Commitment To Excellence - Part 4
Commitment
Luke 14:25-35
I. C - Challenge of commitment
·(Josh 24:15) And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; … but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
·(1 Ki 18:21) And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.
II. O - Outcome of commitment
·(Psa 37:5) Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
·(Prov 16:3) Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
III. M - Model of commitment
·(1 Chr 29:5) Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?
·(2 Tim 4:6-7) For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
IV. M - Mandate for commitment
1. Commit your personal relationships to Him. He MUST come first!
·(Luke 14:26) If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
·(Col 1:18) That in all things he might have the preeminence.
2. Commit your personal desires to Him. Selfishness, self-centeredness, self-will, self-determined goals, & self desires must be nailed to His cross.
·(Luke 14:27) And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
·(Rom 12:1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
3. Commit your personal possessions to Him. Clinging tightly to personnel possessions will at some point pull you away from Christ.
·(Luke 14:33) So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
·(Mat 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.
·(Prov 3:9-10) Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
V. I - Implications of commitment
1. Evaluation is a must
·(Psa 139:23) Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
2. Repentance is anticipated.
·(2 Cr 7:10) For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
3. Change is expected
·(James 1:22) But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only.
VI. T - Time for commitment
·(Rom 13:11) And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
·(2 Cor 6:2) Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
·(Eph 5:16) Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
·(Col 4:5) Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
. (Heb 4:7) To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
