A Call to Adventure
Matthew 19:16-30
The Call of Christianity
Introduction: The call of Christianity is a call to adventure. Adventure is defined as an exciting and uncertain undertaking attended by risk and peril, offering a remarkable experience and/or reward. Quite often an adventure involves confrontation and conflict calling for the making of difficult and hard choices and commitments. The adventure of living the Christian life, of being a disciple, is no different.
I. The Adventure of Discipleship begins with making a choice - to follow Christ
A. Matthew 19:21 “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”
B. Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
C. One of the most colorful characters in baseball is Yogi Berra, the legendary former catcher for the New York Yankees. Yogi is as famous for his use of words as he was for his use of a bat and glove. He was a slashing hitter who has slashed up the English language more than once. One of the great "Yogisms" is this piece of timeless advice: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." There is actually a solid truth behind that puzzling piece of wisdom from old Yogi. When we come to a fork in the road of life, we have to go one way or the other. We can't just stand there scratching our heads forever, turn back and pretend the choice doesn't exist, or sit down and wait for someone else to come along and make the choice for us. - copied
D. Joshua 24:15 “... choose you this day whom ye will serve...”
E. Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live”
II. Conflict is inevitable when traveling the adventurous road of discipleship
A. When you choose the narrow pass conflict invariably follows.
B. Sometimes the conflict is from Family - Matthew 10:32-37 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household. He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me.”
C. Sometimes the conflict is from the World - 2 Timothy 3:12 “Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
• Christ said, “"If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.”
• Denton Lotz, leader of the Baptist World Alliance, related this story at the 1999 Arkansas Baptist State Convention: A Romanian woman accepted Christ as her Savior and was immediately transformed by the unbelievable LOVE of God. She began going into restaurants and other public places and simply declaring to all who could hear, "Jesus loves you!" She came to a railroad station and shared her message, "Jesus loves you!" with two men who were drunk. Immediately one of the men slapped her across the face. She looked at him and declared, "In the name of Jesus, I forgive you." Again he slapped her, and again she said, "In the name of Jesus, I forgive you." As the men continued to beat her, she continued to testify to the love and forgiveness of Jesus. Finally they left her, nearly dead, where she was found by fellow believers. A year later, she had recovered. One day she sat outside the front door of her home, and a passerby noticed her and approached her. He said to her, "I am a believer." In order to test his sincerity (she was fearful that he might have been trying to trick her), she said, "Get down on your knees right there and praise God out loud." He did so. So she invited him in. He said, "Don't you know who I am? I am the man who beat you up. Every time I would hit you, you would say, 'In the name of Jesus, I forgive you.' Because of your testimony to me, I could not help but turn to Jesus."
D. Sometimes the conflict is from Self – Romans 7:22-23 “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
III. Perils are found along the narrow road placed by an enemy seeking to destroy.
A. The moment you decide to live for Jesus Christ you paint a target on your back.
B. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: “
C. Illustrative Poem - "Dangers in the Christian Life"
Sometimes the lions' mouths are shut;
Sometimes God bids us flight or fly;
Sometimes He feeds us by the brook;
Sometimes the flowing stream runs dry.
Sometimes the burning flames are quenched;
Sometimes with sevenfold heat they glow;
Sometimes His hand divides the waves:
Sometimes His billows overflow.
Sometimes He turns the sword aside;
Sometimes He lets the sharp blade smite;
Sometimes our foes are at our heels;
Sometimes He hides us from their sight.
We may not choose, nor would we dare,
The path in which our feet shall tread;
Enough that He that path hath made,
And He Himself shall walk ahead.
The dangers that His love allows
Are safer than our fears may know;
The peril that His care permits
Is our defense where'er we go. - copied
D. Psalm 23:4-5 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”
IV. Traveling the adventurous road of Christianity calls for Complete Commitment.
A. Once you have made the decision to walk the narrow road there is no turning back. The Christian adventure is a life-long commitment to Christ.
B. Matthew 19:21 “Jesus said unto him, ‘If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me’.”
C. One of the best examples is that of Abraham. When Abraham left Ur, he burned his bridges behind him. For him there could be no turning back. Once he left the walls of Ur, he was on his own, following God's call into the unknown. When God calls, there are no guarantees about tomorrow. Abraham truly didn't know where he was going, didn't know how he would get there, didn't know how long it would take, and didn't even know for sure how he would know he was there when he got there. All he knew was that God had called him. Period. - adapted
D. Luke 9:62 “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
V. Faithfully engaging in the adventurous journey has its Rewards.
A. Matthew 19:29 “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”
B. Reward of an abundant life of fellowship with God
• John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
• Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you.”
C. Reward of Eternal Life
• Matthew 7:14 “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life...”
D. Reward of Heaven
• Concerning those that have chosen join the adventure of traveling the narrow road and choosing Christ the Bible declares in Hebrews 11:16 “...God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
• Imagine a WWII soldier, wounded while courageously rescuing his fellow soldiers. When he returned home, he was rewarded with the Medal of Honor for his service. What had motivated him to put his life in danger? He risked his life to save his friends’ lives and defend his country’s freedom. When his life was at stake in battle, he wasn’t thinking I’m going to put my life in jeopardy so that I will receive a medal. The reward was simply the nation’s way of showing appreciation for his heroic actions. In the same way, we serve God because we love Him and our fellow man. We don’t serve for the reward, but for the Lord. “We have as our ambition…to be pleasing to Him” (2 Cor. 5:9). Rewards are simply God’s way of showing that He is pleased with our lives. He could have kept the truth about eternal rewards a big secret to be revealed to all on Judgment Day. Instead, He specifically told us some things we do now will be rewarded in the next life. (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, pp. 66-67)
