STAND FIRM - 1
May 19, 2019
I’m at a point in life where I really don’t like to go camping. No offense to you campers! I really prefer to be in a nice comfortable bed, with good showers, a breakfast buffet, a pool and a hot tub. I’m not asking for much, but that’s kind of my starting point.
There’s a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, I prefer comfort vs. expense. I’ll pay the extra money to have a good night sleep in a secured room, which locks, as opposed to someone just walking into my tent.
The 2nd reason I prefer a room vs. a tent, is that I don’t want to face the elements. I can’t think of nothing more fun than to endure a sleepless night of wind and rain and cold in a tent. I’m joking!! If I can avoid it, I will.
Have you ever seen people who have endured a night of wind and rain and cold in a tent? That next morning they don’t look too well. They turn into angry cats!
You see, this applies to more than camping and my comfort. Ultimately, it’s about the foundation. There’s not much of a foundation in a tent, or even a camper, but in a cabin or a hotel, you have a firm foundation. You know you’re pretty secure, you’re in an immovable object. You trust you can stand firm.
Well, for the next 4 weeks we’re going to be talking about what it means to stand firm in our faith. That we can be immovable when whatever hits us in life. That’s because we have a confident faith in Jesus. It’s because we really believe in His promises. We trust that what He said is really, really true, and it’s not just something we’re kind of hoping for.
Because of this, you can face any storm in life. Whether it’s financial, physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, or relational. So, the point of the next few weeks is to help each of us build a better foundation so that when the storms of life hit us, we can withstand them, standing firm, safe and secure in Christ.
A few weeks ago, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. Now, we’ve moved beyond that. We’ve put away our Easter decorations, the bunnies and the Easter eggs, and now we’re getting ready for Christmas! It seems that way. I think Christmas decorations will be out soon.
In reality, we tend to forget and move on from these great days too quickly. And not only do we move on, we get stuck because we don’t always hold onto the power of these great days. Life has a way of overcoming us and we get sucked in. We end up in those tents filling up with water. Our foundations get shaken and we struggle to stay above the knee deep water.
Maybe you’ve been rocked by finances, maybe it’s your marriage or your career that’s suffering, maybe it’s something really personal, or maybe it’s something physical or emotional that’s making you struggle, maybe it’s a failure, a lack of success, maybe it’s an illness or a death. Whatever it is, you’re just trying to survive through the storm, but folks . . . I don’t want any of us just to survive, I want us to thrive . . . to thrive through the power and glory of Christ.
One of the things I really want to do throughout the year, is to occasionally bring us back to the resurrection. So, that’s the basis of this series. As we use the resurrection to move us forward in our faith relationship with Jesus, so we thrive in the midst of the storms. We need to hold onto the promises of Jesus.
Do any of you worry? That’s kind of a silly question . . . we all worry. We worry about ourselves, our families, our friends, even the world. And too often we get stuck worrying. So, let’s look at some promises from God.
The promise that God will give you peace when you are worried.
Imagine what the disciples were feeling on that first Easter. They were not only worried, they were scared. They didn’t know who would be next. Jesus, their leader was dead. They didn’t know how they would overcome that. For now, they were anxious and afraid. John tells us –
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for FEAR of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “PEACE BE WITH YOU.”
20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, “PEACE BE WITH YOU.” – John 20:19-21
The resurrection of Jesus proved He just didn’t have power over death, but over everything else as well. Look at what was going on. The doors were locked. The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders. They feared for their lives. Do you get it? The doors were locked. They were hiding.
Jesus didn’t knock . . . He just appeared. He has power over what we can’t imagine. What were His first words to the disciples? “It’s not hey guys, what’s up?” He knows their state of mind, he knows their hearts are aching.
He simply says four amazing powerful words - -
PEACE BE WITH YOU!
How often do we need to hear those words?
Maybe you’re out of work and you’re worried about paying your bills. Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
Maybe you or a loved one has a serious health issue or there’s been a death, you’re grieving. Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
Maybe a relationship just ended, or you don’t have a relationship and you’re wondering if you will ever have that companion. Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
Maybe you’re dealing with the consequences of worry and stress. You’re staying up late at night, you can’t sleep, you’re blood pressure is going up, you’re not eating right, you’re consumed by worry, you’re irritable and the joy has been sucked out of life. Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
You see, the empty tomb proves Jesus has ultimate power. Jesus loves you. He came into this world for you, suffered for you, died for you. He knew you and created you before you were a glimmer of joy. He rose from the dead for you. He offers you eternal life, grace and forgiveness. And He offers you His peace.
So, how do we get this peace from Jesus which supports us? This peace which doesn’t always make total sense?
Well, Paul gives us some help in Philippians 4. He wrote –
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7
We can turn to God in prayer. Now, let me explain something here. Your prayer doesn’t have to be 5 or 10 or 30 minutes long. Your prayer doesn’t need to have all kinds of fancy and theological words. You simply need to talk to God. To tell God what’s going on in your life. That’s what Paul means when he says make your requests known to God. THAT IS PRAYER!!
