You died.
I cried.
And kept on getting up.
A little slower.
And a lot more deadly.
Story
Category: get up
SERMON: Don’t Draw Back by Carter Conlon
Galatians 6:12-18
Some people are trying to force you to be circumcised so the Jews will accept them. They are afraid they will be attacked if they follow only the cross of Christ.[a] Those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so they can brag about what they forced you to do. I hope I will never brag about things like that. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is my only reason for bragging. Through the cross of Jesus my world was crucified, and I died to the world. It is not important if a man is circumcised or uncircumcised. The important thing is being the new people God has made. Peace and mercy to those who follow this rule — and to all of God’s people.
So do not give me any more trouble. I have scars on my body that show[b] I belong to Christ Jesus.
My brothers and sisters, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Hebrews 11: 6 Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who truly want to find him.
Hebrews 10:38-39 Those who are right with me will live by faith. But if they turn back with fear, I will not be pleased with them.” Habakkuk 2:3–4
But we are not those who turn back and are lost. We are people who have faith and are saved.
Genesis 15:5-6 Then God led Abram outside and said, “Look at the sky. There are so many stars you cannot count them. Your descendants also will be too many to count.”
Abram believed the Lord. And the Lord accepted Abram’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.
2 Timothy 4 3-4 …because the time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching but will find many more teachers who please them by saying the things they want to hear. They will stop listening to the truth and will begin to follow false stories.
Galatians 1:9-10 I said this before, and now I say it again: You have already accepted the Good News. If anyone is preaching something different to you, let that person be judged guilty!
Do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No, God is the One I am trying to please. Am I trying to please people? If I still wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 5:25-26 We get our new life from the Spirit, so we should follow the Spirit. We must not be proud or make trouble with each other or be jealous of each other.
2 Corinthians 5:17 If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new!
Additional verse references:
2 Corinthians 11:23-28
Notes & Quotes
“Get up! God sent you here to do a job, get up and get it done.” ~ Brother Troops
Don’t succumb to the unbelief of the moment. Don’t draw back. God called you for this moment.
People will offer you an alternate way – full of religion, but not full of faith. They offer things that require a lot of human effort. Don’t trust it.
You have life in the Spirit, you do not need exterior signs of God’s presence in your life.
If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Without faith it is impossible to please God. To please God you must first believe that God is.
Don’t believe speech that has no power or no life – man-centered, man-focused. Theses speakers draw to themselves, not to Jesus.
The biggest assault on the Church of Christ is always from within.
I am not going to draw back. I am going to move forward by faith.
Minister to me.
Minister: To attend to the wants and needs of others; to perform the functions of a cleric.
According to my standards, I’ve been something of a whiney baby lately. I’ve grown tired of encouraging myself and have deeply desired for someone to minister to me. I’ve needed for someone to speak God’s word to me. To lift me up to the Father. To agree with me for healing and peace. To model the personal relationship we have with Christ here in our daily life. And I’ve wondered if God has heard any of my deepest longings because I stand alone. There is not another to share my walk and speak on my behalf.
So I wallowed in self-pity for some time. Not much different from Elijah when he fled Jezebel. I’ve been in retreat as well. Just as Elijah was ministered to by an angel of God, the Holy Spirit has fed me when I’ve been too weak to feed on the Word myself.
God’s instructions are all about the “get up!” – get up and eat, get up and go, get up and speak. And I’ve been all about the “lift me up!” – lift me up for encouragement, lift me up for strength, lift me up for agreement. The more I’ve looked for someone to lift me up, the more down I’ve become. Somehow it just became crystal clear to me that the only minister I need is the Holy Spirit. And the only person I need to be in agreement with is Christ. It’s not that I didn’t know this. It’s just that I’m human and like all human’s I too overlook what’s truly for me while going after what I think I need. But thank God for His never-ending mercy and grace and His penchant for corrective parenting. Every time I veer off course I come back with a lesson and understanding that strengthen me for the next stage of my journey.
So, brothers and sisters, I am sharing this word with you because I know you too are looking for someone to minister to you. On the surface this word may be pleasing. And at first glance, your church life and fellowship community fulfills your immediate needs. But I know from experience, for the deeper things you desire in Christ only His Spirit can minister to you fully and satisfactorily.
If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. ~ 1 Timothy 4:6
“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. ~ John 12:26
References: 1 Kings 19, John 12:20-36, 1 Timothy 4:6-15
