Overcoming Daily?

Introduction:

Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
through eternal ages let his praises ring;
glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
standing on the promises of God.
Refrain:
Standing, standing,
standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
bound to him eternally by love’s strong cord,
overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
listening every moment to the Spirit’s call,
resting in my Savior as my all in all,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

The guy that wrote that must have been some kind of nut!  Is he kidding?  When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail…I shall prevail?  Overcoming daily?  Is that your experience?  Oh, its a great song.  I love to sing it but come on – when I sing it I know I’m lying.  Do you ever feel like that?  Do you ever feel like a hypocrite because your confession bears little resemblance to your actual life?

I hope you know I have my tongue firmly in my check as I make these comments.  But my point is we all struggle with living our faith consistently.  I want to deal with this because I don’t wont you to misunderstand what I’ve been trying to say for the last 5 weeks on Sunday evening.  Please don’t hear me say, “You must be perfect or you are not a Christian.”  Or, “You must trust Jesus and you must remain faithfully committed all the time or your faith is a sham!”  No, that’s not what I’m saying.

• I’m saying it is not enough to say you are a Christian.
• It is not enough to say you are trusting Jesus.
• Genuine faith, saving faith, is followed by works.
• Salvation is conversion – it is change.

If you say you believe but your life is no different, your desires do not change, sin does not break your heart, you have no hunger or thirst for righteousness – there is a problem!  You would do well to explore that problem and test your faith to see if it is in deed genuine.

• What are we to do?
• How do we find our way through this mess?
• Let me just remind you again this evening of some of the things God has said about his children.
• All of which serve to remind us, “Christian take heart!  God is at work in you.”

Ephesians 2:19-22
Or consider Colossians 2:19

Let me give you what I think is the most important thing you can learn as a Christian related to spiritual growth and development.  God does not ask His people to initiate the work in their own lives.  Rather He calls us to fall in with whatever He is already doing.

Listen to Philippians 2:12
Look at the next verse 2:13 – for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Paul is confident you can work out your own salvation because God is already at work in you to do that very thing!

Or Romans 6:13
How?  6:14

But how can I be sure I’ll do that?

6:22
1 Thessalonians 2:12-13
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10

God is at work in you.
We find the same themes in Paul’s prayers – 2 Thessalonians 1:11; Philippians 1:9-11.

Because God is at work in us we come across some strange passages in the NT.  Consider James 1:2.  That makes no sense unless God is at work in us.

What has God said?
“You have been set free from sin” – Romans 6:22
“We see in you the things that accompany salvation” – Hebrews 6:9
“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome [false spirits]” – 1 John 4:4
Why?
“Because greater is He who is in you that he that is in the world.” – 1 John 4:4

Christian take heart!