Spiritual Commitment

Just the statement of Joshua in Joshua chapter 24 and verse We'll look at verse number 14 He's called together the nation some of his Last words to the to the nation and he's putting before them II the tremendous Prospect as to who they're going to serve now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth Put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood or the other side of the river and in Egypt And serve ye the Lord and if it's seen evil unto you to serve the Lord choose you this day whom you will serve Whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood are the gods of the Amorites and whose land ye do well, but as for me and my house We will serve The Lord let's just keep going in your Bible to first Samuel chapter 12 first Samuel chapter 12 This is the context where the nation has asked for a king that they might be like the other nations and so a king has been given and Now there are some consequences already to that request But here's Samuel's response in first Samuel chapter 12 and verse 23 moreover as for me God forbid that I should sin against the Lord and ceasing to pray for you But I will teach you the good and the right way only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart For consider how great things he has done For you keep going to first Chronicles now chapter 28 first Chronicles chapter 28 and verse number 2 and again David has assembled a lot of the Princes of Israel and the captains and so on there seems to be a large number of individuals before him and in verse 2 of 1st Chronicles 28 it says then David the king stood up upon his feet and said hear me my brethren and my people as for me I had in mine heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and For the footstool of our God and have made ready for the building but God said unto me thou shalt not build a house for my name because thou has been a man of war and Has shed blood so over the page to chapter 29 Verse number 17 David is praying and glorifying God and blessing God Verse 17. I know also my God that thou tryest the heart and as pleasure and uprightness as for me in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things and now have I seen with joy thy people Which are present here to offer willingly unto the Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Israel our fathers keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people and prepare their heart unto thee Give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart to keep thy commandments thy testimonies and thy statutes And to do all these things and to build a palace for the which I have made provision one final verse in Psalm 18 Psalm 18 This is a psalm that David wrote upon the his deliverance from all of his enemies He's looking back now Psalm 18 and we'll look at verse number 20 Psalm 18 verse 20 as for God his way is perfect The word of the Lord is tried. He's a buckler to all those that trust in him For who is God save the Lord and who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength and make it maketh my way Perfect.

I'd like to just look at six very simple words, but to me they're they're turning points In the experience of these individuals that we have read from this morning We've been able to read a number of times the little phrase as for me and then David Looking back on his life and the dealings of God he was able to say as for God And to me those are those are bookends or those are designed to be bookends in the experience of each one of us here this morning, I Think we understand we appreciate the fact that all of our lives Are affected by others The Bible tells us no man lives to himself we're not little islands and There's no waves that will not reach our shores No, we do have an impact upon every other believer and every other person around us. And I think that as we Look at the example in the faith of others Many times there's a tremendous encouragement that that comes to us from their lives You see the the way you live Will have an impact upon the way I learn and Yes, the way you live many times will affect the way I live and so as we as we look at the example of others the the writer of the Hebrews was speaking about those that had Gone to the forefront that the spiritual guides and he says whose whose faith follow considering the issue of their life They had left an example of of courage and of steadfastness and of encouragement and of spiritual exercise and so now the writers encouraging those that are Looking at those individuals to consider their life to allow that impact to impact their life and I think that a lot of us have looked at other believers and you know Sometimes even in a morning meeting I've watched sometimes a sister come in who I know where she's coming from some of them have unsaved husbands and it's a war zone in the house and yet To me, it's a very stirring and a very moving thing When you see some of these individuals some of these sisters or sometimes even a brother walk in and just very quietly take their seat They're just a sense that they have paid a price to be there and it speaks to my heart But the failure of others affects us too, doesn't it? sometimes when you're first saved you have some really lofty desires and aspirations and then all of a sudden the waves begin to hit your little life and You come across some difficulties Sometimes things that are said something sometimes unrighteous deeds that are done even among believers and it throws you it's it's almost like a landmine in your in your life and Sometimes it brings discouragement and almost a sense of what's the use? And so all of these various currents have an impact upon others we are in this together And I think it's interesting when you look at the example or the experience of Daniel and his three friends that early in their In their life in the palace that they were confronted with a tremendous crisis and and they stood together, didn't they? but there came a moment when they had to stand alone and You recall of how those? Those those men Faced the the Dictates of that ungodly King and They were They were they were made to face the the issue alone Daniel was absent from his three friends. And of course Daniel chapter 6 we find that there was Daniel and there was a plot against him and Became a moment when he had to stand alone Or was this where were his three friends we're not told and so ultimately what I'm getting at is ultimately It will come down to this fact that there will come times in our life when we will have to stand alone life's choices and life's pathway Ultimately come down to the place where they become our responsibility alone We can't blame anybody else and I think that's really the the the import of these of this little phrase These turning-point experiences where individuals came to crisis points in their life when there was a challenge to faith where there was a very difficult pathway and there were individuals and there are still individuals here today and These individuals are able to say but as for me and they've made their choice to honor and glorify Their God you see these these points these turning points involve convictions and Involve commitment.

