Have you been tempted?

“¹²Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” – James 1:12 (ESV)

I am pretty sure that we all have been tempted. We have been run through the ringer of testing our faith. We have had the opportunity to turn away from Christ. Reading verse 12 reminds me that indeed we are tested.

But not by God. We are not tested by God, we are given the strength to endure. Our salvation has provided us the tools to stay firm in the faith. When we do, we “receive the crown of life, which God has promised”. We know that God does not break His promises and therefore we can fully trust Him.

When we are able to fully rely on God, we are granted the safety and security of His love. We are given strength to get through the trials and tests that come our way. We receive that which was promised. He loves us first, and in return we love Him.

Are you trying to do it all yourself? Are you able to stand firm through the trials and tests? Will you rely of the strength of God and receive eternal life?

“⁵Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ ⁶So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what can man do to me?’” – Hebrews 13:5-6 (ESV)

I know that sometimes I feel like there is more that I should be doing to gain more and be more satisfied, but is it really my job for all of that? The writer of Hebrews expresses how we should be approach life and that we are not in it alone.

I want to share a passage from page 154-155 of the book by Jeffrey Garton: Career Contentment.

• “You satisfaction depends on a need, want, obligation, effort, result, or expectation being fulfilled. You either have it or you don’t, and getting it depends of other people and material things that are not always within your control.”
• “Your contentment depends on how you reason to recognize the acceptable middle ground in any situation. It depends on how you think about your situation, which enables you to feel a certain way, rather than waiting for material things or other people to make you feel a certain way.”

When we are content, it is a mental state and we are able to continue moving forward. It seems as though we are continually seeking satisfaction and, as you can see in the first point above from Jeffrey Garton that means someone else has to give us something. Relying on man is not always fruitful for us. However, as God is true to his word, once we have accepted salvation, we can rely on Him for all, and therefore should exercise our contentment.

Are you placing your future on being satisfied by others? Are you able to rely on God to provide? Are you banking your life on your contentment?

“²in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began” – Titus 1:2 (ESV)

When you read the verse above, it is important to use the punctuation to add emphasis. You see, I have to admit that a lot of times I read through things and miss out due to not making note of the punctuation placement and impact on the words and phrases.

We can rearrange the words a bit and break out some other to see the meaning as I believe should be. “in hope of eternal life, which God promised before the ages began” oh and by the way, God “never lies”. When I look at them in this format, I get a much more impactful verse.

Now I want to look at the first 2 words: “in hope”. I believe that we often think of hope as wishful thinking. Although, when God is involved “hope” is a certainty (ESV Commentary) based on the following: “which God, who never lies, promised”. If there are “never” lies, then a promise is ironclad statement of fact, and if ironclad statement of fact, then the promise of eternal life is ironclad statement of fact and hope is therefore a certainty.

When God makes a promise, HE KEEPS IT!

What do you think of when thinking of eternal life? When you think about eternal life, are you thinking in terms of certainty? Are you able to have certainty in the promise of eternal life?

“¹¹But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” – 1 Timothy 6:11-12 (ESV)

See the words from Paul to Timothy. Shouldn’t these fit for each of us as well? We have accepted the gift of salvation and now is our time to stand firm in that gift.

I am encouraged to continue fighting in the faith. I am proud to call myself a child of God. I hope that you will take these verses and use them as encouragement to also continue fighting.

You are a child of God and when you have accepted the gift of salvation, you are given the strength to fight the good fight. I encourage you to hold your head high and live life for Christ.

Are you living for Christ? Are you fighting the good fight of the faith? Are you encouraged to stand and take hold of the eternal life?

Have you ever thrown yourself into something with all you have? Example: you take on a new hobby and immerse yourself in it so much that everything around you seems to disappear.

“³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” – Colossians 3:3-4 (ESV)

If we can immerse ourselves in things of this world, why wouldn’t we immerse ourselves in Christ? We have been given eternal life with Christ, and yet to some degree we treat that as an insurance policy that kicks in once we pass from this world as opposed to a life policy. We are waiting until we leave this world to take advantage of the benefits. We still progress in this world the same as we did before salvation.

I have to remember that my old self died when I accepted Christ and I now have a life that is Christ. I have to do all for his glory and receive mine from Him and the work I do for Christ each day. My life is Christ and He protects me from death and provides for me while here.

“Christ gives us power to live for him now, and he give us hope for the future—he will return.” (NIV Commentary v4)

Do you look at salvation as an insurance policy? Are you working for Christ in anticipation of glory reception? Are you living with Christ as your life?

To do God’s work, we are going to have to work with others in Christ.

