R407 Real Commitment

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message on real commitment. In just a moment, Dr. Wilton takes us to the Book of Romans, Chapter 12, as we study God's Word together. And between now and then, I just want to remind you that so many people are asking about, and yes, we do have copies of the wonderful resource, 31 Days of Prayer for My Nation. You'll discover it on our website at www.tewonline.org, or you can also call about your copy at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. And while you're there, you might want to pick a copy of the new book from Dr. Wilton called Saturdays with Billy about the 25 years that he enjoyed being the pastor of American's pastor.

All the details are online at www.tewonline.org. And now, Dr. Don Wilton. In a moment, I'm going to read to you Romans, Chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, a passage that is perhaps one of the most well-known passages and one that deals with the issue of real commitment. Commitment is perhaps the missing ingredient today, don't you think? In fact, I think it would be true to say that in many arenas of life, that if people would come to a fresh understanding of what it means to be committed, perhaps we would have a fresh understanding of what it means to live this life the way God intended us to live it. Whether one is on a ball field playing a game, or whether one is in a marriage, or whether one has children, or whether one is at work, commitment is the name of the game. If I had a business today and I was hiring some new workers, I dare say that I would probably want to know about their level of commitment before I knew about their level of expertise related to the work that they were going to do.

I can do something with someone that's committed. And today we're living in a world in which the word commitment is becoming so loose and people are falling in and out of marriage and people are giving up on their responsibilities. People are no longer prepared to stick to the task and to endure that which God has set before them. Commitment is a major factor as far as God is concerned. In fact, the Bible tells us that we will never become disciple makers unless we are willing to commit our lives completely to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here in Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2, the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, speaks to you and to me about the essence of our commitment to God. And I'd like to read to you just a few verses and I'm going to stop once or twice.

Here's what he says, Therefore, now that's a good place to stop right there. Because I want you to know that all the therefores in the Bible are there for a reason. And if we're going to follow that line of thinking, we've got to understand that here in Romans chapter 12, it is no less true. In fact, Paul is about to make some staggering statements of monumental significance based upon what he has just told us in Romans chapter 11. So let's have a look at Romans chapter 11 and verse 11.

Here we have a doxology. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay him? From him and through him and to him are all things. And so to him be glory forever and forever and forever.

Therefore, I urge you. You see, Paul is not making a statement here based on something that is being blown by in the winds of time. Paul is making a statement here that is indelibly enshrined. It is put into concrete in the heart of God's word and in the heart of God's grace. Paul says, Therefore, I urge you, my brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy. There it is because of the depth of the riches of the wisdom of the knowledge of God. In view of God's mercy, I beg of you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, because this is your reasonable act of worship.

Now I want to just stop there for a moment, choir, if I may. I think that it would be true to say that we have worshiped God already. We worship God in our beings. We worship God when we came to church today. We worship God with our tithes and offerings.

We worship God with the music and with the praise and the worship. But isn't it interesting to note here at this juncture that the apostle Paul makes a statement. He says that your spiritual act of worship rests firmly upon your level of commitment. Paul ties commitment and worship together. And Paul says that if you are a born again believer, your commitment is within itself your act of worship to Almighty God. Look at verse two. On this basis, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Now, what will this do for us? Then you will be able to test and approve what is God's will. His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Isn't that a remarkable statement? I wonder if you've ever found yourself saying, how can I ever know if I'm in the will of God? Paul gives us the answer. Be committed. I wonder if you've ever found yourself saying, I wonder if what I'm doing is what God wants me to do.

I wonder whether I should go to this place or whether I should do this or whether I should date this person or whether I should say these things. Am I in the will of God? And the apostle Paul here says, the one way in which you can test and prove God and know that you are in the will of God is to be committed to God. Now, something very interesting here. Paul even tells us, my friends, that we can go so far as to test God.

Can you believe that? I guess it's much like when the young man asks the young lady if he wants to marry her, to which the young lady says, yes, I'll marry you, but in her heart she says, I'm going to put him to the test. We are always putting one another to the test, aren't we?

Always, constantly. I remember when I coached rugby and cricket, British sports, before I entered the ministry. Every now and again, I would have a bright star who would play on my ball team and I would put him on the bench just to test him. Just to test him.