We were hearing about commitment last night You know when it comes to convictions They're personal aren't they we can have all the ministry and hear all the ministry that we can But unless these truths are placed into our hearts and we live by them Those convictions are just so many words I've often thought that convictions are really truths and beliefs that will mold me and hold me mold me and hold me and in the Christian context when it comes to convictions Convictions of the heart will mold me to become like Christ to be conformed to his image to go by the book They will mold me and yet in the moment of crisis at turning points Those same convictions will hold me from spiritual drift and so that's exactly what we have in these in these these few little words as for me and as for God you see commitment is really the the spinal column of Every exercise somebody suggested that there's four types of people in this world. You've likely heard this There are the cop-outs They have no goals and they have no plans. I hope there's no cop-outs here But I'm afraid sometimes spiritually speaking we can be cop-outs that we're just gonna going with the flow just drifting along Not aiming at anything.

No spiritual desires. Really? Oh, we're in the assembly. And yes, we we we do come we do attend But but there's nothing nothing defined nothing before us nothing that we're aiming for Then of course, there are the holdouts We're gonna wait and see which way the thing is gonna go And if it goes the right way well then count me in and if it doesn't go the right way well Then I'm not on board Then of course, there are the the dropouts and I think perhaps Demas Could be classified in this group Demas that man that labored with Paul Man who was involved in the advance of the gospel We're not told a lot about him, but he was part of the contingent of of Paul's laborers.

He was one of them And yet there came a moment When he said Paul I I need to speak to you because I've made a choice Not gonna go with you anymore. I'm leaving There must have been a sad day for Paul to see a man that he had labored with Head down the road. He loved this present world Cop-out Dropout and then of course, there are the the all-outs the all-outs And I think what we have read today Involve individuals and they were all out for their God you see commitment Ultimately must start in the heart in the heart I'm not sure how they've calculated this but I remember reading that in the Kentucky Derby That's a horse race for those that don't know it that the winning horse effectively runs out of oxygen after the first half mile And he runs the rest of the race on heart Now don't tell me how they calculated that but if that is true, then I Think it's evident that are likely some believers and you're in the Kentucky Derby And you're running on a heart today Because you're committed Because there is something that has been stirring in your heart that has changed your life And you're going on and you're able to say but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord what What produces that kind of a commitment? What produces that kind of a of a heart response? I I think that there's some very important reasons why commitment starts in the heart for individuals Spiritual commitment involves the appreciation of the greatness of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ What does he mean to you today? Yes, we do.

Love him, but I wonder is there this deep-seated commitment to him? And to his word love for Christ will keep us. It's not easy. Is it? I'm not suggesting that having to love Christ is difficult But that love is going to be challenged.

It's gonna be all kinds of Currents and winds blowing around us to move us off course But you know, I think of Individuals that went out to David and I think if they had been here, they said well, where are you going? We're going to a Dullam a Dullam You mean the cave? Yeah, that's where we're going. Why would you want to go to a Dullam? Not now now a Dullam was no five-star hotel It was it was just a very large cave But you know what the attraction well, you know what the attraction of a Dullam was it was who was there David was there and they were going out to him Because you see they understood that they were gonna find a refuge refuge in him They're gonna find their resources met because of him There was going to be a day of of manifestation of reward and yes, there was reproach being linked with him But they went out to a Dullam just because of David I Think if we'd been the upper room many many years later, and we would watch a woman come in Break that alabaster box of ointment anoint her Lord We just said Mary. Wow, that was that was pretty extravagant It's been suggested and it's very likely true that it could well have cost a year's wages.

I Don't think any of us have ever Given that kind of a gesture an expression of devotion That was a lot and we might have said Mary. Why did you do that? That was an awful lot. I Think she would have looked at us with Wondering eyes.

Why did I do it? Did you did you not hear what he did to our home just a short time ago? Do you not understand what he did to my life? He is worthy of this and when it comes to this spiritual commitment these spiritual convictions It starts with an appreciation of the greatness of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ I think there's another thing. There's there's the guidance of his word this book is a Wonderful book. It's an accurate book.

