1998-04-07 - Standing Firm, Part 2

Colossians 1:23 "If indeed you continue on in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not constantly shifting from the hope of the gospel that you have heard …"

Today I would like examine some encouragements to walk with Christ faithfully and steadfastly. This list is by no means exhaustive.

1. Comfort While David calmly played his harp, King Saul was literally going out of his mind. David knew something that apparently Saul did not. He knew the peace and comfort that comes from faithfully walking with his God. (1 Samuel 16:23)

2. Obedience promotes obedience We are creatures of habit. To live in a way that is faithful and to walk in a manner that is steadfast is to promote habits that are the same and to re-enforce a lifestyle that is pleases God. (1 Corinthians 13:5)

3. The experiences of former times should give us encouragement to trust God with future times. No one ever said trust was easy, and if they did, they were wrong. But knowing that God has brought us to where we are should give us hope that He will bring us to where we need to be in time. If God has been with us in the past, protecting and preserving us, surely he will be there in the future.

   In fact last week I learned this in a real way. No seat belt, smash, car crash, I just clenched my muscles and I didn't even move from my seat, and I'm not that strong, no one is. God must have been protecting me. My car is trashed, I didn't even have a bruise on my body, not one. God is gracious, even when we are stupid, my experience is that He is worthy of trust.

4. The Providence of God We have been leading here, don't get me going. How I love to speak of God's providential care of His children. Friends, if you try to rely upon your wits or intelligence to remain steadfast in Christ, you will wind up miserable. There is one hope, there is one solution for all our struggles, cast yourselves into the everlasting merciful arms of Christ, know that you can not live for Christ without the mercy of Christ being granted to you. Here you have a chance, here you have hope. Your hope, my hope, is at the throne of grace, may grace find us there!

"Tell me, if God had never a creature to look to in all the world but thee, wouldst thou believe that He would regard thy heart, and words, and ways, or not? If He would, why not now as well as then! Is He not as sufficient for thee, and as really present with thee, as if He had no other creature else? If all men in the world were dead save one, would the sun any more illuminate that one than now it doth? … If thou think us worms too low for God so exactly to observe, thou mayest as well think that we are too low for Him to create, or preserve" --Richard Baxter, The most prolific writer in the history of the Christian church.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-