BLJ: We will spend a few days talking about salvation. Let me blunt. I am convinced that many people attending church are not saved. They go to church because of the social benefits and friendships they make. Yet, they lack the deep commitment to Jesus Christ. As we study a work by Rev. Kenneth Fay, search your soul. Are you saved?
THE MAINTAINANCE OF SALVATION
An Old Question--"Can I be a Christian without joining the Church or attending worship?"
Answer--"Yes, it is possible. It is something like being: A student who will not go to school--A soldier who will not join the army--A citizen who does not pay taxes or vote--A salesman without customers --An explorer with no base camp--A businessman on a deserted island --An author without readers--A scientist who does not share his findings --A bee without a hive." --Author unknown
"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42).
A poet once wrote:
"There is a spot to me more dear
Than native vale and mountain;
A spot for which affection's tear
Springs grateful from its fountain.
'Tis not where kindred souls abound,
Tho' that is almost heaven:
But where I first my Savior found,
And felt my sins forgiven."
That is indeed a cherished memory. But however precious, a question now arises. How is this new life to be maintained? We wish to state the spiritual disciplines which were especially ordained of God to develop and maintain that divine life. They are those exercises which set the soul to "seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness" and pursue that "holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." These are known as the means of grace.
1. The Word of God
"Now they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine." This doctrine is nothing other than the Word of God which we have in the holy scriptures. These early Christians searched the scriptures diligently. So must we. You and I will never grow in holiness unless we are prepared to devote time, indeed much time, in reading, hearing, and meditating upon the Word of God. If our new life is to be properly nurtured, we will need the right kind of food--and it is this that above and before all else that we find in the Holy Bible. God's Word is our "daily bread." It was our Lord's delight and meditation. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," he said (St. Matthew 4:4). "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:1-3). D. L. Moody once said to a young Christian as he gave him a copy of the Bible, "Young man, this book will keep you from sin; but sin will keep you from this book." "Continue steadfast in...the doctrine." Read the Bible regularly, systematically, thoughtfully, reverently, prayerfully, expectantly, and humbly (St. John 5:39).
2. Church Fellowship
"They continued steadfastly in the apostles' fellowship" (Acts 2:42). "The Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47). The church is a family. "The household of faith" (Galatians 6:10). The head of this family is God and as children we are taught to call Him "our Father." Jesus is our Elder Brother, for "he is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:11). That Christian who refuses to belong to the family of God on earth is not acting like a family member, but like an orphan without relatives.
Again, the church is an army. Each Christian is a soldier serving under the banner of the cross. Jesus, our mighty General, leads this army in a war against evil. What if every soldier in the nation's army should decide he did not want to belong to a regiment, a battalion, or a company; that each would fight the enemy all by himself? It would mean certain defeat--would it not? We need the church.
The church is a hospital. Here Christ the great Physician works to heal and restore, bind and build, comfort the sorrowing while administering medicine through its services to all who are torn or weakened by Sin or Satan.
The church is a school where Christ as the Master Teacher instructs His disciples in the moral principles of life. Here we "learn of Him" and "grow wise unto salvation." Thank God for the church. Make friends of God's children. Especially cultivate the fellowship of older saints. Moody advised, "Seek the presence of mature Christians; they have been along the road before you: they know its pitfalls and its dangers; they know its blessings and its ministries; keep close beside them and learn from them."
3. The Breaking of Bread
"They continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread" (Acts 2:42). St. Paul explains this precious means more fully by stating, "the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? ( 1 Corinthians 10:16).
And again--"as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death until He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). This sacred memorial has proven a vital source of grace to generations of Christians, and many of the writer's deepest spiritual impressions have come by this beautiful means.
When Bunyan's Pilgrim partakes of the Lord's Supper in the House Beautiful, he says, "now the table was furnished with fat things, and with wine that was well refined; and all their talk at the table was about the Lord of the Hill: as, namely, about what He had done, and wherefore He did what He did, and why He had builded that House. It made me love Him the more." Let us avail ourselves of this essential means of maintaining our spiritual life.
4. Prayers
"They continued steadfastly in prayers" (Acts 2:42). We need scarcely mention that prayer is the Christian's vital breath, his native air, and that no one can survive spiritually without praying. What a great blessing the prayer meetings have been. Many a fainting soul has taken courage to press on as a result of the prayer service. Prayer together is always sure to lift and aid the Christian. Jesus prayed continuously and He taught His disciples to pray.
Divine wisdom comes in answer to prayer (James 1:5). The peace of God is granted by prayer (Philippians 4:7). The heavenly Father's blessing came by prayer (St. Matthew 6:6). Divine healing comes through prayer (James 5:14-16). Divine justice comes through prayer (St. Luke 18:1-8). Supernatural strength comes through prayer (Isaiah 40:31 ). Deliverance comes by prayer (Psalms 34:6) . And on and on the Bible numbers the heavenly blessings our Lord delights to shower upon those who pray. Be sure, therefore, to take prayer seriously. Make it your business to pray. Go apart with God and seek His face. Wait much upon the Lord. Pray at church, with your family, with your special friends, but keep always at prayer. Prayer is where the victory is. How well Andrew Murray expressed this when he wrote the following: "When a general chooses the place from which he intends to strike the enemy, he pays most attention to those points which he thinks most important in the fight. Thus it was on the battlefield of Waterloo, a farm house, which Wellington immediately saw was the key to the situation. He did not spare his troops in his endeavor to hold that point; the victory depended upon it. And it is the same in the conflict between the believer and the powers of darkness. The inner chamber is the place where the decisive victory is obtained." Surely prayer is a must to our victory.
Reader, these are the four divinely ordained means by which the inner spiritual life is nourished and maintained. The world, the flesh, and the devil will your heavenward march oppose. Of this you may be certain. But look to "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," and by the application of these means "follow after holiness, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God" (Hebrews 12:15).
If you faithfully do your part, the Lord, to be sure, will do His, and one day together you shall stand triumphant on the summit of victory. Praise His name!
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