INTRO.- ILL.- An elderly man on the beach found a magic lamp. He picked it up and a genie appeared. "Because you have freed me," the genie said, "I will grant you a wish." The man thought for a moment and then responded, "My brother and I had a fight 30 years ago and he hasn’t spoken to me since. I wish that he’d finally forgive me." There was a thunderclap, and the genie declared, "Your wish has been granted." The genie continued, "You know that most men would have asked for wealth or fame. But you only wanted the love of your brother. Is it because you are old and dying?" "No way!" the man said. "But my brother is, and he’s worth about $60 million."
Some people are only interested in acquiring money by hook or crook: by any means possible; fair or foul.
ILL.- Consider the Enron scandal that was revealed in late 2001. As the scandal was revealed, people lost a lot of money and especially, many Enron employees!
On August 14, 2001, Jeffrey Skilling, the chief executive of Enron announced he was resigning his position after only six months. Observers noted that in the months leading up to his exit, Skilling had sold at minimum 450,000 shares of Enron at a value of around $33 million.
He was convicted in 2006 of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron’s financial collapse, and is currently serving a 24-year, 4-month prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, in Waseca, Minnesota.
Kenneth Lay was one of America’s highest-paid CEOs, earning, for example, a $42.4 million compensation package in 1999.
On July 7, 2004, Lay was indicted by a grand jury on 11 counts of securities fraud and related charges. Lay was found guilty on May 25, 2006, of 10 counts against him; the judge dismissed the 11th. Because each count carried a maximum 5- to 10-year sentence, legal experts said Lay could have faced 20 to 30 years in prison. However, he died while vacationing in Snowmass, Colorado on July 5, 2006, about three and a half months before his scheduled October 23 sentencing.
IT’S CALLED GREED! At least, that’s the way it looks to me.But greed isn’t just a sin for the high and mighty and the oil companies! It affects people of all ages and social ranks.
ILL.- Someone said: Greed is the logical result of the belief that there is no life after death. We grab what we can while we can however we can and then hold on to it hard.
It’s not wrong to have money as long as money doesn’t have you. And the same is true for any material possession. If we cling tenaciously to our material possessions as if they meant everything to us God just might take them away from us to teach us that we need Him more than those things.
I Timothy 6:9-10 "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
I John 2:15-17 "15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
It appears that most people of the world are only committed to three basic goals: lust, greed and fame.
However, the apostle Paul was committed to something worthwhile. He was committed to the Lord, first and foremost in his life.
ILL.- Someone said, "Worldliness is what makes sin look normal in any age and righteousness seem odd."
And even though we have to go to work every day, make a living, raise a family, etc. our commitment to the Lord should be evident in our lives. The people around us should be able to see that there is something different about our lives, that we have a greater and higher goal for life than what most people have or strive for.
PROP.- In our text, we see Paul’s commitment to something worthwhile.
1- He was committed to God’s people
2- He was committed to God’s Word
I. COMMITTED TO GOD’S PEOPLE
32"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
NOW I COMMIT YOU.
ILL.- Recently, I had a graveside service for Lee Dent’s brother, Ed Dent of Odessa, MO. Ed Jr. and his family were there from Pryor, OK. I visited with his two children at the visitation. Ed’s grandson Cody Dent and I visited at the funeral home before the service. I found out that he was going to college in Edmond, OK, and is in pre-med. He told me that he wanted to be an ER doctor. I thought, "Wow! How commendable." And I told him that he must truly care about people otherwise he wouldn’t have chosen this profession. He agreed that he did care about people.
Even though we all chose different professions in life we must still be people-oriented, in the sense of caring about people. WE MUST BE COMMITTED TO PEOPLE! You don’t have to be a doctor to care about people!
The apostle Paul was committed to the elders at Ephesus, which also meant he was committed to the people to whom those elders ministered. He wanted to minister to those elders so they could minister effectively to their people.
ILL.- I heard a story one time about someone in a church who took the time to thank an old elder for the work he’d done in the church. The elder responded by saying, "You know I’ve been working and serving in this church for over 30 years and this is the first time anybody ever thanked me for anything."
How sad that we overlook some people. Often, we think of leaders in our churches as merely whipping posts. Instead of showing appreciation and giving recognition we just gripe about them or to them.
ILL.- Long time Ozark Christian College professor and dean, Seth Wilson, said, "Elders are servants of servants in a serving brotherhood of love." That’s the way elders should be: servants of servants. In other words, they should be totally people oriented.
I Pet. 5:1-4 "1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away."
