Are You a Play It Safe Christian

The title of today's message is, Are You a Play It Safe Christian?

Are you a Play It Safe Christian? Generally speaking, it seems like people like to avoid risk. We have a whole industry called insurance to support my claim. People like to avoid risk. People generally like to play it safe.

They like to avoid harm to self, property, and others. I do. I like to avoid risk myself. But perhaps life is causing people to be a little more risk averse lately. More than ever, it seems people are stressing about avoiding sickness.

We have good cause. Avoiding large crowds. Avoiding awkward situations. None of us wants to be embarrassed. Avoiding confrontations. Avoiding problems, really, about any sort. What about you? What about me? In our Christian walk, are we becoming more risk averse? Are we, perhaps unconsciously, trying to play it safe when it comes to overcoming sin, or bad habits, or conflicts with others? Sometimes we may pretend we don't have a problem with sin. We just try to forget it and let time pass by, thinking time will remove the sin from us. That's not how it works.

Or perhaps we pretend that we don't have a problem with a brother or a sister. We should realize that practicing living faith means taking risk. I'll say that again. Practicing living faith means taking risk. My purpose today is to remind us of our calling, of our calling from God, and also to encourage us to risk ourselves more in striving to become more like our Father in Jesus Christ.

And so again, the title of the message is, Are You a Play It Safe Christian? Begin with the question, Do we appreciate? I guess that's the second question I'm beginning with today. That's kind of hard to do, but they're both very good.

Do we appreciate our calling? Do we really appreciate our calling? As we probably know, our calling begins with God our Father. He is responsible for drawing us to Jesus Christ. We see this in John 6, verse 1. John 6, verse 44. A very vital scripture. Familiar to us, no doubt, but one we must understand carefully. John 6, 44 reads, Jesus is speaking here. Jesus said, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

And we have there is a little quick synopsis of the conversion process. The Father calls, and then the resurrection at the end, the end of the process, resurrection to eternal life, beginning a commencement of even greater things. Let's also read verse 65 still in John 6, verse 65. Jesus also said, Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father.

And then going back to verse 40, we can understand why we are called. Why are we called? Why does God call us? Verse 40, still John 6, And this is the will of him who sent me. Jesus said, That everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

What we see is that God wants all who come to see and know Jesus Christ, who have come to have that very important relationship with him and believe him, the path to salvation. It's God's will that they receive eternal life. Now, the Greek word translated, often translated as calling in English, that Greek word is klesis. It's often translated as calling, but it is oftentimes translated as invitation. It's also translated as invitation. And in fact, Thayer's Greek lexicon defines klesis as the divine invitation to embrace salvation in the kingdom of God. I thought that's a pretty astounding definition from Thayer's Greek lexicon, the divine invitation to embrace salvation in the kingdom of God.

Another common word used is kaleo, k-a-l-e-o, k-a-l-e-o. It can also mean to call or to invite. And so, the Father's call is to salvation. Our calling is our invitation from the Father to salvation. Now, perhaps too often we refer to God's calling without pondering more deeply what His invitation means. Words can be used so often they can lose a bit of their polish, their shine, their meaning. So, what is this calling exactly? What is this invitation? What are its benefits? What are its costs? Is accepting God's calling really worth having? Is it really worth the risk and sacrifice to ourselves?

To answer that question and to revive our memory a bit about the precious quality that's calling from God, I'd like to take us through several scriptures that do reveal what God's calling entails. To begin, let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 9.

1 Corinthians 1 verse 9, a specific reference to being called, calling. Here we read, God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. And so, quickly, we see here in this verse, 1 Corinthians 1, 9, we have been invited into the fellowship or to share in the community, to share in the blessings of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In other words, God wants us to have this profound and personal relationship with His Son, and by extension, of course, with the Church of God, of which Jesus Christ is the Head. Let's also look still here in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Let's look at verse 26.

Here we see another reference to calling. A little more information. Here Paul writes, For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. They're not getting a lot of invitations from God. Now sometimes I know we jokingly agree with Paul's words here. We say, oh yes, I'm certainly not among the wise, and I'm probably one of those saying that. But Paul doesn't mean to be speaking lightly here about our calling.

