Commitment to the Head of Christ — Stephen Kaung

Will you please turn to 2nd Timothy, 2nd Timothy, chapter one, verse twelve. 2nd Timothy, chapter one, verse twelve. For which cause also I suffer these things? But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep for that day the deposit I have entrusted to him.

In other version he said, am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. The book of Acts, chapter nine, verses fifteen and sixteen. Chapter nine, verses fifteen and sixteen.

And the Lord said to him, Go, for this man is an elect vessel to me, to bear my name before both nations and kings and the sons of Israel. For I will show to him how much he must suffer for my name.

Chapter twenty. We begin with verse eighteen.

And when they were come to him, he said to them, Ye know how I was with you all the time, from the first day that I had arrived in Asia, serving the Lord with all lowliness and tears and temptations, which happened to me through the plots of the Jews.

How I held back nothing of what is profitable, so as not to announce to you, and to teach you publicly and in every house, testifying to both Jews and Greeks, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.

And now, behold, bound in my spirit I go to Jerusalem, not knowing what things shall happen to me in it, only that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and tribulations await me.

But I make no account of my life as dear to myself, so that I finish my course and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the glad tidings of the grace of God. And then we, from verse thirty-one, Wherefore, watch, remembering that for three years, night and day, I ceased not admonishing each one of you with tears.

And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give to you an inheritance among all the sanctified. I have coveted the silver or gold or clothing of no one.

Yourselves know that these hands have ministered to my wants and to those who were with me. I have shown you all things, and thus laboring, we ought to come in aid of the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Then chapter twenty-six, just one verse, verse nineteen. Chapter twenty-six, verse nineteen. Whereupon King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. This morning, we would like to talk about a very important subject.

The Meaning and Importance of Commitment

It is on this matter of commitment. I believe that commitment is very important to our Christian life, as well as to our Christian service. Unfortunately, I think that this matter of commitment is very much misunderstood, greatly abused.

And for this reason, it is important for us to go back to the word of God, and to see the place of commitment in our lives. What is commitment according to the word of God? And how should we be committed, and what will happen if we commit?

Now instead of approaching it from the theological standpoint, I think the best thing to do is to approach it from a biological standpoint. And that is, try to illustrate commitment with a real life. We will know what commitment really is.

That it is not a theory to theorize, but it is a life to live. In the New Testament, aside from our Lord Jesus, I think the one person that stands out on this matter of commitment is the Apostle Paul.

So we would like to use the Apostle Paul as an example of commitment. But before we do that, I think we need to mention a few things. The foundation of our consideration. You know our God, whom we believe, is a God of commitment, committed.

God’s Commitment to Himself and His Purpose

First of all, he is committed to himself. You remember that verse in 2nd Timothy? I think it's chapter 2, verse 13, it said, he cannot deny himself. Now that simply means that he is fully committed to his own person, to his personality.

He cannot deny himself. He is love, keep on loving, in spite of how unlovely we are. In spite of how we do not love him. He still keep on loving, why? Because this is his very character. He cannot deny himself.

He is light. He keeps on shining. If we turn our back to him, he shines on our back. He keeps on being righteous, especially in his judgment. He reveals, he shows forth his righteousness. He does not even spare his only begotten son.

Deny himself. He is fully committed to his own personality. Our God is a God of commitment. He commits himself to his purpose, causes his faithful. He will perform it. Whom he has foreknown, he has predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son.

Whom he has foreknown, he has called. Whom he has called, he has justified. Whom he has justified, he has glorified. I like very much one phrase in the Old Testament, the zeal of the Lord will do it. In other words, he is zealous.

He will perform whatever he has purposed. Now I do thank God for that. Because if God is not committed to his purpose, then what will happen to us? How changing we are, how fragile we are, how unfaithful we are.

And if he is left for us, thank God, God is committed to his own purpose. Once he purposed his purpose upon you, he will never let you off, until he accomplished what he designed for you. Now glory, glory to God.

God’s Faithfulness to His Promises and His People

Our God is a God of commitment. He is committed to his promise. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1 we are told, whatever the promises of God are, they are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. There are so many promises of God.