ILL.- Someone said: We either love people or we control them. There is little room for anything else. And it’s far easier to control them than to love them.
Paul was not only committed to God’s people, he also committed them to God knowing that God could do things for them that he could not do.
Do did you worry when your kids first started dating? What concerned parent didn’t worry? I remember one of the elders in the church at Iberia, MO. He had two boys and two girls and his girls were beautiful. He told me that when his girls first started dating he would meet the boys at the door with a shotgun thrown over his shoulder. He would tell them to have a good evening and be home by 9.
Beyond doing things like that, what can you do? What should you do? We should commit them to God. How do you do that? You commit them to God in prayer. You pray, "Lord, take care of my daughter, my kids, etc. Keep them safe and protect them from evil, etc."
We should not only do this for our kids at home but also our grown kids and our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Paul committed those elders and the people to the Lord in prayer. "Lord, I’m leaving these people in your hands. Bless them. Use them. Care for them, etc."
ILL.- Someone said, "Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons -- but they are helpless against our prayers."
What does this mean? It means that sometimes the best thing we can do for anyone is to pray for them. You ask God to deal with them, to do something, etc. He can do what we cannot do. And sometimes, we would be far ahead if we committed them to the Lord in prayer in the first place and stopped right there.
II. COMMITTED TO GOD’S WORD
ILL.- Just before the death of actor W.C. Fields, a friend visited Fields’ hospital room and was surprised to find him thumbing through a Bible. Asked what he was doing with a Bible, Fields replied, "I’m looking for loopholes."
There are plenty of things in the Bible that may throw us for a loop but there are no loopholes. The Bible points us to the only hope we have in life and in death. W. C. Fields was not committed to the Bible even when his death was on the horizon. HE WAS MERELY GRABBING AT STRAWS!
32"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified."
Paul was not only committed to the people but also to the Word of God. He said, "I commit you to God and to the word of His grace."
II Tim. 3:13-17 "13While evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Paul said to Timothy that evil men would only get worse in time and the only thing that could save him would be the Word of God, which makes a person wise for salvation in Christ.
II Tim. 2:15-16 "15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly."
Paul was saying, in the midst of ungodly talk we must cling to the Word of God, which is the word of truth. Scripture is trustworthy. It is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
ILL.- It is said that when the famous missionary, Dr. David Livingstone, started his trek across Africa he had 73 books in 3 packs, weighing 180 pounds. After the party had gone 300 miles, Livingstone was obliged to throw away some of the books because of the fatigue of those carrying his baggage. As he continued on his journey his library grew less and less, until he had but one book left and that was his Bible.
Brothers and sisters, when we come to the end of the road in life there is only one book that will have any meaning for us. The Word of God alone can save us because it points to the only way of salvation and that’s Jesus!
ILL.- It was said that when the great preacher Alexander White was too old and weak to preach, he would still get up every morning and prepare a sermon, even though he never preached them. He did so until the day he died. He was convinced that study of the Word was essential to saving himself. AND THAT’S WHAT I CALL BEING COMMITTED TO THE WORD OF GOD!
ILL.- One preacher gave this testimony: I was a supply preacher for a small town Texas Church, coming in early Sunday, preaching a sermon to the congregation, and then leaving after lunch. Arriving early one Sunday I sat down at a local donut shop, opened my Bible and went over my sermon notes. A man was sitting down the counter from me and he said, "You a preacher or something?" I replied, "Yes I preach at the Christian Church here in town." He got excited and said, "Hey, I’m a member of that church."
The church was small and I knew all the regulars so I said, "I’ve been preaching there for about three months and I’ve never seen you there." He looked at me kind of strange and said, "I said I was a member of that church. I never said that I was fanatical about it!"
Brothers and sisters, we need to get fanatical about God and His Word and His church! We must be committed to our God and His Word!
CONCLUSION---------------------------
ILL.- One time in the B.C. comic strip two women were sitting on a small hill. One was reading the Bible and said, “Oh, my goodness. . . Says here. . . Jesus descended into hell!” The other woman was shocked and said, “You’re kidding!” Then the woman with the Bible said, “Oh, no. . . Not to stay! He just dropped in to cancel our reservations!”
Isn’t this wonderful? Jesus suffered for us so that we wouldn’t have to! He canceled our reservation in hell. He paid the price for us. Consequently, we need to be committed to Him, to His people and to His Word.
GET COMMITTED TO SOMETHING WORTHWHILE IN LIFE. Get committed to the Lord as never before!
