Good morning, and let me start off by again saying Happy Father’s Day. Well, today we are going to finish the series that we have been in looking at the lamps behind me. We have now looked at the Eternal, Internal, and External connections that have to be working in order for the lamp to shine. We have also compared these elements to our lives as we read that we are to shine like lights as well.
Let me remind you of Matthew 5:14-16. Here in Matthew 5:14-16 it says, “1”
So, we are called to be light in a dark world. Before we wrap things up this morning, let’s to a real quick review:
We started by looking at the fact that the light must be connected to the source. For us again, the source is God, which means we need to look Upward in order to see and Eternal Connection. We also looked at how apart from God we can do nothing, and how people try to hook into the wrong sources some times.
The next week we moved to the switch of the light. We said that the switch was Self, which means we need to look Inward in order to see the Internal Connection. This sermon dealt with the idea of making a choice, because of free will to follow God and to shine for Him. And we ended that week by looking at a few things that can turn our switch off.
Then last week we were able to see the light shine. We talked about the socket. The socket is Others, which means we need to look Outward in order to see the External Connection. That sermon focused in on fellowship and friendship with others. We ended by looking as some characteristics of a real friend.
This week, we tie all of this together and look at the importance of staying connected. Before we begin, let’s open with a word of prayer
Fathers and mothers need to have this perseverance about them that will lead their children in the right direction. You see, what a child sees in their father and mother, is usually the type of adult that they will turn out to be. So especially to the Fathers this morning, don’t you want to see your children rise up to be godly adults? If so, then you have to model perseverance to them today.
To take a look at true perseverance, I want to look at Paul this morning. Paul’s steadfastness serves as an inspiration and a challenge for all of us to chase after. Consider the postage stamp: Its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets to its destination. We need to be that way as well.
Based on Paul’s unshakeable faith we get an appreciation of the agony, the fear, and the conflicts he endured throughout his 35 years in the ministry. Paul’s unwavering attention to God’s priorities makes him an example of how to remain calm, sober, and reliable when others give up.
Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Many things are done in vain, but not service for Jesus.
Paul’s difficult missionary journeys prepared him to face more complicated challenges that elevated him to the highest place of human leadership. Paul talks to no less than 6 major leaders in his day while speaking in his own defense. Because Paul was willing to endure so much adversity for Christ’s sake, rulers curiously beckoned him to talk to them about his motivations.
God’s preparation program often enables us to be able to accomplish far greater things if we are willing to let God put us in the best places. Trust God to use your many years of steadfastness to propel you into greater places of service. Trust that you perseverance is going to make a far greater impact on you children than mere words.
As we continue to look at Paul, his steadfastness also helped him to overcome the temptations of other weaker people. While many other believers fall into all kinds of sins, wrong attitudes, or faulty assumptions, a steadfast Christian is able to avoid the traps of this corrupt world.
Paul’s steadfastness came from his commitment to obey God regardless of the costs. Even when Paul heard the prophetic voice of good men urging him not to go into Jerusalem, he proceeded because he knew that real love for God is measured best by our obedience to His will.
Steadfast Christians are going to remain solidly committed to Christ, the growth of His church, and to service by helping to fulfill the great commission.
Paul’s steadfastness also proved to be a huge inspiration to the families in Tyre (Tire) and wherever he went. Tyre (Tire) was decaying commercially, but Paul gave them a greater means of obtaining prosperity. Tyre’s (Tire’s) port allowed Paul’s visit to have multiplying effects.
Never underestimate the positive effects that steadfast Christians can have on those around them. Paul’s sympathy, affection and Godly character blessed everyone he came in contact with. Fathers, understand that your steadfastness around your children will have a lasting effect in their lives.
As William Carey, the father of modern missions once wrote, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” Paul is separated from his beloved friends and moves right into the regions where persecution is sure to be most severe.
Turn with me to Acts 20:22-27. Here in this passage, we take a deeper look at Paul. Here in Acts 20:22-27 it says, “2”
Living for God is the best life experience that you can have. Affecting eternity and not just the temporary gives life meaning. Once we decide to live for God completely we will experience more exhilaration than a mountain climber, more excitement than a professional athlete, and more opportunity than a heroic soldier.
Bob Harrington, the chaplain of Bourbon Street, was famous for saying, "It’s fun being saved.” The Apostle Paul had such an experience, living his life full throttle for the Lord. He never held anything back, but lived with a reckless abandon for his God. His life was a great adventure, and ours can be as well.
Some think of the Christian life as boring and ho hum, but that’s only because they haven’t experienced it all the way. God never intended our spiritual life to be a hobby or a weekend event, but a life adventure that will require persistence and steadfastness.
