Young People's Group

FULFILLMENT

by Pastor Mitch
March 21, 2010

The Lord’s Perfect Example In Fulfilling Scriptures

Fulfillment is the key word that all at Bethany Camp 2010 will remember. Pastor Charles, in his hard hitting, heart pounding and soul-searching series of nightly messages, focused on the topic of our Lord Jesus fulfilling the Scriptures. At the first night meeting, he spoke from the text of Luke 4 concerning how the Lord Jesus read from the text of Isaiah 61:1-2 and said these words.

“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:21

Isaiah had prophesied of how the coming Messiah would be anointed with the Spirit of God. He would be filled and empowered by the Spirit in ministry. He would preach the gospel and minister to those in need. After reading this passage from Isaiah, the Lord Jesus spoke of how He had fulfilled this Scripture. He had a deep consciousness of God’s will and He oriented his whole life towards fulfilling it. Pastor challenged us to follow the example of the Lord Jesus in knowing His will and fulfilling it.

The Distinction Between Fulfillment And Obedience

As we heard the messages, a constant question raised was “Should not Christians be focused on obedience rather than on fulfillment?” The answer that Pastor gave was that obedience is the first level of response. It is something that God desires and looks for. Fulfillment is a deeper level of response. We are supposed to obey and to do the word of God with tremendous purpose and consistency until the fruit of our commitment is seen. We are gear our whole life toward fulfilling what God has called us to do. It is to follow through with His truths with love and zeal until the Lord’s blessings are most evident in our life and ministry.

The Challenge To Fulfill The Lord’s Command To Abide In Him

To conclude the whole series of messages on fulfillment, Pastor challenged all from the text of John 15. He spoke of the imperative to abide in the Lord Jesus.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
John 15:4

The book of John is about finding true and genuine faith in the Lord Jesus. If a person says that he has faith in Him, then he must abide in Him too. He will have a living relationship and walk with Jesus as a real person. He is to seek to bear much fruit in his life. He cannot do this unless he abides in the Lord Jesus. The repeated use of the word “unless” tells us that the responsibility of abiding is given to us. Whether we truly abide in the Lord is left to be seen. Our challenge is to fulfill this command from the Lord Jesus to abide in Him. The disciples of Jesus fulfilled this call to remain and to hold fast to Him. They went on to have most fruitful ministries. They fulfilled this imperative from the Lord. Let’s fulfill it too.

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