Welcome to affirm foundation, presented by Princeton ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol smith, ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

There was a little boy and a girl who were riding on the back of a wooden rocking horse, and the boy turned to his sister and he said, if one of us would get off, there’d be more room for me. Or perhaps you heard about the author who was with an old friend who he hadn’t seen for many years. And for 2 hours, the author just talked about himself incessantly about what he was doing and how the past several years had gone. And then finally he turned to his friend. He says, well, I’ve talked long enough about me. He says, now it’s time for you to talk. What did you think of my last book? Well, there’s probably more truth in both of those than we realize.

From the word of God we invite you to stay tuned for the next half hour as we bring you a message from the word of God, brought to us by the Reverend Ken Smith, minister of the Princeton Presbyterian Church in historic Princeton, New Jersey. Once again, here’s Ken Smith as he continues his message from the word of

Whose face do you look for in the class picture? Is it of your neighbor, or do you go through and look for you? There’s something in us that makes us very fascinating to us, and we are more preoccupied on does my tie look all right? And most people don’t even notice if we have a tie on or not. But we become so absorbed in ourself, like the legendary Narcissus, who, legend says, looked into a still pond and saw there a beautiful face. And Narcissus became enthralled with the beauty of that face and its shape, the loveliness of its neck, of its eyes, and so pined away admiring himself. How much of our lives is spent admiring ourselves and perhaps selfishly thinking about me? How am I doing? With very little reference or interest with how is my neighbor doing?

How are the people doing in my office? How’s the rest of my family doing? And we become absorbed and fascinated with ourselves. We become fascinated with our work. We become fascinated with our family and how they are doing. We become fascinated with our progress, with our house, with all sorts of things that we build around us to show how well I’m doing. And so we live and all too often die completely entwined in self and never realizing that God has a much more noble purpose for each of us. And that purpose is not that we would become totally absorbed in selfishness, but rather that we would selflessly look to others and to want to serve them. Now, we live in a day where philosophically, most people are even opposed to the idea of selfishness. Why?

You can’t get ahead if you’re not selfish, and everyone understands it. But what we don’t realize is the source of this selfishness. And in order to understand that, we must go back to before the world was even formed, to a time when there was nothing other than God and angelic host who sang praise and honour to his name. But there was one thought that entered the mind of one of those angels, Lucifer. Lucifer, who many believe was closest in that angelic throng, singing hallelujah to God. And it crossed the mind of this angel, I will be like God. I will have my way. I will be selfish, and I will do it my way. And so selfishness slithered into the page of history, and selfishness became the instrument by which Satan tempted Eve and said, wouldn’t you like to be like God?

Why, you will know good from evil. You will become just like him. Wouldn’t you like that? And so Eve fell to the beguiling tongue of the serpent, and soon thereafter, Adam. It was the same selfishness that caused the first murderer, Cain, who took the blood of his brother Abel and shed that innocent blood. And when God asked him, where is your brother? He uttered those words, am I my brother’s keeper? Paraphrase. I thought life was just for me. I thought the whole point of living was to just gather around me, everything to support me. I thought the purpose of my life was primarily to be selfish. And God says to him, the blood of your brother will cry from the ground itself.

It was the same selfishness that Zechariah cried to the people of Israel, the Jewish people, saying, when you eat, do you eat to yourself? When you drink, do you drink to yourself? Do you ever, in your eating, in your drinking, consider your neighbor. It was selfishness that caused a rich young man when Jesus said to him, if you want to follow me, sell all that you have and give it to the poor. And we read that man went away very sorrowfully, very sad, because Jesus was asking him to change his preoccupation of himself for a life of selflessness. We hear reports of wars and the question, where do they come from? Why can’t man create a world where there are no wars? By now, surely, we’ve had enough to know that they’re not very profitable, haven’t we? But we forget.