Paul's purpose is not to make light of our calling. His purpose is to highlight how those rich and powerful this world view our faith and trust in God as foolishness. In fact, they even think it's nothing but whimsy, meaning make-believe, fluffen stuff. They perceive no benefit in actually believing in God or in actually trying to do what Scripture says. There's no point to it in their minds. You see the so-called wise and rich and powerful, the noble of this world, they don't think they need God. They've got everything they need. Why would they need God? Of course, surely we don't want to make their same mistake. If we turn next to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 10 through 12. 1 Thessalonians 2, verses 10 through 12.

I know why I'm wrong in place. I'm in the wrong book. There it is. I see it. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 10. Here we read, You are witnesses, Paul writes. You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we, Paul speaking of himself and the other ministers of God, how we have behaved ourselves among you who believe. And you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God. Their whole exhortation is why? To walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. And so God's part of this calling of God. It's all part, it might be this beautiful package of different multi-fascets to it. Another facet of this calling of God of us to be called to him and his kingdom is to be a part of that kingdom, to be part of the glorious government of God coming to earth. The fact that he wants us, you and me, to be among its leaders, to be among the leaders of the kingdom. Let's also look at 1 Timothy chapter 6. Again, there are many places we can turn to to learn about calling and being called of God. We're just hitting quite a just a very few of the many possible ones we could look at. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. Here we learn, excuse me, no, I meant 1 Timothy 6 verse 12. That's where I need to be. 1 Timothy 6 verse 12. Here we read these lines. Paul writes, Fight the good fight of faith. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

We learn here that God is calling us to eternal life. And perhaps like me, that is a rather difficult reality for you to grasp as well. I've tried, and it's mind-boggling in many ways. I have a quote from C.S. Lewis. He tried to explain what inheriting eternity would be like. C.S. Lewis explained it here. It's an interesting quote. C.S. Lewis said, When all the sons in Nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive. Is that interesting? All the sun has run out of its energy, and it's nothing but a... Would that be a black hole or something like that? We'll still be alive. That's an amazing way to understand what God is offering us, isn't it? Now let's turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. Here we also learn our calling is holy. God sets us apart for His own purpose, His own holy purpose, and we have done nothing to deserve it. And here we read 2 Timothy 1.9, God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

Our calling now is according to His plan or His purpose, again, which was made before time began. That would mean before He created this universe. Another great concept to try to wrap your mind around. It's absolutely amazing. Stunning. Let's also turn to 1 John chapter 3.

1 John 3 and verse 1 through 2. God is calling us also to be His children. 1 John 3 verse 1, Behold, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And so, yes, God wants us to be His children. He's calling us for that purpose. Imagine being His sons and daughters in His own divine family. And Scripture refers to those called prior to Christ's return as firstfruits, firstfruits of God's spiritual harvest. We see this over in James chapter 1 verse 18. James 1, 18. Again, we're looking at what is entailed in this precious calling you and I have been given from God our Father. James 1 verse 18, we read here, Of His own will He brought us forth, speaking of God, of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures or of His creation.

The firstfruits are those who will be given salvation everlasting life when Jesus Christ returns to establish God's kingdom on earth. The term firstfruits refers to an earlier harvest, is what still happens to this day in the Middle East. And that would mean an earlier harvest means that there would come an even greater harvest, a greater spiritual harvest later in that later in the agricultural year. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 20.

Paul describes in a little more detail the sequence of these harvests with reference to several resurrections. 1 Corinthians 15, reading now from verse 20, Paul writes, But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, those who are dead. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. Verse 23, and speaking of this resurrection, Paul adds, But each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ at his coming. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. And of course, God's fall festivals and holy days picture this time to come. Continuing verse 49, verse 49 through 53, we see the full fruition of God's calling. This is what the outcome God has in mind. Paul writing here, verse 49, And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on. Immortality. Human beings do not have immortality at this time. And so when Christ returns at that day and hour which no one knows, Jesus said, but my Father only, when Christ returns, those who are the firstfruits of the Father shall be in the first resurrection to immortality as glorious spirit beings. And what will those firstfruits do in the kingdom? We find that answer, part of that answer in Revelation 20 verse 6. Revelation 20 verse 6, they will be serving under Christ as kings and priests in the kingdom of God. Revelation 20 verse 6, blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. That's where we're told we'll be kings and priests. We'll be among the leadership. We'll be among the teachers, those giving instruction and guidance to all the peoples, the nations. These and many other scriptures reveal just how very special is our calling from God our Father. God is inviting us individuals to eternal life, to salvation, to immortality, to be leaders, to be a part of the kingdom of God, to be of his own divine family. He's doing that now, giving us time, this lifetime, as our greatest classroom ever to be learning about him and practicing his way of life, to be putting to heart his character, to be using the help of his word and his spirit to become more like our Father and more like Jesus Christ. Clearly, there are totally stupendous benefits to accepting God's calling. Stupendous. That's a word for you. And when we understand our calling, we must decide, however, we must decide, do we believe what the word of God says? I'm reading what God says.

