That fruit will last contrary to the charity work that comes from lives that are philanthropic in nature, they want to do something as good citizens for others but they don’t have the living union with Christ, therefore their works will eventually perish. But when you have the living faith, it says in Titus 3, and the good works flow from that and that is good and profitable to all men. God wants that. Finally, to avoid backsliding by degrees going back and not forward with God, we must live a life of praise and thanksgiving. There must be that habitual thanksgiving attitude, an attitude of thanksgiving, as someone said an attitude of gratitude in all things. Not for all things necessarily but in all things - that "Lord you know what I need and Lord you will work everything for my good regardless of how adverse it seems." The Lord got up from that boat during the storm and when He rebuked that storm and calmed it. His question to the disciples was “Where is your faith?” The reason He said that was in essence and in effect to say, “Don’t you know that I’m here everything will be alright. Don’t look at the adverse circumstances I am with you, you will be fine.” This faith prompts in us an attitude of thanksgiving. Even if the worst news comes to us, we have to say Lord I will bless Your name and I thank You that You are still in control. Lord, You will have me overcome it. That attitude keeps me steadfast and immovable in the Lord - very essential to continue with God in a victorious manner.
The first thing is to give attendance to reading, second thing is to give attendance to prayer, have this regularly and have it with faith, the third thing is maintaining holy fellowship with like-minded believers who are also wanting to become like Jesus and want to get that crown from the Lord, and the fourth thing is making sure that you obey all that the Lord has spoken to you.
There are some things that are general in the Bible that applies to everyone, then there is another category that’s very specific and individuals need to hear the Lord on what He wants them to do at any particular junction in their lives. He may say to one person, "Go to this city." To the other person, He’ll say, "I forbid you to go to that city; I want you to go to this city." So obedience is important both in the general commandments and the whole Word of God, moral and ethical, and all those things but also specific directions from the Divine Spirit of God telling you what to do at any particular point in your life. When I have that obedience as the fourth staple in my life, then I will remain steadfast, I can’t go wrong. Praise God! There is victory and consistent victory if only we have these things in our lives.
The last thing is to live a life of praise and thanksgiving as I said. A habitual training of myself to say, "Bad news has come, an evil forecast, but I still choose to praise the Living God." Because I have faith that He is with me in the storm. He will calm it. I know and I will believe Him and praise Him for it ahead of time. That will get me through all of the obstacles and keep me unmoved or immovable. I won’t be shaken. David said I will not be greatly shaken. I won’t be shaken because I will believe my God that He will get me through this. Ephesians 5:20 about praising says this, giving thanks always for all things unto God. Now when He says all things we clarify that we said not for all things in the sense that for the bad things. For example, if you have a crash with an automobile and you have lost so much in damages that is not a good thing, however, God can redeem that and use that for good. But I don’t thank God for the crash, I thank God in those circumstances, say “Lord I still praise you through this thing, because I know you will work it out for good.” So, that is the King James rendering, here it says, giving thanks always for all things, but we would say in all things unto God in the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When someone dies, a child dies of a terminal illness, is that a good thing? No. Death is a bad thing, but death is swallowed up in victory! So God comes and His resurrection life will raise that innocent child up one day. So through their adversity victory will come because God is there. Another benefit might be that God can redeem that sorrowful event - such that others may be drawn; perhaps, very often the family members themselves are closer to the Lord leaving a lifestyle that would have landed them in hell. Now they can join that child in heaven. These are things that we can’t explain or necessarily understand at those points in life. But as we have a life of praising God in all things, God will work everything for our good.
So the Lord helps us to have carefulness to these five things:
1. Reading the Word
2. Prayer
3. Holy Fellowship
4. Obedience
5. Life of Praise
After the carefulness to these things is the commitment that can come forth. See when I am careful on a regular basis that I read and prayed today - I was in the Word of God today and I had a quality time with the Lord that routine will help me to develop a commitment. It will help me to make a decision to commit to the Lord that this will become my lifestyle. I will read, I will pray, and seek out Godly fellowship, you see the effort involved. It is not automatic. That’s why the Apostle says to give attendance to the reading. In other words, don’t neglect it, make sure you pray. Make sure you live a life of thanksgiving, seek out don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together with the brethren. Make sure you give thanks to God and be careful to obey all these things. Why does the Spirit of God come so often and so specifically to tell us to do, do, do – it is because it’s our responsibility to do. God will do everything for us except obey for us. Christ obeyed the Father and fulfilled every point, every "jot and tittle" was fulfilled as for the prophecies up to that point, the Lord fulfilled. His obedience freed me from the destruction that came because of my disobedience. But once He has freed me He will not continue to assign His obedience to my life automatically, so that I don’t need to obey. It’s up to me now. God says having rescued you, “I’m giving a charge and a responsibility to be careful to maintain the good works, give attendance to certain things. It’s up to you, the choice is yours, if you make the right choice every day and you are consistent, that regular routine will give you the impetus to make a commitment that, “Lord, this will become my lifestyle.” The commitment is a contract in essence saying to God, “Lord I read this contract that I will do these things before You.” I’m committed to doing these things, I’m saying to God, “I’m agreeing to do this before you.” A commitment is a contract that no matter what the circumstances in life, what the conditions of the situation, I will persevere steadfast with the Lord.