But every promise of God is backed up by God's commitment. He is committed to his promise. He will fulfill all that he has promised to us, no matter if he is a God of commitment. He is within his character.

And if you look into the Godhead, but if you look into the Godhead, you will find the commitment that is there. How the Father is committed to the Son, and how the Son is fully committed to the Father.

There is no reservation, no drawback, no change, no shade, but the commitment in the Godhead is complete. And even though the Lord Jesus had to die on Cary's cross, he who knows no sin is made sin for us.

Even though on the cross the Lord Jesus cried out, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? It is commitment. The Father is committed, is committed. Because they both are committed, they won't change.

The Father did not spare the Son. And the Son, in spite of sin, was faithful to the very end. God is a God of commitment with us. There is no such thing as an uncommitted Christian. To be committed, you are not committed in character.

There is no such thing as an uncommitted church. Church is committed to the testimony. Why? Because the church is a lampstand, and is committed to the light that it upholds. Mrs. fears in his commitment that lampstand will be removed.

So, brothers and sisters, at the very outset, let us be very clear on one thing. And that is, as our God is a God of commitment, therefore, he does, and those who are redeemed by his precious blood, to be a committed, God loves to commit himself to his people.

God loves to commit his name to his people. As a matter of fact, he has committed his name to us. We are called Christians. He committed himself to us. But how much are we committed? Now, with this as our basis, we can go back to the life of the Apostle Paul.

Knowing Christ as the Basis of Commitment

That we read is a declaration. Isn't that wonderful? I know whom I have believed. Dear brothers and sisters, do you know that there is no commitment you do not know? In other words, knowledge is the basis of commitment.

You do not, you cannot, and you should not commit yourself to anything that you do not know. That would be blind commitment. Commitment is not to commit yourself to a cause, an organization, to a creed in the Lord Jesus, or to a group of persons.

Commitment is to commit to the one whom we believe. Nowadays, there is much talking about commitment. Thwarted, encouraged, even coerced, to commit ourselves to a certain organization, to a certain group, or even to a person.

Maybe a dynamic person. And because of this, lots of problems and abuses. In the word of God, commitment is not primarily to be committed to anything, any teaching, any form, any organization, or any man, or any group of man.

No, that is not. Primarily, commitment is commit to Christ. Now, if you do not, have not committed yourself to Christ, yet you commit yourself to anything other than Christ, you have problems. Lots of problems.

I know whom I heard he was met by the Lord on the road to Damascus. Before that was Saul, the Pharisee. You know, Saul the Pharisee was a committed person. But to whom was he committed? He was committed to Judaism.

There was a young man who was committed to Judaism, there was this Saul the Pharisee. He himself told us he was more advanced than his contemporaries. Why? Because he was fully committed to Judaism. He was committed to Judaism according to the teachings of the fathers.

So committed that he considered Jesus must be wiped out. And he did try to wipe out the followers of Jesus with his whole heart. He thought he was serving God. He was committed to himself. He was an ambitious young man.

He wanted to fulfill his ambition to be at the top. He was a committed person. But he made the wrong commitment. If he should continue on his commitment, he will be plunged into eternal darkness. You know, dear brothers and sisters, whether it is in the spiritual realm or it is in the physical realm, nothing can be accomplished without commitment.

You cannot accomplish anything if you are not a committed person. Whether good or bad. He was a committed person. And therefore you find he had certain degree of success in Judaism. He did climb up the ladder of Judaism.

Unfortunately it was a wrong commitment. But he was a committed person. God on the road of Damascus arrested him. You know, sometimes I think in an Old Testament there is a phrase called the cord of love.

God has led us with a cord. Sometimes that cord is pretty long. And a little bit elastic. In other words, God allows you to go as far as you can. And you can go pretty far. You know? You can go against the will of God pretty far.

Because the cord is long. And it's a little bit elastic. But only so far and no more. Now Paul saw to go as far as he could. In his own way. Until finally on the road to Damascus, God stopped him and said, that's far enough.

