This is the third message in our series, "You Should Be Committed".
The first message dealt with the issue of excuses (not reasons) that those profess Christ give in being out of fellowship in the local church. These reasons ranged anywhere from the ludicrous (I had to mow my lawn, I had to work at 3 PM when church was at 11 AM) to ones that the church has brought upon itself in some cases (hypocrisy, cliques, unloving attitudes to divorced and others in distress). In short, a Christian is commanded in Hebrews 10:25 to not "forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as is the manner of some" and other than death, illness and required work schedules to abandon church attendance is sin.
The second message last week dealt with the top ten reasons and benefits of being in church:
1) Shows our love for God
2) Spiritual Strength Building
3) The Lord's Presence
4) Fellowship with other Christians
5) Obedience to God
6) Accountability to spiritual leadership
7) Corporate Prayer
8) Remembrance of the Lord's Day
9) Blessing to the Christian
10) Edification of Believers
Overall--and some may consider this harsh but it's true--there is a huge lack of commitment in the American church. People do not understand that when a person is really saved by Jesus Christ that it is not an optional thing to be involved in a local church.
As Christians, our purpose as stated in the Westminster Confession of Faith is "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever". Many that profess Christ no little about Him; they treat Him more like the jilted lover than the loved Savior. They have an attitude of "well, I love Jesus but He is not the boss of me".
This week, we will discuss how the American church--starting with OUR church--must change. I do believe that we are nearing the time of the Rapture of the church because of the widespread apostasy and false; however, that does not mean that we should stand by and just allow this to happen. We must be agents of change, and the change must start with YOU. Are you "All In"?
Biggest Complaint Against Those That Profess Christ
It's not really hard to find the biggest complaint about those that profess Christ by those outside the church.
Before we examine this issue, let's make sure that we understand a key name that I am using: those that profess Christ. As I have stated many times, just because you are a professor of Christ does not mean you are a possessor of Christ. I professed Christ for years but did not possess Christ--actually become saved--until 1996 at the age of 37.
With these terms in mind, the biggest complaint against those that profess Christ is that they act no better than the rest of the people on Planet Earth. People know--yes KNOW--that Christians are to be different. While some of those outside the faith (those that deny Christ and those that have not made a decision, which technically is denying Christ) expect Christians to act perfectly, there are quite a few that say--and with good justification--a statement like this:
"Yeah, ol' Billy Bob goes to church every Sunday. I see him walk into the church, I see his picture in the paper along with others at church events, but if only you knew how he acts the rest of the week! If he is what a Christian is, I sure don't want to be one. Billy Bob takes home "employee five finger discount" stuff from work, he screams at his wife and cusses like a sailor. For pete's sake, I can act that way all by myself, all on my own, without having to hang out with hypocrites on Sundays!"
Those outside the church (that is, the body of Christ) may well expect more from us that is correct, but I do think that Billy Bobs are more common that not. We can understand if someone is merely a professor of Jesus; unless Jesus has saved them then the Holy Spirit does not live within them. However, I think that there is a massive amount of people that are saved that do not act the part, and thus paint a big red and white target church for the unsaved.
Let's just put this in common sense terms. Those that profess must understand that if there's "No change, then there's no change". In other words, if you live like Hell that is probably your destination no matter how much you say "I love Jesus!". That being said, there are also those that really are saved--and this may well be you--that may have never really grown up in the faith. You may be, like the writer of Hebrews said above, one "who partakes only of milk (and) is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. In other words, still a breast fed baby Christian feeding on the mere milk of and not grown up. With this being the most Biblically illiterate generation in modern times, is it any wonder that the church is filled with brawling, spoiled brat children?
Therefore...
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
"For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?" "Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?"
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:33-36 (NKJV)
I beseech you, therefore...Romans 12:1a
The Epistle to the Romans, written by the Apostle Paul to those Christians in Rome, is a Scriptural masterpiece and shows the state of mankind (both Jew and Gentile) as lost and in need of Jesus Christ. The text is rich in doctrine, teaching that righteousness--the major theme contained in chapters 1-11--is attained only by faith and trust in Jesus Christ, that justification (being declared not guilty of sin) was by faith in Jesus only as exemplified in Abraham (Rom 4:1-4), the wrath of God (chapter 1) and eternal security of the believer (Rom 8:31-39) among some of the major topics.
Any time you see the word therefore (also "and", "furthermore", etc.) the text then points back to prior text; it may be a few verses or a few chapters. However, here in Romans 12:1 it points back to the entire book of Romans. It is as though Paul is saying "Because of everything I have told you to this point". Paul sums up, with obvious excitement and elation, what he has written in chapters 1-11 right at the end of chapter 11 in verses 33-36.
The depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God: Some folks feel that wisdom means that a person is smart, but it is "a moral rather than intellectual quality". Paul again, then, speaks not only of the knowledge of God which is unlimited but of the moral element, righteousness and uprightness. The depth is unfathomable.
