AUGUST 11

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES:

ELISABETH ELLIOT:

There is, in fact, no redemptive work done anywhere without suffering.  And God calls us to stand alongside Him to offer our sufferings to Him for His transfiguration and to fill up in our poor human flesh.  If I’m not given the privilege of being crucified, if I’m not given the privilege of being martyred in some way, some literal way, for God, I am given the privilege of offering up to Him whatever He has given to me.  I offer to Him all that I am, all that I have, all that I do and all that I suffer for His transformation, transfiguration, exchange for the life of the world.  That is what it’s all about.

I made a list of these amazing paradoxes.  These are some of the things that the Scripture tells me God transforms.  The wilderness into pasture, Deserts into springs.  Perishable into imperishable.  Weakness into power.  Humiliation into glory.  Poverty into riches.  Mortality into immortality.  This vile body into a resplendent body.  My mourning into the oil of joy.  My spirit of heaviness into a garment of praise.  And beauty for ashes.  

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This month we will continue the book, “Whatever Happens – How to Stand Firm in Your Faith When the World is Falling Apart.”  By a contemporary author of many best-selling Christian books, Robert J. Morgan.  He took care of his wife when she had MS, until she went home to her Savior.  “He knows of which he speaks.”  I pray that this book blesses you.

Philippians 4:1

“Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast (firm) in the Lord, beloved.”

Two of our earliest heroes are Polycarp and Ignatius.  We have a letter from Ignatius to Polycarp, exhorting him, “Stand firm, as does an anvil which is beaten.  It is the part of a noble athlete to be wounded and yet to conquer. Especially we ought to bear all things for the sake of God, that He also may bear with us. Be ever more zealous than you are.  Weigh carefully the times.  Look to Him who is above all time, eternal and invisible.” 

St. Augustine prayed, “You are a stronghold and my refuge; let me flee to You, that I may grow strong in every respect where I have grown weak in myself.  The grace of Christ makes me stand firm and immovable.”

Every student of Christian history delights in the life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.  On April 17, 1887, Spurgeon preached  a sermon from Philippians 4:1, in which he implored his listeners to stand firm in their doctrine, to stand firm in personal holiness, and to stand firm without wavering, wandering or weariness.

Spurgeon thundered, “We must not yield, we dare not yield, if we are of the city of the great King.  The martyrs cry to us to stand firm; the cloud of witnesses bending from their thrones above beseech us to stand firm; yes, all the hosts of the shining ones cry to us, “stand firm.”  Stand firm for God, the truth and holiness, and let no man take your crown.”

When Spurgeon saw his own denomination fall into theological erosion, he took a powerful stand.  He stood firm at great personal cost, refusing to yield the high doctrines of the book he held in his hand.

Here in America, Jonathan Edwards ministered as the winds of the Enlightenment challenged the Christian message.  But he never faltered, and his story is full of love, revival, and courage.  In one of his incisive sermons, he said, “the servant who always stands watching will not be at all surprised at the news that His Lord is coming.  This will be the way for you to live above the fear of death.  Yeah, if heaven and earth should shake, you may stand firm and unshaken, being settled on a  rock, which cannot be removed, but abides forever.”

In modern times, no one has influenced me more than Billy Graham.  He stood unflinching for the gospel.  On one occasion he said:

“Satan will do everything he can to divert us from the message of Scripture, but we must stand firm.  God has spoken and we must be faithful to that message…..Our generation, especially in the West, occupied itself with criticism of the Scriptures and all too soon found itself questioning divine revelation.  Don’t make that mistake.  Take the Bible as God’s Holy Word….I find that the Bible becomes a flame in my hands —a flame that melts the hearts of people and moves them to decide for Christ.”

STAND FIRM IN THE LIBERTY OF CHRIST

Paul told the Galatians, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1).  He didn’t want anyone to dilute the teaching of the gospel.

Likewise, we must stand firm in our liberty.  We must be free from anything that would enslave us, including the fear of men.  Now more than ever, it’s vital to hold unswervingly to the core doctrines of historic Christianity – apostolic message—and to a Biblical worldview on the burning issues of our day including the sanctity of sex, gender, and marriage.  Our Biblical worldview on these issues is wise, loving, and indispensable for the well-being of our culture.  We must stand firm.

STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH

Paul told the Corinthians, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous, be strong (1Cor. 16;13).  I have investigated Christianity from every angle, and I can tell you it is reliable and trustworthy, historically, philosophically, psychologically, prophetically, apologetically, archaeologically, scientifically, and in terms of its sublime humanitarianism that has changed human history.  Someone told me once, “Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs.  Don’t make the mistake of believing your doubts or doubting your beliefs.”

STAND FIRM, CLAD IN THE ARMOR OF GOD

In Ephesians 6:13-17 the Bible’s premiere passage about spiritual warfare, we read:

“13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God;”

STAND FIRM AGAINST THE DEVIL AND HIS SCHEMES

Closely associated with those verses is Peter’s command:  “resist him (satan) , standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (1 Peter 5:9)

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