"The Cost of a Christ-Centered Life"
SONG TO INTRODUCE THE MESSAGE - "Yes, Lord, Yes"
Oh, how we MUST say yes!
-Like Isaac’s willingness as he gave his life on the altar...we too must be willing to say YES to what God asks?
Now, I know that most of us have already said yes to the Lord...being that we have received Christ as our Savior...
-But it even goes a step further doesn’t it?
-We need to not only say yes once for salvation...but we must continue to say yes again...and again...and again!!!
*Surrendering every portion of our lives...
*Giving it up on a daily basis...
*And yielding as the Lord requires it of us...
-I just simply know of no other way to live for Christ!
While many of us believe that Serving the Lord and...Being Saved...is a life wonderment...ease...and victory...we know that that is just not so...
Now, don’t misunderstand me...it IS a wonderful thing to serve the Lord...
And it really is the best decision you can EVER make...but also, it is a tough decision too (as we will discover)
-It is a decision that will require something of us...
So say YES!
Like the song says?say yes to His will and to His way, in our lives, and as He asks it of us.
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You know?serving the Lord does comes at a cost?
Now, don?t misunderstand this either?
-We can NEVER earn our buy our salvation?
-We have heard it before, but again, ?we are sinners saved by God?s grace?!
-We had nothing to offer God?because our own righteousness is as filthy rags.
-Therefore, we could do nothing BUT receive Jesus as Savior and Lord
HOWEVER?I do believe that in order for anyone to live a Life Centered on Christ, they WILL have to pay some kind of cost?
-Which isn?t a bad thing, because if something doesn?t cost us anything?there is no appreciation of it anyhow?
-But, those things that do cost us our money, time, and energy?those things we cherish and care for much more?
And fittingly, we must sacrifice things, at times, as we serve the Lord?
à What is comes down to is that?living a CHRIST-CENTERED life does come with a cost?and that cost is not cheap at all, as we will learn what it means, as we talk of the Cost of a Christ-Centered Life!
Stand & Read - 2 Samuel 24:18-25
So Gad came to David that day and said to him, "Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." [19] And David went up according to the word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded. [20] And Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. [21] Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" And David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be held back from the people." [22] And Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. [23] "Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept you." [24] However, the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. [25] And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the Lord was moved by entreaty for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.
PRAYER?
INTRODUCTION:
Looking at David?s life here within the setting of this text?we can see that there is a lot going between David & God?
1) David had sinned against God by taking up a Census?counting up the number of Military Aged, Young Men who lived within the land of Israel and Judah.
-David chose to do this, rather than simply trusting in the Lord?he counted heads to consider with his natural mind what may be best? (God had not let them down yet, and they just had a great victory!)
?Silly?, you may say, but turn to 1 Chron. 27:23 and it says there??But David did not count those twenty years of age and under, because the Lord had said He would multiply Israel as the stars of heaven.?
-David had decided to TRUST in the Lord?letting Him fight their battles!
But, consider the following verse?I Chron. 27:24??Joab the son of Zeruiah had begun to count them, but did not finish; and because of this, wrath came upon Israel??
The lesson is, that God prefers our trust in Him?over in our own numbers and strength?
2) Not only was David dealing with that, but now, God, instructs David through the prophet Gad, to purchase a threshing floor?and not just any threshing floor, but Araunah?s Threshing Floor!
There, David is to build an altar to the Lord, and call upon His Holy Name!
Calling upon His name to end the plague that God brought to Israel for David?s disobedience?
-Interesting note: This location of the threshing floor on Mount Moriah?it is on the same mountain, and location of where Abraham built an altar to sacrifice Isaac, his son.
-This location echoes the need for SACRIFICE?
Now, as David approaches Araunah to PURCHASE this threshing floor, Araunah offers to GIVE it to David?after all, he is the King?who asks the Government to buy anything?they can just take it! J
-He wants to donate the floor and the oxen to David?
2 Samuel 24:22-23, And Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. [23] "Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept you."
Any ?wise? preacher would have jumped on this deal!
They wouldn?t have even had to pray about it?they would have grabbed it up before Araunah could think twice about it!