But God's not going to make us believe anything. He wants us to come to believe.

And if we come to believe, then to take certain action. We must decide if we believe what the word of God says. And if we choose to believe it, if we choose to believe it, then we ought to choose to accept God's invitation. So how do we go about that, though? How do we go about accepting God's calling, His invitation? This is all very important. Now, to accept God's calling to salvation, to eternal life, that place in the kingdom and His family. Unlike what we've often heard, we must do more than just say, I believe. We must do much more than just say, I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and personal Savior. We can't just say that and think now we have salvation. We also must do more than being a good person, being a nice person. We must do more than never causing trouble for anybody. We must do more than serving and helping others in their need.

It means we even must do more than attend Sabbath services and the Holy Days and even Bible studies.

Now, all these things are important. Those things I just listed. And all those things we ought to be doing, frankly, because they are very pleasing to God. But doing these things will not make us worthy of receiving God's gift of eternal life. There's something in particular we have to do.

What we must do when we have heard God's Word and are convicted of God's gospel message, message about the kingdom, then we will do what is best summarized by Peter in Acts 2, verse 38. And you probably know what these words are about. Acts 2, verse 38, nicely summarized by Peter.

Peter was responding to a similar question. Men and brethren, what shall we do? What do we do? We've heard these words I've shared with you so far today.

Peter responded this way, verse 38. Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter is describing the process of conversion. After being called by God the Father, and having come to be deeply convicted of our sins, our sins against God, against His Holy Just and perfect law, we will feel oppressed, we will feel guilt-ridden, we will feel the need to make things right with God, to get right with God. We will seek to have our sins forgiven. We will want our penalty of death removed. We will want to be a part of God's Kingdom, a part of that beautiful family He talks about. For that, we must turn in faith to Jesus Christ, who willingly died in our place. We will choose to repent, stop sinning best we can, to have works of repentance, and to strive to keep God's Ten Commandments.

But only the shed blood of Christ can remove our sins, make us clean.

Baptism is symbolic of our decision to commit ourselves to God and Christ, to commit ourselves to their way of life, a new way of life for us, God's way. And of our acceptance of Jesus Christ, that's all part of what we are representing, expressing, at baptism. We accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. We know He died for all humanity, but He died for you and me, and we need to accept that and admit it. And then, when we arise from the watery grave of baptism, we rise into a new life. At that point, all our old sins, our sins from whenever, until that point, are washed away, or made clean. No amount of coming to services or serving people or being a nice person and helping folks cross the street, cats out of trees, whatever you're doing, nothing's going to remove that sin but the blood, accepting the blood of Jesus Christ. We rise from baptism at watery grave to a new life in Christ.

Let's read a little bit here in Romans 6, verses 3-6. It expresses a bit of what I'm referring to here. Romans 6, verses 3-6, Paul is describing the importance of baptism. It's meaning. It's part of accepting or calling from God. Or do you not know that as many of us, Romans 6, verse 3, do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, and that we should no longer be slaves of sin. And so we leave that old way of life symbolically in a lottery grave of baptism. It's there. And immediately after being baptized, we receive God's Holy Spirit in us through the hands of God's ministry. It's absolutely important. It's vital to our receiving salvation, to our becoming literal sons and daughters of God, our Father. The Holy Spirit, which is the power and life essence of God, is given to us by God and through Jesus Christ. With God's Holy Spirit in us, we become that new creation, and we begin that lifelong task of being led by God's Spirit to become more like Jesus Christ, to be putting on more of his mindset, his character, to doing more to imitate the way he lived.

