11(1Kings 18,21ff) Decision Time
I. The Uncommitted
A. Those who are under conviction - but are not convinced.
§ Repentance is always difficult, and that difficulty grows greater by delay.
§ Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian."
B. Those who are spectators - attending church but not part of the church.
§ The New Testament knows nothing of solitary religion.
§ Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
§ "Can I be a Christian without joining the church?"
§ It is as possible as being: A student who will not go to school. A soldier who will not join an army. A business man on a deserted island. A football player without a team.
C. Those who are straddling between the world and God.
§ Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
§ Luke 11:23 "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
II. The Dangers of Being Uncommitted
A. It is devastatingly destructive and can be deadly..
§ To the unbeliever indecision can cost eternity.
§ 2 Corinthians 6:2 “For He says, ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
§ To the believer indecision can be costly.
§ Revelation 3:15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”
B. It is repugnant to God
§ Revelation 3:16 “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
§ James 4:4 “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
III. The Call to Commitment
A. Calling Today
§ Joshua 24:15 “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
§ Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.”
B. The Needed Response
§ Joshua 24:23-24 “Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”
§ Our answer needs to be that of Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”