Philippians 1 : 3 – 11 John 10
: 22 – 30
Sermons between October and December are following the general themes of the Alpha Renewed Course, and today we come to a subject which I believe to be of absolutely fundamental importance – ‘Can I be sure of my faith?’
We have to tackle this in steps. Before I can
be sure of my Christian Faith, I have to establish that I do actually have a
true and active Christian Faith. Statistics show that although very few people
today are actually professed atheists, and the great majority will pray in
times of difficulty, a huge number of people (including many regular
church-goers) will say they are unsure, and have not yet reached the point at
which they can say that they know that they have placed their trust and their
lives in the hands of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for this life and
the next – because that’s what it means to be a Christian.
The word ‘Christian’ centres on the name of
Christ. It is far more than just a general belief that God exists. As James
remarks in his New Testament letter, even the demons believe that, and it makes
them tremble. Christ stands at the very centre and focal point of the Christian
faith, and He must stand at the very centre of our life. He has come knocking
at our life’s door, and it’s vital that we have opened and invited him in, and
acknowledged him as our Lord.
This may have happened gradually or at a
consciously remembered moment, as it was with me 53 years ago. In the early
church, Christians were known as those of ‘The Way’ – those who followed in the
way of Jesus. And the Christian life is helpfully thought of as a pilgrimage,
in which we are on a journey – our ‘way’ – to the promised land. In the New Testament
there are two roads, the Damascus Road and the Emmaus Road. Paul was on the
road to Damascus when the risen Jesus revealed himself to him in a moment of
blinding light, and his life was changed for ever. Whether or not there is a
blinding light, that is very many people’s experience. However long the time of
quiet preparation may have been, there comes a moment of revelation, a moment
of decision, a moment of truth. And when we respond to that challenge and say
Yes, it is not just an intellectual response, nor yet essentially an emotional
response, it is a response of the will. We decide to say Yes, and invite
the risen Lord to become for us Lord and Saviour.
But there is also the Emmaus Road to faith.
Perplexed and confused disciples were walking along that road when the risen
Jesus drew up alongside and began to walk beside them. And as they walked
together, Jesus talked to them about the Scriptures and explained to them what
they needed to know about him and how it had been in the very nature of who he
was that he must rise from the dead, and become Lord of all. And as he spoke
over this period of time, their spiritual eyes were opened, and they said
afterwards that, on looking back, they could remember how their hearts burnt
within them, and when at last they realized that Jesus was risen and beside
them, they realized also that somewhere deep down they had known this even as
they walked with him.
Both roads to a living faith are valid and
you will know which is the road you took, and equally whether you are still on
a road which has not yet quite led to a living faith. If you believe yourself
to be in that last category, and still treading that difficult ridge with
uncertainty and procrastination as a chasm on one side, and the leap of faith into
personal commitment on the other, you may come to Communion in this service,
and simply, in prayer, commit your life to Christ as you receive the sacrament
of the cross, where he died for the forgiveness of your sins and with the offer
of a new life. It could well be for you a life changing experience.
Or you may like simply to stay behind at the
back of the Church at the end of the service, where I and others will be very
privileged to answer questions, give assurance, and pray with you.
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Now, if you have that living faith, you will
want to know whether it will hold good for ever and is the rock on which you
can build the rest of your life, or if it could be snatched away from you
through sin or failure, doubt or just like the fading of a once beautiful
vision.
In answer to that, the Gospel proclaims the
doctrine of Christian Assurance. It is simply based on the fact that God
is always true to his promises which are eternal, and that – once Christ has
taken hold of you life – he will never let you go.
When such teaching is presented, many people
respond with doubt. They say that they are deeply fallible, prone to sin and
failure, and that to believe that they are saved eternally is therefore
arrogant and it must be more humble to say that they hope they will remain
faithful but they must never count on it.
Now, of course, if it depended on our
steadfastness and our maintaining the discipline and vision of our initial vibrant
faith, that would be only too true. Fortunately it does not. Once we have taken
that step of personal commitment to Christ as Lord and Saviour, our assurance
is based on God’s steadfast promise and not on our only too fallible faith.
Listen to Jesus’ words in our Gospel reading
from John 10: 27 – 30 : “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and
they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one
can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me is greater
that all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”
And listen again to Paul’s words which we
read from Philippians 1: 6 I am “confident that he who began a good work
in you will carry it through to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” –
that is the final day of judgment. God will carry it through to completion –
not you.
There is a hugely important truth that I am
anxious above all to get across to you this morning. The Christian is a person
who has become God’s child through faith in Jesus Christ, and God wants you to
know that you belong to him and you belong to him for ever, no matter what. He
wants you to be sure so that you can be confident and grow in the faith.
Consider a child growing up in a family.
Broadly speaking there are two kinds of child. One knows instinctively that
he/she is loved unconditionally and that, whatever happens, that child will
always belong and be loved and acknowledged. The other child feels equally
instinctively that he/she needs to earn the love of the parents. This child
will be loved if they do well, behave well, and please their parents, but that
love is somehow conditional. It may not have been exactly spelt out in so many
words, but the result will be a child and later an adult who will forever be
striving to please and to gain approval which is the road to love. That person
is likely to spend the rest of their lives trying to prove something. I need
hardly say that that can have serious and negative consequences which may dog
that person all their life.
Many Christians instinctively fall into this
second category. They think that life consists in trying to please God because,
if they don’t, God will cease to love them and they will be rejected. That is
not what God wants and it’s a recipe for a very insecure and impoverished
Christian life.
God wants every single person who truly
trusts in Christ for their salvation to know that they are loved
unconditionally and eternally. We may sin and fail and sometimes fall away,
just as a child will do many things which displease and disappoint the parents.
But the child who is loved unconditionally knows deep down, like the prodigal
son, that the moment they turn back, they will be welcomed with open arms and a
restored relationship. The love has always been there, strong and true and
unwavering.
Of course we want to live as those who please
God. But the child who is loved unconditionally grows up to be confident and
assured and will please the parents through natural response, not as a means of
extracting a reluctant love. Just so, the Christian’s good life will be a
natural and joyful response to a secure salvation already promised through
Jesus, and never as a means to try and secure God’s approval and salvation
through works of merit.
Now of course we will not be consistent in our Christian
experience and feelings. Sometimes we will know that God is near and we will
experience that eternal love like a warming sun. Other times our faith will be
at a low ebb, and the clouds will cover the skies and it will seem that God is
distant if indeed He is there at all.
So let me leave you with a story of three
mountain climbers, whose names are Fact, Faith and Feeling. In the Christian
life, Fact leads the way and, when the mountain is steep or dangerous, he
secures his rope around a rock whose name is Christ, the Saviour. Faith follows
and is securely roped to Fact. Feelings follows on last. Feelings are fickle
and often all over the place. It may depend on many factors – health, life
experience, sin and even the weather. Our Christian experience is wayward and
whether God feels close or not will depend on a dozen factors which have
nothing to do with God. But if we keep Fact, Faith and Feeling in the right
order, our faith (however dim sometimes) will always look up and remain roped
to the Fact of God’s promises through Christ. And Feeling will follow on behind
and not lose its way amid the stresses and strains of life.
If your faith is in Christ, he will never
desert you. And God wants you to know that his love is unconditional and that
he wants you to grow in the Christian life with confidence, assurance and joy.
So many Christians get this wrong – please don’t be one of them. In Jesus, God
holds you in his arms, and he will never let you go. It is in that knowledge
that we worship and praise him today, and for ever. Amen.
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