Are You Truly Committed?

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So lower your taxable income while increasing your retirement. PRCUA.org. That's PRCUA.org. Welcome to If Not For God, stories of hopelessness that turn to hope. Here is your host, Mike Zwick. Welcome to If Not For God with Mike Zwick.

It is a new year. As it says in the scripture, behold I make all things new. And one of the things that I was thinking about this week was actually Romans 8 18. And it says that I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed within us. So the little bit of unjust suffering that we may face as Christians in this world is incomparable to the beauty and the glory of heaven.

I'm sure when we close our eyes on this earth and we open up our eyes in heaven, we'll probably forget about a lot of the problems and all the difficulties that we had on this earth because it'll be so glorious and so happy to be in heaven. So I was looking at something else and it says that the cost of a stamp is 55 cents. And if I go to the post office and they overcharge me by 55 cents for the stamp, if I go back there and I say, hey, you guys overcharge me by 55 cents.

And they say to me, okay, not only we're going to give you the 55 cents back, but you never have to pay income tax again for the rest of your life. I'm going to be pretty happy. And that's what it kind of reminds me of is that the little present sufferings that we have, whether it's, you know, we're having a problem with COVID or somebody's passing away or we're having trouble at work or whatever, it is incomparable to the glory that'll come within heaven. And so are you focusing on your problems? Are you focusing on all that is going wrong with you in this world and all the problems that you're having? Or are you focusing on Jesus?

Because if you're focusing on the problems, you're going to be pretty depressed, you're going to be down, you're going to be out. But if you're focusing on Jesus, then you will have peace. As the old bumper sticker used to say, there's no Jesus, there's no peace.

But if you know Jesus, then you truly will know peace. You know, I heard a story about how we go through tough times. And if you read the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon talked about all the tough times that he was having.

And sometimes in life, we suffer for the problems that other people have caused us. When couples go to counseling, a lot of times, whether it's for marriage counseling or if they're thinking about getting married, people will ask them, you know, well, do you have this in common or do you have that in common? But Jesus talked about marriage.

He said the only reason for a divorce is fornication or if the person dies. And so I guess one of the questions that you have to ask if you're married is, are you truly committed to this marriage? Is this something that you just kind of, hey, you know, we fell in love, it was fun or whatever, but you can always fall out of love.

You can always realize that maybe you didn't have as much in common as you thought you did. But for the Christian, it's a commitment. And that once you make that commitment, you're committed no matter what. And I know there's reasons, you know, somebody's running around or if the spouse is beating you up or something.

I'm not talking about like that. But for the most part, I see so many marriages that just end in what they call no-fault divorces, but it's not that simple. You have to try to stick it out no matter what. And in this new year, 2021, who knows what's going to happen. There could be persecution.

There could be tough times ahead. Are you really, really committed to Christ? Or is it just something that you do that you've done on Sundays or whatever? Because if things get tough for us as Christians, you have to make the decision now whether you're going to stick with Christ, whether you are truly committed to Christ, or whether this was just some nice accessory that you had. So that's something that you might want to think about this year is are you a true follower of Jesus?

And you know, we do serve a risen Savior. I heard a story that happened several years ago. It was a true story about a grandmother who had looked out her back window, and she saw her two-year-old granddaughter had fallen into the deep end of the pool. So the grandmother, of course, ran out the back of her house, jumped into the pool. Three hours later, the EMS came, and they got the grandmother and the two-year-old. They had to dig them out of the pool. They had both died. And the reason why they did that is because the grandmother who had tried to save the granddaughter could not swim. And so, you know, if you're looking for someone to save you, they've got to be able to save.

They've got to do two things. Number one, they would have had to live a perfect and a sinless life. And number two, they would have to have risen from the grave. And so when we look to a Savior, I mean, if you look to Buddha, Buddha may have done some good things. He may have had some good teachings, but he's dead. When you look at Muhammad, he may have done some good things. He may have had some good teachings, but he's dead. So that's why I'm so glad that we serve a risen Savior.

And if we believe in Him, we have eternal life. There's a story that I've heard kind of going along with that where it says to buy the rumor and sell the news. It's what people have done, I guess, historically in the stock market, where if they're investing in the stock market, they want to buy the rumor.