And when we receive God's Spirit, we are begotten unto sonship. We are then on our way to being transformed. Paul in Romans 12, verses 1-2, urges us not to be conformed to this world. This world is of darkness, moral evil. Paul urges us to be transformed, to be transformed by putting on the mind of Christ. Let's read a little bit in Romans 8, verses 5-9. In Romans 8, verses 5-9, speaking again, Paul continues on the importance of living this new life, no longer living according to the flesh, but according to God's Spirit. Romans 8, verses 5-9, for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because a carnal mind is entity against God, that means hateful towards God. For it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, this is important. Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. We need to have the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. We need that to be counted as among those who have accepted God's way of life, those who then become among the elect, who God has accepted as part of this conversion process. Let's continue reading verses 11 through 14. But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. And there we see that important point. After we receive God's Holy Spirit after baptism, laying on of hands, we are to be led by God's Holy Spirit. We're not to be led first and foremost by our own thoughts, our own ways, and our own choices alone. We're to be yielding ourselves to what we have learned from God's Bible, his instruction. Remembering that and letting God's Spirit work within it as it does to press upon us a better way than we get to choose. Are we going to listen to that better way? Or are we going to choose our way, which can be quite different? And so after baptism, receiving the Spirit, we must then go on to perfection. We must continue to live in submission to God's commandments. We must continue practicing his way of love towards God and neighbor.

With the help of Scripture and Spirit together in our hearts and our minds, we grow in grace as we yield to God and his instruction. We grow in his grace and knowledge. And then we're developing more of God's righteous characters. We continually strive to be more like our Father, who doesn't want to be like our Father, who wouldn't want to be like our Heavenly Father, our Heavenly Dad. And God is with us and in us to help us face all of life's challenges.

Now, there's much to be said about following the way of life that God lays out for us in Scripture. But I want to take time to address one of those lessons he lays out for us in Scripture.

It's a lesson we need to think about today, a lesson in risk-taking. A lesson in risk-taking.

A lesson about when the benefits outweigh the cost.

To make our calling and election to salvation sure, we must practice living faith in Jesus Christ for as long as we live, however long God gives to us. When we accept Him as our Savior, we must remain committed to hearing Him, to listening to Him, and then to believing what He says. And then sometimes the heart apart actually doing what He tells us to do through Scripture.

That requires that we take personal risk upon ourselves. That requires that we stick our neck out. We stick our necks out to do our best to trust and obey God. And that's a lesson we can take from the parable of the talents. Let's turn to Matthew 25. Matthew chapter 25. This is a parable that refers to God's kingdom.

And no matter it seems how many times I go through this parable, perhaps like you, there's a little bit more to be drawn from it. I hope you'll find that so today.

Matthew 25 verse 14 through 15 will read parts of this. But here as it starts, Jesus Christ states the following, For the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one, he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a long journey. And so each servant received a certain sum of money weighed out according to so much weight, according to so many talents. Now the Master gave each servant an amount that he knew each one of those servants was capable of investing in order to increase that amount of money he gave him. When you read the words carefully, he's suggesting that he wants them to invest. Take what I've given you and make it grow. Use it. Do something with it. Clearly the Master's expectation was that his servants would do just that. Do something to make the amount of money increase the amount of money you'd given them. He knew they were capable of doing this. That's why he gave it according to their ability. And two of them, two of the three did just that. Verses 16 through 17 describes how two of the three took a risk, and he gave it to them. Any time you make an investment or do a little trading, you hope to get a better deal. A good deal. There's risk involved. They took a risk and chose to trade or invest their Master's money. And they made use of it. And they each doubled their Master's original account. It's pretty good. But not so the third servant. We remember the third servant. Now, Verse 18, but he who had received one talent went and dug in the ground, dug a hole in the ground, and he hid his Lord's money. He hid it. He did nothing, you see. He did nothing to increase his Master's money. We might say that he was risk averse. He was risk averse. He chose to avoid risking his Master's money. But we need to understand something. Avoiding reasonable risk is not always a very wise choice.

After a long time, the Master returned. And the two had taken the risk and doubled their Master's talents, excitedly reported the fruit, the outcome, and their investments. They doubled it. And the Master responded with great pleasure, telling each one of them in verses 21 and 23, he says, Well done. I hope God says that of all of us one day. Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you a ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. And so it's interesting, not only are they going to be, were they going to be given more authority over more things, it suggests that they're going to enjoy a greater, more joyful relationship with their Master, doesn't it? It says, Enter into the joy of your Lord. They've just enriched, increased their good relationship with their Master. The risk they took, you see, the risk they took was worth the bountiful benefits given them by the Master. The risk was worth the benefits they received.

But the one who hid his talent, what about him? The one who hid his talent made excuses.

