Commit To Him
1Pe 5:5 Likewise, younger ones, be subject to older ones, and all being subject to one another. Put on humility. For God resists proud ones, but He gives grace to the humble.
6 Therefore be humbled under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your anxiety onto Him, for He cares for you.
8 Be sensible and vigilant, because your adversary the Devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking someone he may devour;
9 whom firmly resist in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions in the world are being completed in your brotherhood.
10 But the God of all grace, He calling us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, He will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
11 To Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.
(MKJV)
Stepping away from our verse by verse exposition of Romans for this confirmation Sunday. I was seeking to find a text that would be appropriate for Ethan and Greg as they have publicly stated their commitment to Christ and have vowed to remain faithful to the teachings of the Christian church.
This portion of 1 Peter seemed fitting to me for Greg and Ethan and all here today who have ever been confirmed in the faith, because there is some good advice for all of us.
1Pe 5:5 Likewise, younger ones, be subject to older ones, (Oh great, it’s the old, children should be seen and not heard routine again!) Not exactly!
At first glance this passage would appear to deal with the age of the believer but it doesn’t. It has to do with spiritual maturity, and the authority of the office of elder. The idea being that the elders of a church ought to have a proven track record of godly living as a result of their own submission to the authority of God and His Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. They ought to be spiritually mature.
Therefore the spiritually younger and less mature Christians of a congregation should look to the elders for guidance and correction as the elder brings the Word of God to bear in any given situation in their lives.
And so we see that even though Greg and Ethan are being confirmed today, they are now more than ever to look to mature themselves and one of the ways to do that is to seek and receive guidance from the mature believers at Living Word.
And everyone of us have the responsibility of seeking to grow in our spiritual maturity, living godly lives, trusting God and His Word so that we might earn the trust and confidence of all who are young in the faith, and be of help to them as they work out their salvation.
I for one have been extremely blessed by meeting with Greg and Ethan for the past 14 months. Using our confirmation book as a guide, and a springboard for discussion, I have poured that which I know to be true out before them, and my prayer is that they have learned some things that will help them as they seek to mature in the faith while facing the many temptations of the world..
But I have learned from them as well. And the most important thing I have learned is that while their generation may not exactly talk the same language as our generation when it comes to matters of faith, (oh my, some times all I could do was silently shake my head!) they have a wonderful, refreshing view of Jesus and as you can see from their testimonies, a personal relationship with God.
Don’t blow young people off. Take some time to listen to them! They have something to say about Jesus! They have something to say about living the Christian faith! I wish I would’ve known that as my own children were growing up. I wish I would’ve confirmed them as I had the opportunity to confirm Greg and Ethan.
Peter now goes on to talk about the responsibility of members of the body of Christ to serve one another. Guess what guys? Now that you’re confirmed, He’s talking to you!
“and all being subject to one another. Put on humility. For God resists proud ones, but He gives grace to the humble.
As you both now enter more deeply into the congregational life at Living Word, you are to have the attitude of a slave. You are to place your, time, talent, and treasure at the disposal of others in the congregation. Put on the garb of humility, the clothing of a slave. Bind yourselves more deeply to the members of Living Word with humble service to each other. See a need. Respond to it!
And again the challenge for the rest of the congregation is, are we illustrating that kind of service to them. Have they seen such service in action here at Living Word? Peter says here that without that kind of an attitude God will resist us. He will array Himself against us. Our plans and purposes as a church will be thwarted because we have put ourselves above servitude.
6 Therefore be humbled under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time,
Remember the idea of humility here is to place yourself at the disposal of others, therefore we must slavishly put ourselves under the mighty hand of God. We are at His service. What He tells us to do in His Word is to be done! What He forbids in His Word is not to be done!
I gotta tell you, this week I was asking God that He give me another word to convey the idea of surrender to Him, and in our Thursday night group He showed me the word. It comes from Ps. 31:5, which reads, “ Into Your hand I commit my spirit.”
Jesus doesn’t want our “intellectual faith” He doesn’t want our works, He wants our heart. He wants us to commit to Him. When we commit our rebellious spirit to Him, then He can start doing business with us. It is that spirit that is committed to Him, that He will recognize on the Last Day.
Now, what I am about to say may sound risky and foolish to you, but it is loaded with truth. If you have, by the grace of God, truly committed your spirit to Him. I dare you to sit there and do nothing about it. I dare you to continue in willful sin. I dare you to not have godly sorrow when you do sin. I dare you to try and avoid doing good works! I double dare you!
Risky? Not at all, because these things are the evidence of a heart that is truly surrendered, oops, I mean committed to the Lord!
Greg and Ethan, on this your confirmation day, make it a day of commitment. Commit your spirit today into His loving hands, and for the congregation make this a day of recommitment. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, because if you do, He promises that He will exalt you in due time. On the Last Day, He will call you forward to hear His blessed words, “Well done thy good and faithful servant.”
Now it isn’t easy to humble ourselves under His hand. Obedience to His Word may create some uncomfortable circumstances in our lives according to the world’s standards. Guys, you will take a lot of heat from your peers in school and on the street, but stick to your God-given guns. For true joy and peace comes from following His ways and not the ways of the world.
I was so thankful for the men of this congregation who spoke to you last week. I hope you will always remember what they had to say. The regrets they had for allowing the world to cause them to get careless with their faith, and the thankfulness they expressed in God’s grace for calling them back to faith and keeping them.
You don’t have to be like the majority of confirmands! You don’t have to walk away from the faith. Commit your spirit to Him today. Cast your cares upon Him for He cares for you!
7 casting all your anxiety onto Him, for He cares for you.
What are these cares that we are to cast upon Him? They are anything that would distract you from slavish service to Him, and consequently service in His kingdom. Cast your distractions on Him. Perhaps you’ve heard this before, but it’s worth repeating.
It’s worth starting out every day with this reminder. “Good morning! This is God, I will be handling all your problems (distractions, burdens, whatever you want to call them,) today/”
Believe it guys! Unload your distractions at the start of every day, unload your sins daily as you have vowed to do here today. Thanking Him for His saving grace and forgiveness, and then, simply seek to be a humble servant of God wherever He plants you. He will take care of the rest!
8 Be sensible and vigilant, because your adversary the Devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking someone he may devour;
9 whom firmly resist in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions in the world are being completed in your brotherhood.
Be vigilant! Now I know, it’s hard to imagine Greg and Ethan as vigilant. These guys would sleep to noon every day if you would let them! The hardest thing about confirmation class was they had to sit on comfortable sofas and were always in danger of falling asleep!
But seriously Greg and Ethan, now more than ever be on guard. The devil stalks around like a lion stalks his prey, and how does he do that? He looks for the weak and then seeks to isolate them from the rest of the herd. The safest place to be in a lion attack is in the middle of the herd.
Don’t hang out on the fringe. Get involved with others here at Living Word. Participate in the fellowship events. Come to the youth Bible studies and the adult Sunday School classes. Pray together, worship together, work together, love together, and encourage together.
And if you see someone edging toward the fringe, do your best as a friend and a member of this herd to surround them with the love and care and concern of Jesus. Seek to bring them back in.
10 But the God of all grace, He calling us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, He will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
11 To Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.
Finally, even though it says on your confirmation certificate that you were confirmed by Pastor Matz. It’s really not the case at all. If He used me in any way in the process I’m am ever thankful, but He gets the glory.
Always remember it is God who perfects, confirms, strengthens, and establishes you. And this He promises to do, if you will commit your spirit into His hand. Amen.
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