COMMITTED
Matt 16:24-26
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself , and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life
for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his
own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Ps 37:5
5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to
pass.
Prov 16:3
3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
2 Tim 1:12
12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not
ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
Intro: The first role of successful merchandising is to give consumers what they
want. If they want bigger burgers, make their burgers bigger. Designer bottle
water in six fruit flavors? Done. You got it! Minivans with DVD players & TV’s,
headphone hookups and 10 personal cupholders? You want 10, make it 20. The
rage of the age is KEEP THE CUSTOMER SATISFIED. You’ve got to modify
your product and your message to meet their needs if you want to build a market
and get ahead of the competition.
Today this same consumer mindset has invaded Christianity. The church
service is too long, you say? We’ll shorten it (one pastor guarantees his sermons
will never last more than seven minutes!). Dress code to formal? Wear your
sweatsuit. Too boring? Wait till you hear our rockin’ church band!
And if the message is too confrontational, or too judgemental, or too
exclusive, scary, unbelievable, hard to understand, or too much anything else for
your taste, churches everywhere are eager to adjust that message to make you feel
more comfortable. This new version of Christianity makes you a partner on the
team, a design consultant on church life, and does away with old-fashioned
authority, accountability, and moral absolutes.
I saw a cartoon that showed a church building with a billboard in front that
said: "The LITE CHURCH: 24% fewer commitments, home of the 71/2% tithe, 15
minute sermons, 45 minute services; we have only 8 commandments—your choice,
& we have a 800 year millennium. Everything you’ve wanted in a church…& less.”
Far too many people have that kind of relationship with the Lord. Let me throw out
3 words which define many people’s relationship with the God: Casual, convenient,
&comfortable.
The word casual means occasional.......coming at certain times, w/o regularity;
showing little interest or concern; nonchalant; not close or intimate.
Convenient, being suitable to one’s comfort, purposes, or needs. The faith of many
is driven by convenience, & fails when it is challenged to true discipleship.
Comfortable. We want to meet in air conditioned building in the summer, & a
heated building in the winter, & we want to hear sermons that make us feel good, &
God forbid if we should ever be made to feel uncomfortable or asked to do
something
that
we’re
not
comfortable
with
doing.
There is nothing casual, convenient, or comfortable about true follower of Jesus
Christ.
THE FALSE GOSPEL OF SELF-ESTEEM
The true gospel is a call to self denial. It is no a call to self fulfillment. This
message of self-denial puts you in opposition to the modern age CHRISTIANITY
LITE movement, where saints and popular TV preachers view Jesus as some kind
of spiritual Genie. You rub the lamp, and He jumps out, and says you have
whatever you want; you give Him your list and He delivers. Some within the
framework of this new movement will tell you that your salvation through Christ is
a guarantee of health, wealth, prosperity, and happiness.
It’s interesting how this kind of thinking is invading the church pulpits of
America. Jesus wants you to be a better salesman, Jesus wants you to be a better
housekeeper, Jesus wants you to hit more homeruns than anyone else in baseball.
All Jesus really ever wanted is to make you feel better about yourself.
The real gospel according to the words of Jesus are certainly different than the
CHRISTIANITY LITE approach that I have been preaching about. Let me read to
you what Jesus said it was going to take to serve him again….
Matt 16:24-25
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life
for my sake shall find it.
It’s not about exalting me it’s about slaying me. It’s the death of self. You win by
losing, and you live by dying. Dying to self. And that brother and sisters is the
heart message of the gospel. That is the essence of discipleship. Simply put: GOD
WANTS US TO BE COMMITTED!
When it comes to commitment, there are really only four types of people:
1. Cop-outs. People who have no goals and do not commit.
2. Hold-outs: People who don’t know if they can reach their goals, so they’re afraid
to commit.
3. Drop-outs: People who start toward a goal but quit when the going gets tough.
4. All-outs: People who set goals, commit to them, and pay the price to reach them.
Weak Commitments
There are plenty examples of men in the Bible which show us the result of weak &
strong commitments. They may have been committed to the right things, but their
commitments were not sufficient to over-come certain challenges.
King Saul, Israel's first king, who found favor with God, is an example of a man
whose com-mitments were weak. He was a good man and a good king, but for
some reason, his commitment to obey God weakened in time. The prophet of God
rebuked him: "Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice" (I Samuel 15:22). God rejected him. "Because thou hast rejected the
word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king" (I Samuel
15:23). And Saul eventually ended his life in a sad episode of suicide (I Samuel
31:4).
A rich ruler who came to Jesus was a good man, for he had kept all the law from
his youth (Matthe\v 19:20).
He was clearly committed to his riches more than to following Jesus, even though it
is obvious that he recognized in Jesus something of His deity (Matthew 19:16-22).
He asked Jesus the way to eternal life, but he went away sorrowfully. His
commitment to the pursuit of eternal life was not as strong as his commitment to be
rich.
