Spiritual Laws
1. immutable - do not change
2. inviolable - cannot be violated
3. universal - apply equally to
everyone
Consider secular applications
Evaluating scriptures
1. what does it say?
2. what does it mean?
3. how does it apply to me?
4. how should I respond?
Law of Use
1. Relates to our use of resources
2. Three aspects to the Law
a. Maintenance (use it or lose it)
b. Effectiveness (proper use yields greatest results)
c. Growth (stretch it and it grows)
3. Note: Organic growth from birth
to maturity is not example of Law of Growth, but use
of Law will radically affect the results.
Law of Use — Maintenance
1. Intro (turn to Romans 8)
a. Since Adam sinned in Garden of Eden, all creation governed
by decay
b. Example: one of laws of Thermodynamics, Law of Entropy:
without external
influence, objects
always seek the lowest energy state.
c. Evident in all of life: without corrective effort (external
influence), things
deteriorate
i. metal objects rust and disintegrate
ii. dead organic matter decomposes
iii. food spoils; refrigeration, freezing, canning only slow down spoilage
iv. unused muscles lose strength (atrophy)
d. Ro 8:21 states “creation itself will be liberated from its
bondage to decay.”
i. creation is presently in bondage to decay
ii. decay may have been part of God’s original creation
iii. did Adam & Eve and animals urinate & defecate before sin?
did their
body wastes decompose? process of decay; no evidence God changed
their anatomy or their body functions when they sinned.
iv. scripture says liberated from bondage to decay, rather
than decay being
eliminated
v. suggestion: decay may be useful part of God’s original design,
but sin
made it universal & destructive.
vi. As a result of decay, must use resources to avoid deterioration
or loss
2. Law of Use defined: “Use it
or lose it.”
3. Example: Parable of the Talents
(Mt 25)
a. Master gave each of three servants an amount of money, “each
according to his
ability” (Mt
25:15).
i. Master knew their ability, gave them opportunity anyway.
ii. Important for leadership to know people’s abilities, give them
appropriate opportunities to prove themselves & grow.
b. Later, master had servants give account
i. Important point: Anytime God gives you something (ability,
resource,
insight, revelation), he holds you accountable for what you do with it.
c. Third servant said: “Master, I knew that you are a hard
man, harvesting where
you have not
sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was
afraid and went
out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs
to you” (Mt
25:24-25).
i. Servant claimed he acted out of fear of master; placed emphasis
on
master’s perceived hardness. Blame-shifting, justifying his actions.
ii. I suggest two motives: fear (servant afraid for his own well-being),
laziness (master knew in advance, did not give him much responsibility).
iii. If servant was afraid but aggressive, he would have done whatever
was
necessary to earn a profit; but he was lazy, so he simply tried to protect
himself.
iv. Master’s evaluation: “You wicked, lazy servant!” (v 26).
v. Master’s expectation: use what I gave you to do what I would
do, earn a
profit.
vi. Quantity wasn’t as big a problem as laziness: “You should have
put my
money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have
received it back with interest” (v 27).
d. Result: Master took away wicked/lazy servant’s money.
e. Jesus’ summary of parable: “For everyone who has will be
given more, and he
will have an
abundance. [Relevant point:] Whoever does not have, even what he
has will be
taken from him” (v 29).
f. Use it or lose it!
g. Servant’s punishment was more severe than simply losing
money entrusted to
him: “Throw
that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will
be weeping and
gnashing of teeth” (v 30).
i. Need to understand severity of this punishment: a slave
could not simply
go find another job
ii. Kicking slave out of household almost equivalent to death sentence;
extreme misery (weeping and gnashing/grinding of teeth).
h. God entrusts us with resources so we can advance his kingdom
i. holds us accountable for our use of those resources (another
spiritual
law)
ii. if we do not use our resources effectively, we can lose them
iii. What resources has God entrusted to us? Abilities (aptitudes, spiritual
gifts), skills, understanding of kingdom, access to kingdom resources,
personal possessions
Law of Use — Effectiveness
Proper use of a resource will produce the greatest result.
1. Example: lighted lamp
a. Don’t put lamp under a basket; put it on a stand so people
can see the light, it
can light their
way.
b. Does lamp give off light under basket? Yes, but ineffective
use.
The Law of Use — Growth
1. May be the most powerful of
the principles in day-to-day life. It governs the growth of
individuals, corporations, nations.
2. Definition: If you use the
resources available to you, you will improve those resources
and develop new ones.
a. Exercise your muscles and they become stronger.
b. submit yourself to training and you improve your abilities.
c. Read Bible and pray and you will grow spiritually.
d. Invest your money wisely and you can earn more money.
3. Keys to Law of Use: consistency,
stretching
a. Exercising 5 minutes once a month won’t do much for you;
exercising 15
minutes daily
for 6 months will work “miracles”
b. Invest money at 8% for one week, have little to show for
it; invest it for 1 to 2
years and you
get a good return on investment.
4. Increase is not linear
a. If you reinvest your dividends and earnings, your profit
compounds.
b. One of the most common mistakes in business is not reinvesting
a portion of
your earnings.
If you consume all your profit, your business stagnates and dies.
c. People make the same mistake mentally and spiritually. If
you don’t apply what
you learn, you
simply become temporarily smarter, and eventually lose it. If
you apply what
you learn, you not only retain that knowledge but also gain new
knowledge based
on what you already know; your knowledge and abilities
compound with
use.
