“Get Off The Fence”
John 18:28-19:16
Sermon Series: “Getting Acquainted With Jesus”
Introduction: Most of us are familiar with the term, “straddling the fence.” It means to be undecided, take a middle position, be unwilling to take a position, or be unwilling to get in one camp or the other. William Safire records a historical usage of the phrase by Carl Schurz, who was a United States Senator from Missouri and the 13th Secretary of the Interior. Schurz described his position of political independence on an issue “as that of a man sitting on a fence, with clean boots, watching carefully which way he may leap to keep out of the mud.”
This is a very pragmatic position, and it could be a wise position to take in regard to some issues. However, it is a suicidal position in spiritual matters because God hates lukewarmness. Elijah challenged God’s people on Mount Carmel by saying “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). Joshua said, “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
God wants us to get off the fence. Ultimately, He wants us to follow Jesus Christ whole-heartedly (Luke 9:23-25). However, I also believe that He wants us to stop playing games, realize that we cannot have it both ways, and get off the fence even if we go in the wrong direction. We cannot have one foot on the side of Christianity and the other foot in the world. That is a deceived and miserable way to live. We cannot have it both ways. We are going to look at the example of a man in Scripture this weekend that tried to have it both ways and failed miserably. Let’s learn from his example and avoid his failure. Let’s get off the fence and follow Jesus Christ whole-heartedly. Here are four steps to get you off the fence and on the path of following Jesus.
1. Decide what you believe about Jesus.
Is He the King of the universe (18:33-37)?
Is He the ultimate reality (18:37-38)?
Is He the perfect man (19:1-7)?
Is He the Son of God (19:7-8)?
2. Decide what is most important to you.
Is it self or the Savior?
Is it the things of the world or a relationship with God?
Is it character or convenience?
Is it the person of Christ or position and prominence?
Is it the Master or material things?
3. Realize that we cannot have it both ways, and God will not accept our excuses. Pilate tried to wash his guilt away (Matthew 27:24), but we cannot justify ourselves. Ultimately, John MacArthur has it right when he says, “He [Pilate] bartered away his eternal soul for temporary job security.”
4. Get off the fence and follow Christ whole-heartedly. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?” Are you following Christ whole-heartedly?
