The Discipline of Committment

When I was dating Vivian,

we ran rolling in the national park a couple of times.

In the spirit of being equal

and not wanting me to do all the driving and all the rolling,

I guess also wanted to be a bit more intimate.

She would offer to sit next to me and roll with me.

I would always tell her I enjoyed seeing her face

more than having her sitting next to me.

And I do all the rolling myself.

Have you ever rowed a boat with a very uneven force

or even on one oar?

The boat will just move in circle and never goes anywhere.

The two sides need to be equally strong to get somewhere.

If you have met Vivian,

you will know why I would do the rolling myself.

However, I was truly sincere about enjoying seeing her face-to-face.

And not just seeing her face while we're dating,

we make commitment to marry each other in November 2003,

which is a bit more than 15 years ago.

We've made many different commitments in our lives.

If you're a Christian,

can you remember the day you turned to Christ?

What was the reason that you decided to become a follower of Jesus?

What commitment did you make at that point of decision

to follow Jesus for the rest of your life?

If you are not yet a Christian or interested to find out more,

what are you looking for as you investigate into Christianity?

What are you waiting to find out?

Are you waiting to find out what you should do

or what you should bring to God as an entry fee?

Last week, we looked at disciplines of grace,

and today we're going to look at three commitments of discipline.

But before we do so,

I want to look at dependence with you.

Imagine all the disciplines

that we are looking at this few weeks

is one side of the boat

and one of the oar that we go to roll.

But dependence is the other oar that we need

in order for that we'll not just go around

and run in a circle as a Christian.

We need both discipline and dependence.

The Westminster Catechism says that

the chief and highest goal of human

is to glorify God and fully enjoy Him forever.

We need both dependence and discipline

to achieve the true and full meaning of life.

We were reminded last week

that grace of God allowed us to have full assurance

that despite the sin that we have done,

we are loved and bought by Christ.

By His death, our debts are paid.

It's all about what God has done

to save and sanctify us.

God's grace is unearned, undeserved, but a gift.

Unearned because we did nothing to earn it,

undeserved because of our sinful nature,

and God's grace transformed all Christians.

We form Martin Luther's say,

Christians are simultaneously saints and sinners.

In Christ we are saints,

in ourselves we are sinners.

Keeping these two perspectives about ourselves

will help us to be humbly authentic

as we follow Jesus.

As a saint and sinner simultaneously,

we need both dependence and discipline

to ensure we are going where God intended us to go.

They are like the two oars on a rowing boat.

Our oar that sums up all the disciplines

and our oar of dependence

need to be equal in size and portion.

There are many examples in the Bible about dependence.

We will look at one from the Old Testament,

from a person called Nehemiah.

Nehemiah was a cupbearer to a Persian king,

a high-ranking official trusted by the king.

His prestige in society did not lead to self-centeredness

or self-sufficiency.

Instead, he was genuinely concerned

about the well-being of his countrymen and his homeland.

After hearing the reports from his brother

of the situation of the Jewish remnant and Jerusalem,

it says in Nehemiah 1, verse 4,

Nehemiah 1:4

that when I heard all these things,

I sat down and wept.

For some days I mourned and fast

and prayed before the God of heaven.

Based on his belief that God keeps his confidence

of love with those who love him

and keep his commandments,

God must be very pleased with him

to give him such a high-ranking official job

within the palace.

But his concern was not just for himself.

He was genuinely, sincerely concerned

about God's people and God's name.

He considered himself as part of a sinful nation

of the Israelites.

And he prayed in verse 6-7,

Let your ear be attentive

and your eyes open to hear the prayer

your servant is praying before you

day and night for your servants,

the people of Israel.

I confess that since we Israelites,

including myself and my father's family,

have committed against you,

we have acted very wickedly towards you,

we have not obeyed the commands,

decrees, and law you gave your servants, Moses.

He fully entrusts himself to God

by praying day and night.

He called on God to remember his promises

to his people.

He prayed in verse 11 for God

to make your servant success today

by granting him favor in the presence of this man.

He wanted to be successful,

not for his own good.

But to be able to fix the situation of his homeland.

Nehemiah illustrated his dependence on God

by his prayer.

And there were two kinds of prayers,

planned and spontaneous.

It's said he prayed before God

day and night for some days,

which in fact was about four months

before God gave him an answer.

We can assume during that time,

he mostly set aside time and planned his day

so that he can go to God and pray regularly

in between performing his official duty

as a king cupbearer.

His planned prayer was with endurance,

persistence, and perseverance.

