Presented July 16, 2006 am
WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR JESUS?
The Christian life is truly a blessed life. There are many motivating factors behind our living for Christ. We have the hope of a home in heaven when this life is over. We can live the time we have been given here with real purpose. In our own way we can make the world a little better around us. And other reasons could be added to these.
But, in my mind, one of the greatest motivating factors in our lives ought to be a consideration of everything Jesus has done for us to make these blessings possible. If you are a Christian, you know that Jesus has done many things for you. He left heaven and came to earth as a man to be humiliated and crucified so that our sins could be forgiven. He lived a perfect life leaving us a pattern that we can strive to imitate. He set the example for us so that we know we too can overcome any and every sin that comes our way. He has gone to prepare a place for us in heaven. And He continues to intercede for us when we have sinned and confess our sins to our heavenly Father through Him. Many other examples can be cited concerning what He has done for us.
The reason I believe this to be the greatest motivating factor is because it is not based upon what we will get out of it. Instead, it makes our motives of service to Him pure and selfless. Sure we want to go to heaven when this life is over (and we better want that more than anything else), but that is a self-serving reason. But when our greatest motivation is all that God, in three persons, have done for us, our service is not a matter of duty, but loyalty and gratitude. I am reminded of what John said in 1 John 4:19 which says, “We love Him because He first loved us.” On one occasion, Paul said, “For the love of Christ compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14).
And that leads to the question I want to address this morning: What have you done for Him? We can all look at our lives and acknowledge many things we have done on His behalf. We obeyed the gospel. We are living a morally pure life (at least fairly moral). We go to church every chance we can. All these things are good, but are they enough? In our lesson this morning we want to examine our lives by asking ourselves, What am I doing for Jesus? Notice how this is a present tense statement calling for us to look at where we are right now.
I. Are you worshipping Him?
a. Our worship to God must be “in truth.” It would do us well to OFTEN remind ourselves that we are not here to be entertained or please ourselves, but to glorify Him. That means that we GIVE HIM the reverence He deserves by doing things the way He calls for us to do them. In God’s word we find plenty of examples of both acceptable and unacceptable worship – from Cain (Genesis 4) to Nadab & Abihu (Leviticus 10) to the rejected acts of worship of many of the Jews in Christ’s day.
b. BUT, another key ingredient to proper worship is motive. We can go through the motions of worshipping God, and NOT be pleasing to Him. In fact God is insulted by such. In the time of Amos, the Lord said, “I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies…” (Amos 5:21-24). Again, the scribes and Pharisees were known for their pretentious prayers and superficial acts of worship. AND they were condemned for them as well.
c. Jesus, even though He was the Son of God and at times accepted worship, still worshipped His heavenly Father fervently. He kept the Law of Moses perfectly which would have included keeping feasts, sacrifices and observing all of God’s instructions. He knew the word of God intimately. On occasions, He sung along with His disciples (Matthew 26:30). BUT, perhaps the greatest example of this was how He continually prayed to God. And when He prayed to the Father, it was not just for Himself but for us. When asked, He taught His disciples how to pray (Matt. 6:8-13, Luke 11:1-4) He prayed for Peter (Luke 22:32), and many others. But, perhaps His greatest prayer is found in John 17 where He prayed for His disciples and all who would believe in Him, “that they may be one…” (John 17:20-21).
d. When it comes to worship what are we really giving Him? Are we just giving Him mere rituals? Are we giving him our leftovers? Are we giving Him a little time, but not giving Him our hearts?
II. Have you defended Him?
a.
I am convinced that if I asked you this morning as you were leaving if
you believed in Jesus, everyone here would proudly say yes, and mean it. And as
the truth is taught, we will collectively say, ‘Amen!’ BUT, what if we were
put in a situation where confessing His name came with a consequence? What if
you were in the Middle East where Christians are hated? Would you still defend
Him if your life counted upon it? If someone were to enter this building and
threaten to kill everyone who said they believed in Jesus, what would you say
when the gun was pointed at you?
Let us not even be that extreme? What about in society when we hear the name of
God blasphemed or false doctrines taught about Him? Will we at that time defend
Him? What if standing up for Him meant being put out of the church (obviously
not the TRUE church), would you still stand behind Him? Many more examples like
these could be given.
What if we were in a group of our brethren like Peter and they began
discriminating against a group of people because of their skin color or
nationality? Would we go along with them like Peter did in Galatians 2:11-13
and not only sin ourselves, but cause our brethren to sin along with us? Or
would we stand up for what is right, like Paul did, EVEN to an apostle (Gal.
2:14-16)?
b.
It is times like these that we need to consider what Jesus did?
Facing death, when asked, “Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!”
He answered, “It is as you say…” (Matthew 26:63-64). Those words led to
His crucifixion.
We need to consider how twice, Jesus cast the moneychangers out of temple.
We ought to remember how He stood up to their hypocrisies and corruption over
and over. We ought to remember how He vigorously defended the Father in all
things.
c.
Consider Stephen who sternly rebuked the Jewish leaders resulting in his
being stoned (Acts 7:54-60)
Consider Paul who faced multitudes of persecutions as he preached Christ. We
are told in Acts 14:19-20, that after being stoned outside of Lystra, Paul went
back into the city after he arose before he left.
