Making Christ Lord Transforms Daily Duty to Divine Delight
I think that we who carry the Christian label need to remember that this journey that we are on is not just directed towards some future compensation, it is transformation that we are to seek. We want a faith, . . . .a truth, . . . .a grace to help us now, right here, where we are stumbling about, dizzied and fainting with our thirst. The promises of God stand sure, and we can have it all.
One who was man, yet mightier than man, has walked the road before us. When He walked it He turned it all into a well of living water. To them who are willing to walk in His footsteps, to keep in His light, the well He opened shall be forever flowing.
In Christ's own words: John 4:14 (NRSV) 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."
With that in mind, I want to talk with you about transforming our Daily Duty in to Divine Delight.
I. Introduction
A. The Gospel: A Message to the Whosoevers
1. We have all sinned (Rom. 3:10–23) Scripture is clear in its declaration. All men "come short of God's glory." The tense is present: all men are coming short, that is, continually coming short of God's glory.
Though men differ greatly in the nature and extent of their sinfulness, there is not a whole lot of difference between the best and the worst of men, in the fact that "all have sinned, men are in a state or condition of being short of God's glory. No matter how many new translations of the Bible come out, the people still sin the same way.
2. Permit me if you will to share an encouraging fact - Romans 5:8 (NRSV) 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
For when we were yet without strength -- that is, powerless to deliver ourselves, and so ready to perish, in due time -- at the appointed season, Christ died for the ungodly.
It is "while we were yet sinners" that God proved His love to us. This is the unbelievable love of God, that He stooped down to save sinners. We would expect Him to save righteous and good men, but it catches us completely off-guard when it is stated that He saves sinners. Such is the unbelievable love of God.
God proved His love by giving up His only Son to die for us. Sometimes it causes me to tremble. . . . Think of the enormous price God paid in proving His love: He gave up His Son to die for the unworthy and useless, the ungodly and sinful, the wicked and depraved—the worst sinners and outcasts imaginable.
Just think what God Himself must have gone through: the feelings, the suffering, the hurt, the pain, the terrible emotional strain. Just think what is involved in God giving up His Son:
Þ God had to send His Son out of the spiritual and eternal world (dimension) into the physical and corruptible world (dimension).
Þ God had to humiliate His Son by stripping Him of His eternal glory and insisting that He become clothed with corruptible flesh and die as a man.
Þ God had to watch His Son walk through life being rejected, denied, cursed, abused, arrested, tortured, and murdered. God had sit back when He knew He could reach out and deliver Him. And it could not have been a one time thing
Þ God has to bear the pain of His Son's sufferings eternally, for He is eternal and the death of His Son is ever before His face. (Just imagine! It is beyond our comprehension, but the eternal agony has to be a fact because of the eternal nature of God.)
God proved His love. We do not deserve it—we never have and we never will—but God loves us with an unbelievable love.
While we were still sinners — these are amazing words. Whenever you feel uncertain about God's love for you, remember that he loved you even before you turned to him. If God loved you when you were a rebel, he can surely strengthen you, now that you love him in return.
The mercy that fuels the love of God is the reason that:
3. All can be saved by faith Romans 10:8-10 (NRSV) 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
Since Christ has come, the gospel does not require man to do all kinds of impossible things, we do not have to go to the ends of the earth or examine the bottom of the oceans floor. Such requirements would be impossible. The gospel only demands faith and open confession that Christ has done both. The means to have all that a man desires—righteousness, salvation, and utopia—are found within man's mouth and heart.
Man has to do three simple things to be counted righteous and acceptable by God.
1. Man must confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus. He must confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord from heaven (cp. Romans 10:6.)
2. Man must believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. He must believe that Jesus Christ...
· died for man and was raised up from the dead because He perfectly satisfied God's demand for justice.
3. Man must believe with the heart and then confess with the mouth. A man believes unto righteousness; that is, a man believes in Jesus Christ, and God takes that man's faith and counts it as righteousness. Then the man confesses Christ to salvation; that is, he is saved by openly confessing Christ. No man can deny God's Son and expect God to save him.
Have you ever been asked, "How do I live as a Christian?"— the answer is as close as your own mouth and heart.
