A Challenge To Churchwide Commitment
Text: Ps. 37:5; Prov. 3:5-6
Intro: Though the word commitment does not appear in the Bible, the ideas which the word conveys, are found there numerous times. The verses that we’ve just read are two examples of the idea of commitment found in the Bible.
One of the ideas included in this word is that of entrusting something into another’s care. This is what the Psalmist had in mind when he said, “Commit thy way unto the Lord…” (Ps. 37:5a). The thought of faith is confirmed by the Psalmist’s added encouragement to “…trust also in him…” (Ps. 37:5b).
Another idea involved in the word commitment is that of pledging or obligating one’s self to a particular action. However, this too is based on faith and trust. This is somewhat the thought brought out in Proverbs 3:6, where we are told that we have the obligation of acknowledging the Lord in all our ways (“every aspect of our lives”1).
It is this latter idea that I wish to speak of today. There are some actions that we, as Christians, need to obligate ourselves. As the slogan of one church says, “A great commitment to the great commandment and the Great Commission will create a great church.”2 The particular church, in California, that developed that slogan, grew from seven, in 1980, to over 4000. Could it be, my dear folks, that God would do great things here as we sincerely commit ourselves to Christ? Could we really be on the verge of something great? I believe we could be. But in order to see great things from God, I believe we need to be committed in the following three areas.
Theme: We as a church, must be…
I. COMMITTED TO THE GREAT CHRIST
A. He Is The Christ Who Saved Us.
Col. 1:14 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
…………………………………………………………..
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:”
NOTE: Should we not willingly commit our life to the One who died in our place, so that there might be “…no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” (Rom. 8:1a)? Packer makes the following observation:
Why did the Father will the death of his only beloved Son, and in so painful and shameful a form? Because the Father had “laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). Jesus’ death was vicarious (undergone in our place) and atoning (securing remission of sins for us and reconciliation to God). It was a sacrificial death, fulfilling the principle of atonement taught in connection with the Old Testament sacrifices: “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb. 9:22; Lev. 17:11).
As the “last Adam,” the second man in history to act on mankind’s behalf, Jesus died a representative death. As a sacrificial victim who put away our sins by undergoing the death penalty that was our due, Jesus died as our substitute. By removing God’s wrath against us for sin, his death was an act of propitiation (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10—“expiation,” signifying that which puts away sin, is only half the meaning). By saving us from slavery to ungodliness and divine retribution for sin, Jesus’ death was an act of redemption (Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). By mediating and making peace between us and God, it was an act of reconciliation (Rom. 5:10-11). It opened the door to our justification (pardon and acceptance) and our adoption (becoming God’s sons and heirs—Rom.5: 1, 9; Gal. 4:4-5).
This happy relationship with our Maker, based on and sealed by blood atonement, is the “New Covenant” of which Jesus spoke in the Upper Room (1 Cor. 11:25; Matt. 26:28).3
B. He Is The Christ Who Secures Us.
John 10:28 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
NOTE: The eternal security of the believer isn’t guaranteed by the believer himself any more than was his salvation (Eph. 2:8-9). God Himself guarantees both salvation and security through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Harry Ironside stated that salvation was like Noah inviting a pagan in his day to place his trust in God’s Word and come in to the ark. Some view salvation like Noah offering to put a peg on the outside of the ark. “If you just hang on through the storm, you’ll be saved.” Salvation is not dependent on our holding on to God, but on our being securely held by and in Christ.4
C. He Is The Christ Who Sustains Us.
Phil. 4:19 “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
2 Cor. 9:8a “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things…”
NOTE: This church will only go as far as its faith in and commitment to Christ is able to take it. “Where God guides, God provides.”5
II. COMMITTED TO THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
Matt. 22:36 “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.”
A. We Must Be Committed To His Lordship.
1. He is to be first and foremost in your life.
Col. 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”
Matt. 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
NOTE: Millions of people claim to know Christ as their Savior these days, but you wouldn’t know it by the amount of people who faithfully attend worship services.
In 1991 a Gallup poll showed that 78 percent of Americans expect to go to heaven when they die. However, many of them hardly ever pray, read the Bible, or attend church. They admit that they live to please themselves instead of God. I wonder why these people would want to go to heaven.
