The Essentials Of
Spiritual Fulfillment
Text: Heb.11: 1-7
Intro: One of man’s innate desires is that of fulfillment. However, fulfillment means different things to different people. To some, fulfillment might mean accomplishing some dangerous or heroic feat. To others, fulfillment means acquiring large sums of money, or attaining an elevated social status. What fulfills one may not fulfill another.
What does fulfillment really mean? Basically the word refers to a condition of satisfaction. But though people are constantly in pursuit of satisfaction, it would seem to allude many of our day. Mick Jagger, lead singer for the Rolling Stones, made popular the song, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” in which he laments the frustration of unattained fulfillment.
In spite of all the affluence that our world enjoys today, many people are still dissatisfied with life. But then, real satisfaction and fulfillment isn’t found in material gains, climbing the social ladder or experiencing the next thrill. True satisfaction—true fulfillment is found only in Christ. Yet in all honesty, even Christians often find themselves unfulfilled. How does one obtain spiritual fulfillment? How does one fill the void they feel in their Christian life? Fortunately, for the child of God, these are not answerless questions. God’s Word gives us some definite answers.
Theme: Spiritual fulfillment can be attained by learning to:
I. WORSHIP GOD AS DID ABEL
Heb.11: 4 “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”
A. Abel’s Worship Had God As Its Proper Object.
Heb.11: 4a “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice…”
1. Only God is worthy of our worship.
Luke 4: 8 “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
2. God is not worshipped with mere rituals, but with the heart.
John 4: 24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Acts 17: 24 “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;”
3. Worship is a relationship of love with God.
Matt.22: 36 “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”
4. Worship involves recognizing the awesome holiness of God.
Ps.29: 2 “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
Ps.46: 10 “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”
NOTE: Warren Wiersbe, quoting William Temple, gives us the following definition of worship:
True biblical worship so satisfies our total personality that we don’t have to shop around for man-made substitutes. William Temple made this clear in his masterful definition of worship:
For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose—and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.
Warren W. Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p. 119.
B. Abel’s Worship Was Based Upon A Propitiatory Offering.
Heb.11: 4a “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain…”
1. It is because of our sin that a sacrifice was needed.
Isa.59: 2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
2. Jesus Christ was that propitiatory offering made on man’s behalf.
I John 2: 2 “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
I John 4: 10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
NOTE: [1] It must be noted here that when Abel sacrificed that animal, it was a means of identifying himself with the victim and the penalty of sin, which it had suffered in his place, in type. We were also identified with Christ in His death on the Cross for our sins.
Gal.2: 20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
[2] The word “propitiation” refers to “the satisfying of God’s holy law” (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Real, published by Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois; pg. 36). The basic idea of the word is that of “satisfaction” (Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison, Editors, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; pg. 1475).
3. It is through Christ that we have access to God in worship.
John 14: 6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Rom.5: 1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
C. Abel’s Worship Resulted In A Permanent Outcome.
Heb.11: 4 “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”
NOTE: [1] A person cannot enter into a worship experience with a holy God and not be changed. How is it my dear brothers and sisters that so many people can come to church week after week, and yet never be any different? There is something wrong with that.
1. The Scriptures tell us that one becomes like what they worship.
Ps.135: 15 “The idols of the heathen are silver ad gold, the work of men’s hands.
16 They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;
17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.”
NOTE: A person’s worship shapes their life, as the following illustration vividly points out:
James Michener, writing in his book, The Source, tells the story of a man named Urbaal, who was a farmer living about 2200 B.C. He worshiped two gods, one a god of death, the other a goddess of fertility.
One day, the temple priests tell Urbaal to bring his young son to the temple for sacrifice if he wants good crops. Urbaal obeys, and on the appointed day drags his wife and boy to the scene of the boy’s “religious execution” by fire to the god of death. After the sacrifice of Urbaal’s boy and several others, the priests announce that one of the fathers will spend next week in the temple, with a new temple prostitute. Urbaal’s wife is stunned as she notices a desire written more intensely across his face than she had seen before, and she in overwhelmed to see him eagerly lunge forward when his name is called. The ceremony over, she walks out of the temple with her head swimming, concluding that “if he had different gods, he would have been a different man.”
Erwin Lutzer, Pastor to Pastor, p. 89.
2. Moses entered into worship with God and was visibly changed.
Ex.34: 29 “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.”
3. When a child of God has truly worshipped, others can tell it.
Acts 4: 13 “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
II. WALK WITH GOD AS DID ENOCH
Heb.11: 5 “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
A. Walking With God Means To Concur With God.
Amos 3: 3 “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”
NOTE: If we expect to be in a right relationship with God, we must be in agreement with what His Word plainly tells us.
Two employees were chatting.
“The boss wants a meeting today at 4:30.”
“Why does he always have to have them on Friday at 4:30?”
“People tend to agree with him!”
Source Unknown.
1. We must agree with God about our sin.
I John 1: 9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
2. We must agree that we are helpless and dependent upon Him.
John 15: 5c “…for without me ye can do nothing.”
3. We must agree with Him that He is Lord of our life.
I Cor.6: 19 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
B. Walking With God Means To Conform To God.
1. Conformity to Christ comes only by complete submission.
Rom.12: 1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
2. We are to conform to Christ’s character.
Rom.8: 29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
NOTE: One of the goals of every Christian’s life should be to conform to the image of Christ:
On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is a portrait with the following inscription:
“James Butler Bonham—no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by the family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom.”
No literal portrait of Jesus exists either. But the likeness of the Son who makes us free can be seen in the lives of His true followers.
Bill Morgan.
C. Walking With God Means To Comply With God.
1. Obedience proves our love for Christ.
John 14: 15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.
………………………………………………..
23a Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words…”
2. Obedience assures us of God’s blessing.
Isa.1: 19 “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:”
NOTE: The Lord Jesus deserves our total obedience. One of the church fathers said it like this:
Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace.
Thomas a Kampis.
III. WORK FOR GOD AS DID NOAH
Heb.11: 7 “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
A. Noah Worked When God Prodded.
1. God prodded Noah to action by showing him the urgency of the situation.
Gen.6: 13 “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
NOTE: This seems to be the same idea behind Christ’s statement in the New Testament, when He said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9: 4).
2. God also prodded Noah with specific instructions.
Gen.6: 14 “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
NOTE: It ought to be noted that God initiated Noah’s work, not Noah. Too many Christians are trying to tell God what they’re going to do for Him instead of finding out what God wants done. We serve the Lord on His terms not ours. Someone once said, “Most people wish to serve God—but in an advisory capacity only” (Quoted in Sunday Express, London).
B. Noah Worked By God’s Plan.
Gen.6: 15 “And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.”
C. Noah Worked Trusting God’s Promise.
1. God promised to spare Noah and his family from judgment with the wicked.
Gen.6: 17 “And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
18 But with thee will I establish my covenant: and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.”
2. God has likewise promised to spare us from the coming judgment.
I Thess.4: 15 “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are sleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
I Thess.5: 9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Theme: Spiritual fulfillment can be attained by learning to:
I. WORSHIP GOD AS DID ABEL
II. WALK WITH GOD AS DID ENOCH
III. WORK FOR GOD AS DID NOAH