That commitment that issues from a carefulness to the things of God will lead to a character which is an attendance to the moral and ethical standards that are right before God and I’m embracing that to make that part of me. Now, I’m becoming solidified in the right ways of the Lord. See the carefulness is the initial, I begin to pay attention to the details God is laying out. I take it very seriously. That gives me the opportunity to become committed to Him that I will not let this go, I made a contract with the Lord, I will do these things, and then I will become that character that God can say I can trust him, I can trust her not to forsake Me. Now the character will begin to solidify all of the moral and ethical judgments that I have made a choice for before God. It’ll become part of me and ingrained in me. I’ll become that person, where I will have that victory because I have developed that habitual obedience to God.
That character will lead not to condemnation but to a coronation. A coronation is enthroning someone. When someone gets put on the throne as a king, he is enthroned, he is coronated, and they have a big ceremony and there is a coronation. They crown him, they give him all of the rights and privileges and the authority at that point. Do you know what the Lord Jesus said to us? He said, "to him, that overcomes in Revelation 3:21, I will grant to sit on my throne, even as I also overcame and I’m set with my Father in His throne." What an awesome and ultimate reward for the Christian that it is not just passing through avoiding the bullets from the devil as it were, but it is a coronation that’s waiting! That’s why Paul said that crown of righteousness is laid up for me because I fought the good fight, I finished my course and it was with joy and that crown is not for me only lest we should say, "That was the Paul; He was incredible. I don’t know if I can ever attain to that: fastings voluntary, involuntary, being shipwrecked, being whipped, stoned all these things!" But Paul says Jesus is my example. Jesus who lives in me, the Christ that’s in me - the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:” With Christ living in me, I will head to the throne of Christ one day to be crowned by the Living Christ himself. We examine ourselves to be sure, to be sure that we are walking with the Lord. So when I have complacency, it’s going to lead to compromising the Word of God, because I feel okay, I don’t need to be careful anymore. I will by and by compromise. That compromise will lead to a life of confusion where I won’t even know the right way anymore. Let alone lead others to the right way, but I call myself a Christian. God knows that human heart and that person knows very well that they are backslidden, but they’ll put on a show. But God will judge in the end. That’s the danger. What follows from that confusion is that their own heart condemns them; God who is greater sees it already, and a condemnation results. But as I have said - Praise God! - if you find yourself in that state or any one of those stages, you can say it to the Lord, "Father forgive me for becoming worldly again, for being self-satisfied. Lord, I do not want to lose my soul. Lord, I want to fulfill your purposes!"
Lord, help me never to be fooled or self-deceived. No matter how many people tell me that I am good - that I am better than other people - how am I before you? Lord have I neglected Your Word. I make a flip from that category - that column that leads to a combination of all those lists of things from complacency to the compromise to confusion to condemnation and I hear the voice of the Lord saying, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Why will you die, O Israel?" He says, "Repent!" I say, "Lord, once more as I ask for forgiveness and receive it from You. I want to be careful and give heed to the reading of the Word once more. I start from there. To prayer once more. I pour out my heart before God every day. I make that a priority. I will not forego those things for anything in the world, because that is my relationship with the Lord, which I will not allow anybody to touch. There was a revivalist in the 1800’s, late 1700’s. He had a schedule with God - a contract. He said to the Lord, I will make a commitment to you O Lord that at 8 o’clock every evening I will meet with you. I will leave wherever I am with whoever I am, it can be the king, I will leave his presence and go and pray to you. Sure enough, in the middle of even meetings with nobles, he will excuse himself when 8 o’clock came and go fellowship with the Lord. That man was used mightily in the revivals in England. So much so that they said that if it were not for him and the Wesley Brothers, John and Charles Wesley and George Whitfield - all of these men - that the English would have faced a massacre like the French Revolution produced. That they would have been absolutely obliterated as a society. But through the preaching of the gospel through committed men who were committed to God - God’s Holy Spirit saw that they were committed; they were careful with Him to do the things that would build them up and keep them steadfast. They in turn could be the vehicle through which the society could be saved and that society was a horrendous and wicked one at that time. Saloons everywhere, prostitution, brothels everywhere, all kinds of child labor and abuse. God was able to work because He found a committed person; these are some of the other benefits not only for ourselves but for our fellowmen. From that condemnation, we go to God and say, Lord, please forgive me. God is quick to forgive because He is a loving God and He gives us the opportunity to say, "Lord, I want to be careful and once more start again. God, now and more than ever before I will read Your Word O Lord. This is my life. Thy Word is life. I will pray to God and, "Lord, I will begin to seek out holy fellowship and surround myself with godly people. Elijah wondered, "Where are the godly people?" So many ministries and so many Churches, and so many people call themselves Christians of every brand and type. Every denomination - even cults. "Lord, where are Your people that love You and want to serve You and want to