So if they hear there's going to be a stimulus package coming out and they buy on the stock market of that, but when the stimulus package is actually confirmed and they sign the deal, then you sell on that. So what people do, I think, sometimes is they will take that same sort of knowledge of the stock market of buy the rumor and sell the news and they take it to their spiritual lives as well. And so what they hear is they, oh, Madonna is following Kabbalah. Maybe I'll buy the rumor on that and I'll start following that. Or Paris Hilton, I heard she started studying about Islam.

Well, maybe I'll go and I'll kind of follow that and I'll kind of see what's going with that. But what we really want to look at is what is the news? And the good news for this year is that Jesus Christ, He died for our sins on the cross and He was raised from the dead. And if we believe in Him, then we have eternal life. I was telling another story about Joseph Scriven, who actually wrote the song, What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

The song says this, it says, what a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. And you think about, oh, you know, when Joseph Scriven must have written that, it must have been when he was having a really good time in his life or things were going well or this or that, whatever.

That is not the case. He graduated from Trinity College in 1842 over in Dublin, Ireland. And when he graduated, he was supposed to meet his fiance.

And right before he was supposed to meet his fiance in 1843, she fell off of a horse and died. And in his sorrow and in his shame, in his tough times that he was having, he actually wrote the words to that song. What a friend we have in Jesus. What a friend we have in Jesus. And so, you know, 2020 has been a tough year. 2021 may be tougher.

I don't know what the future holds, and neither does anybody else. But when you think about it, no matter how tough of a time you're having, we can sing, what a friend we have in Jesus. Praise God.

So I was looking in 2 Timothy 4 and starting in verse 1, and it says, In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge. Preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke and encourage, with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside the myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endorse hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry, for I am already being poured out like a drink offering. In the time of my departure is near, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

For there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to also all who have longed for his appearing. Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he has loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia.

Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Karpus at Troas and my scrolls, especially the part, parchments. Alexander the the metal worker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done.

You too should be on guard against him, because he has strongly opposed our message. At my first offense no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them, but the Lord has stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and all the gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever.

Amen. And when I think about that, this is the apostle Paul, who maybe other than Jesus Christ was really, I mean, people just thought about it. And they, and they, you look at Jesus, but people thought, oh man, the apostle Paul, he was a great guy. He had all these things going on. He was responsible partially for bringing Christianity through all these different areas of the world, and yet at the end of his life nobody stood with him.

Nobody stood with him. And when I think about that, it's like, man, he's, if you're, you're standing up for Jesus right now, if the whole world is against you, then you have a lot of good company. You know, it says in another verse, in Hebrews 12 verse 1, and it says, Therefore since we are surrounded by such great a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

And so we're going to have tough times. It says if you follow Jesus, you will suffer persecutions. But when I read the end of the Bible, I realize that we win. And you look in Revelation chapter 22, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth has passed away.

And there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new. Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.

He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, to the thirsty. I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all liars, they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

This is the second death. And so when I read that, it says, You know what? We're going to have tough times as followers of Christ, that in the end, we win. In the end, if you follow Jesus, and if you make it through, if you endure till the end, we get the crown of life.

And friends, that's what I'm looking for. In Jesus' name, amen. We have just finished the Christmas season.

We've got a new year coming. So what a blessing. What child is this? And that question should be on our mind every day, because that child grew up to be the Savior. That child was the Savior and was born. We celebrate His birth at Christmas time. The question is, have you experienced His new birth all year round?

All year round. And you were talking about, was this morning Isaiah chapter 6? Is that right?

Yep. What's in Isaiah 6? 700 years before the baby was even born, Michael.

700 years they had this baby named. Hundreds of prophecies in Scripture fulfilled by Jesus where He would be born. His name, His four names, the four names of Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 are so profound. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. I think a lot of people think of Jesus or God as a thing that's kind of far out there, but Jesus actually says in Scripture, no longer do I call you servants, He says, but I call you friends. And can you have a personal relationship with Jesus too?

Well, that's the beauty of it. That's why He became a man. See, we forget the whole point of the incarnation of God, the Word becoming flesh, so that we could know God. The whole point of Him being born unto us, a child is given unto us, a child is born unto us, a son is given.

The whole point of that is so that we can become sons. The beauty of the incarnation of God coming to us, it's unto us. We couldn't get to Him.

There's nothing we can do to get to Him. Interview after interview on this program, the name of this program, If Not For God. If God hadn't come unto us, if the shepherds, if the angels hadn't said the shepherds unto you is born this day, and the study of David, if Christ had not come unto His own, John 1 10 and 11, then we never would have been here. There would have been no If Not For God.