He drew him back with a cord of love. A cord of glory appeared to him. He committed himself. Also Paul, the Lord Jesus is not only his savior. Thank God he was saved on the road to Damascus. Actually he was speeding unto eternal death.

You'll find the Lord arrested him, turned him around and saved him. And the chief of sinners, in his mercy. The Lord Jesus is not just his savior who saved him. The Lord Jesus to him was the Lord. The Lord.

You remember the first question he asked? When that man in glory appeared to him was, Who are you Lord? I don't know you. Who are you Lord? And immediately after he was told who he was. Jesus of Nazareth.

The second question he asked was, Lord, what shall I do? I know what I did. I know what I was doing in the past. I was very sure of myself. I have my future all met out. I'm a committed person. And I'm trying to reach my goal.

But now the whole thing was smashed. What I should do now? And I'm not going to decide my next step. You are my Lord. I surrender my life completely to you. Direct me. You know, Andrew Murray has a book called Absolute Surrender.

This is absolute surrender. Here was a man, who was a master of his own. But after he met the Lord of glory, he dedicated himself completely to him, and accepted the risen Lord as his Lord and Master.

He surrendered his life completely to him. He wouldn't even dare or wouldn't want to take a to wait for his order. Lord, his life, the many revelations and visions he received. He came to know this Lord Jesus more and more.

Through many trials and sufferings, he came to experience the reality of the Lord Jesus, deeper and deeper. So towards the end of his life, when he rose 2nd Timothy, he was very close to his martyrdom.

He made a declaration, a statement. I know whom I have. Dear brothers and sisters, is this our confession? Our declaration? We know whom we have believed. We know him. It is not a bookish knowledge. It is not a mental knowledge.

It is a personal, intimate, experiential knowledge of our Lord Jesus. And dear brothers and sisters, the more you know him, the more will be your commitment. Let me underline again. Commitment is not to commit to a cause.

There are many people today who have committed themselves to a cause. Maybe a good cause. But commitment, according to the word of God, as believers, is not committed to a cause. It is not committed to a teaching, to a doctrine.

It is not committed to an organization. It is not committed to a group of people. It is not committed to any other person. But commitment is to commit to the one whom we have believed. We are committed to him.

We believe. And the degree of your commitment to him is measured by the degree of your living knowledge of him. So that we may know him more. That we may be committed more. Secondly, Paul said, I know whom I have believed, and I am fully persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.

Entrusting the Deposit to Christ

Now first, know. Then, you first must know him. Now if you know him, can you not commit yourself to him? Now that's my question. If you do not commit yourself to him, why is it that your commitment is not full and complete?

It is because you do not know him. You do not know who he is. You do not know him as fully as you should. Dear brothers and sisters, if you know him, can you refrain from committing yourself to him? That's impossible.

Paul said, I am fully persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. To know him, and to commit myself. You know the deposit that Paul is talking about. In some version it is said, I am fully persuaded that he is able to keep that which he has deposited in me.

That Paul is talking about. That God has done in his life. Let me put it this way. You want anything to be kept? Of no value. Many people leave their garbage can outside the door of their house. Why? Because to them, it is not so valuable as need to be kept.

Anybody will come and steal your garbage? Thank him. You don't need to pay for the garbage collection. What do you keep within your house? And you lock your door? That you consider as worth keeping. Valuable.

Then you want to keep them. Now brothers and sisters, what is it that needs to be kept? Against that day? Now what is that day? That day is the day of Christ. One day. We as believers, will all be gathered together in the presence of the Lord.

Before his judgment seat. And there to have lives. Now it is that day. The day of Christ. Now it is true brothers and sisters, we who believe in the Lord Jesus, we will not be judged. Before the great white throne, one day the old heaven and the old earth will pass away.

And all the dead will be raised. And will all appear before the great white throne of God. And there they will be judged according to the books. That is according to all the deeds, the words, everything in their lives.

Will be judged according to the book. You know everyone has a book. God keeps a book for every person. D .L. Moody thinks that that book is memory. God keeps his book here. One day God will rewind it, and everything recorded in the book will come out.

And we will be judged accordingly. There will be eternal death. Who can stand before the great white throne? Nobody can. We who have believed in the Lord Jesus have passed out of death into life. Because Christ had died for us.