People think it must be a complicated process, but it is not. If we believe in our hearts and say with our mouths that Christ is the risen Lord, we will be saved.
This verse must be read in context. Paul is not saying Christians will never be put to shame or be disappointed. There will be times when people will let us down and when circumstances will take a turn for the worse. Paul is saying that God will keep his side of the bargain — those who call on him will be saved. God will never fail to provide righteousness to those who believe.
B. The Gospel: A Message to the Whosoevers - The Gospel Is Also a Message about the Whatsoevers
1. Becoming a Christian changes our position … and practice
2. Becoming a Christian Makes us citizens of heaven and adds earthly responsibility.
Pat Morley illustrates this point in his book, I Surrender: Submitting to Christ in the Details of Life:
"When I am a good friend, I am a very good friend. But there are times when my friends would be better off without me."One friend was sick for two weeks, and I didn't even call him on the phone. Another friend went through a divorce, and I wasn't there for him. Still another friend received a great honor, but I never congratulated him. A friend stopped by to see me, but I was tied up in a meeting, and I never tried to contact him later."Sometimes we are the weakest of friends. We disappoint. Then, when we see that friend again, we are embarrassed. We were not there for them when they needed us. We let them down. We do not know what to say."When we are not a good friend, it is possible that we are being a selfish, wicked-hearted person. But the far more likely answer is that we are for the moment weak, not filled with the power of the Holy Spirit." Patrick M. Morley. I Surrender: Submitting to Christ in the Details of Life (Dallas, TX: Word Publishers, Inc., 1990), p.137.
If God's peace is ruling our hearts and His Word is dwelling richly in us, our ministry to others will be empowered by the Holy Spirit. We must be filled with God's Spirit every day of our lives. And we must walk in God's Spirit all day long.
II. Body
Colossians 3:17 (NRSV) 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
1. Why are so many believers are unhappy?
Perhaps it’s because they are doing things that displease our Lord
Maybe we are holding on to some secrets, keeping part of our lives to ourselves
Colossians 3:2 (NRSV) 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,
So many times in so many ways we find that even in our churches there are those who are busy seeking fellowship with those who live only for the things of this world, and we pay the price for our actions.
The results of our compromising, if you are living with one foot in the church and one foot in the world you will find that:
a. Every victory carries a touch of defeat
b. Every time of rejoicing married to a little bit of this worlds pain
c. Every one who compromises realizes that even the things that you think are blessing you are blessings that are flavored by sadness
4. Sadly, when a person in the church compromises, after a while they come to find out that there is no longer a division of the sacred and the secular, no longer is there a line between the things of this life and the things that enable us to the promised eternal life.
5. Christ should be the Master of all we do
B. The Manner of Whatsoever We Do (Col. 3:23)
1. “Do it heartily, as unto the Lord and not to men”
2. With good heart … not out of an unhappy slaves necessity
3. Do everything enthusiastically there is a challenge that is before the people of God
a. Don’t lag … but lunge into every task
b. Don’t drag … but dive into every responsibility
c. Don’t groan … but give full devotion to every job
If you want to know how to find real joy in living
a. Work for the Father in heaven . . . . .Work for Christ.
There is no room for compromise. . . .Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement; he is a rebel who must lay down his arms . . . This process of surrender—must contain repentance.
Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than Christian conversation. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death. . . . . . .similar in design to the death the Jesus undertook on our behalf.
It is all about the people of God. . . .Living for the glory of God
2. This has to do with how what we do affects others
3. What will my life do for those who are watching?
4. Will every word and action bring glory to God?
5. Will my conduct bring others to Christ?
Rereading a portion of this mornings Gospel. . . . .12 As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Faith means being grasped by a power that is greater than we are, a power that shakes us and turns us, and transforms and heals us.
Surrender to this power is faith.
Finding God is really letting God find us; for our search for him is simply surrender to his search for us.
III. Conclusion
A. Making Christ Lord Transforms Daily Duty to Divine Delight
B. If Christ Is Not Lord of All … He Is Not Lord at All
Whosoever. . . .whatsoever. . . .wheresoever. . . . .Are you willing to make Him Lord of your life? The man who is fully surrendered to the Lord will never deliberately surrender to the Enemy.
Let Us Pray!