And after four months of praying,

the king noticed his face look sad.

And he had not been sad in front of the king,

so the king asked about the cause of his sadness.

And Nehemiah explained to the king in chapter 2,

verse 1 to 3,

and then the king asked him in verse 4,

what is it you want?

He had prayed for four months,

and the opportunity is right there for him

to lay before the king his request

to go to Jerusalem and rebuild its wall.

But before he answered the king,

verse 4 says he prayed to the God of heaven.

He offered up an unplanned,

spontaneous prayer to God.

Nehemiah sent a quick, silent prayer to God

as he was opening up his mouth to speak to the king.

He did not just burst out.

He did not wait till this moment to pray.

He saw a need and persisted in prayer

until God's answer.

At the same time,

he was very conscious of his total dependency of God.

So he did not burst out with his request to the king

without first praying quickly and silently.

Because of his consciousness of his total dependence on God,

his quick and silent prayer was a reflex action

rather than a planned one.

His planned prayer for four months

helped him to depend on God.

His spontaneous prayer showed

he was authentically humble and dependent.

If you have been praying for a pay rise

or a change of position for a period of time,

and the answer came as a question,

what is it you want?

How would you respond?

Would you respectfully pray or do you panic?

Nehemiah did not allow his social prestige

to get in the way for his genuine concern

of his countrymen.

He did not rely on his position

to rush into fixing things by his own strength.

He depended on God

to enable him to be successful.

In chapter 2, verse 8,

he says,

because the gracious hand of God was on me,

the king granted my requests.

In the Old Testament,

the hand of God upon someone

is often referred to the Holy Spirit

is at work at that person.

Nehemiah set aside each day

for planned, persistent, enduring,

persevering prayers

for four months

for God's Holy Spirit

to enable him to deal with the situation.

And he prayed spontaneously

when God answered his prayer.

Prayer helped us to focus

our dependency on God

instead of our own willpower

as we live out our life

and bring the assistance of Holy Spirit

into our life.

We need both planned

and spontaneous prayer,

both to help us cultivate

a sense of our dependency on God

and to receive his help

that he sends through his Spirit.

As we look at different disciplines

in this series,

remember to balance the boat

with ever-increasing

orc of dependence

because in failing to do so,

you will only move in circle

and will not go anywhere.

Now I would like to talk to you

about the three commitments

of this discipline

and let's turn to Romans 12, verse 1,

Romans 12:1

starting with the first commitment,

which is commitment

to show Christ-likeness

and resist sin.

Let's read from Romans 12, verse 1.

Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you,

brothers and sisters,

in view of God's mercy,

to offer your body

as a living sacrifice,

holy and pleasing to God.

This is your true

and proper worship.

I quoted Martin Luther,

the Reformer, earlier,

of his conclusion

that Christians are simultaneously

saints and sinners.

We are saints

in view of what Jesus

has done for us,

and we are sinners

because we still sin

every day

and many times a day.

That is what we are.

We are brought by Christ

to be a new person.

We are saints of God,

and we need to commit ourselves

in showing Christ-likeness,

Christ-like characters

in our daily life

as we are committed

to resist sinful habits.

Paul calls and urges

to offer our body

as a living sacrifice

in view of God's mercy.

An offering

is once for all,

all in,

without holding back

a shot of action.

At the same time,

a living sacrifice

means a constant,

a constant,

repeated dedication

that is never to be regretted,

a decisive commitment

that is continually reaffirmed.

The term in view of God's mercy

helped me to think

about the time

I learned to ride a pushback,

which was a very long time ago.

I was so concerned

about falling

and running into other people,

I keep looking

at the front wheel

to make sure I'm okay.

And as I focus so much

on this short distance

right in front of me,

I keep wobbly

and eventually fall down

because I could not

find my balance.

And then I was suggested

to pick a target

in the distance

and stop looking

so closely

in front of me.

It was at that point

that I found my balance.

Our scenes

are like that front wheel

that are real

every day

right in front of us.

We need to make

a commitment

to resist it.

However,

if we focus on it too much,

we will fall even more.

We need to fix

our eyes

on God's mercy

and grace.

Consider more

on how to show

our Christ-likeness

in our daily life

while you're driving,

while you're doing

your shopping,

in your dealing

with an interaction

with people

that God put

into your path,

with your family

and friends,

sprouts and children,

and your colleagues

and fellow students.

There are many occasions

in daily life

that you can present

Christ's character

to them

in how you love

and stand up

for righteousness

and truth.