He was judged on the cross in our stead. Therefore we will not be judged at the great white throne. We are passed out of death into life. We will not be judged. We are saved. Thank God for that. But dear brothers and sisters, that doesn't mean that we will not be judged.

We will still be judged as members of the family of God. But it is not a throne judgment, it is a seat judgment. Throne judgment is judicial. Seat judgment is eternal life and eternal death. Seat judgment is reward or loss.

But still saved. One day we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And He will judge us of all the things that we have done after we have believed in Him. After we receive Him. After He has given us so much grace and gift.

And all these will be judged. Whether we build with gold, silver, and precious stones, or we build with wool, stubble, and hay. That day we reveal it. Fully persuaded that He is able to keep the deposit which I have committed to Him against that day.

In other words, in that day, when I shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ, I will find that everything God has deposited in me has been kept. Nothing is lost. Now, wonderful. What do you commit?

You do not commit to Him the garbage. You commit to Him the treasure. Now, who is the garbage? You are the garbage. I am the garbage. In other words, our old man. Our old man. The old creation. The Saul the Pharisee.

Now, Saul the Pharisee had not committed to the Lord. Saul the Pharisee has to be get out, get rid by the cross. You and I. The old man. The flesh. My cleverness. My way. My opinion. My strength. My like or dislike.

Me. Me. Me. This needs to be set aside by the cross of Calvary. You don't keep these. These are garbage. Thank God He has deposited a treasure in us. Christ in you. All that is of Christ. All the revelations, the visions you have received, the grace that He has given to you, the gift that He has given to you, the experience of Him, the teaching of Him, everything that is Christ is a deposit that God has richly deposited in your life.

And these things need to be kept. Brothers and sisters, given to you, being lost. You are able to keep them. You cannot keep them. The best thing to do is that the Lord keep it for you against that day.

That He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day. Now that is commitment. You do not commit the old man to Him. You commit the new man to Him. You want Him to keep the new man.

But you allowed Him to get rid of the old man. Now this is the perseverance of the saints. Remember that our God has not only saving grace, He has keeping grace. He has saved you and He is able to keep you.

God’s Keeping Grace and the Believer’s Surrender

You know this is something that sometimes you wonder. In this world, wicked, perverse generation, with all the temptations around us, are we able to keep ourselves pure for God? Able to. Probably, if we look at ourselves, we say, now how can we?

How can we keep our faith? How can we keep our love? How can we keep our hope? How can we? But brothers and sisters, we cannot. But He can. He is able to keep that which we have committed to Him against that day.

So in Jude, verse 24, it is said,. But to Him that is able to keep you without stumbling, without falling, and to set you with exhortation, blameless before His glory, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, the glory, majesty, might and authority, from before the whole age and now and to all the ages.

Amen. He is able to keep you from stumbling, to present you before His glorious presence, blameless and with joy. He is able. And in Psalm 116, verse 8, it is said,. Able to keep your soul from death, your eyes from tears, and your feet from falling.

He is able. For Him to keep you, you have to commit yourself to Him. In other words, brothers and sisters, what is commitment? Commitment is knowing who He is. Then you commit yourself as a redeemed soul.

Brethren, by the mercies of God, I beseech you to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable God, which is your reasonable service. We need to present our bodies a living sacrifice. We need, remember this living, this body is a redeemed body.

Because after Romans 1 to 8, or 1 to 12, 1 to 11, you'll find all the compassions of God, all the mercies of God, that have done His work in your body. Then you present this body a living sacrifice. It's the new man.

We present ourselves as a living sacrifice to Him. We commit ourselves completely to Him, for Him to keep. Why? Keeping. Not only that these may be kept pure, blameless, before His glorious presence on that day, but these need to be kept for His sake.

He has a purpose in our lives. There is something that God is going to do through us. If we are not committed to Him, and if we are not being kept by Him, then His purpose in our lives cannot be fulfilled.

Brothers and sisters, commitment is essential to God's realization of His will in our lives. If your life is not committed to Him, He cannot fulfill His will in your life. You have to be committed. Why?