walk with You?" The heart that seeks will find. The heart that asks will receive. The heart that knocks on the door will be open. God told Elijah that 7000 have not bowed their knees to Baal. God has His people who are fervent for Him and those people would be a check for us to keep us in the right way, exhorting us as we exhort them and we will all end up gloriously in heaven where we will - having lived the life of thanksgiving and obedience - will be finally coronated. I close with this: the Lord says “to him who overcomes, will I grant to sit with me in my throne just as I overcame and also set down with My Father in His throne.” How is it possible for Him to say that? How can God take millions of believers and set them on His throne? God is able to do anything and everything! That’s not our concern. Our concern is: that we must be there. We must be coronated. We must be crowned with that crown of glory and crown of righteousness. Let no man take your crown, the Lord says. So I trust that the Lord will help you if you are backslidden - a very serious matter, a dangerous and deadly situation that the devil will not warn you about nor would the world or worldly people, worldly Christians even, so-called Christians and Churches. It is our duty to warn. The good news is: repent and say, "Lord, I left my first love." I want to get back to you and as you begin to go back to God, God will see to it that He will help you with everything in His power to get You to be victorious and be crowned one day. And if you are walking with God - this should only fire your zeal even more that the Lord has this waiting for me and I’m glad to hear it again to reinforce my walk with the Lord. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, we bless your name, Lord. We thank you, Jesus, we praise You, Lord, we praise You, Lord, we praise You, Lord! How magnificent is Your word Father? Thank you, Lord. How magnificent are Your ways, O Lord? Father, I thank you Lord for exhorting us this night. Apart from your Holy Spirit Father, we are lifeless and worthless O Lord. Apart from Your blood Lord Jesus, we are unworthy Lord. We thank you, God, though there is no worth in us as we come to You, You made us worthy, worthy to inherit everlasting life. We bless Your matchless name Lord, we thank you, Father. Lord, we do pray Lord that all of us would understand the gravity of the times in which live, the gravity of our spiritual state. Lord, help us always to be concerned with one thing and one thing only. That is how we appear before thee. Lord, every man can justify himself, all the ways of man are right in his own eyes but the Lord comes and judges us. The Lord helps us to know the truth about how we are, that we can worship You in Spirit and Truth. Blessed Lord that we can Lord be on our feet marching for You unhindered and Lord unencumbered by the things of this world and worldly things, and worldly affairs Lord, faithful soldiers of You Lord. Blessed God I pray to make us ambassadors of your good news - the gospel. Lord, make that effectual as Paul prayed Lord. Lord that we may have an effectual utterance Lord in opening doors. We bless Your name that through China, through Europe, through Africa, through Asia, through North and South America - all over Father that we would be able to bring good news, the victorious life, to those who have heard it for the first time, who hear for the first time, and to those who struggle, Lord, who are struggling not knowing why they are confused, help them to realize tonight Lord and as they hear this message - that if they but return to their first love, they will indeed end up being crowned by You, matchless King. We praise Your name. We praise You, Lord. Praise Your Holy Name Father. We thank You, God. May the joy of the Lord continue to be our strength. We thank and praise You, Lord. Lord, I pray for the people that the sicknesses that they face, that the bodily assaults Lord that keep them from having the joy of the Lord, and that Your healing virtue would flow. Lord flow and heal, Father. Heal those people with appendicitis Lord. Those who are having the painful arthritis Lord in the knees Lord. Those who have heart conditions, Lord. Those who have migraine headaches. Lord I pray, Heavenly King - the things that hinder Your people from enjoying Your presence Lord in doing Your works. Stretch forth your hand, Lord in Your Name we believe that You will stretch forth Your hand to the people that believe and minister Your healing Lord and set them free. That they may know the anointing of the Lord would break that yoke. Thank you Lord and those Father who have been deceived by Satan, Lord who is in the wrong teachings, those who have gone astray by willful sin, in the unwanted lifestyle - Lord like the Samaritan woman, rescue them, Lord brings them back - Lord bring them back that they may know your fellowship I pray. Jesus, those who are suffering, Lord, with financial difficulties - Lord, who are overburdened with the cares of this world and they are under the threatening of those who take their property. Heavenly Father, show Yourself to them. Show your power. Lord stands up for the widow and the fatherless. Lord Jesus, defend those who are weak. Hallelujah! You specialize in this, O Lord. Hallelujah! The Lord, though He be on high, yet hath He respects unto the lowly. Thank you, Jesus! Lord defend Your people and give them a victorious life. Jesus, You Who said that man if he believes in You though he were dead yet shall he live. Lord, You are the One Who is alive and was dead and beholds You are alive forevermore. Thank you, Lord Jesus, because You live we live also. Praise You, Father, in Jesus' Name. Make them steadfast until the day of their crowning. Amen.
Our gracious Heavenly Father, we praise and magnify your wonderful name for giving your Holy Son Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins when He died on the cross 2000 years ago. Lord, we thank you for blessing your children with peace, the peace that comes from walking with You day after day, gracious Father strengthen the listeners and help them to ever be steadfast in You. In the Name of Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen.