“³Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” – Philippians 4:3 (ESV)

In this passage, Paul is referencing two women that have worked closely with him in the spreading of the gospel. These women have been doing great work for Christ and have somehow begun to disagree with one another.

Paul is employing the Philippians to work with these women and get them back on the same page and to realize that they are working for the same goal.

We often find ourselves at odds with others and after dissecting the circumstances and the facts, it will turn out to be personality conflicts as opposed to significant differences in goal. The goal is what should be driving the actions and not the personalities.

Sure, the personalities can bring things to life and encourage others, but the goal should be centered and everyone should be seeking to reach it together. When the people are at odds, the end result is missed, not to mention that the others that are seeking to reach that goal then become confused and divided due to the original odds of those with the personality differences.

When we are doing the work of Christ, we should be doing that work with others of Christ with joy and encouragement in our hearts. We should work as one toward the common goal as opposed to letting our egos and personalities get in the way.

When you are working with other Christians, are you working as one? Are you allowing your personality differences get in the way of God’s work? Are you laboring with other Christians?

It seems a bit bold for me to indicate the title of my study this morning. “No Matter What”. That is a pretty forward thinking mindset.

Isn’t that the point?

“¹⁸What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, ¹⁹for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, ²⁰as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” – Philippians 1:18-20 (ESV)

Paul was a man with a very uncertain future; here in this world. But all was good for his eternity; life with Christ. It was easy for Paul to exclaim his continued pressing to the exaltation of Christ because his future was secure in Christ. He may have been uncertain of what lie ahead on earth in the next few days, months, or years, but his ultimate future with Christ was secure to the nth degree.

Am I secure enough in my ultimate future to proclaim Christ at every turn here in this world? As a Christian, I have the same security as Paul. I should have the same resolve in my ultimate future. I should be living for Christ; “No Matter What”.

Are you proclaiming Christ at every turn in the world? Are you secure in your ultimate future? Are you able to have a life in Christ; “No Matter What”?

“²⁰But that is not the way you learned Christ—²¹assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus, ²²to put off you old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” – Ephesians 4:20-24 (ESV)

As Christians, we do a lot of work on and with our hearts; giving, caring, going, and doing. And where that is a great way to approach our work for Christ, that is not all nor where it all begins. In the verses above, here are some of the words and phrases I am referring to: “learned, taught, put off, spirit of you minds, put on”. All of these refer to something more cerebral, or educational and indicate a choice.

We should “love and serve the Lord with all that is in them, including their minds (ESV Commentary)”. Before we can help with our hearts, we have to make the conscious choice to help, and that is with our minds.

Our decision to accept Christ is just that, a decision and that invokes the mind. Yes, we are convicted in our hearts, but it is in the mind that we choose to accept. We may be driven by our emotions, however it is our intellect that allows us to reason that the decision is right and good.

When you think of your life with Christ, are you only thinking of the emotional? Will you take a closer look at your conscious choice? Will you act on your choice of Christ and life with Him?

“²⁰I have been crucified with Christ. It is on longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20 (ESV)

Paul says here in his letter to the Galatians that he as he knew himself is no longer there. When he accepted salvation as provided by Christ, his old self passed and now he lives only as Christ lives in him. Christ died for Paul and now Paul lives for Christ.

As I walk through life as a Christian I should be setting aside my wants. My wants should have died with my acceptance of salvation as provided by Christ Jesus’ death. I died with Christ.

Christ rose from death. I rose with Him at my baptism. I am clean and started fresh. I now live for Christ Jesus and no longer pursue my own wants, only the work of Christ should I be concerned.

When you walk through life, are you still trying to succeed with your wants? Did you “die” with Christ and rise again new? Is your life for Christ?

“⁵Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, ⁶who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” – 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 (ESV)

Where does our life come from? Here we see reference to the letter which is speaking of the “letter of the law”. You see, just following the law gets us nowhere in relation to God and our eternal life. In the Old Testament, man followed the law of God, but the Old Testament is long past.

Now we have the New Covenant, salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ. Now we are given eternal life by the Spirit. We still uphold the law of man, but only through our upholding the marks of a true Christian as outlined in Romans 12.

In the Old Testament, following God relied heavily on following the laws and ceremonial customs of the time. When the veil was torn at the death of Christ, we were given direct access to Him and that direct access afforded us eternal life with our belief and devotion to him. We no longer need the “letter of the law” to guide us, we have the Spirit of the Lord in our hearts to give us the direction we need.

When you look at your approach, are you looking solely at how well you follow the law? Are you looking to the Spirit for your guidance? Have you received eternal life by accepting the salvation provided by Christ’s death and resurrection, and the Spirit of the Lord written on your Heart?