Stay The Course
In the upper room fellowship, where the only ones present were disciples, Peter was very adamant in declaring, “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.” But out in the cold, when the forces against Christ had the upper hand in that hour, it seemed beyond Peter to do anything but say, “I know not the man.” Unquestionably, this was a very traumatic moment for Peter. But no matter how you slice it, it was as the Lord had warned: “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” Peter had not successfully stayed the course.
Being a soldier has two phases: The first is training to be a soldier; the second is performing as a soldier. The real test of a soldier is not how well he displays himself in training, but how well he endures the hardness of being a soldier in the heat of the battle. In training, one may be aggressive, zealous, and at the head of their company. But if, on the battlefield, they lose heart to withstand the rigors of battle, and do not stay the course of fighting a good fight, they will go down in defeat.
The Bible teaches us to remain steadfast, unmovable, to quit like men and be strong, with the promise that God will give us the victory in Christ. But if, under the strain of circumstances, we decide we do not want to face the consequences of standing firm, and we choose to give in to escape the conflict involved, then we shall not overcome, but rather will be sifted as Peter was.
In the process of child birth, at that point, a mother must not decide she does not want to go through with giving birth because of the hardship involved. Rather, she must meet it with all her strength, with all her determination to see it through, for the sake of having the child.
“Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.” Proverbs 19:18 Thus our “hope” in dealing with our children is in staying the course, rather than giving in. As with child birth, the difficulty of having children must not be allowed to prevent us from staying the course to do that which is right and necessary for the proper outcome.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand…, having done all…stand.”
SHARING
52nd Anniversary Of Faith Baptist Church: Jan. 1 1968-2020
The Vision
The first part of November 1967, Bro. James Gardner, pastor of Moore’s Fork Baptist Church, in Clermont County, felt led to see if an interest existed in the Lynchburg area for a sound New Testament Baptist Church. Upon inquiry, interest was found.
God Opened The Door
An empty church building was found on Freiburg & High Streets in Lynchburg, which was leased with the option of buying at the end of the lease. The work opened with a two week meeting, January 2-14, 1968, with Bro. Gardner preaching each night, except Thursdays, with Bro. James Head of Wilmington filling in. Sunday, January 7, 1968, Bro. Robert Miller of Dayton, KY, preached, at which time there were 5 requests for membership, plus 2 confessions of faith. On January 14 & 28, Bro. Terry Parnell of Dayton, KY, preached. January 21, Bro. Alwin Pflueger of Moore’s Fork preached.
A Pastor Called
February 1, 1968, Moore’s Fork Baptist Church extended the call to Robert Miller to pastor the Lynchburg mission. He is to give full time to the work. He is to lead the people there in complete accord with the position of the sponsoring church in all matters of doctrine and practice. At such time that the mission and sponsoring church agree, the mission will be organized into a local Independent Baptist Church. Bro. Miller accepted the pastorate, and with his wife, Cinda, and son, Robby, moved to 301 S. Main St., Lynchburg, on February 24, 1968.
An Independent Baptist Church
January 9, 1971, the mission was organized into the Faith Baptist Church, with 32 charter members.
SHARINGConsider The Footprints We Are Leaving
“I shall not pass this way again; let me now relieve some pain, remove some barrier from the road, or lighten someone’s heavy load.” -Eva Rose York
Find Us Faithful
by Jon Mohr
“We’re pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road,
And those who’ve gone before us line the way;
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary,
Their lives a stirring testament to God’s sustaining grace.
Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
Let us run the race not only for the prize,
But as those who’ve gone before us,
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through Godly lives.
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone,
And our children sift through all we’ve left behind;
May the clues that they discover, and the mem’ries they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful;
May the fire of our devotion light their way;
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe;
And the lives we live inspire them to obey,
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.”
ASK THE BIG QUESTIONS!
–What are the footprints that I’ve left behind?
–What story do they tell to others?
–Are they a testament of self denial and cross bearing to follow the Lord?
–Do they reveal the importance of faithfulness to one’s profession?
