Luke 18:18-26
Reading
18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
INTRODUCTION
Many times, we say something with our mouths that we do not know and understand its implications very well. Also, when we open our mouths to say something, especially spiritual things, we vow to ourselves or God, saying, this is what I will do, and this I will not do.
Many people in the Bible made a vow either with their mouths or with their eyes. Genesis 28:20-21 says, “20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:” Jacob made a vow unto God. Judges 11:30-31, “30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, 31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. So, Jephthah made a vow.
Numbers 21:2 says, “And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” The Israelites vowed unto God. In the book of Job 31:1, Job said, “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?”. In this passage, the word ‘Covenant means vow’.
My message is that we sing nice and powerful songs. We have to live up to what we sing. Do you really live up to it? If you sing a song and you live up to that song, it means the song has ministered to you. Consequently, you will want to do something about it. Know very well that the religion ‘Christianity’ is the religion of doing. Today, I want us to look at some of the Hymns we sing. What do we do with it?
(1) We sing “Sweet hour of Prayer”
We sing this powerful song in the congregation. Yet, we don’t show up for the mid-week Bible study prayer service. No prayer in the morning to thank God for protection throughout the night. We sing also, “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee.” No prayer in the night when we are about to go to bed; for God to guide us through the dangers of the night, and to grant us a sound sleep. In the night, we sleep so well as a baby who has no sin. It is God’s doing, and we need to appreciate and give Him glory. We have to live up to what we sing.
(2) We sing “Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war”
As Christians, we easily forget that this world is a battlefield for us. We have chosen to be on the LORD’s side, but most of the time we lose focus on the one who is the General. We should instead Look unto Jesus, Who is gone before. We forget that the battle is of Him.
So do not be afraid when the battle rage or the Storm of life overpowers you. Remember Him who commanded the Storm to be still. Luke 8:24,25, “24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.” Let us live up to what we sing.
(3) We sing “We’ve a story to tell the nations”
We need to live up to what we sing and tell others about Jesus Christ. Tell them about how Christ came and saved you. Tell them your testimony; your life has never been the same since you got saved. Jesus gave us a job to do. Matthew 28:18-20, “18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” This, we call ‘The Great Commission’. We need to go and tell our friends, neighbours, family, and the whole world about Jesus. Tell the nations the Gospel of Christ Jesus, that is, His Birth, Death, and His Resurrection.
We also sing “I love to tell the story” yet you never share the great things Christ has done for you. Tell the story of how He came from glory, How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like you and like me. Tell the nations about “His groaning, and of His precious blood atoning” Tell them to repent of their sins and win the Victory. Let’s tell people the goodness of Christ.
(4) We sing, “Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross”
Standing for Jesus is standing for the truth, standing for separation from the world, standing against immorality, standing against corruption, standing against abortion. When you stand for Christ, you will stand against all the Negative things, bitterness, envy, pride, adultery, fornication, lust, and not to be friends with the world, because whosoever does that is the enemy of God.
We sing “I have decided to follow Jesus”. To what extent are you following Him? Is it when you have money in your wallet or when you don’t have money? When you have food on your table or when you don’t, when you have clothes to put on or when you have only one pair of shoes or one shirt? We always say, ‘God is good all the time and all the time God is good’. God is good in the night as well as in the morning and day. God is good when we have food to eat, and He is good when we don’t have. His word said we should consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin but He God takes good care of them. Look with me to Matthew 6:30, “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
(5) We should live up to what we sing by surrendering all to Jesus
We sing “All to Jesus I surrender”. This is one of our invitation songs after Preaching. This song is to make people think about the message and decide for themselves what they want to do with their lives. When the Holy Spirit touches their heart, they will be willing to surrender all to Jesus; the bad life of smoking, drinking, womanizing, and stealing, and even ready to read the Bible, and come to church regularly. God grants them an opportunity to decide for themselves.
“All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
Refrain:
I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
(The stanza 2 is even more impressive)
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.”
Let us live by what we sing. If we say we surrender all and trust Him to provide, protect, and guide us, we need to trust Him for our security. He is able to do it for us.
CONCLUSION
My question to you is, are you living up to what you sing? Let us not just be talking or just singing, let us work the talk and live by what we sing. When we do what He wants us to do, I believe He will be ready to walk with us. Let our lives match up with what we say we are. We are ‘CHRISTIANS’ that is, Christ-like. May God help us to live up to what we sing in Jesus’ name.
Amen!!!