How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out: The term finding out is better translated "untraceable" or "unsearchable". In short, His judgments and ways are way above our level of understanding. In other words, you can't track God or know exactly what God is going to do.
"For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?" "Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?": This is a quote from Job, after God called Him on the carpet for questioning Him. In short His ways are not our ways, His thoughts not our thoughts (Is 55:8). You can't teach God, and as often as people try, you can't give him advice!
"Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?": To be concise, we have nothing to give to God, never have and never will, that He should ever owe us anything. We deserve nothing, only condemnation to Hell.
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. "God is the source, the sustainer and the rightful end of everything that exists" (MacArthur Study Bible). Amen. So be it.
The Extraordinary Is Actually The Ordinary
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Rom 12:1
I know folks that feel like they are doing God a favor by being in ministry. Some feel that any effort is great effort on their behalf for God. Further, I know people that feel that they "save" people when in truth it is the Holy Spirit that convicts the heart unto salvation through Jesus Christ. It's important to remember, as the Corinthians learned from Paul, that gifts are given by God and for the purposes of God, and not for the Christian to think that they are special in any way. No, although we are objects of God's special love, you and I are only special in that we are made special by the Holy Spirit that works in us.
Paul beseeches the Romans as we see in Romans 12:1. The term for beseech in the original language is parakaleo, a related word to the same word used as Comforter for the Holy Spirit. It means "to come along side", and means "to beg, entreat, beseech" in this context. Why is Paul begging the Romans? Because of the mercies of God.
What are "the mercies of God"? David Guzik notes that there are nine "mercies of God" in his commentary:
· Justification
· Adoption in Jesus and identification with Christ
· Set under grace not law
· The gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit
· Help in all affliction
· Standing in God's election
· The certainty of coming glory
· The confidence of no separation from the love of God
· Total confidence in God's continued faithfulness
As Brother Dave Staggers says "this is the benefit package" to the believer. If you look at the above list from Romans it sure is a benefit package. But what is really sad is that most Christians think they have nothing, when in fact they are rich in the riches of Christ by His mercies. Even worse are those that do know, but are totally apathetic in their attitude toward their Savior.
We are called to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. I do believe that people in this current culture do not know the meaning of the word sacrifice; many people have an "entitlement" mentality in regards to their walk with Jesus. Instead of a sacrifice on the altar as in the Old Testament, we are to make the sacrifice of living a separate life that is acceptable to God. Often people do not put God first, they put self first.
What we are called to is not unreasonable, but instead is your reasonable service. It is not an extraordinary request, it is what we should consider ordinary. Give this some thought: for all that Jesus has done for us, does it not show gratitude and love by living a holy and acceptable life to Him? Are you "All in"?
Commitment Means Renewal: Blood, Sweat and Tears Part I
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
The biggest problem in the individual believer and, consequently with the church today is NOT that professing believers want to live with one foot in church and one foot in the world. It is worse than that: people want to live in the world and have their relationship with Jesus as a manageable "deal" where Jesus is just something that the person does when convenient and is not the centerpiece of their lives. This shows up on Sunday mornings, as people feel that they have to shop, mow the yard, have noon birthday parties and otherwise just "fit Jesus in" at their convenience. The problem is that the American church has two feet in the world with their toes stuck in the door of the church "just in case I need Jesus". This is not the Christian life to which we are called.
Paul tells the Romans "do not be conformed to this world". Paul already said what was expected of the believer, what his reasonable service is: you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, now he tells the Romans--and us--to "Stop imitating the model you see outside yourself" or Stop bending to a pattern that is not your pattern" (Galyn Weimers). For the saint of Christ, we are to model ourselves after Jesus and not the world or age (aion). Richard Trench defines aion:
All that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations, at any time current in the world, which it may be impossible to seize and accurately define, but which constitute a most real and effective power, being the moral, or immoral, atmosphere which at every moment of our lives we inhale, again inevitably to exhale – all this is included in the aion, which is, as Bengel has expressed it, the subtle informing spirit of the kosmos, or world of men who are living alienated and apart from God."
We are called out of the world, and not called to be of the world. Yes, we still live in the world but we are called to be different, to be salt and light. How do we do that? By going "All In" by developing a discipline of learning and knowing what God's Word actually says. The Word of God is to transform us. This key term is the Greek word metamorphousthe, from which we get the English term metamorphosis. Studying the Word of God daily is behavior modification, it changes you; like a caterpillar changes into a butterfly.
We are to be transformed by the renewing of (our minds). This transformation or metamorphosis is to be ongoing; it is like a butterfly getting more beautiful as time goes by. This happens by the renewing the mind, from a Greek word that means "to make new again, to renew" (Weimers), and is a continuing action; we are to seek to "keep renewing ourselves" and this occurs when the Holy Spirit utilizing the Word of God does the renewing work in us.