In whatever you do,

in what your eyes

look at,

your mouth speaks,

your hands

and your feet do,

in your mind

and in your heart,

be committed

to show Christ-likeness

with a feel

to God's mercy

and grace.

It's almost impossible

to resist sins

if we are not

fully committed

to become

like Christ,

to live out

our true identity

as a saint,

to glorify God

and enjoy Him.

It seems almost

impossible

to keep such a commitment

and we are often

reluctant to make

a commitment

we know

we will not keep.

but if you are

a Christian,

I believe you have

once made

similar commitment.

Are you confident

in telling others

that you are Christians?

Have you been

focusing

on the funwill

of sin

on your pushback

of Christian life

and wobble

and fail?

Or have you

lost the focus

of God's grace,

stopped pedaling

completely,

only doing things

to look like a rider?

Find your aim

of God's grace again

in view of His mercy

and start pedaling again

and you will realize

you are not alone

in this journey

because God's Spirit

is always by our side

as we live out

Christ-like character

and resist sinful behaviors.

This leads to

the second commitment

we need,

a commitment

to be led

by the Spirit.

Let's read on

in Romans 12,

Romans 12:2

verse 2.

Do not conform

to the pattern

of this world

but be transformed

by the renewing

of your mind.

We're presented

with two alternatives.

We are either

conforming

to the pattern

of this world

or be transformed

by the renewing

of our mind.

These two alternatives

are very hard

to realize

because we often

not realize

that we are doing

the first one

or the second one

are being done

to us.

I do not know

about you

but I like

patterns.

In most things

I do

I like something

that I can follow

along.

When I cook

a new dish

I like to look

at cookbooks

and when I write

an essay

I need sample

essay to give me

the structure

and guideline.

I often look

for some

foolproof way

to do things

because I genuinely

do not think

do not like

to think

or do not think.

And if I follow

a pattern

and things

did not work

at least I can

have someone

to blame.

What kind

of pattern

are you looking

for or are you

following

in being a Christian?

Do you have

a list of things

to take off

and tell yourself

that you are right

with God?

Can you give

a reason

to why you

do what you do?

Do you come

to church

read the Bible

and pray

do charity works

because they are

the right thing

to do?

All these show

that you are

only following

a pattern

and not having

a renewing mind.

We are being

urged to be

transformed

by the renewing

of our mind

and extend

through the commitment

to be led

by the Holy Spirit.

How do we know

whether we are

being led

by the Spirit?

Remember Nehemiah?

He knows

because he spent

time thinking

and praying.

When he prays,

he can recall

what God

has done

through history.

He meditates

on the great

and awesomeness

of God.

He remembers

God's promise

to his nations

and reminds God.

God's promise

and he did

that day

and night

over a long

period of time.

When we talk

about meditating

on God

day and night,

it does not mean

every moment

in life,

especially like

Nehemiah.

We all have

works

and other

duties to fulfill.

We need to

commit

to turn

our mind

to God

and his word

when our mind

is free

to turn

to anything.

When you can

think about

anything

you want

to think about,

what do you

think about?

Do you think

about your problems

or do you

engage in mental

arguing with

someone else

or perhaps

even allowing

your mind

to drift

into wasteland

of impure

thoughts?

To allow

yourself to

turn to God

and meditate

about him,

we need to

be practical.

When we

read the

Bible,

take notes

of passages

that remind

you of God,

passages that

address issues

that you are

dealing with

in life,

address sins

that easily

entangle you.

Take time

and find a way

to memorize

those passages.

Write them

on your hand

in a card

to keep

on you

or on your

desk.

When you

have God's

words in you

or near you,

when you are

free to think

about anything,

you can think

of greatness

of God

or draw on

them to

deal with

sin when

temptation

arises.

We can

meditate about

what the

Bible tells

us about

God,

how is it

different to

what you

assume him

to be,

and how

are you

going to

respond to

this new

knowledge.

We can

reflect on

your own

life to

determine the

degree of

conformity

between your

character or

conduct to

what God

has set for

his people,

and how

are you

going to

respond to

this

information.

Like Nehemiah,

we allow the

Spirit to

guide us

and to

bear fruits

in our

life as

we meditate

on God's

word and

pray day

and night,

and our

mind will

be renewed

and our

life will

be transformed.

And

finally,

we need

commitment to

search God's

word.

Let's follow

on with

Romans 12

Romans 12:2

verse 2.

Then you'll

be able to

test and

prove what

God's will

is,

his good,

pleasing,

and perfect

will.

