This transcript was generated automatically and may contain minor errors.

Well, thank you for being here this evening. I know it's not for me, but for your edification and your worship with the Lord, and those are worthy reasons for us to assemble. If you join us online, we appreciate the fact that you're with us. I wanna suggest that you probably started your morning by making decisions. For some, it was trying to make the decision, do I come to worship this morning or not?

You made the decision to come, we're glad for that. But others perhaps made the decision, what am I gonna wear if I go to services? And maybe others still had other things that they were trying to decide. We make numerous decisions every day. Many of them might be insignificant.

I remember that Carnegie in his book, How to Stop Worry and Start Living, made this statement. He said, few decisions are matters of life and death. And yet at the same time, it's true that sometimes we make decisions and we don't really even think much about them, and yet they turn out to be very important decisions. I was good friend with Dan Shipley, and Dan mentioned one time that he made a decision to date a girl. He said, turned out I married that girl.

Didn't seem like much at first. It was just somebody to go out with and to date, but that led to other things. And even in the Bible, we see people like Lot who decides that he'll cast his lot toward Sodom. And it doesn't seem like a great deal to him. It's just a place that looks like a good place to live, and yet that decision end up costing him a lot of his family.

And that's the way that it is. We make decisions oftentimes, and one of the greatest decisions we ever make is are we going to live for Christ or not? And that's a great decision because that has eternal consequences. And that's what I wanna talk to you about this evening. I wanna talk to you about the idea of deciding for Christ, and is it a commitment to Christ?

When we decide to obey Christ, it should also be a commitment that we're making. The only way that somebody can live for Christ is by making a deliberate decision to be a Christian. You'll hear somebody sometimes say, well, I just happened upon the truth. I attended a gospel meeting just to get out of the cold. Or somebody say, I attended the gospel meeting or went to church just because I had a friend that would just always asking me to come.

And so I just went to get them off my back, but they end up being Christians. But they didn't become a Christian by just a flippant decision. That may have been what brought them to the church building and caused them to hear the gospel, but no one is a Christian by accident. They've made a deliberate decision to be a Christian if indeed they are a Christian. Isaiah said long ago in Isaiah the thirty fifth chapter in verse eight, and a highway shall be there and a way and it shall be called the way of holiness.

The unclean shall not pass over it but it shall be for those, the wayfaring men, though fools shall not therein. Notice that he says, fools don't therein. It's a deliberate decision. You may have heard stories like a thief trying to get away from the police and they run into a church building that the door is unlocked and they hide in the bait the bait of the baptistery. And then as somebody comes closer, they duck down under the water.

But they're not a Christian. People don't become Christians just by accident. And Paul talks about in the book of Romans in the sixth chapter in verse 17 that we obey from the heart, not just a whim. But if we become a Christian, it's because we're obeying from the heart that form of doctrine that we've heard. We also can see that it's not by accident we become a Christian, not if we're following the scriptures.

Because in passages like the book of Luke in the fourteenth chapter in verse 26, Jesus is very plain in telling us that we need to count the cost before we become a Christian. And he talks about how that we have to take up our cross and follow after him. And while you contemplate that phrase about take up our cross and follow after him, what does that mean? Well, a cross is signifying something that's crucified. And for the Christian, it means we're crucifying ourself, and we're crucifying ourself to sin, and we're becoming alive unto our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

And you can't become a Christian in the sense that Jesus is talking about without first thinking about it and making a decision about Christ and about what you want to do. The proof to decide to live for Christ involves commitment by just showing what's involved. Commitment means putting the thing or person to whom we're committed before all others, all things. Coming to Christ demands a deliberate decision as we said. The degree to which we put him first is a degree how we put him before others.

You can remember as I do in the book of Matthew in the sixth chapter in verse 33, Jesus says, seek ye first the kingdom of God. That's where he demands that we put him if we're going to be Christians. He doesn't take second place. He will be first place. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Not only that, but we know also that commitment requires a sacrifice. We look at the book of Romans and the twelfth chapter in verse two. And you remember that Paul on this occasion writes and talks about how that I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Notice a couple of things there if you would. He says to those people that are Christians, I beseech you that you present yourself as a living sacrifice.

You can think back to the sacrifices of the scriptures and how they would take an animal and it was offered unto the Lord and it was consuming its life. And Jesus is telling us that when we become a Christian, that we are supposed to present our bodies a living sacrifice. We give that up to him is the idea. We live for him. We're going to service him.