It's a book of guidance and We have every every encouragement and every promise The psalmist could quote the the words of the God of heaven I will instruct thee and I will teach thee in the way that thou shall go I will guide thee with mine eye or I'll guide thee with mine eye upon you and so this is a book that we can go by and When we're committed to Christ and to the advance of his kingdom commitment will involve the Appreciation of the guidance of this book of his word. What about the glory of his will? The glory of his will is his will worth pursuing Joseph you're you're you're not doing too well. I Think maybe there were times in Joseph's life where he wondered Is God's will worth pursuing Like it didn't seem anything was happening that was a part of that will he had he had received a promise and he had received some visions and God's hand was upon him, but Instead of coming out the way he thought it would found himself in prison He found himself in alongside of a very very treacherous woman and so on it it just seemed like that will was off course But there came a day when Those will God's will was revealed in all of his glory and a man went from the prison to the palace People might have thought he was living a dream life just a following a phantom But Joseph had received the the conviction that there was the glory of God's will it was poor earth pursuing it And I think we could just mentioned about the grandeur of his kingdom There's a day coming when we will step into the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ And I know that I have not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for them that love him But I'm convinced that when we step into his presence We will be overwhelmed with the grandeur the grandeur of his kingdom.

Will it be worth it all? Yes Yes, and so we come to these these individuals And they were able to come to these these turning point these crisis moments in their life and They were able to give a very simple and yet clear expression that as for them They were going to take God's way We've come to Joshua chapter 24 and to me when we read these words we really understand that these were the this was the resolve of spiritual devotion in Joshua's life He was coming to the end of his days he was a hundred and ten could have well been very close to the end and He was speaking to the nation possibly for the last time He was well aware. He was well aware of the character of that nation He'd been with them through 40 years of wandering He had heard the the murmuring of Miriam He had seen the fire fall on Nadab and Abihu He had been one of the one of the twelve that went into the land Quite a few years later or quite a few years earlier. That was at 60 65 years earlier a young man Now he's a hundred and ten and he had seen the good land seen all that the the land portrayed and Yet he was there when the nation says we're not going to go in we're gonna turn and they turn back he was well aware of the character of that nation and Now he's giving them a final charge.

He says listen, you're gonna have to choose Whom you're gonna serve And you know, I think many times conferences bring us to That same moment when we make choices in the course of a conference in the course of a week in the course of a day whom we will ultimately serve and Here's Joshua And I would sense I would suggest that it wasn't with a you know chest out and you can count on me attitude Now I think there was a just a very Strong deep-seated resolve just a quiet statement you choose him you're going to serve But as for me and my house We will serve the Lord I Trust that's more than just a plaque on our walls I've gone into a lot of homes and that plaque is on a lot of walls as for me in my house We will serve the Lord, but you see this was a turning point And it wasn't very long before that nation went into that land There they were already in the land and when Joshua passed away then things began to unravel and Yet for Joshua these were this was a statement that had validity that had weight to it as for me in my house We will serve the Lord And I think that that truth that commitment had an early beginning Went right back to the time when John when Moses had died and now the Lord spake to Joshua And he says as I was with Moses So I will be with thee There was the Lord's embrace There was the promise of the Lord Joshua. I'm not gonna forsake you. I'm not gonna leave you alone.

You're not in this alone I was with Moses Through all those difficult years I'm going to be the same with you and today at the very foundation of our life. We have the promise of The abiding presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will never leave us nor forsake us but alongside of that promise with the Lord's embrace There were some strong Encouragements and exhortations.

He says be strong Be of good courage You see there had to be a response from Joshua's life Be strong be of a good courage And I think that's exactly where we are But then at the very core of that charge We understand that it involved the Word of God You recall that moat that Joshua heard these words this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth But thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then then thou shalt have good success That was the core. That was the essence. That was the bull's-eye to so to speak of our of his life And that's why as we start this conference, I think we just need to ask yourself.