ILLUSTRATION:
Reminds me of the story of three minister?s who got their hair cut?
-A Rabbi goes to the barber?barber won?t charge him?the next morning, at the barber?s door is a bottle of wine and a ?thank you? card?
-A Catholic Priest goes to the barber?barber won?t charge him?the next morning, at his door there is a bottle of wine, a wheel of cheese, and a ?thank you? card?
-A Minister goes to get his haircut?the barber refuses to charge him?and the next morning waiting at the barber?s door are 30 other ministers!!!
But, David does quite the opposite of what we would be tempted to do?
Most would even want to check his brain to see if there is something wrong with him?but there isn?t!
Read verse 24?However, the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
And what David does is?He REFUSES to offer God something that costs him nothing.
-Technically, can we offer God anything from us, if it didn?t cost us something???
ILLUSTRATION:
-It is like ?re-gifting??giving that toaster that someone gave to you for Christmas last year, to someone else?
*There is no real meaning to it?and no heart-felt expression of love or appreciation.
And David couldn?t stand that either?
What He was going to give to God, was going to cost him something or it wouldn?t be worth giving at all!!!
-Friends?something for us to hear is that there is ALWAYS a cost we incur when we live a life of FULL SURRENDER to God!
And in like fashion?there is always a cost to the Disciple of God who decides to live their lives in COMPLETE surrender?
-To Live a Christ-Centered Life IS a costly venture?
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However, isn?t it true?that those things that do cost us, are worth paying the price for them???
And Christ is definitely worth the price we would have to pay to serve Him?
Matthew 16:24-26 gives us a proper perspective concerning this thought of COSTLY CHRIST-CENTERED LIVING?
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. [25] "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. [26] "For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul??
The fact of the matter is this?
Every person alive, or who has ever lived, will give themselves to something?
-Humanitarian efforts?
-Self-Satisfaction?
-Money?
-Their job, hobbies or family?
-Etc., etc., etc?
And that giving of themselves to something, will also cost them something?
They will sacrifice something, in order to loose themselves in the thing that captures their hearts?
And I know of NO BETTER THING to loose myself for, than for the things of God?and for Christ!!!
-Can you say AMEN to that?!
ILLUSTRATION:
I have said this before, but a famous and familiar missionary (whom I cannot recall right now)?said that, ?No man is a fool for giving what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot loose.?
-How very true?
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And?what I want to walk us through today is the consideration of the MANY COSTS of living a Christ-Centered Life?
-Four things that we would be best WITHOUT anyhow?
That is something very interesting to note?the fact is, these things that we must sacrifice for the Lord?they are better for us in the long-run to NOT have as a part of our lives anyhow?
FIRST: A CHRIST-CENTERED Life will COST you your FAVORITE SINS!
Hebrews 12:1 highlights this thought well when it says??Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us??
This passage makes it clear that sin encumbers and easily entangles us up?
Sin easily besets us, or knocks us off track with God?
And most develop what we have come to know as ?Pet Sins??
-These are those sins that we tolerate, and even enjoy to a degree within our lives?
-And because of that, we never deal with them aggressively?to rid our lives of them?even when we sense the Lord?s moving in us to cleanse us from it?
Let me ask you a question?
?What sins do you knowingly tolerate??
?What sins keep you in bondage, bound up and feeling low about yourself because you know the Lord desires freedom for you??
Ephes. 4:30 tells us, ?And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.?
Jesus Himself was grieved, and wept over Jerusalem in their rebellious condition?
And we too can cause the Holy Spirit to grieve within us by living in like fashion as Jerusalem?rebellious, sin ridden, and full of pride.
Believers grieve the Holy Spirit when they ignore His presence, voice and leading?
And your grieving the Holy Spirit can lead to actually quenching the Holy Spirit?s fire within you?
-Friends?we must not do this?
-Rather, we want to bring great joy and pleasure to the Lord!
à Consider these questions when taking inventory of your actions, thoughts, and attitudes?
?Of what would I be ashamed of if Jesus were physically right here, now??
?What are the things that I do in secret from others??
?What do I do, that would make others question the quality of my relationship with God if they knew it??
