some truth. But I said, in a room full of us, they need to point their finger in that mirror and say, "Hey, you in the mirror: pay attention." Life's not always about being happy in a moment. There's a far greater joy that comes in a life well lived, according to his purpose and his plan for your life. But listen, it's not just about you. That's what Paul was telling Timothy. "Timothy, this isn't just about you. Pay attention to yourself and to the doctrine." You can't leave the doctrine out. We're not getting away from doctrine. I think you guys have been here long enough, you know how I feel about our apostolic doctrine. I'll die for our episode doctrine. But before you can get to the apostolic doctrine, you got to pay attention to yourself. Because if you're not right, it doesn't matter how much of this you got memorized. It doesn't matter how much you have memorized. It's all for nothing. Because, Timothy, you can save you and those that hear you. See you being filled with God's Spirit was never just about you receiving his Spirit. But as you've heard me say before, that's the beginning of your walk with God. Because it's in that moment that he can lead you, and he can guide you, and you can be about the Kingdom business. So I appeal to you today, at the end of this message, to speak to the one in the mirror and say, "It's time to pay attention." For some of you, it's time to put down some petty differences that you have. For some of you, you need to just let some stuff go. You got things that's been holding you back. You got feelings and, and, and hurts, and all this stuff that's there. I'm telling you, that stuff doesn't just stay with you. It spills out of you. It'll affect every area of your life. You got to let that go. You need to look in the mirror and say, "Listen to me, one in the mirror: pay attention." For some of you, it's time for a recommitment to God. And for some, it's time that God fills you with his Spirit. Evidence is speaking in tongues. So here's my clothes. If you'll bow your heads with me, close your eyes. This altar is open whenever you feel. I invite you to come down and have a conversation, and let God do work in your life. Jesus, I delivered my heart to your church today, just as you gave it to me. God, I know your desire is for us to make the changes in our life we need to make. So God, I pray for a cold, for, for a confidence and a boldness to come into this room right now. God, that we would be willing to step out, to embrace the reality of where we are, and make the changes we need to make. God, give us the courage to look at the one that's in the mirror, and evaluate where we are, and be honest with ourselves. Change our lives. Let us align with your word. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, and amen. I invite you to come. This altars open. Allow God to do something in your life today.