It was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David (1 Ki. People Listen In Different Wayscan You Reach All Of Them? We always face death as Christians remembering that our God has promised us a resurrection. Listen to what it says: Now the blessed Polycarp was martyred on the second day of the first part of the month Xanthicus, seven days before the Kalends of March, on a great Sabbath, about 2 oclock in the afternoon. He knows the fear that you have. Some of you will be thrown into prison for a time. Text: 8 "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: "The First and the Last, the One who was dead and came to life, says: 9 I know your tribulation and poverty, yet you are rich. Wed be fooling ourselves to make any sort of comparison. WebFEATURE SERMON TEXT-FEATURE Featuring a sermon puts it on the front page of the site and is the most effective way to bring this sermon to the attention of thousands Thats the promise in verse 11. Repent. You dont forget His promise. Well, Jesus said something about this. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. This is the second of seven messages to seven churches. Father in heaven, our prayer is simple. He lived, he died, he's alive. And Jesus will reign now and into eternity. Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You (Ps. Will you praise Him in pain? And of those 8 billion Christians in the 2000 years since Christ, even nominally Christian, about 70 million have been martyred by one definition or another, a little less than 1%. Suffering. My Glorious Victor, Prince Divine, III. . A new convert never studies Scripture, and so when a denominational group knocks on his door, he falls for what they teach. Give us ears, give us courage, no matter the time, no matter the opposition, no matter the circumstances. Tempted to disbelieve the Word of God. That number of about 0.8% of Christians throughout history, in fact, has been constant over many centuries. 52-week preaching calendar to help you plan your sermons, Customizable sermon manuscripts for verse-by-verse preaching, Preach with creativity and impact throughout the year, [NEW YEAR] 4-Week Series to kick off 2023, [PRODUCTIVITY] Fulfill your full potential, [FOUNDATIONS] Getting back to what matters most. But as Polycarp entered the stadium, there came a voice from heaven: Be strong, Polycarp, and courageous. Or some translations, be strong and play the man. And no one saw the speaker, but those of our people who were present heard the voice and then, as he was brought forward, there was a great uproar when they heard that Polycarp had been arrested. What is preventing you from being faithful? Its important to remember what happened after the Resurrection! I trust everyone understands the significance of the Gospel in relation to salvation in Christ. Moule]. But why do you delay? And if the challenge in Ephesus was lovelessness, here it is the hatred of those who do not love Christ, or love the truth. Text: Genesis 49:28-50 11:4). Any Amazon link on this site is an ad. 3:11). You couldnt see their god, so they said they were atheists. I have decided to follow Jesus, the characteristic of a true disciple of our Lord. If there was a crime worthy of death, what would it be? A Compelling Conclusion (Part 1) # 18 So many fall away because they are selfish-they dont care what God says theyre going to do what they want to do. Thats the cry in each one of these churches. 14:14). Or whether we die or whether we live, we are with Him [1 Thessalonians 4:15-17]. 1: 5). Give to Him life, home, family, business He will give it back to you I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel (Gal. The Word of God tells us to have compassion for our brothers and sisters who are facing difficulty and prison and opposition, and some will even pay the ultimate price of martyrdom. Amen. FAITHFUL EVEN UNTO DEATH II Kings 2:1-12 For the child of God, heaven is our ultimate destination. Say away with the atheist.. An unswerving continuance in the Word of John 19:17-27. [Luke 9:62]: No one, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.. It continues to the last stitch. Remember this is a letter from whom? Oh, what a beautiful thing, a precious thing, a wonderful thing: to love our Lord and to follow humbly in the way of Jesus! We come to see that the thing of value is not speed but endurance. That is the child of God. 8:14). Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Can you imagine after forty years the people here by the thousands listening to me lecture on mathematics or science or literature or the humanities? Gave his life to be a Baptist preacher, VII. That is the mark of a disciple of Christ. [My Glorious Victor, Prince Divine, Handley C.G. To us, we use the word cross to refer to some handicap or some suffering or some disappointment, I have an incorrigible child, an obstreperous child, and it is a cross for me to bear. Or, I have some physical ailment, I have a cross to bear. Or, I have a frustration or a disappointment in my life; it is my cross. There is no such idea of that in the Bible; in the Scriptures a cross is something to die on. 10:39). Faithfulness is required for all four quarters, all three periods, all nine innings. Our Lord is saying, you be faithful and true even if it costs your life, and I will give you a crown [Revelation 2:10], stephanos, crown; the word Stephen, and you read about him and his martyrdom just now [Acts 7:54-60]. Listen to the words of our Lord in Luke 6:26: Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! We are not in this world to be acclaimed, we are to be true to our Lord, no matter what repudiation or scoffing or scorning. Could you imagine it? There are many benefits to remaining faithful. New American Bible Do not be afraid of anything that you are going to suffer. And the Lord, looking deep in the soul of the young fellow, said to him, Your heart is in the world. read more, Scripture: . FAITHFUL The things of this world prevent people from being faithful. We will suffer. For the white city thats soon coming down. All England came to know him. Now, listen to His exact word: Give away what you have. After their conversion, they stop using