He made excuses about his fear of risking the loss of his Master's money. Look at verse 24-25. Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid! I went and hid your talent in the ground. But look, there you have what is yours. So he gives it right back. You ever given gifts right back to somebody who's given you a gift? It's not always well received, is it? This was not well received by the Master. Verse 26, But as Lord, his Master answered and said to him, You wicked and lazy servant. You wicked and lazy servant. You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered the seed. He knew this. The servant, in other words, seems to have known what his Master was about. He seemed to know what his Master responded. He seemed to have known what he was supposed to have been doing. The Master judged him as being wicked and lazy and tells... When he tells the servant, You're wicked and lazy, he is essentially telling us that the servant knew that he should have used his talent, but he chose not to. It's somewhat of a disobedience to his Master. You see, he didn't even bother to do the bare minimal thing. The easiest thing he could have done, and the Master apparently would have been quite happy with it. Well, maybe not super happy, but at least happy. The easiest thing he could have done is just pop it in the bank and what? At least get a minimal... I think interest is up to maybe 1.4% now or something? I don't know. No, not yet. Inflation will make it go up, but okay, that's another sermon.

He could have done the very minimal to get something in return of increase, but he didn't. That's why he's wicked, because he seems rather disobedient and lazy, because he couldn't have done at least the bare minimum. Again, the Master would have been pleased with that, even the minimal. But the servant chose to do nothing. He chose. He made the choice to do nothing. Therefore, the Master condemned him. He judged him, and he condemned him. He condemned the unprofitable servant to be cast out, as we see in verse 30. The Master says, and cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. A point here to consider is that the servant chose to risk nothing. And what did he get in return? Nothing. Nothing. This parable serves in many ways, many lessons, but this parable serves also as a warning to those whom God has called. We are wise to yield to God's Word. We are wise to yield to God's Spirit, and to use the blessings, to use the gifts, the talents, the time, the effort He gives us in service to Him and to others. We must be practicing God's way of life and choosing to be led by God's Holy Spirit. And when we do that, we're developing more of His righteous character. When we do that, we're becoming more like God, more like Jesus Christ.

A servant of God who does not take the risk to practice his or her faith and trust in God will gain nothing in return. I think some of you know the old saying, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I don't know if all of our young people know that. They need to. Nothing ventured, nothing tried, nothing risked, nothing gained. Or, as my mother used to say, a turtle only moves forward by sticking its neck out.

Isn't that good? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. This principle reminds me of a poem I read some time ago. I'm not going to read the entire poem to you, but it's entitled, it's a poem by William Arthur Ward. I don't believe in any relation to Dr. Ward, but William Arthur Ward, and it's entitled, To Risk. Two words. T-O, to risk. I'm just going to read bits of it, but if you want to read the whole poem on your own, you can find it on the internet. Here are a few of the lines from his poem, To Risk. He wrote, To laugh is to risk appearing the fool. Isn't that true? To laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To love is to risk not being loved in return. I found those lines interesting because these are things we are told to do in different parts of the Bible to share with our brethren. Another line he says, To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken. But risk must be taken because the greatest, the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The greatest hazard of life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

Now God our Father has not called us to receive nothing. He has called us to inherit all things. Notice Revelation 21, verse 7. It's what it says. Revelation 21, verse 7 makes clear the goal of our calling. In fact, the reason why we were born. Revelation 21, verse 7, And he who overcomes sin overcomes the world, He who overcomes shall inherit all things. We understand that to mean what it says, all things, the universe. And I will be his God, and he shall be my Son. And there it is, the family relationship with God again.

When through baptism, laying on of hands, we accept God's calling to salvation, we willingly commit our sinful selves to total risk of being overcome and conquered by Jesus Christ, our Savior. We commit ourselves, our sinful selves, to being overcome, the risk of being overcome and conquered. And I might say gladly so. That's what we want. We must choose to invest our lives in service to God. We must be ever willing to put our carnal, sinful man self at risk in order to submit to the new man Christ in us. We must live by faith in Jesus Christ, to good works, to risk our own necks, if need be, in loving service to God and our brethren.

Now, I mentioned earlier that having living faith requires that we take risk. Scripture shows us that. You can jot down Matthew 14, verse 29 through 31. Matthew 14, verse 29 through 31. When you read there, you'll recall how Peter took a risk when walking on water.

He tried to walk on water. He came out walking on water. And what happened? He took a risk. No, before he fell, what happened? He walked on water. It's only when he started looking at the boisterous waves, he became fearful. And he went down and called out to Christ, to Jesus, Lord save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his arm, his hand, and caught him.