God already knows what’s going on, but He wants to hear from you about what you believe you’re in need of. Sometimes it may seem obvious to us, but until we talk to God, we might surprise ourselves with what we’re really burdened with.
Let me ask you, have you ever experienced His peace? Have you ever been in a tough situation, and you talked to God, maybe you cried out to God, or you shouted to God, or you whispered to God. It’s doesn’t matter how you did it, but you did. And then it happened.
You experienced peace. It didn’t make sense, it wasn’t explainable. Maybe it came through the Spirit, maybe it was a message through a song, or a sermon, or a book, or a friend. The message comes in many different ways. But it happened! Ultimately it is a gift through the Spirit of God.
You’re finally at peace. It’s what Paul explains to us. His peace surpasses our comprehension. His peace is not rational, it’s not explainable to the rest of the world, but we know it, we experienced it, we felt it. It was a message of hope from God. His peace!
And when Paul said - God’s peace will guard your hearts and minds - - - There’s a great meaning to this - - the Greek word literally means this To guard or protect by a military guard, either in order to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight.
In other words, God has posted a metaphorical military guard around your heart and mind to protect from an invasion. He’s also trying to keep your heart still so that you won’t run and turn to something which is not good for you. That’s all to help bring God’s peace into your life, which really isn’t logical or rational.
You want a faith which is firm and solid? A faith which is immovable? Experience His peace. As Jesus was preparing the disciples for His death, He told them –
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.
But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
Those are words of peace. In Jesus we will find peace. There’s trouble and heartbreak and tribulation in the world. But in Jesus, we have One who has overcome the world, which is exactly what the resurrection is about. He has overcome, so we can overcome!
One other aspect that we will talk about this morning is the fact that - - -
God promises us that He will give us His power when we’re worried, anxious and weak. How many of us try to solve the world’s problems on our own? We try with our own power, strength and wisdom and we don’t succeed.
Sometimes, our efforts were done without God’s involvement. We try and try, then we call on God to help us out, then we tell God, “NOPE, God hold on, I found another way!” But God offers us the gift of His power. But - - we need to rely on God, not on ourselves.
Can you admit, you can’t handle everything? Do you know that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to you and I. Did you know that? We have more power and strength than we can ever imagine. But we haven’t figured out the real way to tap into that power. It’s pretty simple, but most of us just don’t want to do it the right way. We want to do it our way, because we don’t want to rely on anyone for anything.
As Paul was praising the Ephesian church for their faith, he prays that –
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you,
what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe,
according to the working of His great might
20 that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, – Ephesians 1:18-20
When you’re struggling, when you’re feeling weak, hold onto these words from Ephesians 1. In verses 19 and 20, understand what Paul was telling the people - -
he’s telling us that God’s power is immeasurable. We can measure a person’s strength. But we can’t measure God’s strength, because it’s above our comprehension. There’s no end to His strength and power.
And God is giving us that power. It’s available to you and I. It’s His amazing power toward us who believe. So, you need to believe, and that power is available. Paul says - the power which is available to us is the same power God used when He raised Christ from the dead and it’s the same power He used when Christ ascended to heaven. That’s the power which is available to you and I.
That’s God’s power!!! And you and I can have it. It doesn’t mean we can leap tall buildings in a single bound, we may not run any faster. We may still use a cane or a walker, and still have physical or financial issues. This isn’t a cure all - - -
BUT when we believe, we can hold onto God’s power believing and knowing, trusting and having faith that He is with us. No matter what happens. He’s at work in your life. He has this power to lift you up. In fact, our English word - DYNAMITE - comes from this very Greek word. It’s the supernatural, miraculous power from God.
Then Paul reminds us of what we can do . . . again, in Philippians 4, Paul tells us –
13 I can do ALL things through Him who strengthens me. - Philippians 4:13
Notice the passage doesn’t say, ‘we can do some things,’ it says we can do ALL things through Christ - - not some, not many not a lot, not most things . . . but we can do ALL things through Christ. WHY? Because He is the One who is giving us the strength.
But we need to believe He is the One who gives us strength. Not wish it, not hope for it, not even long for it . . . we need to believe, to trust, to have faith that He is the One.
So, what does all of this mean for us? And really, I’m just starting. It means in the storms of life, we can stand firm. We can be that immovable object that will not fall when the times are tough. When we are hard pressed on every side, we will not crumble, we will not run . . . because our hope is in Jesus Christ. He is our ROCK and our FORTRESS. And He will never fail us.
You see, because of the resurrection, we have this amazing opportunity to draw closer to the One who defeated death, to the One who has given us the offer of salvation. The One who says, come to me and I will give you peace, I will give you power, trust in me, believe in me.
That’s what salvation is about. It’s having faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that He is the One who is alive forever and redeems us and saves us so that we can be with Him in eternity.
All of that because of the cross and resurrection. And because of that . . .
We can stand firm. We can be immovable, unshakeable, solid, secure in the storms of life. We can celebrate . . . no matter the season we are in.
So, we can give thanks to God for His belief in you. That He came for you. That He loves you so much.
Remember that God offers you peace and power. It gives you the ability to stand firm because of who Christ is in your life.
