NRH Feb 15,2009

I desired to speak today about the importance of not only spending time in church, or reading Bible stories to your kids, or even to gather as we do, but to live a life worthy of the name of Christ. To dedicate ourselves to our Savior. A mediocre effort, simply going with the flow and never challenging ourselves will never accomplish what God wants us to be.

Luke 6:43-49 43For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.
45The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.46Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?
47"Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:
48he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
49"But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."

This passage speaks of the fruit of our labors and the very foundation on which our lives should be built. We are not told to bring forth flowers or leaves which are merely decorative for the eye. We are told to bring forth fruit, nourishing, reproductions of the vine from which we get our life. The fruit is not a result of our work, but the outpouring of that which is in us. The fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 should be the evidence of a life lived according to the Spirit, and not that of the flesh.

Verse 49 tells that those who have heard and not acted on the words of the Lord have built their foundation on shaky ground. We must lay our foundation in obedience to the principles that God has set forth. This is not just about worship, but about living a holy life, raising our children properly, witnessing to the lost, and caring for the brethren in our midst. Too often we take the time to love the brethren and forget that Jesus "came to seek and to save that which is lost" The saints should be hospitable to each other, encouraging and caring for one another, but that is not the only command of who to love and care for.

We must hold ourselves accountable to God’s standards and we can not be satisfied to be better than most Christians, or closer to God’s will than other churches. We must be in the center of God’s will and never be satisfied until we get there. I can tell you that until we are in heaven, there is room for improvement. Even David, a man after God’s own heart, sinned. He struggled, but God never left him without the strength to defeat sin.

May we never consider ourselves to have attained just the right level of spirituality, Godliness, and obedience. Satan is thoroughly pleased when God's people are happy with worshiping God and serving other believers, as long as we leave "his people" alone. The devil is not threatened by, nor does he need to attack, Christians who don't desire to reach others for Christ. He has already lost that person, but Satan has other ways to defeat his enemies, and one weapon is that of apathy. Make Christians comfortable in keeping the Gospel to themselves. At least then he won't lose any more of his people.

Joice spoke last week about remembering, especially the joy of our salvation and the love we have for our Lord and Savior. It is very important to honor the Biblical examples of gathering, but we cannot just lay aside the responsibility of all that we are called to do in addition. If we truly love Him, we will obey Him not just in how we gather, but in every command. This includes living a holy life, and dedicating ourselves daily to His service, and not fulfilling our own desires.

Romans 12:1-2 1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Sunday-only Christians bear the leaves and flowers but are scorched in the midday sun. We need to dig deep into the soil, absorbing from the sun those nutrients we need to grow. We will not survive the affliction and persecution that we are promised if we do not "have a firm root established" as mentioned in Matthew 13 in the parable of the sower. This only comes from full surrender, truly desiring "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"

Have we presented ourselves TODAY as a living sacrifice, dying to self and radically transformed by God's power in your life. What are you doing TODAY for Christ? It isn't enough to show up for church and go through the motions. It isn't even enough to spend time in study and prayer.

James 2:14What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."

We have not been called to an empty worship that is hollow and meaningless without the obedience that is commanded in Scripture. I would dare say that it is not even really worship without obedience. "To obey is better than sacrifice" 1 Sam. 15:22

Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me "Lord, Lord" and do not do what I say?"

It is not enough to just do good works, but to give ourselves as a living sacrifice. Our lives are for God’s honor and glory. We are to be crucified with Christ, not just living freely because our sin is forgiven. What about you, the believer gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus? Do you live your life in a way that shows your spouse, children, coworkers, friends, and loved ones that you are completely sold out for God?

Would those people, if asked, say that you are living every minute of every day striving to be more like our Savior? Or would they think of you as someone who "got religion" but shows no fruit of God's spirit in your life? Would God, who knows our deeds and our hearts, say that we are on fire for Him, cold, or lukewarm, “having a form of godliness, but lacking the power thereof”?

God desires us to come before Him with a broken and contrite heart. We must remind ourselves that God is the potter, and we are the clay. Let Him mold us to what he desires for us to be.I played church for years, not wanting to surrender to God. So, how do we keep it from getting this way? What can we do to prove that there is more than Sunday services and religion?

Titus 2:1-8 1But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.
2Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.
3Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,
5to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
6Likewise urge the young men to be sensible;
7in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified,
8sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.

Here is our example. Men, women, young folks, are all instructed here as to how we should live. I will concentrate on the men for now, though. As the God appointed leaders of our homes, we are the authority. But that is not just being boss. No, with authority comes responsibility. Husbands, you are to be leading your household. You are to be the man you should be before God, and model that for your wife and your children.

Our model should be one of love and desire to help the whole family to glorify God together. This is a great responsibility and one that I admit that at times I feel I don’t measure up to. But if I don’t lead in God’s ways, then there certainly will be no one following. I can’t expect them to learn it on their own. We cannot expect anyone else to do this job either, indeed God has told us that we will be held accountable.

If you disregard the daily reading of God's Word, your family will hold no regard for it either. If you do not spend time in prayer, they will not see the value of it in your life. They will see it as a tradition, a religious exercise and nothing more. If the Lord’s Day is just another day off, to play and we do not dedicate it to the Lord, we can rest assured that the next generation will become lax about it, too.

