Finding God’s Direction - 6

Finding God’s Direction - 6

Subject: Sitters, Quitters, and Climbers

By Rick Welborne

Proverbs 3:1-10 (NKJV)
¹  My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands;
²  For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you.
³  Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart,
⁴  And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man.
⁵  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
⁷  Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
⁸  It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.
⁹  Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
¹⁰  So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine. 

--Last week:

1. Stick it out!

2. Stay the course!

Galatians 3:3 (NLT2) ³ How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

3. Seek selfless sacrifice!

Tonight:

1.  Sitters.

--Sitters are not necessarily those who do not see or hear the upward call. Sitters for the most part are those who have lost their vision or never had it. Godly vision is the power to see beyond our own limitations.

Vision is the 1. ability to see, 2. the faith to believe, 3. the courage to do, 4. the hope to endure.

If you can’t see it, then you do not have vision.

Some people see it, but don’t believe it.  They do not have vision.

Some people see it, believe it, but don’t do it.  They do not have vision. Sitters!

Three kinds of sitters in the church.

A. Sleepers - eyes open (sometimes) - mind & heart sleeping - can’t see it!

B. Recliners - watching but relaxing - they see it but don’t believe it.

C. Lazy Boys - no motivation - no passion - they see it, believe it, but will not do it.

Helen Keller - What’s worse than being blind? Having eyesight but no vision.

--King George III of Eng. Dairy -July 4, 1776 - Nothing important happened today!

--Sitters are going to miss God’s last day outpouring and even be critical of it.

Ephesians 5:14-18 (NKJV)
¹⁴  Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
¹⁵  See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
¹⁶  redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
¹⁷  Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
¹⁸  And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 

2.  Quitters.

--Quitters have heard the upward call and they have seen the vision.

--They believe the Word, they started the climb, but the cost seems to be too great.

--Quitters are those among us who have lost their spiritual passion.

Passion – Webster - intense, compelling emotion evidenced in decisive, courageous action.  

Carl Barth - Passion is fear that said its prayers.

If you can’t see it, then you do not have vision.

Some people see it, but don’t believe it.  They do not have vision.

Some people see it, believe it, but don’t do it.  They do not have vision.   Sitters!

Some people see it, believe it, start to do it but quit.  They do not have passion -vision. Quitters!

Three kinds of quitters in the church (those still around).

1. Disillusioned - this pressing upward was not what they were expecting. Too much effort.

2. Disturbed - stopped looking up and aggravated about all this climbing. Looked at people.

3. Discouraged - the tests, the trials, the challenges have pushed them to quit.

--Vision and passion lead to discipline - embracing the restraints of a godly ambition.  Paul said, “I die daily”.

--Solomon said where there is no vision people perish – they cast off restraint – they quit!

--The undisciplined - the uncommitted will quit because the way is too hard. Path too narrow.

3. Climbers.

--Climbers are those who have heard the upward call and are pressing toward the mark.

Philippians 3:12-15 (NKJV)
¹²  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
¹³  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
¹⁴  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
¹⁵  Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

--Climbers have settled it in their hearts that the prize is worth the effort.

1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV)
³  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
⁴  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you,
⁵  who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
⁶  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
⁷  These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
⁸  Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
⁹  for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 

If you can’t see it, then you do not have vision.

Some people see it, but don’t believe it.  They do not have vision.

Some people see it, believe it, but don’t do it.  They do not have vision. Sitters!

Some people see it, believe it, start to do it but quit.  They do not have passion or vision. Quitters!

Vision is the ability to see it, the faith to believe it, the courage to do it, and the hope to endure. Climbers!

--Climbers have vision, passion, and discipline which gives them the courage to risk their lives for Christ.

Risk - spending your life making a difference that your dreams dared you to believe. 

--Sitters and Quitters think that you have lost your mind.

--Climbers have lost more than their minds - they have lost their lives.

Matthew 10:38-39 (NKJV)
³⁸  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
³⁹  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

--Climbers find others to link up with who have the same vision.

Ephesians 4:1-4 (NKJV)
¹  I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
²  with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
³  endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
⁴  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 

Remember:

Risk without discipline is recklessness.

Discipline without passion is legalism.

Passion without vision is hype.

Vision without Christ is meaningless. 

Don’t be a sitter…Don’t be a quitter…Be a climber for God!