–Do they demonstrate consistency with one’s commitments?
–Are they true to one’s calling?
–Are they the example of a believer?
Where do they ultimately lead?
SHARINGThe Word Made Flesh
By Thomas Smith
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
This is a wonderful time of the year for those who understand the greater significance of the holiday message. The exact date of Jesus’ birth is not important. We do not worship a day, nor even a tradition, but a Person–the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not wrong to celebrate the fact that God became a man; our Savior was born of a virgin. We rejoice that the “Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” The incarnation, as God robed Himself in human flesh, is one of the most glorious and absolute essential of Bible doctrines.
From this wonderful truth, we are able to appreciate many other aspects of God’s greatness. The faithfulness of God is seen in the birth of Christ. The Old Testament prophesied many times that a Messiah would come. Isaiah said that He would be born of a virgin and that His name would be called Emmanuel, meaning “God with us.” God kept His promise; and when the fullness of time had come, He sent forth His Son. God is faithful and His Word can be trusted.
The love of God is also seen in the incarnation. God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to become the sacrifice for our sins. The love of Jesus caused Him to leave the glories of Heaven to become our Savior. We should never doubt God’s love for us, for it is clearly seen in the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The condescension of God is also made clear in the Word being made flesh. This is the nature of God. He created us to fellowship with Him. When our sins prohibited us from rising to where He is, He came to us. Jesus humbled Himself and became a man that He might redeem sinful men. He took upon Himself the form of a servant and was obedient unto the death of the cross.
The virgin birth also speaks of the completeness of salvation. Sinful man could never provide a sinless sacrifice for our lost souls. The sacrifice had to be both sinless and eternal. The best of men could never qualify. God Himself became the sacrifice. Since the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was sinless and eternal, we can receive forgiveness of sin and everlasting life.
What a wonderful truth it is, that God would come and dwell among us, allowing us to behold His glory, and to know Him as Savior.
SHARINGFundamentalism
A simple explanation of fundamentalism may be: “We believe in Bible truth, the whole Bible truth and nothing but the Bible truth.”
Fundamentalism is claimed by many, but practiced by few. Many know how to sound like a fundamentalist, inspire a sense of pride about being a fundamentalist and raise support, supposedly for fundamentalism. But when it comes to operating like a fundamentalist, well, that’s fundamentally another story.
A practicing fundamentalist is accused of being too narrow minded and ugly spirited. But the attacks against fundamentalism are not coming from true fundamentalists. They are rather coming from those who consider it to be “more Christian” to compromise the truth for the sake of pleasing men, than to uphold the truth in order to remain faithful to God’s Word.
However much we believe in fundamentalism, we also must humble ourselves before God, lest we pollute it. It must remain a practice of unfeigned faith, rather than become a sense of self-righteous pride. We must not become more interested in marking one another’s faults than we are in doing the work of the Lord.
I recently read an article that stated: “Doctrine is basic and if we have no sure, clear message from the Lord, there is no point in our approaching others. It is utter folly to cry, ‘Forget about our differences and get on with the work!’ It is only as we grasp the truth of God and as it lays hold upon us, that we can be used in gospel work.” End quote.
Let us also discern the difference between earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints, from becoming of a contentious and hard spirit. God’s truths are to clear our hearts and minds about our mission. They are not intended to make us bitter and resentful against doing God’s work.
Another good rule of Christian faith is that unless we have the inspiration within ourselves to really do what we claim to be contending for, we are simply entertaining ourselves with our religion instead of living by faith. While we may denounce as false doctrine that which says there is no literal hell, we ourselves may not be doing anything in support of the truth that people need to be witnessed unto, lest they come to that awful place of torment. It has been stated that our protest against error should be equaled and surpassed by our positive and practical devotion to the truth.
Fundamentalism is bred by repentance and saving faith. It is the true spirit behind submission and obedient faith. It is the principle that allows consecrated, separated Christian living. It grounds us in God’s plan and purpose. It teaches us accountability to God’s Word in all we do. It fills us with expectant joy in God’s promises.
SHARING
