Continue
Acts 13:43
1-4-08
We will begin this morning in Acts 13:43. Paul & Barnabas went into a synagogue in Antioch and preached. Some of the hearers responded well to the message and wanted to hear more. Acts 13:43 “Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.”
I have one word for you this morning. That word is “continue.”
I. Paul told these people to “continue in the grace of God.”
It’s one thing to begin right; it’s another to end right. It’s one thing to begin in the grace of God; it is another to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and continue in His grace. The day you were born again you encountered the amazing grace of God. God gave Himself to us no strings attached, free gratis. We had nothing to bring Him but our need and our brokenness. As a free gift He forgave our sins and granted eternal life. Not of works, lest any man should boast, by grace you are saved.
Later, Paul wrote a letter to the Galatian church. He said to them, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.” They began right but got off course somewhere along the way. In Galatians 3:2 Paul writes, “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Verse 3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” This great salvation we have received from the Lord is a salvation of grace from cradle to grave. We initially receive the life of Jesus as a gift and in the same way we draw upon that life daily. We’re dependent upon God for every bit of it.
We are to live in continued dependence upon the divine flow of God’s life. We begin in grace and we continue in grace.
The supply of strength to continue comes from God on a daily basis. “Give us this day our daily bread.” God does not dump a truckload of strength on our front door with a note asking us to get back with Him next month. Like the manna in the wilderness He gives us what we need for each day. “As thy day is so shall thy strength be.” I confess to you that I sometimes struggle with this daily dependence issue. There is something in me that just wants it all taken care of way in advance. But God wants conversation with me every day. He wants me to talk with Him about my needs and thank Him for His provision. I seem to do that more when I feel my needs. I do it even more when there’s an element of desperation in it all. But the rule of the kingdom is this, “ask and it shall be given to you.” Continue in the grace of God.
In 2 Cor 1:8-11 Paul talks about his continued dependence upon the grace of God.
“For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, 11 you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.”
Paul’s life got so difficult that he despaired even of life. He didn’t know whether he was going to make it or not. He was troubled on every side and burdened beyond measure. This happened while Paul was serving God with everything in him. There was a spiritual battle to be fought and Paul found himself right, smack in the middle of it. Why would God allow such a thing in a man’s life who was trying to serve Him in every way he knew how? Paul gives us the answer to that question in verse 9, “that we should not trust in ourselves but in God.” The fundamental difference between works and grace concerns where our trust is. The moralist is trusting in himself. He is trusting in his own ability to perform well enough to get into heaven. But when we’re operating in grace we are trusting in the Lord. We are trusting Him to get us through. We are trusting Him to make a way that we cannot make ourselves. Paul continued in the grace of God; but God used some circumstances to keep him doing that. I love the way Paul tacks this phrase on as a part of his statement: “who raises the dead.” Do you have burdens and problems? Paul’s were life-threatening; but Paul’s God and our God is one who raises the dead. The problem can never get too difficult for Him to solve. Has God come in for you in the past? He will come in for you now. He does it through this kingdom principle: ask and you shall receive. He does it in answer to prayer.
Continue in prayer—even if the answer does not seem to come. God has some “suddenlys” in store for those who will pray. He has blessings stored up for those who continue as Paul continued.
Nurture hope in your heart. Hope is essential for our continuance. The devil will tell you “there is no hope.” He will tell you that you can’t live for God; it’s hopeless. He’ll tell you that you cannot change—what is will always be. The devil will tell you that your kids won’t turn around. If we listen to the devil we will lose our hope. David said in Ps 31:23-24, “Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person. 24 Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.”
Remember when Satan desired to sift Peter like wheat? What was the focus of that battle? The enemy targeted Peter’s faith. Jesus told Peter, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail...” (Luke 22:32). If Peter’s faith could stand firm then Peter would endure the ordeal. And we know he did.
The NIV emphasizes hope in its translation of Isa 40:29-31.
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint” NIV. The Hebrew word translated “wait” in the KJV means to wait with expectation. We need to keep our expector expecting. It is to those “who hope in the Lord” whose strength is renewed.
II. Continue to serve the Lord.
The 1st Century Christians were human like us and got weary in well doing at times. Paul included himself in Gal 6:9-10 when he wrote, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Continue to do good. Keep advancing the kingdom of God no matter what obstacles you encounter. Paul continued to serve God even when weary. Jesus continued to obey the Father even as he prayed in the garden sweating as it were great drops of blood.
When Nehemiah heard the walls of Jerusalem were in rubble, he set out to do something about it. He poured himself into a project that others mocked and resisted. Sanballatt, the commander of the Samaritan army, resisted their efforts to build. Neh 4:2-3 “And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, ‘What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish -- stones that are burned’ 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, ‘Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.’” Their efforts looked puny to these onlookers. But it was part of the plan of God and Nehemiah did not back down just because of their opposition. Nehemiah continued in his service to the Lord.