You can almost see the shock. What? Coach? Me? I'm the bright rising star. How in the world are you going to win this game without me? And I say, well, why don't you sit on the bench and let's see what we can do? You see, it's not whether you win or lose.

It's how you play the game. And here writing to the church at Rome, the apostle Paul has some staggering statements to make In wheels and on Saturday morning at our men's prayer breakfast, I shared two things that I believe China and Mongolia had done for me. Number one, it taught me the ultimate faithfulness of God. God is faithful.

Doesn't matter where you are and what you are and what you've done and how you've done it and where you're going. God is faithful. God is not faithful because he wants to be faithful. God is faithful because he is faithful. God is faithful. You say, why is he faithful?

Because God is faithful. It doesn't matter where we are. Doesn't matter what kind of government. It doesn't matter what kind of imprisonment. It doesn't matter what kind of persecution.

It doesn't matter what the weather's like. It doesn't matter how much we have or we don't have. God is faithful. And the second thing that my trip to China and Mongolia taught me was the extreme commitment of God's people. I met some people that are so deeply embedded in my heart even as I speak to you this morning. Some people who are committed beyond reason.

Some people who have laid down their lives to the ultimate. Paul here in Romans chapter 12 is talking to you and me. He's talking to our teenagers and he's talking to our retirees and he's talking to young mothers and he's talking to preachers such as myself.

And he's saying to us, listen, if you and I are to come into a relationship with Almighty God, we must be prepared to lay our lives down 100%. As I came back from China, God spoke to my heart. I said, Lord, do you want me to go to China as a missionary? Because if you do, I'll go. Lord, do you want me to go to Australia? Do you want me to go to Africa? Because if you do, I'll go. I'll get up in front of my church and tell them God has called me and I will go. And God laid upon my heart, Don Wilton, I have called you to First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Those are your streets of Calcutta. That's where I want you to be. And God calls each one of us, no matter where we are, no matter what circumstances. But God says, if you're going to test me and you're going to prove me, you've got to be willing to be committed to me.

How did Paul out lie this for us? Number one, we've got to be committed to yield to our Heavenly Father. Look at verse one.

Therefore, I urge you. The first commitment that Paul tells us about is the commitment to yield. You see, friends, he says, I urge you to offer yourselves. In the NIV, in your Bibles, it is to offer your bodies. In the King James Version, it is to yield or to present your body.

It means that Paul is reminding us that what God wants of us is to give ourselves completely to Him. We've got to give way to God. We've got to submit to God. We've got to allow God. We've got to grant to God. We've got to give up to God. We've got to stand back and we've got to allow God to have His way.

That's what it means to yield. And Paul was so passionate about it. He even used the word beg.

Did you notice that? That word I urge there means beg. You know what Paul did? Paul said, listen, I'll get on my knees in front of you and I'll beg you. I will beg you. I will beg you with everything at my disposal because of what Jesus Christ has done upon the cross. I will beg you to yield to God, to give up your life to God, to hand over to God, to surrender to God, to say, oh God, there is nothing in my hands I cling. It is simply to thy cross that I cling.

That's what Paul was talking about. Number one, commitment to yield. Number two, the commitment to be alive to God.

Look what he says there. He says, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer or to yield your bodies as a living sacrifice. Now this is interesting here because Paul invokes the whole picture of a sacrifice. We know what a sacrifice is.

In the Old Testament, they would take an animal, they would slaughter the animal, put it on an altar, and they would offer that as a sacrifice to God. Paul says, listen, you and I have to be willing to be taken, to be slaughtered, to be put on an altar, but never to die. Paul says, listen, this is remarkable here, folks.

Paul here perhaps is saying, it is easy to stand in front of a firing squad and to be shot to death for your faith, but it's another thing to live where God has placed you and to be shot to death all your life as a living example of faith. Please forgive the interruption. There's more of this great, powerful teaching from Dr. Don Wilton to come in just a moment.

But Dr. Don wants me to remind you, we're here for you. Connecting with Resources? Yes. The new book by Dr. Wilton?

Yes. But this number, 866-899-WORD, is more than just a connection to resources. It could be a lifeline for you. We're available, as Dr. Don would say, to be your 2 a.m. friend.