Consider Hebrews 11:35-40 which describes what some of the faithful few went
through as they stood up for the Lord.
d. In Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus said that we must be willing to confess Him before men. This is NOT just a one time confession, but ongoing action. And it is not just a confession of convenience, but one that might have unpleasant consequences.
e. Thus, when it comes to defending our Lord’s name I again ask: What am I doing for Him?
III. Have you told others about Him?
a.
As you read through the book of Acts, a remarkable observation is how
those who received the word of God would not contain themselves. We continually
read of their rejoicing. Acts 8:4, even after persecutions, says that they went
everywhere preaching the word. And yet we also read how the church kept
growing.
They had to keep telling others about their Lord. It was a true manifestation
of their faith.
b.
We know that we need to be teaching others. The ONLY way God had
provided for the word to spread is through the teaching of His word. The
mission of the apostles was, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature.” (Mark 16:15)
2 Timothy 2:2 speaks of generations of sharing the gospel and teaching others to
teach. 1 Peter 3:15 calls upon us to give a defense of our faith to anyone who
asks a reason for the hope that is in us. While there is specific passage that
says, “you shall do personal work” it can be found throughout the New
Testament. It is obvious that if we are not growing, something is wrong.
c.
NOW, when one obeys the
gospel or is restored to the Lord, we all rejoice in that. And we ought to.
Luke 15:7 tells us that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents
than 99 that need no repentance.
But how much are we really doing to reach the lost? Are we letting opportunities
and souls with whom we have the greatest potential to do good slip away from us?
Considering what Jesus did to save us, and how He left His word in the hands of
men to proclaim it (and that certainly includes us based upon the ability we
have), what am I really doing for Him to share the gospel with others?
ANOTHER thought to consider in this area is this: What is the church here
doing for Him to spread His word? What part am I taking in that (either
activity or inactivity)?
IV. Are you working for Him?
a. John 15:1-8 reminds us that if we are to dwell in Him, we must produce fruit or else we will be cut off. What exactly is fruit? In times past we have noted it is more than winning souls. It is ANY produce as a result of our serving Him. It can involve visiting the sick, encouraging brethren, giving of our possessions, increased Biblical knowledge & wisdom, improved godly attitudes, developing the ability to lead, and many other things.
b. While we all have the same goal and ought to be of one mind, we all have differing talents and abilities. God created each of us unique from everyone else. Together we comprise the body of Christ. What are your talents? How are you using them for Him? Romans 12:4-8 illustrates this. So does 1 Peter 4:10-11 which calls upon us to use whatever we do to the glory of God.
c. Concerning your abilities, what have you done for Him lately? Have you been using your God given talents for God and others? Do you even know what your abilities are? Have you tried to develop them for even greater use? When it comes to our jobs, our education and secular activities, we regularly develop and grow. But what about spiritually? Consider James 2:14-18 which equates the demonstration of our faith to our works.
V. What have you given up for Him?
a.
WE are reminded again that serving God is not always an easy thing. True
service involves sacrifice. A brief definition of sacrifice is the freewill
giving up of something of value, usually out of love.
An interesting study is to examine what God’s word actually says about
sacrifice. It has always been a part of worshipping God. From the time of
Abel and Cain and throughout the Old Testament, God demanded various types of
sacrifices – including sin offerings, thanksgiving offerings, purification
offerings, financial offerings, etc. While the types of sacrifices may have
changed, the fact that we STILL NEED to sacrifice has not. Romans 12:1-2 tells
us we are to be a living sacrifice. Hebrews 13:15-16 speaks of sacrifice in our
worship to God and in doing good and sharing with others. See also Philippians
4:18.
b. Jesus is the ultimate example of sacrifice. Consider Philippians 2:5-8. He gave up equality with God and left the comforts of heaven. He died on the cross, being offered for OUR sins. Hebrews 9:26 notices that, “…now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
c.
But, what have you sacrificed
for Him lately? You are here this
morning to worship God, and understand that it fits the definition of a
sacrifice of your time. But I ask, is it a sacrifice of convenience? Are you
here because nothing else was going on to take place of being here? Does God
usually win out when you have to make a choice between something of the world
and serving Him? Are you willing to share with your brethren and others? How
much are you willing to give up? Do you give personal time to God to pray and
study His word during the week?
What about sinful practices? We know that as Christians we have to live a
moral life and we stand for and preach against ungodly practices. But if we are
honest with ourselves, are we REALLY giving up the lusts of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes and the pride of life (John 2:15-17) to serve Him? And I mean ALL OF
THEM! Have you tried to resist sins? How hard are you trying? Are you walking
away from the world for Him? The Bible is very clear about the contrast between
what we USED to be and what we ARE NOW (1 Cor. 6:9-11, Romans 6:17-18 – you used
to be slaves of sin, but now you are slaves of righteousness, Ephesians 2:1-3,
Ephesians 5:8 which summarizes this, “For you were once darkness, but now you
are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” How much change have you
made for Him?
Thus we can see some areas where we ought to take a close look at our own lives and ask just exactly what we are doing for Him. Brethren, there is a real concern that prompts lessons like this one: It is the fact that we are not growing as we ought to – both as the Lord’s church in this community and each of us personally. The focus of too many today is not that which we have discussed today, but rather, what has Jesus done for me lately? Far too many, if they cannot find a satisfactory answer – either quit or complain. The solution begins with continued examination and determination to focus our lives so that He is clearly seen in all things. When we take our eye off of Him, we need to REFOCUS so that we are ready to stand before Him in the end? What about you? What have you done for Him lately? Think about it!