These simple questions will help you to IDENTIFY some ?Pet Sins? that need to be ?let off the leash? from your life?before they begin to control you, instead of you controlling them.
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Full Surrender demands that we deal with our FAVORITE SINS?
But?
SECOND: A CHRIST-CENTERED Life will COST you your FAVOR of the WORLD!
Look at 1 John 2:15-16, ?Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.?
This passage should serve as the perfect antidote to our desire for the things in the world?and anything that this world may be able to ever offer us?
ANYTHING that this world may have?is USELESS and POINTLESS?because ?it is God who lifts up, and it is Him who also brings low??so why would anything else even matter???
-It wouldn?t unless we have allowed for our flesh to build-up an appetite for things, and over-power the Spirit-Man in its quest for the things of God.
This world stands diametrically opposed to God?so why even LOVE it or DESIRE it?
How can you serve two masters?
-You can?t!
And the Church has NO BUISINESS to be in love with the world?we are to be in love with another?Jesus Christ, our Savior!!!
John 3:19 tells us, ?And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.?
-If your desires are satisfied by the darkness?then we must take a deep look into our hearts, and rekindle the fire once again?inviting Jesus, the LIGHT of the World to REOCCUPY our hearts COMPLETELY once again!
*Yes?our flesh will be satisfied by darkness, and has an appetite for it?
ILLUSTRATION:
*But just as you take measures to keep out rodents and bugs from invading your physical house, doing all that you can to avoid them?we must take the same drastic measure to prevent the invasion of darkness!!!
In fact, we are to be those who let our lights SO SHINE before men, so that they will see our good works, and want to also glorify God in their lives! (Matt. 5:16)
-That is quite a demonstrative way to live your life for the Lord!
-And that is quite a powerful light that will shine through, and from us!
And choosing to live for the Lord in this manner is, without a doubt, going to get your name scratched off the ?A List??
-Living for God will bring you rejection from your friends?family?co-workers?and most everybody.
-Now, it is great when people do receive us?and they will?but don?t? be surprised when others do not.
The world even rejected Jesus and His followers?
John 15:19-20, ?If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. [20] ?Remember the word that I said to you, ?A slave is not greater than his master.? If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.??
To expect the favor of this world is foolish?we may be shown favor at times because of God?s moving on our behalf?but we also will loose the favor of this world?
And you are in good company when it does happen?Jesus Himself had it happen to Him?
2 Tim. 3:12, ?And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.?
ILLUSTRATION:
J. C. Ryle, speaking of the surrendered Christian once said, ?He must be content to be ill thought of by man if he pleases God.?
However?2 Cor. 4:8-10 encourages us by saying???we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; [9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.?
A Christ-Centered Life may mean loss in favor from the world?but I would rather gain the favor of God?wouldn?t you?
Matthew 10:32-33 makes it clear??Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. [33] But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.?
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Your costs may be your ?favorite sins? and your ?favor??
But it goes on?to your eternal benefit!
NEXT: A CHRIST-CENTERED Life will COST you FINANCIALLY!
Back to our original text?
You will remember that David refused to get the threshing floor for free?
David BOUGHT the threshing floor and the oxen?
-There was no missions fund to help him?
-No special offering to be taken to defray the costs?
-And no district office sending him a check for all his troubles?
In fact, David was ready to make this sacrifice himself?
And the cost was 50 shekels of silver?
-What that actually equals to according to today?s currency is not important?but what is relevant is that we must understand that serving Christ will require a Financial Sacrifice from us at times?
Serving Christ does cost us financially?
And the Bible speaks very boldly about money!!!
v From the Widow?s Mite in Mark 12?
v To the King?s Banquet in Matthew 22?
v From Paying Taxes to Ceasar in Matthew 22?
v To the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20?
v From the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19?
v To the Forgiving King & the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18?
Financial Sacrifice is a common thread taught through the Scriptures?
Yet, we know little of the financial sacrifice of Christ?
-However, I am sure that He had as much opportunity as any other person of the day?
-And yet, He choose to follow the will of the Father to the Cross, rather than to build the family business and settle down with a family?
ILLUSTRATION:
*Unlike what the media would like to say about Jesus and what He did?