And you remember how that in Paul and his writings in the Galatians letter, the second chapter in verse 20, he talks about it's no longer I that live it, but Christ live it in me. That's the commitment that we're making when we become Christians. We're sacrificing ourselves. And now it's no longer I that live it, but Christ live it in me is the idea. We're committed to one thing and that requires us to forsake all others.

Again, if you should go back to the book of Luke and the fourteenth chapter. And when Jesus is talking about come and be my disciple, and he says, you can't be my disciple unless you take up your cross and come follow after me. And then he says, if you're my disciple, you have to hate father and mother and brother and sister and wife and children. Yea, in your own life also, he says. That's commitment.

If I'm gonna come to Christ, he says, then I need to crucify myself, be dead to sin, not going to live for the pleasures of sin anymore. And not only that, but I'm gonna put Christ before father, mother, and brother, and sister, yay, in my own life also. He probably grew up in a family much like mine, most of us did, where there's love and you care a great deal about parents and brothers and sisters and so forth, and still have great love for my brothers, but not more than Christ. And you should love even mother or father or brother or sister more than you love Christ because deciding for Christ is a commitment. And a commitment means that you're going to forsake others.

Committing will also mean that we're willing to endure hardship sometimes. When Paul wrote to Timothy in the book of second Timothy in the second chapter in verse three, he told Timothy, he said, thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I don't think any of us really would doubt the sincerity of Timothy. We see him as he starts with Paul and he stays with Paul and he is willing to endure hard things. But Paul wanted him to know and wrote him and said, now if you're gonna follow me and if you're gonna follow Christ, then endure the hardness.

There'll be some times that that it requires you to sacrifice, to endure things that are not the most pleasant or something. But if you've decided to be a Christian, you have decided that you will endure hardships and that you will suffer those in order to be faithful unto Jesus Christ. I like the statement that somebody made that no one can leap schisms in two jumps. Point being that if you can't make it the first time, you're not gonna make it. Not in a single leap.

And we can't be partially committed to Christ and be pleasing to you. It's sort of all or nothing with Christ. It's not sort of. It's just all or nothing with Christ. And in making that decision to become a Christian, we're making that decision that we will be committed to him and whatever it takes, that's what we're going to do.

We think about decisions about Christ sometimes, and some people have made decisions about Christ, but they haven't made a decision for Christ. A decision about Christ, but they've never made a commitment to Christ. They've decided that Jesus is Christ. They've read the stories and read the scriptures, and they know how that Jesus claimed to be the Christ. They know that he did miracles to show that he was the Christ.

They know that God put his approval and showed him to be the Christ when he raised him from the dead, and yet they are still not committed to Christ. They believe him to be the Christ, but they haven't committed their life to him. When you look in the book of John in the twelfth chapter in verse 42, Jesus told about some. He said, nevertheless, among the chief rulers also many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogues. Here's some people that knew that Jesus was the Christ, but they didn't commit to Christ, not really.

They would rather do other things and not be associated with him too much. You remember in the book of Matthew in the thirteenth chapter, Jesus is telling parables. And one of the parables he told was the parable of the sower. And one of the things he said was that some fell on the stony ground and they sprung up. But because they lacked root, they withered.

What is he talking about when he said they lacked root? Well, I think he was in essence saying, they had some belief that Jesus was the Christ. Maybe they even knew what that meant, that he's the savior, and maybe they understood that if he's Christ, then he's Lord. But they weren't committed enough to make him Lord of their life is the point. They wouldn't endure hardship.

They had rather pleased some people than they had pleased our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. And the whole point again is to make sure that we understand that when we come to Christ and we accept Christ, that we're not just making a decision for Christ, we're making a commitment to Christ. That we're making him our Lord, our master, as well as our savior. And when we say we make him our Lord, we're saying, you have charge over me. You speak and I will obey.

And that's the kind of attitude we've got to have if we're really gonna be the Christians that God wants us to be and be pleasing to him. You speak, Lord, and I'll obey. Whatever it is you want me to do, whatever it is you tell me to do, show me that, and I will do it. Doesn't matter who is against it, doesn't matter if I have other things that I want to do, I am committed to the Lord and thereby I will follow him. Let me also point out to you that when we say that we are committed to the Lord, we really should be committed to worshiping him.

