Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
January 6, 2002 a.m.
Our Commitment To Spiritual Excellence
Reading - I Peter 2.21-25
In our lesson this morning... I want us to focus on two words from the reading... The word EXAMPLE... and the word COMMITMENT... Jesus is our example in our commitment to God.
We live in a day when people are looking for a cause to commit their lives to... Perhaps it is...
- To political change.
- To racial equality.
- To protect the unborn.
- To some environmental cause
- To a religious system or cult.
But this morning... I challenge you to make the supreme commitment of your life. It supersedes and goes beyond all our other commitments. It is a commitment of our life to God.
Webster says that commitment means... The obligation or pledge to carry out some action... Or to support some policy or person. In our reading this morning, Peter tells us that Jesus made such a commitment to God.
We made such a commitment at marriage... Forsaking all others... We promised to be faithful to one another... So long as we both shall live. God meant marriage to be total commitment of a man and woman to each other. Marriage is two people giving themselves... absolutely... unreservedly... irreversibly to one another.
Church... This is precisely the kind of commitment that Jesus made with His life. Now, the commitments we are speaking of this morning involve the same kind of extreme faithfulness. As we go through these six points... I hope you will agree to the challenge of being irreversibly committed to these terms of Spiritual Excellence for the coming year.
First... We must be committed to the SON of GOD.
It was the Apostle Paul who said in Philippians chapter 3 .10... I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.
We commit our lives to Christ for several reasons... First... Because He saved us. Listen to these Scriptures which affirm this faith fact...
- John 14.6... I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
- John 8.24... Unless you believe that I am He... You will indeed die in your sins.
- Acts 4.12... Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
- Ephesians 1.7... In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.
Folk... We must all know this morning that... not one of us can enter Heaven without accepting Jesus to be our Lord and Savior.... There is no other way to be saved.
But not only does Jesus save us... He PROTECTS us. He is the one who keeps us from sinning... from falling under the tempters snare. The Hebrews writer reasons that... Because he himself suffered when he was tempted... So, He is able to help those who are being tempted. Paul says... He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear up under... But will... with every sin... provide a way of escape. I want to be committed to a Savior that will afford me such protection... Don't you??
Thirdly... We should be committed to Jesus because He enables us. We will talk more about this tonight... But let me give you three quick Scriptures...
- John 1.12... To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave them the power to become children of God... Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
- Ephesians 3.20... Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
- Philippians 4.13... I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want... I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
- 2 Peter 1.3... His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness... Church... There is no power that Christ will not bring to bear upon your life and mine to save us and keep us saved... God supplies all we need to believe in Him and be faithful to Him.
Paul tells us in Romans eight that... there is nothing in this world or out of this world that can remove us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus His Son.
We must be committed to Jesus... So that we may share in His resurrection. Paul says... I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. You see church... His resurrection is what gives power to our faith. In fact... His resurrection gives POWER to all of Christianity. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead... Then His death would have been a tragedy. His resurrection affirms the fact that... Jesus is who He says He was... and that He came to save us by His death on the cross.
You see.. The power of our salvation is based upon His grave being empty. This same Paul reasoned to the Corinthian church that... If Jesus be not raised then we are of all men the most miserable... WHY??... Because there is no power in our faith. But because He is risen... That same power will one day raise us from the dead and give life to our mortal bodies... So that we can live forever with Him. This is reason enough to be totally... absolutely... irreversibly committed to Jesus... RIGHT?... AMEN?... AMEN!
I think the Psalmist said it all when he wrote... For he satisfies the longing of our soul. Indeed... The longing need in our lives is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus into the world.
Secondly... This morning... We should be committed to the WORD OF GOD. I hope you have made some New Year's resolves about the Word... And a study of it. Perhaps you have resolved to come to Bible classes on Sunday morning... or Wednesday night. Maybe you have resolved to set time each and every day to be into the WORD. There is no doubt that... We must all have some daily quiet time with God and His Word... And that we must guard this daily meeting fearlessly... If we are to keep it.
Church... Remember this... We can be doctrinally sound.... Biblically correct... and yet be spiritually dead without some systematic study and meditation upon the WORD. A. W. Tozer was right when he wrote... Whatever keeps me from the Bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear to be. Whatever engages my attention when I should be meditating on God and things eternal does injury to my soul. Let the cares of life crowd out the Scriptures from my mind and I have suffered loss where I can least afford it.
David gives us the reason why we must have a daily meeting with God when he wrote... Thy word have I hidden in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.
You see... We need His word to keep us from sin.
Paul commands Timothy and us... Study... Do your best to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The Bible teaches us that two things please God... Hebrews 11.6...Faith pleases God...And here Paul says... Studying... Living by His word pleases Him.
Here is my challenge this morning... I challenge each of us to have a definite time each day to sit quietly with the Word of God....
- Five minutes reading it....
- Five minutes thinking about what we have read and how we can apply it to life.
- And five minutes in prayer asking God to providently help and assist us in both understanding and living out His Word each day. Folk... This fifteen minutes will change your life... I promise... Try it for a year and then prove me wrong... You won't... In fact you will thank me.
Thirdly... As we face the new year we must be committed to the CHURCH of GOD. The Hebrew writer admonishes... Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the day approaching. One private translation reads... Not neglecting our own church meetings.
Many today have lost their sense of loyalty when it comes to regular church attendance. Too many believers treat Sunday as a holiday instead of a holy day... The Lord's day. It is amazing how flimsy and weak our excuses are for staying away from God's family.