In an article title, “Are We Ready for Heaven?” Maurice R. Irwin points out that only 34 percent of the American people who call themselves Christians attend church at least once a week. He says, “We sing, ‘When all my labors and trials are o’er, and I am safe on that beautiful shore, just to be near the dear Lord I adore will through the ages be glory for me.’ However, unless our attitudes toward the Lord and our appreciation of Him change greatly, heaven may be more of a shock than a glory.”6
2. His commands are to be followed in your life.
John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
I John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
2 John 6a “And this is love, that we walk after his commandments…”
NOTE: Jesus Himself said, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say” (Luke 6:46)? I think the Lord is still asking that question of many professed Christians of our day, who seem to believe that obedience is optional.
Someone once wrote and asked Emily Post, the etiquette expert of another generation, “What is the correct procedure when one is invited to the White House but has a previous engagement?”
Replied Post, “An invitation to dine at the White House is a command, and it automatically cancels any other engagement.”7
3. You are to be enjoying His fellowship in your life.
John 15:3 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
4 I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
B. We Must Be Committed to His Likeness.
1. Christ’s life is to be our pattern.
Rom. 8:29a “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son…”
Gal. 2:20a “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…”
Phil. 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ…”
2. Christ-likeness in the saints will bring God praise.
Matt. 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Titus 3:8 “This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”
1 Pet. 2:12 “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation (“‘trial’ or ‘examination’”8).”
C. We Must Be Committed To His Love.
Matt. 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”
John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
I Thess. 3:12 “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:”
NOTE: Real love points people to God.
A little girl was looking in the window of a bakery. The woman took her in and bought her whatever her heart desired. She then bought her some new clothes. As the woman turned to leave, the little girl looked up and asked, “Are you God’s wife?” Indeed, the little girl knew of only one type of love that would befriend her so!9
III. COMMITTED TO THE GREAT COMMISSION
A. Our Lord Has Commanded Us To Pursue The Lost.
Matt. 28:19a “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…”
Mark 16:15 “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
NOTE: In Matt. 28:19a, the words “…teach all nations” mean, “to make disciples, or Christians of all nations.”10 Do you really love Jesus? Then tell others about Him.
A man who was a golfing nut married a woman who loved to attend auction sales. Both talked in their sleep.
One night the husband yelled: “Fore!”
The wife promptly shouted, “Four-twenty-five!”
Whatever we love will come up in our speech. Do you talk about Jesus?11
B. Our Lord Has Commanded Us To Proclaim The Gospel.
Mark 16:15b “…preach the gospel to every creature.”
1 Cor. 15:3 “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
NOTE: Folks, people don’t need to hear the latest gossip in the Britney Spears soap opera; they need to hear the gospel of Christ. People don’t need “Ten Easy Steps To Being A Better You;” they need Jesus. People don’t need to find out how to be a millionaire overnight; they need to find out that their sins have been paid for through the shed blood of Christ.
C. Our Lord Has Commanded Us to Prepare The Saints.
Matt. 28:20a “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…”
Eph. 4:11 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”
NOTE: The word “teaching,” in Matt. 28:20a refers to instruction. In other words, after they have gotten saved, the Church then has the responsibility of instructing the new converts in the teachings of Christ that they might be prepared to live the Christian life in a Christ-honoring way.
Theme: We, as a church, must be...
I. COMMITTED TO THE GREAT CHRIST
II. COMMITTED TO THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
III. COMMITTED TO THE GREAT COMMISSION
End Notes:
1. Rev. Donnie L. Martin
2. Aubrey Malphurs, Developing A Vision For Ministry In The 21st Century, pg. 90.
3. James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.
4. Charles Ryrie, So Great Salvation, Victor Books, 1989, pp. 137ff.
5. Author unknown.
6. Our Daily Bread, July 31, 1992
7. MBI’s Today In The Word, November, 1989, p. 7
8. John Gill, John Gill’s Exposition Of The Entire Bible, as found in e-Sword software.
9. Author unknown. Taken from pastorlife.com.
10. Rev. Donnie L. Martin
11. Author unknown. Taken from pastorlife.com.