You go back to the book of Acts in the second chapter and Peter's preaching that sermon, and he preaches idea that Jesus is Lord in Christ. He doesn't just tell them that. He shows them that he's Lord in Christ by appealing to the miracles that he did. If somebody could really do a miracle, it means that God is approving them. If Jesus did miracles, it meant God approved of him.

And if he was saying, I am the Christ and he could work a miracle, then it meant that he was indeed the Christ. And then secondly, he points out the resurrection that only Jesus had died and been raised from the dead and foretold like he did. And so that was their proof that Jesus was Lord and Christ. And Peter preaches that sermon and tells them Jesus is Lord and Christ. And they cry out, what must we do?

And so Peter tells them, you need to repent, be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what I want you to look at is look for a moment to the book of Acts in the second chapter and look at verse 42. These here are people that have heard Jesus as Lord and Christ. They have accepted that. They're committed to the idea.

And then it tells us, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in breaking of bread and in prayer. They didn't just confess Jesus. They didn't just confess him and be baptized and then they go on their way and do what they wanted to do. They're now committed, and it says they continued steadfastly. They did it and they did it continually.

And he talks particularly about they continued in the apostles' doctrine because that's the word of God. They wanted to do what Christ has said do. They continued in fellowship and breaking of bread. I think that's fellowship in the breaking of bread, taking the Lord's supper, commemorating Christ's death, and in prayer. But the point is that that they didn't just receive baptism and then go live like they wanted to.

They were baptized, and then they continued serving him. And that's what we need. We need people that are committed to Christ Jesus. That come not just out of habit, that come not just when it's convenient, but people that are committed to Christ and come because they wanna worship him in spirit and in truth and uphold others and encourage others. The writer of Hebrews Hebrews the tenth chapter in verse twenty four and twenty five tells us that we provoke one another into love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, but as some do, but by assembling with the saints.

That's the only way we can become strong and stay strong, but we'll not make it unless we're committed to the idea that Jesus is Lord and Christ. If we're committed to the Lord and that he is Lord and Christ, then we want to live holy also. Paul writes to Titus in the book of Titus in the second chapter in verse eleven and twelve. It says, for the grace of the Lord that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men, teaching that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteous, and godly in this present world. Here's somebody that has become a Christian.

And Paul says, this grace has brought salvation. But these people, he says, they deny ungodliness or teaching us to deny ungodliness. We're not gonna practice that. And worldly lust, we don't practice that. But that we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world.

Christians that are committed understand that. They're not going to spend their time in ungodliness, worldly lust. They're not gonna come to this place and fame worship of God or even worship him as best they can and then go out and give themselves over to worldly lust and ungodliness. Christ is not for those kind of things. He's for righteousness, godliness.

And so those that are committed to Christ are committed to living like Christ wants us to live. Like Paul talks about it to Titus on that occasion. Most of us understand that James is a very practical book for us. And James talks about our becoming Christians or fights to Christians rather, but he makes this statement in verse 26. If any among you think he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless, or some version may say is vain.

He says, pure and undefiled religion before God and the father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their troubles and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. One way you can tell who's committed and who's not is just by looking at life, the life that they live. The one that is committed is a person that is going to abstain from worldliness. He's going to practice pure and undefiled religion. He's gonna keep himself unspotted from the world.

And if we are truly committed to the Lord, that's the kind of attitude and kind of heart that we have. God sees everything. Book of Hebrews fourth chapter and verse 12 teaches that. Galatians six, he teaches that God sees our life. And we need to understand that God knows about our commitment.

And he can look at our life and he can tell, am I committed to him or am I just pretending doing what really pleases me, but yet holding on to the sins that I like? And he points out that's not being committed unto the Lord. If we're committed, we're committed for life. Second Peter the second chapter in verse 20, Peter says, for if after they have escaped the pollution knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, they're again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. You can't just say I'm going to do it.

He says, if we say that we're gonna do it, but then we turn back, we're worse off than we were to begin with. You know, you could see we'll not excuse them, I don't think, but people maybe never paid any attention. They might stand before the Lord one day in judgment and say, well, I didn't know that. I never heard that. The people that have become Christians and have lived as Christians who are not really as committed as they can and should be, what are they gonna say to the Lord on that occasion?