Indeed, at 2 a.m., no matter what time zone you're in right now, we'll always answer the phone at 866-899-9673. We'd love to talk and listen and pray with you and connect you with great resources at 866-899-9673. Or meet us online at www.tewonline.org. That's our website, www.tewonline.org.

We would love to connect with you and connect with resources to help you grow in your faith. Now back to more great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. Sometimes when a criminal commits a crime and is executed for that crime, we find ourselves saying, He got away easy. He died too quickly. A lethal injection is too quick for someone who committed such a heinous crime.

The electric chair, although painful, is too quick for someone who committed such a heinous crime. And the apostle Paul here, he's not saying to us, I want you to go and I want you to give up your life. Although he is saying that, Paul is saying, I want you to give up your life and I want you to be willing to be burned all of your life. I want you to be a living sacrifice.

I want you on a day by day basis to stand at the foot of the cross. Number one, the commitment to yield. Number two, the commitment to be alive. Number three, the commitment to holiness. Paul says, I beg of you by the mercies of God to yield your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy. What was Paul talking about? He was talking about the heart and the holiness of God. Paul was in agreement with what God's Word teaches us in Peter. When Peter says, be holy because God is holy. What Paul is saying is, Paul is saying that you cannot test God unless you come into line with the character of God. And what is the character of God? The character of God is the holiness of God. It's the greatest challenge that we frail human beings face, standing in line with the holiness of God. But then in the fourth place, he says, you need to commit to pleasing God. Look what he says there, holy and pleasing to God. If you're going to make a commitment to God, you've got to please God.

Just as a husband says, I love my wife. Well, he must please his wife and vice versa. Why do we try to please one another?

Because we love one another. And what Paul is saying that nothing short of the sacrificial living sacrifice of a holy life committed to God can ever please God. Paul is saying, wait a minute, God strikes a high bargain here.

It's a tough thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. Paul here is reminding us, my friends, about the absolute importance of what it means to stand before the throne of grace and to say, Lord Jesus, whatever it is that you want me to do, I only want to please you. Number five, the commitment to be different. Now, young people, this is a tough one here. If you look with me at verse two, he says, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but rather be transformed.

Now, that's a tough one. See, many of our young people went on a marvelous retreat last weekend and God came down and so many made commitments to the Lord Jesus Christ. But folks, let me tell you, it's one thing making a commitment to Jesus Christ in the mountains, but it's another thing making a commitment to Jesus Christ at Boiling Springs High School and at Broome and at Dorman and Spartanburg. It's another thing to make a commitment to Jesus Christ in the workplace and in the family. It's another thing to make commitment to Jesus Christ in the malls and in the parking lots. It's another thing to be different from the world. And what Paul says is if you are ever going to live for Jesus Christ, you've got to make a commitment to be different. Not because of yourself, but because of what Jesus Christ does in you, through you and for you. Many times people will come to me over the years and say to me, Pastor, my Christianity is a private matter. Nobody else needs to know about it.

No, sir, you're wrong. Your salvation is a private matter. You see, salvation begins and ends in the heart of God.

Only Jesus Christ can save you. Your salvation is a private matter, but your Christianity is the public art working of your salvation. That's why Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that others may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.

And what Paul was saying here is that if you belong to Jesus Christ, you must commit to be different. You cannot be the same as everybody else. You've got to stand out.

You've got to stand out in your character, the way you are, who you are. But then he says one more thing. He says you need to make a commitment to renew your mind. Renew your mind.

Look with me at the last verse there. He says, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. How do you renew your mind? You renew your mind by reading the Word of God. You renew your mind by being surrounded by the people of God.

You renew your mind by being in the place and the house of God. That's why it's so important to be in God's house. That's why it's so important to be in Bible study. That's why it's so important to make a commitment for a 13-week discipleship training unit. That's why it's so important to be surrounded by Christian friends and family and people that are going to build you up and not break you down. Paul says, are you willing to make a commitment?

And if you make a commitment, guess what's going to happen? You'll prove God. You know what happens when you prove God? God says, let me show you how faithful I am. Let me show you what I can do for you. And I tell you, when God begins to show you what He can do for you, you and I can never outdo God.