alcohol but after a while they begin using it again. Smyrna won the special privilege to build a temple to Emperor Tiberius. Genesis 49 Faithfulness. Believing it possible that through Christ we may live in the required manner, that we may avoid sin--desist from sinning--give it up and abandon it altogether, and put it forever away. . And they will come and go, and the worse they can do to you is put you to death. In order to be faithful, we must put God first in our lives-You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (Matt. 119:11). Our Lord, before it comes to pass, we praise Thy wonderful, keeping, saving, endearing name for all You have done for us; died to save us [1 Corinthians 15:3], poured out Thy blood to wash us clean and white [Revelation 1:5, 5:9], that we might stand in the presence of God forgiven [Jude 1:24]. What does it mean for us? Yet Jesus came that it would not keep you in bondage, because the end of this life, for the Christian, is the beginning of a life that is far better. That is an extreme and harsh word taken in itself. Many deal with doubt and fear, but it is possible to be certain of salvation and live abundantly in Christ. read more, Scripture: Sometimes people do. We have to remember the reality to come which will last forever and the reality that exists now. Many of us would say that murder is worthy of the death penalty; and if any of us had a child that were raped, we would probably believe the person who 1:6). Well, no, notice what this letter says: The slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not. Losing focus of whats important in life prevents people from being faithful. Number one. Web10/ 9/ 94 FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH REVELATION 2: 10 (PAGE 1785 COME ALIVE BIBLE) JESUS CHRIST is appropriately spoken of as "the faithful witness" (Rev. Revelation chapter 2, beginning at verse 8. I dont look forward to it. In order to adequately embrace the Gospel, we must understand the Gospel. You can understand how this might happen. That is what the Bible said about Jesus: Jesus, looking upon him, loved him [Mark 10:21]. read more, Scripture: We are given by choice, by volition, to our Lord and Master forever. But to be left out like a lone, lost black sheep is to be hurt and the child is a thousand times sensitive to it. Seeing that Polycarp was not being consumed by the fire, they then ordered an executioner to thrust him through with a dagger, and so finally Polycarp was dead.. Then finally, number three let us remember death is not the enemy. The governor said, Swear the genius of Caesar. Is God first in your life? But look at Jesus (John 1:10-11, Mark 5:40, The church in Smyrna was a church of paradoxes. and the rich young ruler(Mark 10:21-22, Matthew Of those 36 billion who have lived in the past 2000 years, by a very generous estimate, 12 billion were evangelized, had some access to the Gospel. Rev James Porter Be Thou Faithful Unto Death We respond in Faith! They are all doing it. We find them suggested in II Kings 2:1-12. Evangelical/Non-Denominational. A But from salvation to glory there are three vitally important "way stations" that are a part of our Christian pilgrimage. When we think of all Jesus endured to save our souls, how could we not be faithful? You have no picture of what actually that word describes at all in He was sad at that saying. The word is stugnaz. Of course it does. Will God reward you? He uses these reminders as an example to us of how we, too, can accomplish great things through our faith. His face beneath the cross is the face of faithfulness. It is like water to a thirsting soul. He dressed like a Tory schoolmaster. And this allowed the Jews and the Romans to coexist. He said, Now if you want to learn the doctrine of Christianity, name a day and give me a hearing. The proconsul told Polycarp, No, persuade the people of your Christianity. Polycarp replied that he had been taught to respect the rulers and authorities and he would be happy to meet with the proconsul, but this was a lawless mob and he wasnt going to waste his time., So the proconsul said, I have wild beasts if you dont change your mind. Polycarp said, Call for them. The proconsul said, You will be consumed by the fire. Polycarp said, You threaten with a fire that burns only briefly and after just a little while is extinguished, for you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly. Faithfulness is full time until the end of time. Or the story of Polycarp. John 8:31, 32: If you continue in My word, then are you My disciples indeed; And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 14:23-24: If any one love Me, he will keep My words . We can remember the great examples of Scripture. How do you respond when you are living your best, walking by faith, serving God and the bottom falls out? Isnt that unusual, that you would have a minister really converted? but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. When a man loves the world and the things that are in the world, the day finally comes when he finds his hands empty and his heart broken. So the first command to the Church dont be afraid what youre about to suffer. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, After several months of study we have come to the concluding passage of 1st John. I love that. Many people have is just the opposite. Every Christian wants to be able to say with the apostle Paul, as he thought about his own death ( 2 Tim. They worship every now and then but not with any kind of regularity. Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Cor. The Pharisees did that (Matt. Selfishness prevents people from being faithful. II Kings 2:1-12 A fervent love for the people of God(John 13:34-35, 15:12-13, 17, 1 John 3:14, 4:7, 11), A. John To build a temple to Emperor Tiberius my Glorious Victor, Prince Divine, Handley.! Will not be faithful a temple to Emperor Tiberius Lord in Luke 6:26: UNTO! In itself from salvation to glory there are three vitally important `` way stations that. Heart is in the work of the Gospel, we are with [. These reminders as an example to us of how we, too, can accomplish things! 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