Calvary Road Baptist Church
“AN END OF THE YEAR CHECKLIST”
The title of this message from God’s Word reveals that this is not a sermon, having no sermonic form. It is what the title declares it to be: a checklist. This checklist will be entirely non-controversial. It will be uncomplicated. There will be predictable unanimity among those who claim to believe the Bible is the Word of God and insist that it is our final authority for faith and practice. Our agreement may not be that of uniform practice and behavior, but I would be surprised if we are not uniform in accepting this checklist as right, good, beneficial for all concerned, and without doubt, God’s will for our lives.
In First Thessalonians 4.3, the Apostle Paul lists one of several patterns of behavior declared to be God’s will for our lives. Giving yourself to the Lord is the will of God, Second Corinthians 8.5. Serving Christ is the will of God, Ephesians 6.6. Giving thanks is the will of God, First Thessalonians 5.18. Exercising patience is the will of God, Hebrews 10.36. Submitting to others is the will of God, First Peter 2.15. In First Thessalonians 4.3, the will of God for your life as a believer is something called sanctification, which is your growth in grace and in the knowledge of God. It is your process of maturing as a believer to become more godly with time, as you study God’s Word, as you serve the Savior, as other believers mentor you, and as you are nurtured with spiritual truth over time.
The process is slow. It is sometimes arduous. It is a consequence of repeated activities that become habits over time, habits that become character over time, and by such means, a childish young babe in Christ grows to become what the Apostle John labels first a young man in the faith and eventually a father in the faith, First John 2.13-14.
The basis for the checklist I will present is Second Peter 1.5-10, which I will let you read and reflect on when you get home. But I assure you that your proper assurance of salvation is related to the recommendations we will all agree on in this checklist, which is not at all complete but is a good end of the old year and start of the new year, in no particular order:
First, EVANGELISM
Commit to evangelism and reaching others with the Gospel of God’s grace. Who does not need Christ? Who will not benefit from Christ? And who would deprive another human being of the opportunity to hear the claims of Christ and consider Him?
Evangelism is how the Christian faith spreads. Evangelism is how you came to be a believer in Christ if you are a believer in Christ. And evangelism is the earmark of genuine Christianity. No one who believes the Bible denies this reality, though many disobey this imperative.
Next, DISCIPLESHIP
The Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, as recorded in Matthew 28.18-20, contains only one Greek verb, the command to make disciples. Therefore, one must be utterly blind to the force of the Savior’s three-and-one-half-year ministry to His disciples and the apostle’s subsequent ministry to the believers in Jerusalem following the Day of Pentecost to dispute the central practice of the Christian faith being discipleship.
Indeed, the way an individual in a congregation, and a congregation as a whole, seeks to fulfill the Great Commission is by making disciples, the first step of which is this practice of evangelism, which Paul labeled to the new Christians in Thessalonica as the work of faith. The strength of apostolic ministry was the Spirit of God’s use of the commitment to disciple-making to prepare believers for the arduous experiences of the normal Christian life.
What soldier in any military would be suited for combat apart from basic training, advanced infantry training, and an ongoing program of adding and maintaining the skills necessary for survival in combat? That is the analogy of discipleship in the life of the Christian. No discipleship means no preparation to serve God effectively with an expectation of surviving the slings and arrows that come your way.
Third, DEVOTIONS / LEARNING
The ongoing devotional life of the child of God, spending time every day reading God’s Word, praying to start the day, reading challenging and informative Christian literature, and meditating on and contemplating the truth you are exposed to is crucial. It is part and parcel with hiding God’s Word in your heart that you might not sin against God, Psalm 119.11.
Some people spend time listening to Bible audio and audiobooks, which is fine. But such practices are no substitute for reading God’s Word, studying God’s Word, praying according to God’s Word, and humbly allowing dead people who wrote great Christian books to influence your understanding of the Bible and the Christian life.
Have you read the Bible through? Read it through again. And if you haven’t read my brochure, How To Read The Bible Through For the First Time, get a copy and prepare to read the Bible through with us this year.[1]
Fourth, PRAYER
If reading and studying God’s Word is analogous to spiritually inhaling, praying to God is analogous to spiritually exhaling, expressing to your heavenly Father what you need, what you want, what you have to have to live for Him, love Him, and serve Him effectively. But prayer is not only something to be done in one’s prayer closet, with no human witnesses to what you are doing and saying to God. It is also a believer’s opportunity to influence and be influenced by other believers, brothers and sisters in Christ whose hearts are knit together by common conduct to express common needs and seek common blessings from God.
