02/10/2016

FINISHING WELL AFTER STARTING RIGHT

Ecclesiastes 7:8; Mark 13:13; Luke 14:27-30; Philippians 1:6

It is always wonderful to start right in anything – race, family, job, project or dreams. But we need to continue until we get to a desirable end. People who finish well trust the Lord; they patiently and perseveringly move on by faith and fortitude. The Christian life is like a race. It starts with repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thereafter, the believer proceeds to obtain the sanctification experience. It is at this point that the adamic nature or inward depravity is dealt with and totally removed so that the believer can remain focused as she journeys to heaven. Purified and made holy, they live to please the Lord in all things and continue to serve Him as He has appointed. No one can finish well in the Christian race by accident. It takes deliberate commitment and determination to consistently walk in righteousness until we enter the kingdom of God.

As Christians, we are bound to encounter challenges, oppositions, persecutions and problems as we interact with others in our families, neighbourhood, school, office or marketplace. Enemies of the Cross of Christ will hate and want to distract and stop us from getting to heaven by all means. We should not be discouraged because Christ said: “he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” The Lord wants us to persevere in righteousness and holiness of life. Running the Christian race without steady salvation and purity of life is as bad as not running the race because without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Believers who compromise and abandon their faith in Christ in order to please their persecutors are not Christ’s disciples. We must count the cost of living a holy life in this corrupt world and be ready to pay the price. Having laid the foundation of salvation, conversion and new life in Christ, we need to persevere in our consecration, determination and steadfastness to serve the Lord till the very end. We need to guard against anyone or anything that may want to tamper with our salvation experience which is essential to getting to heaven.

  1. CONVERSION AND THE EARLY PERCEPTION OF SAVED SOULS

1 Samuel 10:9-11,20-22,27; 28:3,9; 2 Kings 23:24,25; Leviticus 19:31; 20:6; Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Acts 19:18-20; 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10; 2 Corinthians 5:17

People who are born again have the perception of what God requires, and they walk in the light and truth by faith. They understand that conversion is a definite Christian experience at a definite moment and a definite day.Conversion comes with a visible change that makes its recipient averse to his old ways of living, to walk on the narrow path that leads to heaven. After Saul’s conversion, God gave him a new heart which made him different from others. “And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart…and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another… Is Saul also among the prophets?”(1 Samuel 10:9-11). We cannot claim to be truly saved when there is no transformation in our thoughts, language, behaviour, disposition and activities. Such spiritual change should be noticeable to our spouse, children, classmates, schoolmates, extended family members, colleagues and business partners.

Humility is one of the marks of true children of God. This noble virtue made Saul to hide himself when he was to be presented to the nation of Israel as their king (1 Samuel 10:21). His reaction to the children of Belial who despised and brought him no present also showed that he had become a peaceful man. And because of his perception of what God requires, he “…put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land”. Every converted Christian dissociates himself from every object of occultism and secret society like Saul and Josiah because the word of God commands us not to regard them “that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them.” Therefore, joblessness, barrenness, challenges and difficulties of life should not make us seek help from occultic people. Preachers, evangelists and believers who profess to be born again but still consult false prophets for breakthrough in ministry, marriage or career have mortgaged their souls in the hands of Satan and are enemies of God. If we are truly converted, we must do away with everything that connects us with occultism and the world, like believers in the early Church. “And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men….” The evidence of our true conversion and sanctification is our newness of life and character.

  1. CAUTION AGAINST THE ENTANGLING PRACTICES OF SECRET SINNERS

1 Samuel 28:5-8; 1 Chronicles 10:13; Job 24:15-17; 2 Peter 2:20-22; Ecclesiastes 12:13,14; Galatians 5:7-9; 2:18; Song of Solomon 2:15

Secret sinners are those who live in disguise and on the basis of what other people think or say. Backsliders who appear to be righteous in public while indulging in secret sin should know that the Omniscient God takes record of everything we do. Those who fail to live up to God’s glory and are neither committed to nor serve Him, cannot receive any help from the Lord in moments of challenges or crises. God’s promises are for His faithful children. Believers who disguise themselves like Saul and secretly offer or collect bribe, visit herbalists, brothels, club houses or indulge in fornication, adultery, pornography or alcohol do not serve the living God and they will be damned in hell if they fail to repent.

True believers do not succumb to the sinful dictates of their backslidden bosses, leaders or pastors. They have the courage to reject any pressure to make them compromise their faith in Christ. We need a strong conviction to take our stand without fear or favour because “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Turning away from the truth and sound doctrine makes us transgressors. To serve God acceptably, our hearts must be right with Him.

  1. THE COURAGE AND EXEMPLARY PERSEVERANCE OF STEADFAST SAINTS

Job 13:15; 23:8-10,12; Psalm 23:4; Matthew 24:4-13; Romans 8:17,35,38,39; Hebrews 3:6,12-14; 10:35-39; 2 Peter 3:17

Steadfast saints have the courage to live right and swim against the tide. It takes courage for a believer to maintain his Christian profession in the face of a backslidden preacher, boss, neighbour, friend or spouse. It also takes courage for him to keep to his conviction when he pines away as a result of sickness. Although Job was under serious pressure and pains because of his ravaging sickness, he maintained a steadfast posture in the Lord. His confession was: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” If we desire to enter heaven, we must esteem the word of God “more than [our] necessary food.” Also, we must not allow trials, difficulties, oppositions and sufferings to make us lose interest in holiness and God’s work. With the spirit of a conqueror in us, we should be able to resist any pressure to go back to the world or Satan and remain steadfast in the faith. Our lives should inspire others to stand for Christ.

GHS: 21, 22176