If you say that reaching the lost for Christ is important, but you never reach out to your neighbors, then you are what Paul described in 1 Cor. 13:1 as a "noisy gong" or a clanging cymbal. Our children see what we do far more than what we say. Our neighbors who know we "go to church" must think we are a society of separatists who do not care about the fate of our fellow man, but get so lost in worship that we forget to obey the God we claim to have given our lives to.

If you spend more time in front of a TV than showing your family the life of a man that seeks after God, you will breed the same attitude in your children and your wife. How many people watched the SuperBowl recently and yet made excuses that "didn't have time" or "were too busy" to go out to this community to reach them with the Gospel. Which is more important?

We make time for what is important to us, don't we? Our priorities are evidenced by what we spend our time and money on. Working out at the gym, sports, hobbies, leisure time, and many other things may have their place in your life, but if God is not first, you will be held accountable.

Job 23:10-12 But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 11"My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. 12"I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

Job knew that he had followed God, and that God would not forsake him. Why? We see that Job considered God's Word more precious than food. I don't want to add to God's Word, but would like to make an application point here. Do you desire God's Word more than food, sleep, money, fishing, sports, the acclaim of man? What in your life is more important to you than God? If there is anything, you need to confess that to Him and fix it today. There is no time to waste.

It all belongs to the Lord and we must not allow anything that is displeasing to Him to continue to have a place in our lives. The fleshly desires sometimes become great, and we can fall if we do not rely on God to lift us up in those times of trouble. If you would rather please yourself than your Lord, then is He really your Lord?

Matthew 10:37-39 37"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39"He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. Are we willing to give our lives, not even in death, but in living out our calling? Too often, my experience is that we would not! We talk a lot and then don't follow through. We must act on our beliefs or they really aren't beliefs at all.

James 1:22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Verses 22-24 remind us that we have crucified the flesh if we are indeed children of God. We do not have to follow the sinful nature anymore. James gives a clearer picture of how God sees us when we seek to straddle the fence between His desires and those of the world. He doesn't pull any punches, just gives us the truth even though it hurts.

James 4:4-8 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"?

6But He gives a greater grace Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." 7Submit therefore to God Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded

Here are some stern warnings about keeping our priorities straight. We can not be complacent, letting sin into our lives. We all think that we are not like the world, but we need to honestly and prayerfully assess everything we do to make sure it is of God , not of the world. There will be no one sitting on the fence on Judgment day, but many that will be thrown into the pit, while crying out "Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name" and He will cast them out, because they had only offered lip service. They had not given themselves, but merely praise without obedience.

What do we need to cleanse our hands of? How about the music you listen to? Does it honor God, or is it just "not that bad"?
What about the TV shows and movies you watch, and those we let our children watch?
How about our speech, does every word from our mouth honor God?
Are we good and faithful stewards of God's money, or do we waste it on the desires of the flesh and things that occupy our time so that we have nothing left for God but Sundays and maybe a little time in the Word each day?

God warns us that to be friends with the world is to be an enemy of God. This is no place for any Christian to be. We sometimes catch ourselves flirting with sin, teetering on the edge of the cliff, but we need not run on the edge. We should not be looking over the cliff, or admiring the flowers on the edge of the cliff but living on the narrow path that God has told us to stay on.

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14"For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

This warns that the way to life is narrow, and not many find it. I know I have found myself too close to the edge more than once, fallen and broken fellowship with God. It is not for us to desire for ourselves, but to desire what God wants more than anything.

I want to urge everyone here to live like God would have us to live. The fruits of the Spirit should be easily evidenced in a person honestly seeking to please the Lord. To be the man, woman, child, husband, wife, father, mother, and servant of God that we should be. Leading by example is much more profitable than making excuses for our mistakes, hoping our children will learn from our sin and disobedience

The tattoo on my arm (which I am not advocating, but it is one of the scars I bear to this day) bears the constant reminder of a young life lost. An 18 year old boy that, though he was a popular, fun, nice guy, was not born again and is in hell for eternity. He died rescuing a drunk man from drowning. That drunk man lived, and my friend died. He had no idea that night would be his last on this earth.

He was not prepared to stand before God in judgment, and I know I am not the only one who has lost a loved one and felt guilty for never telling them about what they must do to get right with God. We cannot save them, but we must tell them!

Some live a long life, some are gone as teens. Don’t wait until tomorrow to speak about the need for salvation to those you care about. You may never get the chance. I am not trying to scare anyone, but life is so precious and we only get one chance. Make it count for God. You have the choice to make it eternally right or eternally wrong.
Lastly, I just want to thank you all for listening. I do not speak today as someone who has attained anything, but one who desires to learn, to be held accountable according to God's Word, and to encourage those who may be struggling. We are in this together, this is God’s church, Christ’s body.

In our efforts to reach the lost, I am constantly reminded of Psalm 51. It has been a passage that I refer to often, and in this outreach time, I have thought of the words of verses 10-13 a lot. "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a wiling spirit."

After this we understand the complete picture. After we are clean of heart and steadfast in the Lord, then we see the fruit in verse 13
"Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will be converted to you"

The goal we have had while here, and I trust the prayer of every saint in this body, is to see sinners come to repentance. This is only possible when God draws the heart of the lost soul. And so we must bathe this work in prayer, and then go out claiming the harvest that the Lord has promised. He will provide fruit in His time and in His ways as we continue to reach out in love for those that are dying in their sin.