There is a way to enjoy the Christian life or you can
endure it.
For reasons no one may ever know, a woman, who enjoyed a
lively form of worship, went one Sunday to a very staid and formal church. As
the preacher reached the end of his first prayer, she said quietly but firmly,
"Amen, Lord. Amen."
A
deacon who was in the same
pew leaned over his wife's lap, and whispered, "Lady, please try to
control yourself! We don't allow that kind of thing in this church!"
However, no sooner had the next
hymn come to a close, when the woman shouted, "Amen! Hallelujah! Praise
the Lord!"
The deacon quickly leaned over
his wife's lap again. "Lady!" he hissed, "You must quiet down
immediately or LEAVE!"
"Oh, I really didn't mean
to DISTURB," said the woman, "but I'm just so HAPPY since I found
the LORD!"
"Well, you may have found
the Lord," hissed the deacon, "but I am quite certain you did not
find Him HERE!"
Robert
Robinson had been saved out of a tempestuous life of sin through George
Whitefield's ministry in England. Shortly
after that, at the age of twenty-three, Robinson wrote the hymn Come, Thou
Fount.
Come, Thou Fount of ev'ry blessing,
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Sadly,
Robinson wandered far from those streams and, like the Prodigal Son, journeyed
into the distant country of carnality. Until
one day -- he was traveling by stagecoach and sitting beside a young woman
engrossed in her book. She ran
across a verse she thought was beautiful and asked him what he thought of it.
Prone to wander -- Lord, I feel it --
Prone to leave the God I love.
Bursting
into tears, Robinson said, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote
that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them,
to enjoy the feelings I had then."
-- Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories, p. 52
Scripture Text:
1Tim 6:12 (KJS) Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal
life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession
before many witnesses. 13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who
quickeneth all things, and [before] Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate
witnessed a good confession; 14 That thou keep [this] commandment without
spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15 Which
in his times he shall shew, [who is] the blessed and only Potentate, the
King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in
the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can
see: to whom [be] honour and power everlasting. Amen. 17 Charge them that
are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain
riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18
That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good
foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
The Purpose of this message is to show how you can
enjoy your faith in the Lord.
Do you endure or enjoy your faith? What are the
requirements for having an enjoyable Christian faith?
Paul’s
seven step plan for enjoying your Christian faith:
Step 1. Fight
the Good fight of Faith: Do
you enjoy a good fight? You must
get involved in serving God and serving others.
This is the fight or the agony you should be involved in. The contest is with your prideful nature and the holy
character of the Spirit who is leading you to become a servant of the Lord.
Armchair quarterbacks never enjoy the thrill of the game.
So get in there and get involved.
Fight means
agonizomai {ag-o-nid'-zom-ahee} A
verb. AV - strive 3, fight 3,
labour fervently 1; 7
1) to enter a contest: contend in the gymnastic games
2) to contend with adversaries, fight
3) metaph. to contend, struggle, with difficulties and
dangers
4) to endeavour with strenuous zeal, strive: to obtain
something
Step 2: Lay
hold on eternal life. Go with
the Lord in your life. Go all out
with God. Don’t go part way or
half-hearted, but all out. It is
our choice to go with the Lord in our lives or not.
Take God into your life and yield your life totally to him with no
holds barred. Paul was
Timothy’s example. He went all
out. Have you? Don’t hold back
because there is nothing on earth worth more than this.
This is the aim of the Christian life.
We are to lay hold on God.
Lay hold on
means epilambanomai {ep-ee-lam-ban'-om-ahee}
A
verb. AV - take 7, take by
3, catch 2, take on 2, lay hold on 2,
take hold of 2, lay hold upon 1; 19
1) to take in addition, to lay hold of, take possession
of,
overtake, attain, attain to
1a) to lay hold of or to seize upon anything with the
hands,
to take hold of, lay hold of
1b) metaph. to rescue one from peril, to help, succour
Step 3: Remember
your calling and your good confession.
You are already a Christian. Don’t
forget who you are. Sometimes
spiritual amnesia sets in and we tend to forget whom we are, where we have
been, and where we are going. Who
are you and where are you going? Is
it in the right direction?
Step 4. Keep
this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our
Lord. Don’t get involved in sin
and mess up your relationship with God. Sin
is the number one killjoy of the Christian life. Joy comes through a relationship with the Lord.
But, sin prevents us from enjoying the fellowship we could have.
Keep pure in the hidden parts of our life and you will enjoy the
abundant life that Jesus promises to give.
Step 5: Trust
in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
Be happy and don’t worry. Really
trust him and stop worrying.
Let Him take care of all those things that you have been worrying
about. Remember Mat. 6:33.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all of these things shall be
added unto you.” This is
according to his plan as the Father cares for his children so will He.
Step 6: Be
Rich in good deeds and lay up treasures for your self in heaven.
Doing good benefits the doer as it benefits the recipient of the
good. You will be happy in well
doing and lay up for yourselves riches in heaven.
You can take it with you if you send it ahead.
Do something for someone else without thought of return.
Step 7: Remember who is God. Today’s
society is obsessed with seeking pleasure, but we can never get enough.
Seek the Lord in your life and you will be blessed with the enjoyment
you desire. Too many times we
take ourselves too seriously, but we don’t take God as seriously as we
should. Give him the honor and
glory from your life. You will
thus be blessed.
15…
[who is] the blessed and only Potentate, the King
of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the
light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to
whom [be] honor and power everlasting.
Enjoyment is the benefit not the aim of our lives with
the Lord. Enjoyment comes from knowing Him
“Did you ever see a
company of soldiers going through their exercises? Well, if you have, you will
remember that, after their muskets are loaded, the officer who is exercising
them calls out, "Make ready -- take aim -- fire."
The
aim of each soldier is the thing, which he tries to hit when he fires his gun.
When
soldiers are engaged in what is called target-shooting, or firing at a mark,
they have a large board set up, at some distance from them. The surface of
this board is painted all over in black and white rings or circles. In the
center of the board is a small black circle, sometimes called the bull's-eye.
Every soldier, as he takes aim, tries to hit the bull's-eye, or black circle,
in the center of the board. The aim of the soldier is that which he tries to
hit with his gun.
And
in the same way we use the word aim as referring to anything a person
undertakes to do. If a new scholar enters your class in school, and says to
himself, as he enters, "Now I am going to be the head of this
class," and if he begins to study his lessons with great diligence and
care, so as to get above the others, then you may say the aim of that scholar
is to be the head of the class. The aim of Christopher Columbus was to
discover a shorter way to India. The aim of Sir John Franklin and his
companions, who perished in the Arctic regions, was to find out a passage by
sea from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean. The aim of Dr. Kane, in his voyage
to the north, was to find out what had become of Sir John Franklin. The aim of
Dr. Livingstone, in his long journey through Africa, was to find out the best
way of carrying the gospel into the interior of that vast country.
There
are a great many aims that people set before them in this world. Some aim to
get great riches others to get a great name; and others to enjoy great
pleasure. But St. Paul tells us of an aim that is much better than all these.
He says, Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of
God." -- Richard Newton.
By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."