Because He never forces anybody. He respects your personality. "...to whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day.". Now, after Paul has committed himself to the One whom he knows, then, the third thing is, then God commits Himself to this man.

Christ’s Commitment to Those Who Follow Him

In one sense, God's commitment is not affected by us. That is, no matter what you are, no matter how you do, it really doesn't matter, because He is committed to Himself, and He will do what He has purpose to do.

That's true. But in another sense, also true, that His commitment to you is proportional to your commitment to Him. As you are committed to Him, you will find He will commit Himself to you. Do you remember that verse in John chapter 2?

The Lord Jesus did many, many signs and wonders. Many believe in Him. And you will think that since many believe in Him, certainly the Lord will commit Himself to these believers. No. Towards the end of chapter 2, you will find the Lord Jesus said, many believe in Him, but the Lord did not commit Himself to any of them, because He knew what was in them.

Outwardly, they believe in Him. But they believe in Him because they see, they saw the signs and the wonders. Inwardly, they have not really believed in Him. And the Lord knows their heart, so the Lord did not commit Himself to them.

But, you will find our Lord did commit Himself to Peter, to John, to James, to those who have left all and followed Him. The Lord committed Himself to these people. Peter said, Lord, You have the Word of Life.

We know that You are the Christ. You have the Word of Life. Where can we go? We are stuck with You. We are committed to You. And you know, to those people who are committed to Him, what a commitment the Lord had committed Himself to these people.

Sometimes you wonder why the Lord is not committed to you. Sometimes you wonder why He does not back you up. Well, the simple reason is, you are not so committed to Him. If you are fully committed to Him, He will fully commit Himself.

He will back you up. The Pharisee, going his own way, committed to Judaism. He was committed to a course considered as right. But he had no revelation, no vision. He was a man who was governed by tradition, based on tradition.

But he had no revelation. God had not committed to him in any way. Yes, the Lord said, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? Don't you know it is hard for you to kick against the good? You know, in the old days, a farmer farmed with an ox.

Upon the neck of the ox will be the yoke. And tied to the yoke will be the plow. And the farmer with one hand upon the plow to guide the plow. In his other hand will be a sharp instrument called the goats.

Why? Because sometimes the ox will not follow his order. The ox has his own will and wants to go its own way. So, when this happens, then the farmer will use the goat and lightly touch the leg of the ox to let him know who is the master.

But unfortunately, a stubborn ox will kick back. And in kicking back, he hurts himself. And after he hurts enough, he learns. You know, Saul thought that he was the master of his own life. He was committed to nobody but to himself.

Not knowing that he had a master. So, the Lord said, Well, you kick against the goat. Haven't it? Are you not hurt enough? Are you going to learn now who is the master? Brothers and sisters, in a sense, there is God's will upon every one of us.

You know, you are not really free as a bird. The Lord really has His will upon you. You are an ox in His field. You know, again I say, the cord may be long, but it is in His hand. One day He will tighten the cord.

And if you don't listen, He will apply the goats. You know, until you realize that He has His will upon your life. He has His purpose. You are supposed to do His will. Not your own will. He is going to use you.

But He cannot use you because you are not committed. You are committed only to yourself and not committed to Him. So, one day He has to change your course until you are committed to Him. And when you are committed to Him, He will reveal His will to you.

Heavenly Vision and Divine Revelation

After he saw the Lord, he blinded his eyes. He was led to Damascus. For three days and three nights he was fasting and praying. And then the Lord appeared to Ananias and said, Ananias, go to that street called Strait.

Find that man Saul and open his eyes. Ananias said, Lord, I have heard that this man came with the official letter from the high authority to seize us who believe in You. How can I go to see him? The Lord said, You go.

Because this man is a chosen vassal of Mine to bear My name and to suffer much for My name's sake. Dear brothers and sisters, when a person is fully committed to the Lord, then you'll find the Lord is fully committed to Him.

A vassal to bear My name. Now, that's commitment. The Lord is willing to commit His name in you. That name that is above every name. And to that name every knee shall bow, every time confess that Jesus is Lord.

