compelled

 

We live in a world today that is denying that God exist..

Actually I’m not sure if that is a true statement…let me put it this way…

 

We live in a world that believes that God does exist…but they don’t believe in which one they should believe in or they believe that God has no part in a personal relationship with individual people.

 

I believe the latter part of that holds for Christians also. I believe that most Christians don’t believe that God wants to have a personal relationship with them and that he doesn’t pay attention to their lives or could care less…

 

Acts 17:22-23 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens , I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

 

 

I believe that people today are the same as they were 2000 years ago and I believe that people are the same as they were 4000 years ago.

 

People worship in ignorance and don’t know what they worship…

 

 

That is why we have so many different religions and that is why we have so many denominations with in our own Christian beliefs.

People don’t understand who or what God is…so in their minds they try to relate to what they believe in by what they know or have been told.

 

The problem with people today is they don’t know much…I believe that 250 years ago the average citizen was more knowledgeable than people today…this has cause the tear in the fabric of reason and understanding and so people have less knowledge and less reasoning abilities today than yesteryear.

 

Remember in school we had research papers…

Papers we had to uncover the answers ourselves to make correct assumptions to make good grades.

 

We had to study.

We had to learn principles

We had to understand the why behind our answers and I truly believe that the last two generations have not had to do that as a whole.

 

We were compelled to make right decisions.

We were compelled to come to the right conclusions.

We were compelled to do the right things.

 

Compelled means that we are:

·       Bound

·       Obliged or obligated

·       Forced

·       Duty bound

·       Or Required

To do the things that we do

 

I had a fear not to do what I needed to do, a fear that said I will be punished for not meeting the required Goals in my life, no matter what hey are today….

 

·       If I didn’t get a job I would starve.

·       If I didn’t make the grades in school, I would get a good job.

·       If I didn’t treat my wife right I would get a frying pan upside my head.

Choices we make in our lives have consequences!

 

I say to you we have not been educated enough as Christians or as Citizens of this country to understand the consequences that we have made over the last 50 years to lead us in the state of failure we are in…as Americans, or as Christians. 

 

 

Chapter 10 of the Philadelphia Baptist Confession of Faith, written in 1707 states:

Of Effectual Calling

1.     Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.

People will not talk like this and it some ways it may be hard to understand.

The effectual calling: means that God is able, the call is powerful.

Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

 

Romans 11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded

  This tells me that maybe God has called everyone but only a few will answer.

Most people will die at their appointed time with God but most will not go to heaven but to hell because of their choices.

Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ;

 

The next part is very important……

enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.

To those who have accepted Gods grace by accepting His son…there is a change in their lives….

·       God enlightens our minds.

o      He instructs us.

o      Gives us information

o      He helps us.

 

It says He changes us turning our heart from stone to flesh to help us come to Christ, drawing us, making us willing, only by His grace.

God draws us to Christ by our heart condition. He takes the stone and breaks it…and if you have ever had a broken heart… you know that is when the human condition is acceptable to hear the voice of God…allowing us go willing to His call of salvation.

Willing means

·       Purposeful

·       Intentionally

·       Focused

 

Meaning we wish to follow Christ because we have understood His call to us and we wish to go…because of His love for us and that because of what Christ did our compelling is not one of fear of punishment or consequences but our wiliness comes from gratitude, love, thankfulness of our broken hearts.

 

But all we have to do is look at the cold hearted people in the world today…

Cold doesn’t just mean freezing or wintry conditions, it also means bitter.   

Tanking the heart of stone, meaning:

·       Bitter

·       Unemotional

·        Uncaring

 

And breaking it so Gods’ Holy Spirit can move in enlightens our minds and changes us.

Breaking our hearts God can then allow his spirit to mold us or rebuild us into the image of Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are bound (compelled) to give thanks.

Because He has chosen (selected)

To receive his salvation by the process of making over (sanctification) of Gods Spirit

Because you have believed in the truth because of what we have heard we now have received the Glory (a relationship) of God on our lives.

Now our purpose is to compel others, to urge others to share with others, to love others as God has love us, has saved us, has changed us…from the image of a lost and dying person into the living image of Christ our Lord and Savior.

Our compelling is shared in Acts 26:18, for we are to:

Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

God has called each of us…look around…maybe there is someone here that Gods Holy Spirit is working on…maybe their heart hasn’t been broken yet and it’s still cold and hard like the life they live…

Or maybe it’s you…you have heard the call of God but yet there is an urging to:

·       seek Him

·       to follow Him

·       to listen to Him

·       to change but your heart is still hard.

 

God is trying to compel you to come to Him but you…you are Rebelling…against God…

You have come today…to make your conscience feel better…

You have come here because you feel the urge to come but yet you have not changed your life…

You are teetering on the verge of death and God is trying to give you life.

·       But yet because of your lack of knowledge

·       You lack of understanding.

·       You’re like of education

You rebel against what you don’t know vs. what you do know.

You have heard the many different ways you can go to heaven…and you don’t believe there is just one way.

You believe in God but you don’t have a personal relationship with him….maybe you feel that how can a God love you the way that you are…deep in sin and despair.

You may say you have time and so you worship many other things in this life, thinking you will have time before the next life comes.

·       Too many places to go, why should I focus on God, I would have to give up all my traveling, my friends, my good times.

·       It’s all about me….my time, my life, my happiness; it’s not about me giving up everything just because God wants me to go to church.

·       Let me get all the pleasure I can now for when I get old then I will come to God or join a church.

 

You are no better than those who worshipped the statue of the unknown God…you will worship everything but the true and living God who created you and wants to have that relationship with you to save your soul.

Are you compelled to share the gospel with others?

Or are you in rebellion?

Ephesians 1:17-19 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

That is a prayer from Paul to the Ephesians, praying that God will open the eyes of the people around us.

·       Our children

·       Our parents

·       Our husbands and wives

·       Our friends

·       Maybe even church members

 

But how can God use us to open the eyes of others if we have our eyes closed also or we are walking with one eye closed and the other only have open.

 

·       Open your eyes…

·       Listen to Gods calling…

·       Smell the fragrance of heaven.

·       Touch the holes in the hands of you savior

 

Be compelled

Be urged to reach out and have a relationship with our Lord and Savior.

And once your heart has been broken then you will have the heart of Christ and your compelling with be that others will have what you have…you will:

·       Listen with the ears of God and hear what the spirit is saying.

·       You will speak with others what God wishes you to say.

·       You will touch the lives of others as Christ has touched you.

·       You will be able to smell the death of those who are lost and they will be able to smell the fragrance of heaven and of life on you.

 

All are called but few are chosen…or have chosen to listen to the call of our lord.

 

·       Some hear but don’t follow through.

·       Some hear but they reject.

·       Some hear but don’t understand

 

Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them .

 

·       Are you walking in His statutes?

·       Are you keeping his Judgments?

·       Is His Spirit within you?

 

You can fool the people around you but you can fool God.