And Jesus told Peter, he said, Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?

Why did you doubt? Oh, you of little faith, he told to Peter. No doubt, Peter felt a little shame to himself for not having more faith. But you did, you notice what Jesus did not say. He did not say that Peter had no faith. He only had a little faith.

He had a lot more faith to grow and develop, but he took the risk even early on to walk on water. And he walked on water. I have not had any of you.

That's pretty good. What we have done, as Peter did, he took the risk and leap of faith. And he would build on that experience and increase and gain far greater faith, as scripture confirms. We have the record of his life and his service, what we know would be his martyrdom in scripture. Also, we know by faith Noah risked building the ark. Decades and decades. Consider all the ridicule he had to put up with. There's no water around, Noah. What's wrong with you? Crazy old man. Crazy till the rain started coming down. By faith, he risked building the ark. By faith, Abraham risked leaving his home to receive an inheritance in a foreign land. You can read about that in Hebrews 11, verse 7 through 8. Hebrews 11, verse 7 through 8. And we also, you might jot down examples of needing faith to take risk or to have it's a risk to practice faith. The benefits are great. Matthew 19, verse 27-29, jot that down there. You'll find how Peter and the other disciples tell Jesus that they left all. They risked all. They gave up families, land, their jobs, probably a lot of friendships, their reputations to follow Jesus Christ, whom others considered a son of Belial, son of the devil. And you know, at baptism, by faith, we risked all to walk in newness with Jesus Christ. We do that at baptism, and with the anticipation of salvation, the blessings, the rewards, the benefits that come. Because we counted the cost, you see. We counted the risk, and we decided, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to accept God's calling, His invitation.

We must be led by God's Holy Spirit. We must continue on to perfection. By faith, we must put on the mind of Christ, internalizing His way of life, making it part of every aspect in our lives. The mind of Christ is not something we put on only on the Sabbath, only when we're in the presence of other brethren, people that might know us. Every aspect of our lives, our thoughts, our words, our actions, this means we must also be more conscientious, more aware, more thoughtful, more aware of what's going on in our brains, that we might yield ourselves to God's influence in our decision-making. Romans 8.14 puts it this way, for as many as are led—we read this earlier, Romans 8.14—for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. It's God's Spirit in us. It helps us take risks. It helps us to grow and become His sons and daughters. Let's look at Galatians 5, verse 16 through 23. Galatians 5, verse 16 through 23. You see here, Paul urges us to walk in the Spirit. That means to choose. We can walk any old way we want.

But Paul, God through Paul, urges us to walk in the Spirit, choose to practice God's way of life according to Scripture, His Word. Galatians 5, verse 16. Paul writes, I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. But keep that old man, that old sinful man, in the watery grave. For the flesh lusts after the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. That is, the penalty of breaking God's law, the penalty which is death. Paul then describes verse 19 through 21. Quite a long and rather ugly, noisome list of the works of the flesh, sin, things we've done in the past, things we are resisting still, ways of the flesh and sin. We must not practice things that we're to be ever repentant of. I'm not going to read the whole list, and it is adultery, fornication, idolatry, hatred. Jesus helps us understand we're not to murder, but when He magnified God's law and its spiritual intent, He tells us to hate somebody in our heart, it's the same as murdering. It's the same motivation. We're not to be doing that.

We'll be giving up contentions, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, drunkenness, and the like.

Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who practice such things will not be accepted, cannot be accepted, frankly, cannot be accepted into God's kingdom. What we must be doing is allowing ourselves to be led by God's Spirit, His influence in our hearts and minds. Let it happen so that we can make right, godly decisions, better choices. And we start making better choices. We're going to change the things we say, how we say it, how we treat people. We're going to start showing more that fruit of the Spirit. Listen in verse 29, Galatians 5.

No doubt in time, people who haven't known us for a while will see us and they'll notice something different about us. They will think it's just because our hair has gotten whiter.

But they may not quite understand that maybe you're more loving or joyful. Maybe there's a little more peace about you. You're more patient and you just seem more kind. You're just really a good guy, a good person. You seem more loyal and you're gentle. You just seem like you don't get angry as quickly. Must be that new hairstyle. No, it's God's Spirit. You're yielding yourselves to God.

And against such, there is no law. There is no penalty. God's Holy Spirit allows us to be bold and courageous as well. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7.