Do you remember the story of Gideon? A few weeks ago we talked about how God brought his army down from 32,000 to 300 men. When those 300 moved out in obedience to God, they put the enemy to flight. The Medians had about 135,000 men and 300 men put them to flight. Gideon and his men are exhausted from the battle but they keep chasing the enemy. Judges 8:4 “When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit.” I love that phrase, “exhausted but still in pursuit.” Have you ever been there? Every fiber of your being is screaming “give it up.” But you don’t because you know there is too much at stake to stop now.
1 Cor 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Continue even if you feel you are only plodding. Continue even if you feel you’re walking in malaises. Continue. Be faithful to what the Lord has told you to do. In due season, you will reap, if you faint not.
To continue means to be faithful, to not turn back, to not give up. Let me share with you a couple of definitions of continue from Webster’s Dictionary. (1) to go on in a specified course of action; to persist (2) to endure (3) to go on or extend; stretch. Has it ever been a stretch for you to continue in a situation? A marriage will not survive unless both parties continue—for better or worse, in sickness and in health, ‘till death do us part. Our society is breaking down because people won’t continue. Divorce is rampant because somebody leaves a marriage just because it seems easier to leave than work through the problems. Of course, they leave that marriage only to find themselves in another marriage with the same problems and then some. Continue. No runner wins a race without continuing. No general wins a battle without continuing. No student completes a class without continuing.
Faithfulness is central to successful living. Can people count on you to continue? Can your boss at work count on you to continue in a task until it gets done. Can God give me an assignment and know that I will not abandon that assignment just because it gets hard? Faithfulness is a key to your spiritual advancement. Jesus said, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10). Are you passing your test of faithfulness in the current assignment or responsibility? We want God to use us and enlarge our spiritual or natural authority. But the test we have to pass before that happens is faithfulness. In Matthew 25 Jesus gave the Parable of the Talents. In that parable, the master calls his servants and entrusts them with talents. To one he gave five talents, to one he gave two talents, and to one he gave one talent. The master went on a journey and when he returned the servants gave an account to him of what they did with their talents. Two of the servants were faithful; one was not. Now hear what God said to the faithful servants. “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things” (Matt 25:21). Before promotion comes faithfulness. That’s true in the kingdom of God and it’s true on your job. A boss would be a fool to give more responsibility and authority to an employee who is not even faithful over his or her current responsibility. Paul wrote in 1 Tim 1:12 “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.” Can God trust me to be faithful in the assignment He gives me to do.
The longer I live the more convinced I become that God orchestrates circumstances primarily to give people a choice. Once I saw that, a whole lot of things got explained. Why would God allow trials and temptations in your life? It’s all about bringing you to a decision. Will you serve God out of love toward Him even when it seems to cost you to do so? It is a really shallow gospel that calls people to serve Him for how much money they can get, to serve Him so life will be comfortable and easy, to serve him for their own selfish purposes. The gospel calls us to love the Lord with all our hearts—with everything in us. Does God bless those who serve Him? Absolutely. Does He provide for the needs of those who serve Him? Yes, indeed. But that is not the primary motive of our service. The primary motive is love. Love is the opposite of selfishness. Love is motivated by the desires and needs of the other. We so misuse the word love in our society, that most people don’t even know what it means. Marriages often fail because someone didn’t understand the meaning of love or was unwilling to live in that principle.
The Bible talks about a great falling away that will occur in the last days. People will simple decide following Jesus is not worth it. Some who have put their hand to the plow will look back and turn back. In Matt 24 Jesus talked about the hardship His followers would experience in the last days. In verse12 He says, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” The American church has somehow lost sight of the necessity of enduring to the end. The genuineness of our salvation is evidenced by the fact that we “continue” in the faith. In Romans 9 Paul talks about how Israel was cut off from God because of their unfaithfulness. Then he makes application to us in verse 22, “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.” It is a false security to think that I can say the sinner’s prayer, go to church for awhile, then turn back to my old wicked ways and be saved. Charles Spurgeon is known as the Prince of Preachers. He was a Calvinist and proclaimed the grace of God in his preaching. But listen to what he told his congregation in 1864. “Moreover, the common-sense of mankind tells us, that those who merely begin and do not hold out, will not be saved. Why, if every man would be saved who began to follow Christ, who would be damned? In such a country as this, the most of men have at least one religious spasm in their lives.” . God is looking for people who will continue with Him. “... he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
Have you put your hand to the plow? Don’t look back, don’t turn back, keep on plowing. Have you begun your journey with the Lord? Continue to serve Him. Have you begun your race? Finish well. Get a second spiritual wind and finish your course.
Invitation
Richard Tow
Gateway Foursquare Church
Nixa, Missouri
