Sermon Central
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He Is Worthy
Contributed by Bala Samson on Sep 16, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: Many camouflage their laziness with the statement, ‘despite my carelessness and laziness, God’s grace sustains me'; however, God wants us to walk worthy of our calling.
He is worthy
Luke 7:4”When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him…”
ROMAN CENTURION: The above appreciation of the disciples is about the ‘Roman Centurion’ who had wholehearted faith in Jesus and also his passion for Christ was shown in his deeds, read verse 5,” he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue." This is wow love that this Roman Centurion had for Jesus, look what Jesus did, when he heard this report, verse 6” Jesus was on his way to the house of the Roman Centurion..” He further goes on to say, ‘ Jesus, I am not worthy for your personal visit, just say the Word that’s enough boss…’ Again he wowed Jesus, that Jesus was floored by this kind of love that He was marveled and said, “"I say to you, not even among my own people, have I found such great faith." This is a great report by Jesus!
I want to just concentrate on the statement of the disciples about the Roman Centurion, ‘he is worthy’ today. Many camouflage their laziness with the statement, ‘despite my carelessness and laziness, God’s grace sustains me.’ These lazy people bask under the grace of God forever in their life, without making/taking any efforts to change their life and move forward to the next level, the line between grace and lazy is rather thin…..People love to call themselves lizards, cockroaches and caterpillars and say that they are unworthy in the eyes of God and think they are being humble but this is a lie of the devil, we need to move in our spiritual life like Apostle Paul and boldly ‘be able’ to tell people ‘imitate me, read…
1 Corinthians 11:1” And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.”
Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.
People might call you arrogant and boisterous, that’s alright, but you be confident in God and walk like Christ, so that people have a live example in you. Amen. This is a ‘MUST’ today in Sunday classes, Youth Meeting, Women’s gathering, Men’s fellowship, Teen fellowship, Prayer seminars, Worship Festivals, Crusades and what not; there is an urgent need for true examples, are you listening?
WALK WORTHY OF YOUR CALLING
Colossians 1:10”That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God..”
We wake up only after a gruesome death! We live in a state of inertia, bask under the glory of present blessings, God and the church are shoved far behind; only after a great awakening do we fervently hunt for a ‘powerful man/woman’ who can tap the power of God. Are you there? We hunt for prophets, miracles and for some magic that can wade away the calamity: it can be a serious doctor report, a HR chit that shows the door, bankruptcy, divorce or death. In the quest for fame, fun, money and luxury, our personal lives are subjugated! Let us grow spiritually, set right our life according to the standard set by God and have the covering of God’s protection over our work, family, finances, health, future and children.
If you visit some of the metropolitan cities in India, you would see plethora of prayer conferences, fire camps, worship festivals and much more, with solid presentations, video clippings; following these flamboyant meetings, there would be sales of books, tapes and what not! Despite all this hoopla and much communication there is less knowledge of God! I write this with a heavy heart! More than jumping from one prayer hall to another, let us stay still and know that He is Lord! Are you listening?
In the above scripture taken for meditation, we see Apostle Paul praying one of his wonderful prayers for the believers to:
a) walk worthy of the Lord,
b) please Him in all our ways,
c) being fruitful in every good work and
d) increasing in the knowledge of God.
Observe the words of Paul, he does not say, ‘grow in the knowledge of the Lord’, but he prays, ‘increasing in the knowledge of God.’ This should surely wake us!
We would not be jumping in and out of affairs, groping in the dark for the will of God for our future, daringly getting into atrocious sins and still feel good about ourselves. The Lord says, Hosea 6:6 “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. “ It was the knowledge of God that made the Roman Centurion say, ‘just say the Word Lord, it’s enough..’ Amen.