Sure... I know that the church is much more than coming here to worship... But if we are careless about coming to worship... We are careless about the church as a whole. How we feel about the family of God can be seen in how we feel about assembling for worship with them. This is the time when all of God's children gather to worship... And fellowship together. Audience... If I understand my Bible correctly... God wants us to worship Him in an assembly... Together... As a church... Not individually. I challenge you to find me a place in the New Testament where the early church worshipped individually... outside of an assembly. Folk... People who stay at home and worship by themselves because they can't get along with God's people, or because they do not enjoy fellowship with them, have a serious problem... And that problem is soul damning.
In this new year we must be committed to the WILL of GOD. In Colossians 4.12 we find Paul using the phrase... That you may stand firm in all the will of God... Being mature and fully assured.
To know God's will and be committed to it should be the desire of every child of God. There is nothing more exciting in all of life than living in the center of God's will--and we know it. Augustan was right when he stated... In Thy will is our peace.
Some of us are not living in peace... Some of us have all kinds of personal problems... And folk... A large part of our problem is that we are not living within God's will. It's one thing to know His will... And even teach His will... But quite another to live in it. Can I give you some examples?
-Some in this audience have little peace today because you know that you need to become a child of God by faith...repentance...and baptism...But you don't. There is no peace found in such a life.
-Others of us know that we are to turn the other cheek... That we are to forgive a brother... That we are to not hold a grudge... That we are to forgive and forget... That we are to accept and protect a weaker brother... And love our enemies and do good to them that harm us. And then we don't and wonder why life is not as good and fulfilling as we would like for it to be. Listen to the solution... Listen to God's will in the matter... This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Church... Those who cannot get along with their brother... Those unwilling to love and forgive their brother are not living within the will of God. No wonder we are not happy contented peaceful folk... RIGHT? Some of us hate our jobs... Yet plain scripture tells us that whatever we do... Whatever our work is... That we should do it as if we were doing it for the Lord. Try it folk... God gave us His will for a reason... Because it is good for us. And listen to me church... He blesses us richly... He rewards us fully... When we are genuinely committed to His will... As revealed in His Word.
I believe God has a special plan for each one of us... And I believe we will never be as happy as we could be... And as fulfilled as we want to be until we discover and submit to His will in every facet... Every nuance of life.
As we face the new year... Our challenge is to be committed to the WORK of GOD. Christ sends us into a world that desperately needs to hear the good news of the Gospel. The world about us needs the touch of the Master's hand... And they can experience this TOUCH... If we will become...
His hands...
His feet...
His voice...
His sympathetic shoulder...
In a cold and harsh world... Are we willing??
Question???... Have you found the work God has for you to do for the coming new year? What ministry are you involved in here? If you haven't found one... I challenge you to do so soon and be committed to it...
-There are three listed on the back of your worship handout... Will you take one?
-John Cadwell is getting to where he is unable to duplicate tapes each week. This takes about three hours each Monday morning... Will you help?
-Curt LaPorte and Bob Cox are always searching for willing Bible teachers...Can they count on you?
-There is never a week that we don't have a newcomer or shut-in to be visited...Will you commit?
I don't know what God is calling you to do... All I know is that He is calling each of us to find our place in His Kingdom and commit to doing His work... Bringing glory and honor to His name.
And finally, Spiritual excellence demands a commitment to the Spirit of God. I believe our commitment to the Spirit of God comes in three ways... Here they are...
First... We must be filled with the Spirit. This admonition is found in Ephesians 5.18... Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery... Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Note audience... This is not optional... This is a direct command which is binding on every one of us as Christians. The question is always asked... Well... What does it mean to be filled with the spirit? There is nothing mysterious about this... It is plain in the context... Don't be drunk with wine... But filled with the Spirit.
- Don't be under the influence of wine... But under the influence of the Spirit.
- Don't follow the prompting of the wine... But follow the prompting of the Spirit.
- Don't allow the wine to lift your inhibitions to sin... But let the Spirit lift your inhibition to things spiritual.
This brings us to the second point... We must be Spirit-led. Don't let the wine lead you... But allow the Spirit to lead. Our verse is Romans 8.5-9... Those who live according to the sinful flesh nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful flesh nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful flesh nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Then thirdly... We must be committed to bearing the fruit of the spirit. So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful flesh nature... But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
The Spirit-filled life is the greatest experience that any believer can have this side of Heaven. What an excellent new year this could be for each one of us...
- If we permitted God to fill us with His Holy Spirit...
- If we allowed the Spirit to lead us...
- And when we do... We will bear the fruit of the Spirit.
You see... God's horticulture is Guaranteed... His gardening technique is awesome and perfect. Be filled with the Spirit.... Allow the Spirit to lead us, and we WILL bear spiritual fruit.
Well... We must stop... But we must ask...
Are any of us interested in SPIRITUAL EXCELLENCE?
Are any of us ready to make one or more of these commitments as we enter this new year?
I hope we are... I hope I have said something to cause us to think and respond to God's will, His Spirit through the Word.
If you are not a child of God... Become one now by faith... repentance and baptism.
If you have something that you need to make right with God or others, do so this morning.
If you need the prayers of the good church... We are ready to pray for you and with you.
If, as a baptized believer, you would like to join this church family... God invites... the Bride and the Spirit say COME NOW as we stand and sing together...
Will you come?