What is at the core of our life? What is at the core of spiritual commitment on our part Are we willing to bow to the truth of this book? Are we able or ready to meditate therein day and night? Because you see the response to this book Will determine our pathway and the success spiritual success of it And so when it came to Joshua to me, it was just the resolve this these words as for me in my house It's the resolve of Spiritual devotion and I trust that might mark all of us, but we have read in 1st Samuel chapter 12 about the responsibility of spiritual intercession Again, it was a turning point was a crisis point because the nation leaders had come to To Samuel and said Samuel look you're old You're not long here And your sons are not good leaders, they're not good judges So Samuel we want to make a request make us a king that we might be like the other nations We want to be like them We want to have a king that can go up before us that can judge us and that can fight our battles so make us a king and you recall how That request and that statement was a tremendous grief to Samuel because you see he was He was governing and he was judging on behalf of the God of heaven. That was God's intention and Now they were asking to be like all the like all the other nations until there come times in many of our lives when we just we want to be like everybody else and sometimes Sadly, there's failure that marks our lives And I think the crux of this statement is is really the The issue as to what our response is going to be when there is failure in others I don't think you got to look too far. Do you to understand that there are flaws and blemishes and failure? failures in all of our lives Sometimes they can throw us Sometimes we can become bitter Sometimes we can be well, we can just fight fire with fire Sometimes our entire response becomes very ungodlike and here's Samuel and we've been able to read these words Moreover as for me God forbid that I should sin Against the Lord I found that interesting as I was reading it yesterday sinning against the Lord and ceasing to pray for you But I will teach you the good in the right way consider how great things he has done For you, so what's your response when there's failure in the lives of others? When things are not the way you think they should be Do we criticize? Do we throw landmines or hand grenades rather? Do we start gossiping? Do we get on Twitter or email or whatever? And begin to have that news spread out or Do we begin to pray? remember reading a statement by Oswald Chambers, uh, he was a missionary to To Egypt in his day and he had written the book my utmost for his highest that many of us have read This is what he wrote when we discern that people are not going on spiritually and Allow the discernment to turn to criticism We block our way to God God never gives us discernment that we may criticize but that we may intercede on their behalf Here's Samuel and that's exactly his response the responsibility of spiritual intercession and I trust that we might be on our knees on behalf of fellow believers on behalf of ourselves because we are living in difficult days and there is failure and There are times when we move out of the pathway sadly But oh when believers pray one for another there is many times recovery and there's just a sense that we maintain the right attitude and the right spirit that ultimately we are able to Rejoice with them Very quickly.

We have read about first Chronicles chapter 28 and again David Is coming to the end of his days? He's called together some of the chief men and he's going over his spiritual exercise He has desired for years to build Habitation for the Ark of the Covenant That was in his heart even as a shepherd boy In fact, the Ark was just just a few miles away when he was on the hillside at Bethlehem It was there kind of forgotten and he thought to himself if I ever have an opportunity I want to build a house for the presence of God and so we began to build bring all the materials together and It was almost ready to press the start button and God says no. No David. No You're not gonna build it.

You've been a man of blood a man of war Solomon's gonna build it and David comes to a turning point What was his response Could he he could have been like a lot of us. He said well if I can't do it. Nobody's gonna do it This is my project.

I planned it and I prepared for it and I paid a lot for it. And so No, that wasn't his response he was able to see people responding the nation coming together with with all kinds of provisions and he rejoiced in that and As he prays his prayer as for me in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things and Now have I seen with joy thy people which are present here to offer willingly unto thee It was the rejoicing of a spiritual exercise and you know, I trust that we might understand this is teamwork This is teamwork. We're working together That the kingdom of God will be advanced at the name of the Lord.

Jesus will be exalted Not just our work. Yes, we all have singular responsibilities but I trust that we might rejoice to see the work advanced no matter who's doing it and That we might seek to build up and hold the hands of our brothers and sisters with regard to their spiritual exercises Just a word time is gone but This is really the most important what isn't it as for God as for God Here's Dave and he's looking back over his life It's been a tough one, hasn't it a lot of trials a lot of U-turns a lot of dark nights a lot of difficulties he was destined to head for the throne, but most of the most of his of those years he was he was running as a and being hunted as a Partridge in the wilderness, but now he's looking back. God has subdued all his enemies and he says but as for God His way is perfect That's easier said than done, isn't it easy to say it from a platform You might say well Marv, you're you're not where I am And I'm well aware that there are there are believers here and you have gone through or you are going through some very deep dark personal trials To say as for God his way is perfect Is that really true? Sometimes at the moment we can't see the truth of that But then as you look back you understand yes, it really is true.

I Don't know if brother Arnold Adams was ever here in Garneville missionary to Cuba for a number of years and then Ministered the Word of God in many different areas of North America But I remember him saying many times in some of his trips to Newfoundland He said you know God God doesn't know a better way of Doing anything God doesn't know a better way of doing anything And it's wonderful to understand that the God that we are linked with is a God of infinite immutable wisdom God cannot get wiser now, that would be a good thing for some of us Good thing if we can learn That's that's a that's a indication of growth. God can't get any wiser He can't learn anything His wisdom is eternal. It's immutable.

He has no senior moments He doesn't forget. He doesn't become feeble-minded like some of us God doesn't know a better way of doing anything And you know when it comes to his power He reigns with omnipotence omnipotence You know the world powers are are seeking to maintain their powers, and they're adding to their military machines God doesn't have to do that And so as we look at Psalm 18 we understand that here's David And he just looks back and he says as for God his way is perfect Might not always understand it might not always appreciate it at the time But I trust that as we spend these days together That we might get a little greater grasp and understanding appreciation of the greatness of our God Who yes in the trial he does control the depth of the plow and He does determine the length of the furrow. He'll not allow us to be testative of what we are able Because he is a faithful God and so I trust that These two little expressions as for God and as for me might become bookends in our lives as believers