Why? Because God is faithful. Now friends, what about you this morning? We're going to ask you to come this morning, no matter where you are, no matter who you are, no matter what you've done. We're going to ask you first of all today, would you make a commitment to yield to God, to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Here's what the Bible says. The Bible says that if you are willing to repent of your sin, that is you're willing to acknowledge that you're a sinner, that you're willing to confess your sin to Jesus Christ, and then you're willing to trust Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, receive Him into your heart by faith.

That's step one. You say, pastor, but I don't understand all these things. Listen to me, friends. Faith means that you and I do not necessarily know why God could ever want to save people like you and me. But we're willing to take Him at His word. Are you willing to take God at His word today?

Now, some of you have trusted Jesus. Even this week, if you've given your heart to Jesus, I'm going to ask you to come and join me at the front and say, I've given my heart to Jesus. And some of you have said, pastor, I've made a commitment. I want to make a commitment. I want to stand up for the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be different. I want my life to be on the line.

I want this joy. I want the satisfaction of knowing that my life represents a life that is testing and proving God. We're going to invite you to come today, publicly and unashamedly from upstairs, downstairs, from the choir, no matter where you are today. We're going to ask you to come if you need to join this church and make a commitment to serve Jesus right here. Even now in the worship centre, people are responding.

They're moving. Perhaps God is moving in your heart and you sense not just the great teaching of Dr. Wilton and the great power of the living word of God, the Bible itself, but you know you need to make a response. Would you open your heart to what our pastor, Dr. Don Wilton, wants to share next? Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you and I invite you to come into my heart and into my life, I pray. In Jesus' name I pray. If you've prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey.

And in just a moment, I'm going to come back with a final word. If you were praying along with the pastor moments ago to rededicate your life to Christ or give your life to Jesus for the very first time, we want to welcome you to the family of God. We also want to put some resources in your hands that will help you grow in your faith. It's absolutely free if you'll call us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. Or you can also connect with us on our website, www.tewonline.org. You can connect with all these resources, including the Daily Encouraging Word devotional from Dr. Don. Again, that's online at www.tewonline.org or the phone number 866-899-9673.

And yes, you can order the books and order the resources, but that phone number is much more than that. 1 Timothy 2, 1-2 says, I urge, then first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peacefully in quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. In the times that we live, our lives are anything but peaceful and quiet. How can we find peace? We can find it in daily prayer and Bible reading. God wants to give us his peace.

We just need to ask for it. We would be honored to pray for you. We would be honored to pray for his peace in your life. The Encouraging Word has a 24-hour live prayer line. You can call 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673 and talk to a real person who will be glad to pray with you. The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today. It's been a wonderful week of broadcasting here on The Encouraging Word and whether you're listening on the podcast, the radio broadcast, however you're connecting, you can find more details on our website at www.tewonline.org.

Maybe you missed part of today and want to share it with a friend. All the details of how to watch and listen to the ministries of The Encouraging Word is online at www.tewonline.org. And before we get away, we have a closing thought from our pastor and chief encourager, Dr. Don Wilton. You know, before we go today, what a day of worship we've had. You know, you and I have in the middle of our hearts our beloved nation, don't we, how much I love America.

I'm so proud to be an American. You know, this broadcast is seen by so many of our armed forces across the world, and we hear from many, many of them, and we love them, we admire them, we respect them. They are our real heroes, and I want you to join with me as we are praying for them, that God would protect them and their families and loved ones. Let's do that right now, shall we, just before we go? Why don't you join with me? Lord Jesus, I'm joining with thousands of people right now and praying for our members, our brave, brave members of our community and our world who are in uniform.

Many are overseas in strange and difficult places, families left behind. Lord Jesus, bless them, keep your hand upon them in every way, in Jesus' name, amen. Our time's gone for this week of broadcast, but over the weekend, we'll be sharing God's Word in wonderful ways, including the Daystar broadcast, worship services, and more. If you'd like to join us, discover the place online, tewonline.org, for all the resources. Today's broadcast, you can watch or hear again, again, all online at tewonline.org, that's tewonline.org, or if you're calling about resources, 866-899-WORD. The Encouraging Word.