*In the light of the Fall TV Ratings Battle?there is one station promoting a show trying to prove that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a baby?
*Monday Night, ABC will present this farce of a show with its loosely based historical facts?
A good question to ask concerning our finances is?
?If God is really Lord of our lives?and Christ really serves at the center of my being?what would I give to Him??
-10%
-25%
-50%
Any and all, if He asks it of us!
When Christ is at the center of our lives?it will cost us financially?like David!
-Either in giving?
-Or in sacrificing the job with big bucks to do His will and better serve Him?
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LASTLY: A CHRIST-CENTERED Life will COST FIRST-PLCE in your HEART!
Salvation is about no longer living for self?but it is about trusting in Jesus Christ ALONE for salvation?as well as, everything else in our lives!
Salvation is ultimately about SURRENDERING your COMPLETE and TOTAL life to Him!!!
We have mentioned a few classifications here?but it ultimately comes to this ONE issue?
-Because, if Christ has captured your heart?then He will have ALL of you!
ILLUSTRATION:
Consider when you were dating your spouse?
When you are in love?and your heart has been captured?
-You will spend all your money?
-You will spend all your time?
-You will make a number of silly decisions to be with, make happy, and kindle the love that you share with that special someone?
And if God had the WHOLE of our hearts?He too would be impressed with what we would give up for Him?
ILLUSTRATION:
It has been said, ?God doesn?t need your help?He needs your HEART?then the rest will come.?
The life lived for Christ is a life of Sacrifice?
-Like Abraham giving up Isaac?
-Like David using His money to buy the Threshing Floor and Oxen?
-And Like Christ giving of His very life for your own salvation and justification?
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There is a difference, though, between your SALVATION & SURRENDER?
-Both are vital, but one costs you something?
ü Salvation is a FREE GIFT?it cannot be earned or deserved?(Eph.2:8-9 & Rom. 6:23)
ü Salvation couldn?t have been purchased by you because you were bankrupt before God, and were on your way to hell?death?(Rom. 3:23)
ü Salvation is an act of FAITH?(John 3:15 & Romans 5:1)
à HOWEVER! Discipleship is very costly to us?
Luke 9:23-24, And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. [24] "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.?
Luke 14:27, ?Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.?
Our Salvation is free, and it is just the beginning?
The following through on our salvation though?that is what costs us?
-Are we paying the price?
-Are we prepared to pay?
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Usually, most people hold 1st place within their own lives?
But instead, the standard set by the Ten Commandments is that God should be first in our lives??There shall be NO OTHERS GOD?S before Me!? (Ex. 20:3)
Other passages confirming that God ?plays first fiddle??
Matthew 6:33, ?But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.?
And the example of our Lord and Savior is? Matthew 26:39, ?And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ?My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.??
-Like they say??If it?s good enough for Jesus, its good enough for me!?
AS WE CLOSE?
So consider the Costs?
Further?pay the costs child of God!!!
Ø Give up those Favorite Sins?
Ø Sacrifice the Favor of the World?
Ø Relinquish your Finances?(easier for some, more than others)
Ø And PLACE God in the #1 spot in your life!!!
Have you been trying to get by, with only giving God what costs you nothing?
David couldn?t settle with that?he wanted it to cost so that it was sacrificial and meaningful to God?
Remember??I have not lost anything that I give, when I couldn?t have kept it in the first place!?
Choose to live a life that is lived sacrificially into Him?
Because the BENEFITS of a Christ-Centered Life FAR outweighs the COST!
Jesus, as he was leaving the Disciples left these encouraging words for them?
John 14:1-4
"Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. [2] "In My Father?s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. [3] "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. [4] "And you know the way where I am going."
HEAVEN is the REWARD!!!
ETERNAL LIFE with Christ, and God!!!
I don?t know about you?but in light of that ETERNAL HOPE?what this world has to offer fades in comparison?
-I?d rather have Jesus!!!
-I?d rather have Jesus!!! (Repeat it with me!)
SONG: ?I Have Decided? & ?To Your Majesty?
ALTAR CALL:
#1 - Salvation & Re-Dedication!
#2 - Encouragement & Perseverance!
#3 - Surrendering to the thought of Surrender!