I didn't know. I never heard any preacher preach on it. Never prepped the scriptures and read how that I was to live pure life. We have to do that in order to be right in God's sight and to be really committed. And we can't just say, well, I didn't realize what it entailed.

I didn't involve didn't mean to. Look at the book of Ecclesiastes for a moment in chapter five and verse one. The writer says, walk prudently when you go to the house of God and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools for they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven and you on earth.

Therefore, let your words be few. For a dream comes with much activity and a fool's voice known by many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it. For he has no pleasure in fools, pay what you vowed. Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

I know we don't actually just sit down and take a vow perhaps and say, Lord, I promise to do this and this and this and this. But when we become Christian and we're baptized into Christ, we're trusting that he washed away our sins. And we, in essence, are saying, I'm going to live the kind of life, oh, Lord, that you want me to be. And we're planning on living that way for a lifetime. We can't think, well, I'm gonna become a Christian and then I'll just do it for a little while, and then I'll lay that aside and go back to my old way of life.

That's not going to please the Lord, and you'll answer for it on judgment. Paul is a good example for us. Most of us know Paul's beginning that he was a person that persecuted Christians, though we thought that he was doing it rightly in all good conscience. But then we know that the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus, and Paul recognized that he was the Lord, went to Damascus as the Lord told him to. Ananias came and told him what to do, and he did it.

Listen to his words in the book of second Timothy the fourth chapter in verse six. As you see, here's an example of somebody that was committed. He says, I've fought a good fight. I've finished my course. I've kept the faith.

All these years, Paul had learned Jesus was the Christ now, and he lived so as to please Christ. He said, this is what my life is all about, and that's what we need to do. We need to understand that our calling is for life. Without Jesus, there is no salvation. He is our savior.

He has the words of life eternal. John six and verse six to eight says. You look at Acts four verse 12, Peter says, there's no other salvation other than Jesus Christ, and you can't make and be a disciple of Jesus Christ, not without being committed. And so my whole intent this morning or this afternoon is just to remind you of the seriousness of making that decision that Jesus is the Christ, the son of living God, and the seriousness of putting him on in baptism. If you're thinking about being a Christian, I don't wanna discourage you, but I want you to know that you're making commitment when you become a Christian.

You're telling Jesus you think he's Lord and Christ, and he's gonna take you for that. And he's gonna be disappointed if you don't live up to the commitment that you're agreeing to. I can tell you I made that commitment. I can remember very well the night that I was baptized. I can remember laying in my bed afterwards and thinking, like, come what made I'm a Christian.

What comfort that gave me. And I'll tell you there's been times when I thought, you know, I don't know if I wanna keep on preaching. But I don't think there's ever been a time that I thought, I don't wanna be a Christian after that. That was a decision that was made and made for good. Andrew Cox once said, not to decide is to decide.

Meaning, if you're thinking about becoming a Christian, but you just haven't done it, you're making decision by not doing it. You don't become a Christian unless you make the decision to do it, and you can't become a Christian unless you're committed to becoming a Christian and have the idea that I'm going to be everything that Christ wants me to be. If you're here and you're already a Christian, then my exhortation is see what a blessing it is and just renew your commitment. Say, Lord, you're Lord. You command, I'm gonna obey.

I wanna serve you with all the fiber and every ounce of energy that I have. If you're not a Christian, then think seriously about what's gonna happen in the judgment. You're gonna stand before God, and he's going to ask you to give an account of your life. I have a feeling that judgment is not going to be quite as easy as some think. I think some people think, well, I'll just stand before him and hang my head kinda low, and he'll say, why didn't you obey?

And I'll just keep hanging my head there, and it's not gonna be that moment of passion, then I'll be out from his presence. How true that is, you'll be out from his presence, but you won't enjoy the rest of eternity. So make that decision. But as you think about making it, make sure you're committed to the Lord, to who he is, what he is, and to his way of life. And if you're a Christian and you've just not lived that kind of life yet, now is the time to come back and make confession that you've not lived and made him lord of your life like you intended to or should have and ask for forgiveness.

But if we can help you this evening either by baptizing you into Jesus Christ upon your confession that Jesus is the Christ, son of the living God, or we can witness your confession of sin and pray with you and for you, trusting the Lord's goodness and his grace, we'll do that. You're subject to the invitation. We invite you to come as together with.