That is the great interruption. When God became a man, when He invaded human history, when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, John 1 14, and we beheld His amazing glory, this is what changed everything. And this is who He is, wonderful, counselor, almighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Each one of these aspects, attributes, is both divinity and humanity, all bundled in to one precious Christ child.

And Jesus has done something that we could never do. I heard a story by, by the way, we've got a book by J.D. Greer I'm going to read.

It's What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? by J.D. Greer. But I heard a story that J.D. Greer spoke of, and he said that there was a little woodpecker, and he kept on pecking away at this telephone pole. And he says, and one night the woodpecker's away, and there's a thunderstorm, and God splits the telephone pole in half.

And the woodpecker goes back and tells his friends, he says, look what I did. Well, it was God. And so what we're doing is, we're just pecking away, and then God comes and splits the telephone pole. But, you know, I believe that God wants to work with us, and so we do have a part. Is that right?

Well, look at each of those names of Jesus right there in the beginning of Isaiah chapter 9, 700 years before He's born. Look at what the opposite of each of those implies about us. Wonder. Wonderful. Okay, we are subnormal. We are dull. We are humans, and we are in desperate need of something to fill our soul. Right? We need something wonderful.

We say wonderful and awesome about a lot of things besides Jesus. Like, I think that's an awesome sweater. You got the awesome, ugly Christmas sweater contest winner right there on you, buddy.

We'll have to take a picture before we go out. We'll post it when we play this program back so we can see the sweater. It's my favorite Christmas sweater I've seen in a long time, worn by this wickster himself.

If not for God, I don't think that sweater would be on you right now. It's so cool. There's so many things happening on there, but you think about, we say awesome about a lot of things, but truly there's only one awesome thing. If you could only say awesome about one thing, it would be a person, right?

It would have to be Jesus, right? And how are we, you know, I love that, joy of the world and wonders of his love. How often are we in awe? In Acts, they had signs and wonders, right? Like miracles happened, but they were wonders.

Why? Because a sign that showed God's greatness and the wonder that followed. Everyone was in awe and wonder of God.

That's right. When's the last time we just said, hey, I want to be still and know that I am God? Psalm 46 11. When am I just going to be in awe of him, right? So God is awesome because we're not. He's counselor because we're dumb as dirt. We're ignorant. We don't have it figured out. We can't create the world. We can't create the eyeball.

We can't cure cancer. We got a lot. I mean, there's a lot of things, and of course, yeah, we can talk about the accolades of man, the accomplishments of man, all the humanism, and the things like that, but he's counselor because he's the all-knowing omniscient one.

That's right. He knows everything. So we're ignorant. Thank God he's a wonderful counselor.

He's almighty God. Why? Because we're weak.

Yeah. We're hopeless, helpless. What does it say in Romans chapter five? When we were without strength, without hope, without strength, Christ died for the ungodly.

We're incapable of anything. Let me tell you what I bring to the equation with God. I bring my sin. That's what I bring.

What do you bring to the table? I bring my sin. I bring everything that damns me, and he brings everything that saves me. He is mighty to save.

That's right. He is almighty God. He's almighty in the creation. He's almighty in the new creation. So he's almighty God. So he's almighty God because we're weak.

Yeah. He's everlasting father. Why? Because our fathers are broken. There's a father curse. Forty percent of kids today have no father, have no dad. Fathers have left us. They're abusive. How many of you, your dad hit you when you were growing up?

Yeah. How many of you never had a dad hug you? I still see today dads, and I've had to say, dad, you hug your son right now with all of us watching. Hug your son. And it's painful for that guy to do.

Why? Because his dad hated him and never hugged him. He didn't even know he hated him. Maybe there's just this pain, this father wound, right? Jesus is the father, and he's the father of time, the father of eternity. And in that verse, it's not talking about him usurping the role of father, the first member of the Trinity, father of God, the heavenly father. But he's the second member of the Trinity, co-equal with that eternal father.

But he's everlasting father in that he is authority over everything, and he is the one who came after us. Remember, Adam was the first Adam. Adam was the father of the human race, right? He was father Adam. He was the father of humans. He was the father of creation. He was the, you know, the father of his seed, right? Well, Jesus Christ is the second Adam.