James tells us what the source of war is. He says, does not war come from our desires and pleasures, which war within us. And so war is ultimately the great selfishness of man. Let me ask you, during this week, how many times did you think to yourself, I want to be selfless. I want to do something for someone that has absolutely no residual effect to me. We pray. Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Did you pray this week, thy kingdom come, or did you pray, my kingdom come, my will be done. There are actually, within the heart of a Christian, two rivers that flow. It is very important that as Christians, we understand this one river has its origin in our old nature. Before we became Christians, were born with this river flowing in our veins.

The water in this river is brackish. It is murky. Nothing lives within the waters of this river. For it is a river that flows in a circle and always returns to itself. It is a river of selfishness. It is what we are all born unto, the innate desire to want things our way. But there is a second river. The scripture speaks about the grace of God that flows like a river, like a fountain. But the origin of this second river is found not in man, but it is found within the grace of God. Through Jesus Christ and from this great reservoir of the love of God, by faith, he directs this river, this flow, into the hearts of men and women.

We say that they are born anew as they trust in God, as that river of God’s grace, by faith, flows into a person. But the interesting thing about this river is that it does not remain in the heart of a person. The river of the grace of God comes from God, flows through us, and is shown to others that water is called upon to be spread to as many people as we have contact with the point. Both of these rivers are in the heart of a Christian. When we become a Christian, the grace of God flows into our lives, but we always remain as long as we are on this earth, with the residue of that selfish, self seeking river that flows only to itself and goes round and round. And as Christians, we must be aware of a great danger.

That danger is recorded for us in the book of Romans, chapter one, for you can receive Jesus Christ and his grace. But at the same time, Paul warns us that there is a struggle that goes on between the old man and the new man. And in Romans chapter one, he tells us the consequence of the river of selfishness in a person’s life. First, we learn in verse 20 that our selfishness creates in us a desire not to believe God. By nature. We choose not to believe him. We would rather believe anything other than the fact that there is a God who is living, who is involved and concerned in our life. And so, according to verse 20, we become without excuse, for we deny this God.

But if that is not bad enough, verse 21 goes on to tell us, what we do in our selfishness is we begin to become unthankful to God, and it never occurs to us to give him thanks for anything. And so we go from day to day, week to week, year to year, and never once have thought of the living God that he has done something for us. And so, according to scripture, we become unthankful and we do not glorify God. But then verse 22 tells us that we continue in our selfishness until finally we profess ourselves to be wise. But God says we are actually quite foolish. And if that were not enough, verse 24 tells us that in that state we are given up by God, given up to our selfishness. Whatever it is that we want, we’ll get it.

And God will allow that to occur. Until finally, verse 29 tells us just some of the things that people want. They become full of unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil minded whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, not being able to tell what is right or wrong. Untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. Do you know anyone like that? Is it possible that within even the heart of a Christian there is maliciousness or boasting, evil mindedness? Whispering God will. If we seek in selfishness to hold on to that selfish river that flows within us, he will allow for us to be deceived and begin to believe a lie. Why? Really? I’m not like that, when in reality we are.

And if that were not bad enough, he then tells us in verse 32, once we have begun to practice these things, we then begin to approve other people who practice the same sins. This week I had the joy of being in a new home. A member in our church had just found gotten possession of the home, and we met in the living room of that home and prayed that God would use that home to his glory. Have you taken your home and asked God to use it to his glory? Or is your home that place, selfishly, that we keep to ourselves? How then can you and I become selfless? Do you know? The scripture teaches that first there is the great commission. Go into all the world to preach the gospel, the great commission. But Jesus gave also a great commandment.

The great commandment is a new commandment I give to you that you love one another. The sign of that love is selflessness, of being concerned with others. How, then can you and I become more selfless? More like Jesus Christ? Let me suggest several ways. First, if we would become more selfless, us that we must learn to surrender. Have you learned to surrender to God? Galatians 220 says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. Have you learned to surrender to Jesus Christ? Dwight L. Moody was once asked to speak in a large city and there was a young minister who was opposed to his speaking. And he stood up and he says, Dwight el Moody, why do we need him? Is he the only man that can be used by the Holy Spirit?