5. “Whoever has will be given
more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has
will be taken from him” (Lk 8:18). “I tell
you that to everyone who has, more will be
given, but as for the one who has nothing,
even what he has will be taken away” (Lk
19:26).
a. Two strange, similar statements; very difficult to understand.
Consider context.
b. Luke 8: parable of the sower, parable of lamp on a stand
c. Parable of the sower
i. Lk 8:15. “But the seed on good soil stands for those with
a noble and
good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a
crop.”
ii. key: hear the word, retain it, produce a crop by persevering
iii. Mt 13:23. “But what was sown on good soil is the man who hears the
word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty
or thirty times what was sown.”
iv. key word: understand. Greek word means:
(1) to bring facts together to gain insight
(2) correlate new facts with older knowledge
(3) to “digest” or reflect
v. Rewording the verse: “But what was sown on good soil is
the man who
carefully evaluates what he hears, correlates it with what he already
knows, and reflects on its meaning. He will then apply it with
perseverance to produce an abundant crop.”
vi. Notice: applies Law of Use; processing/using what he heard enables
him
to retain it and cause it to grow.
d. Lamp on a Stand (back to Luke 8)
i. Parable of sower relates to how people use what they hear;
followed by
brief statement about revealing truth.
ii. Analogy of lamp positioned so people can see the light; everything
will
be revealed.
e. “Therefore”
i. Preceding stories lead to following conclusion
ii. “Therefore consider carefully how you listen.”
iii. Point: God will reveal truth, but key is how you listen.
iv. “Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even
what he
thinks he has will be taken from him” (Lk 8:18).
v. Issue: Did he use what he received?
f. Lk 19:11-27, Parable of the ten minas (units of money)
i. Same as parable of the talents: third servant hid the money
entrusted to
him, returned it to master without using it to produce income.
ii. Master rebuked him, “wicked servant!”
iii. Master commanded his minah be given to person who produced the most
return on his investment.
iv. “I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but
as for the
one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away” (Lk 19:26).
g. Very concise statement of Law of Use
i. If you don’t use what was given you, you will lose it.
ii. If you persevere in using what was given you, you will produce
an
abundant return and even more will be given you.
6. Some people want immediate
success without applying Law of Growth with time.
a. Get-rich-quick schemes draw thousands of people.
b. People are obsessed with gambling, want something for nothing.
c. Lazy, want all benefits without effort.
7. Even with a small, insignificant
beginning, applying Law of Use can produce great
results.
a. Zech 4:10 “who despises the day of small things?” Everything
in creation starts
out small, then
with proper help grows to maturity — people, plants, ideas,
buildings, machines,
beliefs.
b. Mk 4:26-29 “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man
scatters seed on
the ground.
Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and
grow, though
he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain —
first the stalk,
then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the
grain is ripe,
he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
i. Small start
ii. Increase or growth may be imperceptible at first; it begins gradually
then
increases more rapidly with time until maturity.
Personal Application
1. Habits
a. Secular world tells us: repeat new pattern for 30 days
b. Thought pattern, attitude
i. repeat a sinful pattern, eventually dominates you
c. Speech pattern
d. Lifestyle change
Conclusion
1. This law can work to our benefit
or detriment.
a. Indebtedness and compound interest will work against you.
b. “Debt consolidation loan” is a tragedy in many cases; not
all cases, but many.
c. Borrowing to buy consumable items can be a serious mistake.
d. Borrowing to start a business is common practice today,
but may be unwise for
small businesses.
e. Satan’s law is, “Buy now, pay later.” Use OPM (Other People’s
Money).
f. Understand:
i. I’m not totally opposed to borrowing; sometimes it is necessary.
ii. I’m suggesting we’ve bought into the world’s system, have become
greedy and materialistic, so we have little concern about borrowing to
get what we want. We want it now!
g. God’s law is, “Use what you have to get what you need.”
h. Why? Law of Use: If you use the resources available to you,
you will improve
those resources
and develop new ones.
i. We often expect God to do everything for us. but need to
balance trust with
Law of Use.
2. What is your purpose in life?
a. It is not to earn enough money to send kids to college,
then live comfortably
and retire.
That is not your purpose in life.
b. It is not to accumulate more possessions so you can enjoy
them and be the envy
of your friends.
That is not your purpose in life.
c. Those are pagan goals; that’s how the world looks at life.
d. 1 Pet 4:3. “You have spent enough time in the past doing
what pagans choose
to do.”
e. Your purpose in life is to use the resources God has entrusted
to you to serve
others and minister
to their needs, spread the good news of God’s kingdom.
i. How you do that is dependent on the resources God has given
you.
ii. God created you as a unique combination of spiritual gifts and
psychological tendencies.
iii. You have a unique way of serving.
f. Basically, your role in life is kingdom representative;
doing God’s work with
his resources
in his behalf. That is your purpose in life.
g. God expects you to use the resources he gave you to fulfill
that purpose.
h. That’s why Law of use is important.
3. Law of Use
a. Characteristics
i. immutable; does not change, cannot be changed
ii. inviolable; cannot violate it
iii. universal; applies to everyone in all circumstances
b. You can make it work for you simply by using it.