Let's note Paul's encouraging and reassuring words. You see, we're talking about faith requires taking a risk. And that is true that God will even give us the help we need so that we are more willing. We have that internal fortitude, that internal spiritual fortitude to take the risk. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7. Here Paul tells him, Timothy, Timothy perhaps was feeling a little discouraged and a little fearful. And as we all do at times, Paul gives him and us these reassuring words. He says, therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of hands. Of course, that gift is the Holy Spirit. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but the power and of love and of a sound mind. Power, love, and of a sound mind. We can start making right decisions, better decisions, if we are led by God's Spirit. Now, that means, just be clear, God's Spirit will not force us to take actions.

God's Spirit won't prevent us from sinning. God's Spirit cannot make choices for us. We still get to decide. That's still within our control. But God's Spirit, working with our hearts and minds, will niggle at us, will worry us a little bit, will poke at us, and prod at us, or conscience. Perhaps through guilt, move us to make godly decisions, move us to, most importantly, do take action, according to God's instruction. Because it's motivating us to become more like Christ. It's of God. It wants us to be of God. It's a power and life essence of God. And so, with the help of God's Spirit, we do have the power we need to risk, the self, and to do what is good in accordance to God.

How does this happen in real life? How do we put this into action? We've heard a lot of scriptures, examples. What about a how-to? What does this look like? What can I do that shows me and others, but especially me and God, that I'm trying harder, we are trying harder, to be led by God's Spirit?

You see, if we're being led by God's Spirit, one of the key things we'll improve in our lives is our relationships with other people, and our relationship with our brethren, and relationship with God, too. Let's turn to Romans chapter 12, please. Romans 12, verse 10 through 18. In here, we find Paul's inspired, what I call Paul's inspired to-do list of good works. Paul's inspired to-do list of good works. These are things we should be striving to practice day in and day out of our in our Christian walk. To stir up our deeper appreciation for God's instructions through Paul, I'd like for us to consider whether doing these good works, are they worth it? Is it worth the effort to be doing the things Paul is instructing us, ordering us in his own nice way to be doing?

Now, I know that would seem to be a silly question. What do you mean, is doing good works worth the effort? But that's the point I'm making. It is worth the effort, but we need to understand it. In other words, it's being led by God's Holy Spirit to do something of benefit to others, really worth our effort. Should we risk doing good works? If you want to look at it that way, should we take the risk to doing good works? By the way, to do good works will make ourselves uncomfortable. Doing good works will put us outside our comfort zone, because the self wants to be nicely coddled and padded in its own little place. It's cozy and warm. But God wants us to get outside of ourselves. I want to read these verses 10 through 18, and I'm going to read them a little bit differently by inserting this concept of the risk to ourselves. It's kind of hard to explain what I'm going to do, so I'm just going to do it, and I think you'll catch on. Verse 10, Romans 12 verse 10. Paul writes, Be kindly affectionate, but I'm going to read it this way. Risk being kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. Risk giving preference to one another. Now, in other words, what is it saying?

It's saying, don't be afraid to express true kindness and genuine friendship. Don't you be afraid, don't we be afraid to put others before ourselves.

The risk to self in being of benefit to others is well worth our effort.

Verse 11 reads, risk not lagging intelligence, fervent in spirit and serving the Lord.

That is to say, don't be afraid to be zealous. Don't be afraid to be fired up and enthusiastic in serving God and His Church. Maybe you're the only one that jumps up and says, yes, we get to clean the bathrooms this week.

Don't let the others hold you back. Go do it. Be zealous. Be excited. Do the good work. Risk looking a little silly, perhaps, because you're really diligent and zealous and enthusiastic. Verse 12, risk rejoicing in hope, risk being patient in tribulation, risk continuing steadily in prayer.

You see, it's not always easy to hope to be patient, to be steadfast in prayer.

But take the risk and continue doing it. Now, how can one measure the benefits of staying steadfast and faithful and hopeful in God?

Well, the cost of trusting God ultimately will always outweigh the benefits of doing so.

Just do it. Verse 13, risk distributing to the needs of the saints, risk being given to hospitality. That is, don't be afraid. Take a chance. Take the risk. Don't be afraid to help others in need.