As we

commit ourselves

to meditate

on God

and the

Bible,

we need to

be confident

that the

Bible do

tell us

about God's

will.

We will

not be able

to test and

approve God's

good,

pleasing,

and perfect

will if we

are not

committed to

search and

examine the

scripture to

confirm what

we heard is

in fact the

truth of

God.

As mentioned

last week,

God has a

multitude of

options to

show us

his will,

especially

when ours

is not in

line with

his.

He uses

preaching

words of

someone in

our community

group or

a friend to

correct and

train us.

Our

commitment

should be

like the

period in

Acts 17.

They

received the

message with

great eagerness

and examined

the scripture

every day to

see if what

they heard

was true.

To be able

to receive

God's message

with great

eagerness and

to allow

ourselves to

examine it,

we need to

be a person

that is quick

to listen and

slow to

speak.

We need to

listen and

revisit what

has been

said.

Imagine we

only rely on

listening to

God's word

for 20 to

30 minutes

on Sunday

once a

week to

be healthy

and grow

spiritually.

It's like

having only

one meal a

week and

starving

yourself for

the rest of

the time.

We will

become

spiritually

anorexic.

If we let

our busy

life get

into our

way to

search into

God's

word,

we will

be left

desperately

wanting.

The word

of God

is the

fruit of

the spirit

without which

it would

be impossible

for us to

become holy

and be like

God.

Our attitude

and commitment

to the

word of

God should

be like a

tree planted

by streams

of water

which uses

fruits in

season to

glorify God.

a commitment

to a good

spiritual diet

is so

important and

most of us

know that.

However, as

you open the

Bible, are

you at a

loss in

where to

start reading?

Should I

start from

the Old

Testament or

one of the

Gospels?

As you are

reading more,

what should

you do when

there are

things that

seem not in

unison or

words still

contradict each

other?

It is at

those points

that we

need to

use our

arc of

dependency

to keep

us on

course.

Bring those

issues to

God in

prayer,

speak with

each other

within God's

families to

ask for

suggestions,

but most

importantly,

remember that

we are not

alone in

our journey.

The Spirit

of God is

always by

our side.

God's

Spirit

enables us

to be

successful

in pleasing

God and

to live out

His will.

I am so

glad that

God is

not like

me.

He will

not ask

me to

sit on

the other

side of

the boat

and do

all the

rowing

himself and

make me

feel useless.

God

involves us

to sit

next to

Him and

do the

rowing

without

discipline.

On the

same time,

rely on

Him to

do the

rowing on

the side

of the

dependents.

even

though

there is

such a

great

mismatch

of

strength,

the

boats

can

and

will

always

get to

where

God

wants

us

to

go

if

we

keep

rowing

and

paddling.

Because

God knows

exactly how

much strength

we have

and He

will match

it to a

point to

keep the

boats on

course.

Our

tendency

is to

even out

all our

disciplines on

both sides.

We lie on

our own

strength.

It will

work in

a very

short

period.

But you

will be

so

exhausted

and you

cannot go

any

further.

God does

not want

that to

happen to

us.

In His

mercy,

He wants

us to

glorify Him

and at

the same

time fully

enjoy Him

forever.

He's there

sitting next

to us and

work with

us to

get there.

As we

look at

different

disciplines in

this series,

remember to

balance the

boats with

an

ever-increasing

auger of

dependence.

Because in

failing to

do so,

you will

only move

in circles

and will

not go

anyway.

There's a

hymn that I

learned a

long time

ago and

it helped

me to

renew my

commitment to

God,

especially when

I want to

stop growing.

It says,

I am

resolved no

longer to

linger,

charmed by

the world's

delight.

Things that

are higher,

things that

are no

bore.

These have

elude my

sight.

I am

resolved to

go to the

Savior,

living my

sins and

strife.

He is a

true one,

he is a

just one,

he has the

words of

life.

I am

resolved to

follow the

Savior,

faithful and

true each

day.

Hear what

he said,

do what

he will,

he is a

living way.

I am

resolved to,

and who

will go

with me,

come friends,

without

delay,

taught by

the Bible,

led by

the Spirit,

will walk

the heavenly

way.

The

chorus say,

I will

hasten to

him,

hasten so

glad and

free,

Jesus'

greatest and

highest,

I will

come to

thee.

If you're a

Christian,

can you

remember what

commitment you

made on the

day you

turned to

Christ?

Let's

live out those

commitments again

in your life

to glorify

God and

fully enjoy

him.

And if you

have been

searching and

investigating about

Christianity,

I hope you

join on this

heavenly way

soon.

Thank you.