We have two combined prayer times at our Church that are sparsely attended, at 10:15 on Sunday morning before the morning worship time, and at 7:00 PM on Wednesday nights after our Bible study time. Is there no one in your life you want others to pray for? Is there nothing you want other Church members to pray for in your life?
Then, of course, there are times when you both can and should resort to God in prayer, as we are urged to do in Hebrews 4.16. Imagine the astounding privilege of approaching God on His throne in heaven, yet not doing so and not taking others by the hand to show them how to do so.
Fifth, TESTIMONIES
Psalm 107.2 urges us to praise God: “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.” Are you redeemed? If so, you are called upon to say so in a praiseworthy manner. Glorify God. Exalt the Savior. Testify to the Holy Spirit’s work in your life.
What an opportunity to affect a young Christian! What a chance to challenge the errors and ignorance of the lost who hear your testimony. And if you have nothing to say about what God has recently done in your life, what about the opportunity you have to give voice to the promises of God you claim and are eager to see fulfilled in your life?
Husbands who love their wives will give public testimonies to be a blessing to their spouses. Wives who love their husbands will give public testimonies to be a blessing to their men. And how can parents pass up on opportunities to say in public about God’s goodness and grace what they want their children to hear and consider?
Finally, FORGIVENESS
We know from Ephesians 4.32 that we have the duty and privilege to forgive those who have sinned against us. Let me touch again on several aspects of forgiveness I began to address this morning:
First, if you refuse to forgive someone you are confident has sinned against you or yours, you are creating doubt in those who know you that you are truly born again. After all, our forgiveness of others is based on the forgiveness we have received from God. Refuse to forgive and you create a question about the forgiveness you claim to have experienced.
Next, if you refuse to forgive someone you are confident has sinned, you are demonstrating arrogance and pride. Who do you think you are to withhold forgiveness from others when you claim God has not withheld forgiveness from you? It requires humility to forgive as we have been forgiven, yet the professing Christian who holds grudges, who dwells on perceived slights, and who remembers every offense ever committed against him or her, has not the humility to forgive.
Third, if you refuse to forgive someone you are confident has sinned, you create doubt about your love for your family, friends, and loved ones. What happens should they sin against you, and they will sin against you? What happens when you hold it against them that they are unaware they sinned against you? The nagging doubt and fear you introduce into their lives that you will someday refuse to forgive them as you refuse to forgive someone else will cause them to walk on eggshells around you. But some people like those around them to walk on eggshells.
If you are the parent of someone who refuses to forgive or the spouse of someone who refuses to forgive, do not delude yourself into thinking there is nothing you can say or do. No wife sins against her husband by expressing to him her fear that his refusal to forgive someone else causes her to dread the likelihood that he will someday refuse to forgive her.
Think of this as an end-of-the-year checklist for each of us to address. And don’t think what you do with this checklist is your private business and no one else’s.
As members of the family of God, and more especially as accountable-to-each-other members of this body of Christ, you have every right in the world to approach me about this checklist, question me, lovingly and privately challenge me, and hold me accountable.
Do you participate in private and personal evangelism and the corporate evangelism our Church is engaged in to reach the lost? Why not begin this week?
Are you involved in discipleship? If not, why not? Don’t jump into the deep end of the cold swimming pool. Stick your toe in to get used to it, then your foot, and so on, until you are fully immersed in being disciplined and in disciplining others.
Prayer. Let’s pray as a Church. Let’s pray as friends. Be sure to pray in private. But pray without ceasing because that is God’s will for our lives.
Testimonies. Participate in testimony time. Give glory to God for answers to prayer, things you have learned in your Bible study, God’s providential work in your life, and anything else you can think of to brag on God.
And finally, forgiveness. Be a forgiving kind of guy. Be a forgiving kind of woman. How can we be Christians who refuse to forgive? How can we be Christ-like without forgiving? And how can we happily marry spouses who feel secure around us if we are unwilling to forgive?
Go home and consider this checklist. Discuss it with your spouse, kids, roommate, and anyone else who comes to mind. It isn’t much, but a good start for the New Year.
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[1] Available at www.ClassicalBaptist.Press
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