And there was silence, and an old minister spoke. He said, no, it’s not that Dwight l. Moody has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit but it’s rather that the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Dwight l. Moody. Can that be said of you as a Christian? That you have so surrendered yourself to Jesus Christ that people who know you would say, why, they have surrendered themselves. It’s not them who lives. It’s Christ who lives in them. We must learn to surrender. Surrender in particular those areas that we are most selfish about. Secondly, I would suggest if we would learn to be selfless that we would learn to seek other people’s good. Is that a priority on your calendar? Whose good can I promote this week? Who can I help to become more like Jesus Christ?

We are told in one Corinthians 1024, let no man seek his own but let each one seek the well being of others. Is that a high priority in your week? How can I promote the well being of a brother or sister in Jesus Christ? How can I promote the well being of my neighbor who may not even know Jesus Christ? Have you ever noticed that when someone else acts in an ugly way and we do the same thing, we call it nerves. Or when the other person is obstinate, but we do the same thing? We say we’re acting firmly. Or when someone else doesn’t like their neighbor, we say he’s prejudiced, but we instead are good judges of character. Or we look at someone else who dresses well and we say, why, they’re extremely extravagant. But when I dress well, I’m tastefully dressed.

Or when someone speaks their mind, we say, why, he is just spiteful. But when I speak my mind. I’m just simply being frank and honest. Why is it that by nature we seem to forgive ourselves and by nature are suspicious our neighbor? I would suggest that the next time that you hear yourself using those words that you would reverse and that you would look at those qualities in yourself and consider the word that you would describe that quality in your life and use that same word to describe your neighbor. To seek the good of others rather than continually looking critically for their weak points is your goal to seek the good of others? We are commanded in scripture to seek others good ahead of our own.

Thirdly, I would suggest if we want to learn how to be selfless, that we would learn how to be a servant. One Corinthians 919. Paul says, for though I am free from all men, yet have I made myself a servant to all. Paul says that he was free. He could do anything he wanted, but under Christ, he chose to become the servant of other people. Can you be described as a servant? What is it about a servant? A servant is someone who gets no recompense for what they’ve done. It was just simply expected. When you do something good for someone, do you expect them to come back and to say what a good job you’ve done? And if they don’t, then you stop doing good? Well, that is not the heart of a servant.

A servant continues to do good even though no one notices, no one says anything to you. Why? Because you see yourself as a servant. Some Christians wonder why their Christian life seems to be such a failure. Their prayers seem to go nowhere. They seldom sense God moving in their life, and they wonder why. Well, the answer is quite simple. If you would want to be used by God, then you must understand God’s purpose, and God’s purpose must then become your purpose.

It’s pretty hard to think about others when we have needs of our own, isn’t it? But, oh, how we need to be reminded that selfishness is a constant struggle. Today’s message, entitled Selfless or Selfish, was brought to us by the Reverend Ken Smith, minister of the Princeton Presbyterian Church, and it’s available on cassette. May I suggest you write or call for information on securing your copy? Write to us at this address, please, from the word of God, box 3003, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540. If you’d prefer to telephone, you may reach Ken Smith at area code 60992 110 20. That’s nine, 2110 20. May I also suggest you visit the Princeton Presbyterian Church? We meet each Sunday in the John Witherspoon Middle School on Walnut Lane in historic Princeton, New Jersey. Sunday school meets at 930, and the morning worship service is at eleven.

And here’s our address once again from the word of God, box 3003, Princeton, New Jersey 08540. And now this is Joe Springer urging you to write soon, pray for us, and join us again next week, Lord Willing. Same time and station for another challenge from the word of God.

Thank you for listening to affirm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. That’s Princeton Ministries Post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. The Lord bless you, and Doctor Smith looks forward to hearing from you.