Demas was a man who was privileged to travel with the apostle Paul. Yet Paul
wrote concerning him: "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present
world" (It Timothy 4:10). Demas was a committed Christian once But his
commitment to God was eventually overshadowed by his desire for worldly things.
Although it is not known what things Demas preferred, it really does not matter.
The sad fact is that his commitment was not to God. The same thing is sometimes
repeated today. Some men serve God for a while, and then, when the pressure
intensifies, their commitment to God and to Christian living is not sufficient to
endure a test.
Judas Iscariot had the distinct honor of being one of twelve men chosen by Jesus
to be His first followers. Judas was committed until almost the end. He endured
three years of controversy. But when a woman anointed the feet of Jesus with a
costly ointment, Judas complained over what he saw as a waste.
"Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the
poor?" (John 12:5). But the next verse of Scripture charges that he did not really
care about the poor; he was himself a thief. It is probable that Jesus' rebuke over his
con-cern for money stung him and prompted him to betray Him (Matthew 26:14;
Mark 14:10). Judas had been committed to following Jesus, but in the end, his
commitment to other things was stronger than his commitment to be right.
Wrong Commitments
The Bible also gives us examples of men who were strongly committed, but to the
wrong things.
A certain rich man was called a fool because he "layeth up treasure for himself,
and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21). He was committed to building bigger
and greater barns in which to store his excessive fruits. He should have been
committed to God.
The Pharisees were called "blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a
camel" (Matthew 23:24). Jesus also called them "hypocrites" (Matthew 23:29) and
"serpents . . . generation of vipers" (Mat-thew 23:33). What did the Pharisees do to
earn such a scathing rebuke? They remained committed to their traditions instead of
to truth (Matthew 15:3-9).
Pontius Pilate examined Jesus, and havingdone so found no fault in Him (John
18:38). When the Jews put pressure on him, the object of Pilate's commitments
became obvious. He knew Jesus was not worthy of death, but he was commit-ted to
his position. His friendship with Caesar was critical to his success, so when the
choice had to be made, it was Caesar over Jesus (John 19:12).
Strong Commitments
The Bible gives us many good examples of those who were committed to proper
goals, and whose commitments were sufficiently strong to overcome challenges.
Daniel is one of them. As & young Jewish captive, he worked his way into the
favor of his captors and, became a powerful figure in Babylon. He was not without
his detractors, however, and they sought ways to destroy his political influence and
have him killed. So strong was his commitment to God that his enemies recognized
that the only way they could cause him to displease the king was to force him to
choose whether to honor his commitment to God or his allegiance to the king
(Daniel 6:5).
Daniel went to the lions' den accepting the death punishment rather than to break
his commitment to pray to God (Daniel 6:14-16). That God spared him from death
makes a beautiful conclusion to the story, but it is imperative that we understand
that Daniel did not assume deliverance was assured; he was pre-pared to die rather
than violate his commitment.
There were also Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel received permission
from the king to elevate these three Hebrew men to positions of importance in the
kingdom; it was said of them that they were over the affairs of the province.
However, they also had their detractors who set a trap for the trio, enacting a law
which specified certain times at which all men were to fall down and worship a
golden image the king had set up. The three Hebrews refused to bow and worship.
When they were arrested for their "crime," their reply revealed the strength of their
commitment: "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if
not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship
the golden image which thou hast set up" (Daniel 3:17-18).
John the Baptist was another committed one, and his commitment may well have
cost him his life. "Repent!" was his message, and he preached it to the poor and to
the rich. Even Herod's adultery was not off-limits to John's preaching. His
commitment can be seen in a gory scene in which a servant entered Herod's
chambers carrying the bloody head of John on a charger to satisfy the whim of a
giddy girl.
Jesus Christ was committed, and because He was, Calvary was inevitable. "O my
Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it," He prayed in
the Garden of Gethsemane, "thy will be done" (Matthew 26:42). It was His
commitment to His Father's will that helped Him remain silent before His accusers.
It was His commitment that enabled Him to endure the scourging, to drag His
weary and beaten body up Golgotha's rugged hill, and voluntarily lay His
outstretched palms upward to receive the brutal nails from hardened men.
The apostle Paul was a committed man. His commitment was deeply felt when he
uttered. "Are they ministers of Christ? ... I am more; in labours more
abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of
the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with
rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered ship-wreck, a night and a day I have
been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of
robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in per-ils by the heathen, in perils
in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and
thirst, in fastings often, in coldand nakedness. Beside those things that are
without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all thechurches....
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmi-ties, in reproaches, in necessities, in
persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I
strong.... And I will very gladly spend
and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be
loved" (II Corinthians 11:23-28; 12:10,15).
Paul's commitment to a cause was stronger than his need for companionship. It was
stronger than his need for love. It was stronger than his desire for comfort and ease.
LAY ASIDE THE WEIGHT
Heb 12:1
12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Before you can make a commitment you’ve got to lay aside some weights.
Perhaps there are some things that have been weighing you down…
Come put them on this altar.