Paul said, none of these things move me. He was talking about persecution, death, and danger. I think that the reason none of that moved him was because you can’t scare a dead man. Paul said, "I die daily," dead to sin, dead to the flesh, dead to this world, but Alive To God!
Someone once said, “Just walk up to a corpse at a viewing and try to scare him, threaten to kill him, and I bet he won’t even flinch!”
Psalm 16:8 says, “I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
In I Corinthians 15:58 again it says, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
What I want to do with the time remaining is share 4 Anchors of Steadfastness from the Apostle Paul.
First, A Sense Of Destiny
This is missing in most people’s lives today. They don’t know who they are, why they’re here, or where they’re going. Take Alice in Wonderland for example. She came to a fork in the road and didn’t know which way to go. Someone asked her which way she was headed. She didn’t know. So they replied, then it doesn’t matter which way you go!
And many people run around today aimlessly with no idea of their purpose in life or what their destiny might be. We need to have some goals, some plans, envisions of the future! We need something bigger than our own bellies to live for! If we don’t, then life will be pretty dull and meaningless.
Maker of cheese, J. L. Kraft for years gave 25% of his great profits to Christ, and said his purpose was not to build his business as much as it was to build the kingdom of God. He was all about the cause of Christ, and not the cause of cheese! He recognized his day job was just a vehicle that God could use to get him where he needed to be, to advance the eternal kingdom.
So, are you in survival mode today? God wants us to live, not just exist! Paul lived for a higher purpose, so he could say of this world and its problems: “none of these things move me.”
Second, Paul Had A Sense Of Dedication
In Romans 12:1 it says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship.”
One day a woman was attending a Bible conference. She approached the speaker with tears in her eyes and told him her story. She had no victory in her Christian life. She had tried many churches, and said she just wasn’t receiving from God very much. He said, you just answered your own question, because of the verse above, the goal is not getting more from God, but giving Him more. It’s not, do I have all of God, but does God have all of me?
So the question is, does God have all of you, laid down as a dedicated sacrifice to Him? In the Old Testament the priest had to place the sacrifice on the altar, and it was killed, but we today in the New Testament days are to be a living sacrifice. In some translations, Paul says “reasonable.” In the Greek, it is “Logicos,” which means logical. What Paul is trying to say is that it is the least that we can do. Christ died for us, can’t we live for Him?
Third, Is A Sense Of Declaration
Verse 25 had the word “preaching” in it. This is different than witnessing, this means, “heralding,” which means ones who shouts an important message, possibly from the king. In Bible days they didn’t have computers and fax machines, text messaging or instant messaging, they didn’t even have the 3 main methods of communication: telephone, telegraph, or tell a woman!
If a king wanted to deliver an important message to another king, he would commission a “herald.” He would be what we would today call an “ambassador,” a messenger of the king. In II Corinthians 5:20 it says, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ….”
What a privilege it should be for us to be messengers for Christ. We represent Christ, and that should give us the strength to persevere through whatever the world throws our way.
And Finally, A Sense Of Duty
Verses 26 and 27 give us another Old Testament picture. A watchman on the wall would look out for approaching enemies, and would sound the alarm. If he didn’t, and people died in the attack, he was said to have their blood on his hands, and he would have to answer for it.
In Ezekiel 3:17-19 it says, “3”
Dr. Jerry Vines tells of being led to witness to a girl at a flower stand; they were both in line, but he didn’t speak. A few days later he stopped there again and now she was working there, and this time she spoke, and asked him to read “some literature” about something that would change his life. He took it, and went home, and discovered it was a cult: the “unification movement” or “the moonies” as they where often called. They were followers of Sun Yung Moon. They had reached her that day when he didn’t even try.
He cried out, “Oh God, I could have won her to the Son, but they won her to the moon. If she dies and goes to hell, her blood will be on my hands!” You see, our duty as Christians is to live a steadfast life and go to Heaven and take as many people with us as we can.
What I want you to do right now is close your eyes and imagine being transported into Heaven. How many people could approach you and say, I’m here because of you? Now transport yourself to Hell. How many could say, I’m here because of you?
I challenge you to pray today that God help you to be like Paul in Determination, Destiny, Dedication, and to do our Duty for Him. And above all, to have perseverance through it all.
As we close, let’s see the advantage to staying connected to the source. As we look at the lamp, the longer we are connected to the source, the longer we make the decision to shine for God, and the longer we are connected though fellowship, the brighter we get.
As we continue to turn this switch, we get brighter and brighter. In our lives, the longer we stick with it, the more we persevere, the brighter we can shine to all those around us.
Let’s Pray |