What a name! And dear brothers and sisters, that name is committed to you. You are that vassal to bear that name. How do we know that He has committed Himself to us? There is one way to know. Does He reveal His secret to you?

Does He reveal His mind to you? Does He tell His will to you? Does He open His heart to you? If He does, He has committed Himself to you. Remember, brothers and sisters, every revelation from God, every unveiling of His heart, every disclosing of His mind, every revealing of His secret to you, every indication of His will, sharing of His will to you, is a sign of His commitment.

Has the Lord committed Himself to you? You just ask yourself one question. Has He revealed His mind to you? How much is He able to reveal His heart to you? That will measure your commitment. You remember in John, chapter 15, the Lord said to His disciples, I do not treat you as slaves, because slaves do not know what a master is doing.

In other words, the master just tells the slave, do this and do that. He will never explain why. But the Lord said, I treat you as friends. That is to say, He will share with us His secret. That's commitment.

Brothers and sisters, our God, our Lord, loves to commit Himself to His own people. But how much restraint He must have felt that He can only reveal a little bit and not too much, because our commitment to Him is so inadequate.

Paul said, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. He is able to give Him the heavenly vision. As a matter of fact, the whole Bible is centered upon this heavenly vision. And Paul received this heavenly vision.

That is to say, the Lord is able to commit Himself fully to this vessel. Why? Because this vessel is fully yielded to Him. Dear brothers and sisters, do we have the heavenly vision? Is He able to tell us what is in His heart?

What is it that He really wants? What is the center of His? Without vision, there can be no real commitment. We need vision. As a matter of fact, vision creates. And finally, after Paul had committed himself to Christ and to the heavenly vision, then what happened?

Commitment Expressed Through Labor and Suffering

You'll find he labored much, he suffered much. Commitment means involvement. Commitment means occupation, occupied with. Commitment means labor, toil. Commitment means tears. Commitment means suffering, much suffering.

In His last words to the elders in Ephesus, He said, In the very beginning that I was in your midst, all these three years, day and night, how I labored with much tear and suffering. I do not count my life as of any value.

I'm committed just to finish that course. But dear brothers and sisters, you'll find even so, the Lord backed him up all the way. Do not think Paul is a superman. Yes, he is a stronger man than I, or maybe than you.

That's true. But he is a man, a model. Can he be obedient to the heavenly vision to the very end? That he can say, I have fought the good fight, I have kept the Word, I have run the course, and now there's a crown of righteousness waiting for me.

How can he do that? You'll find in the Book of Acts, at least three times, the Lord stood by him and said, Fiannaad, I'm with you. When he was in Corinth, he was afraid. And the Lord stood by him that night and said, Fiannaad, I'm with you.

I have many people in the city. Go on. And when he was being examined by the council, the Jewish Sanhedrin, he was afraid. Because these people were hostile to him. And the Lord stood by himself, Fiannaad, you will appear before Caesar.

And while he was in the sea, and there was a shipwreck almost, the storm, and everybody was afraid. And Paul stood up and said, an angel of the Lord stood by me and told me, Fiannaad, you will be saved, and all those on the boat will be saved with you.

Fiannaad. The Lord backed him up, all the way. In 2nd Timothy, before his martyrdom, when everybody seemed to have left him, all Asia had left him. And what did he say? Listen to this. But the Lord stood with me and gave me power, that through me the proclamation might be fully made, and all those of the nation should hear.

And I was delivered out of the lion's mouth. The Lord shall deliver me from every wicked work and shall preserve me for his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for the ages of ages. The Lord backed him up, all the way.

Wholehearted Commitment to Christ

Dear brothers and sisters, do not be afraid. If you are committed to Him, remember, to Him, if you are committed to Him, He is fully committed to you. And He will stand by you, all the way, until... May the Lord help us.

Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou art a God of commitment. And Thou dost desire this discarita shall be upon us, that we may be a people fully committed to Thee and to Thy will.

Lord, we do pray that we may find Thyself fully committed to us. We just look to Thee for Thy grace to bring us to that point when Thou art able to commit Thyself and Thy testimony to Thy people. In the name of our Lord Jesus.