He is the perfect, the perfect man, because he's God. Yeah. So there's a sense, very sense to which he fathers us, Jesus does, in the nurturing and coming after us, and being our sheep, my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me, they know they are mine, see? So there's this very real sense that everything we haven't had in terms of a nurturing, timeless, ageless, eternal, never-dying, never-weakening father is Jesus.

And then there's finally Prince of Peace. Right. Well, look at what we have. Yeah. A, we're a fatherless bunch with fallen fathers, including me as a fallen father. B, we're ignorant, that's why we need a counselor.

C, we're weak and helpless, that's why we need a mighty God. Yeah. And then finally, we're at war, we're in conflict. How many of us are just buzzing around, just absolutely empty, the battle that the coronas exposed us for being people that are just so frivolous and pointless, and we're angry, we're arguing about masks and all these other things, when in fact, he's the Prince of Peace.

Right. So he fills out everything we fall short, and all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3 23, Jesus Christ came, God demonstrates his love toward us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For God so loved the world, he gave his only Son, he gave.

So God had to come to us, we couldn't get to him, and he completes us like no one else can, and all of that takes us back to awe and wonder that he is awesome. The question is, are you connected with him? Is he your counsel? Do you go to him first, or do you got to call your your buddy or your mom or your daddy first for advice?

Why don't you call him first? Why don't you hit your knees and say, God, I got a problem, only you can solve it, and go to him? Why is he our last resort instead of our first response?

Right? Why is prayer our last, you know, so am I trusting, am I going to him as my wonderful counselor? He's an awesome counselor. Number two, am I going to him for help as my mighty God?

Right. Do I realize that he's got my back? I'm not alone here. I got Almighty God on my side. You have no idea.

You don't know who you're messing with. You stole my car? Guess what? You didn't steal my car. Right. You stole God's car. That's right. You want to stand before him?

Yeah. I'm going to pray God will have mercy on you. Every time something's stolen from me or I'm harmed or someone comes at me or threatens me and it's happened a lot, guess what? I pray Almighty God's mercy on them because they don't know who they're messing with.

They're not messing with me. I'm a king's kid. I've got his stamp. Right. He is a mighty God, mighty to save, mighty to serve, mighty to fight our battles, be strong in the Lord, and his mighty power, Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 chapter 10, we have an entire armor that's his armor, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of the Spirit. That's powerful. We wield infinite powerful blades and the sword of the Spirit.

Do you have do you have any idea, believer, what you have? The word of God, quick and powerful, sharp and intuitive, sword, Hebrews 4-12. He's everlasting Father. He's eternal. He's not bound by time and he nurtures and loves you like crazy and then finally he's the Prince of Peace. He brings peace into your conflict, whatever it is, whoever it is. There's not one soul on this planet you can't be reconciled with because of his perfect peace.

Only he can bring peace in your marriage, in your relationships, with your kids, with your prodigals, whoever it is that hates you right now or you hate, you go to him and let the Prince of Peace rule in that situation, Colossians 3-15. He is our peace who's broken down every wall that separates us. Ephesians 2, 3, and 4, he's our peace.

That's it. So those are the four names of God. 700 years where Jesus was born. We need the Savior. We need to be in awe of this Savior. He's ready to do mighty things on our behalf. That's awesome and Stu Epperson, the first words of Jesus, but you know it's interesting how how this Christmas season, and I know we've just passed, but the Christmas season always kind of ties in with Easter. He was born to die.

Exactly right. Isaiah 53, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain, like one from whom people hide their faces. He was despised and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted, but he was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray.

Each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep, before it shearers his silence.

So he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away, yet who of his generation protested? You know, he was he was dying on the cross, and they said, crucify him!

That's right. For he was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied by knowledge. My righteous servant will justify many, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but he will justify many.

That's right. And he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressions, for he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Thank God for that.

Thank God, Jesus Christ. He was born to die so we could be reborn, born again, and live with him forever. Mild he lay his glory by, born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. There's a quote in my book to the pagan or the unbeliever, Christmas day Christmas day is the end.

Drive the tree to the curb, take on the lights, look through your presents, get the receipts out, get ready to go back, leftovers, all that, family leaves, cousin he's gone, boom boom boom. To the believer it's just the beginning, because therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is in your creation. Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. So are you new in Christ? Is he living in you and through you, and who are you telling this message to? Get out there and tell people about the only one who's the wonderful counselor, almighty God, everlasting father, and prince of peace. His name is Jesus and the name of this show is If Not Forgot. If Not Forgot. This is the Truth Network.