SERMON - WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE BY YOUR FAITH AND WHY

What It Means

To

Live by Your Faith

And

WHY

 

 

 

The strong in faith are to listen to God and live in Him. God has a purpose for each of us and is preparing each of us for eternal life with Him.

 

The ever increasing afflictions and disasters are demanding more steadfastness in our faith, and the weak are falling away. 

Just as Paul was accused by his fellow Christians of suffering caused by his lack of faith, many of us are similarly accused. It is sad, but many of these accusations emanate from the pulpits that are to be our guides; not to exude a ‘holier than thou’ attitude.

 

The constant harassment of Paul continued until his dying day,and you too can expect that there are some that will continue their harassment of you until your dying day as well.

 

It is very difficult to explain just why righteous people are subjected to such difficulties. Why anyone, especially one professing to be Christian, would even try to make others believe that they are somehow more worthy of God’s love is beyond me. Maybe it is meant to teach us ‘patience,’ or, ‘to trust Him more.’

 

I, for one, see any testing of my faith as a reason to pray and place my trust in Him and to shrug off my burden and allow Him to carry it. That allows me to void myself of any anger I may have felt by the slight I was subjected to and to forgive and forget the thought of anyone even thinking he, or she, is somehow more deserving than me.

 

There are some amongst you that have suffered similar ‘afflictions,’ and, ‘trials.’

 

These, ‘afflictions and trials,’ are only meant to strengthen each of us for our ultimate service in glory! We are being prepared for our service on the other side!

 

Think about it! The very day you committed your life to trust God, no matter the consequence, He knew of the trials you would face and had to overcome. He knew that you would be one to love and trust Him no matter what! He knew that you, in your love of Him, would be an overcomer!     

 

I remain convinced that right now, this very day, we are facing times that will lead to the New Jerusalem.

Revelation 22: ³No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.  

 

⁵There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

 

Revelation 5: ¹⁰You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."

 

These Scriptures all speak of activity. Each suggests that God is preparing us now for what He wants to entrust to us in the new world. Simply put, He has plans for us that are beyond our ability to comprehend.

 

As we are brought to eternal life we will be in God’s service continually.

 

Ephesians 2: ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus

 

If you really think on this you will come to realize, we will hear testimonies attesting to the Lord’s merciful kindness for ages to come. We will hear great and powerful singing as we hear and see the unimaginable praise lauded upon Him who created us. I, for one, cannot totally imagine the sight and sounds of the millions of redeemed that will come marching in!

 

Just as you, I too am confronted with trials that humble me and cause me to ask the Lord, ‘Please teach me what lesson I am to learn from this present situation.’ The answer I am receiving is that, 'all I go through is to prepare me for my service of Him is His Kingdom.'

 

Brothers, sisters, it is my firm belief that we are being ‘weaned’ from everything that is of this world. It is as if we were experiencing the pains of being birthed! God is allowing us to realize that we are simply human, weak of strength and we must cease trying to do thing our way and to trust in Him for everything.  We must allow Him to lead us and stop trying to lead Him to do things our way!

 

There is an old time hymn, actually a gospel song that goes like this: “By and by / When the morning comes / When all the saints of God are gathered home / We will tell the story how we’ve overcome / And we’ll understand it better / By and by.”

 

I have never doubted God and His goodness. I have always been a strong believer in the new world to come. When I arrive in heaven and get the opportunity I will be one to attest to the fact that whenever I was in need, Jesus, as a Person of God heard my prayers and came to my rescue.

 

I hope that I have adequately delivered to each of you, and to any that hear these words, a sermon that will lift your hearts and you spirits to see that God is in control and we must allow Him to do His will.

 

(Closing prayer)

 

Almighty God, our King and Father, please accept our praise and our undying worship. You are our God and it is to You that we pray. It is to You that we turn in times of need and we now turn to You asking for the strength to turn our earthly fears and concerns over to You trusting that You have the answers and wisdom to solve anything and everything.

 

Father, we look forward to the day we will shed these earthly bodies as we come into Your presence to serve Your every wish. Until that day, Lord, be with us and continue to show us the mercies we need as we are weak and in total reliance on You.

 

You have sent Your Holy Spirit to guide us in our lives and we ask that You enter the lives and hearts of those that oppose us and lead them to You.

 

Lord, we ask Your protection of our military, the judges, police, elected officials and any that is charged with seeing to our safety. Touch them with Your Mighty Hand and steer their thoughts towards You.

 

Lord, we also ask that You shed Your mercies upon our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world and comfort them. Protect them and see to their needs.

 

These things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who is One with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever,

 

Amen, amen and amen.

-- 

Pastor Lee S Gliddon Jr
God's Word Christian Ministry
Conservative Patriot http://conpats.blogspot.com