Don't be scared of having brethren to our homes. I know about that. In other words, don't let our less than better homes and gardens, houses deter us from practicing hospitality. Oh, we have scuff marks on the floor. Oh, this is broken. It's lived in. It's a home, not the cover of the magazine. We need to take the risk to enjoy the benefits of sharing and giving, and letting others into our homes, helping others, building that fellowship that we're also called to in Jesus Christ with our brethren. All this is worth the risk. Verse 14, risk blessing those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Don't resist God's Spirit when our hearts tell us not to curse those who have just respected us, not to hate back those who have hated us, not to cuss in return, or other pleasant nonverbal symbols people throw at us at times. Don't do it back at them. Don't do that. Listen, be led by the Spirit in you. That also means don't be fearful, risk appearing weak to others because we don't hit back when we get hit. We don't treat people the way we are mistreated. It's not a sign of weakness, although some may think it so. It's a sign of our faithfulness to Jesus Christ who also suffered a lot and never struck back. The spiritual benefits to us make the risk of blessing others well worthwhile. Verse 15, risk rejoicing with those who rejoice. Even risk weeping with those who weep. Now, that can be hard for some of us. I grew up, personally, I grew up a part of the country where nobody showed a lot of emotion. You just kind of bottled it up. You know, you haven't seen your brother in five years and you're thrilled to death. You just kind of stand there and go, how are you doing? Good to see you. Even though inside you might be boiling over with joy and gladness. Be boiled over in joy. Show your rejoicing. That's risky. That's scary for us. But be willing to do that. It's a risk. Don't always bottle up our feelings and hide them as if there's something shameful. Of course, you have to be appropriate and use wisdom.

But be willing to express godly love. That's part of what this is about. Be willing to express godly encouragement, to edify and help each other out. Again, the benefits to others and to ourselves of rejoicing and weeping with others is immense. Verse 16 adds, risk being of the same mind towards one another, risk associating with the humble and not setting your mind on high things, risk—this one's tough—risk not being wise in your own opinion. In other words, take a chance. Risk listening to God's Spirit as it weighs on your conscience. Don't be afraid of letting your better self express itself. Don't be afraid of letting go of pride and pretense. Sometimes we hang on to pride and pretense because it's our shield that protects that ooey-gooey center of our lives. And so we act tough, full of pride, and maybe it's time, long past time, to risk putting that aside.

If we will put aside pretense and pride, put on humility, let others know that our opinions are not so great as we act like they are, admitting it.

We might find some wonderful benefits that outweigh the cost of keeping our pride alive and well. Verse 17, risk repaying no one evil for evil, risk having regard for good things in the sight of all men. As society turns away from God and his way of life and more towards evil than sin, this world is getting more and more dark morally. We must not risk conforming to that moral darkness, returning their evil with similar evil. Instead, we must hold fast to God. More than ever, we must dare to uphold and teach and live, and that's going to take courage. Some of you know that already. It takes courage to stand up. People want you to be woke. Woke means to see darkness visible. It's a line from John Milton, darkness visible. They don't see light. We do. We have to stand up for the light, what they call woke. We seem to be waking up to a nightmare.

We must be faithful to God's Scripture and led by his Spirit, and so willingly risk living God's good in righteous way openly, without shame, without hanging our heads in embarrassment.

The long-term eternal benefits, as we've read, the reason for our calling, our immense. And then finally, verse 18, if it is possible as much as depends on you, risk living peaceably with all men. I know we have little control over how other people live their lives, but we do have control over our choices, how we live our lives, how we will respond to others, and especially how we need to choose to yield to God's Spirit, to be led by it. So again, I say we must dare to try to live peaceably with all people.

That means our tongues might get rather sore at times, because we need to bite them a little more often. Don't say it. Keep the peace.

It means we need to choose our battles. Some things are not worth fussing over, causing disruption or family, or even with our neighbors. We need sometimes to put up with things that are really little things in the great big scheme of things. But then again, we also need to know when it's not possible to live peaceably with all men, we must be ready to stand up for what is good and right, and do the good and right thing. But again, we must risk living peaceably with all men. We are wise to accept the risk when we know that the benefits of doing so, as we've reviewed today, far outweigh the cost of our little human effort, our little hurt pride, or whatever it might be.

And so these are just examples of how it is risky to live by faith, but the benefits are stupendous. In our Christian walk, I exhort us, I encourage all of us then to always be aware of our precious calling from God. Don't forget what it's all about. Let's also be willing to put ourselves at risk to love our brethren and to love all people, and let us not be play-it-safe Christians. Let us not be play-it-safe Christians, but let's fully embrace that risk of faith in fulfilling and accepting our calling from God, our Heavenly Father.