Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Over the centuries there are many people who have migrated to this country, placing down roots and settling with their families. One of the first permanent English settlements in the US was founded in 1607. It was called Jamestown, named after the sovereign who granted the charter, King James. For many years, people continued moving westward across this the great plains, eventually deciding to remain somewhere, building homes, planting crops and raising families. This created a network of towns, cities and communities across this nation, where people had ceased from their wanderings, and finally chose to settle down.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Just like the early pioneers, we too must learn to settle down, becoming unmovable in the doctrines of our faith.
Colossians 1:21-23 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled,…….
Through God’s grace, He can present us unblameable in His sight, but there is something that we must do on our part. We must learn to overcome the deeds of the flesh and go and sin no more. To do this we need to become settled and grounded in our faith. To be settled means to be fixed and established and unlikely to change. Many of you may know of a local business that has been around for over 100 years. They reside in the same building and have never moved. That is stability, being steadfastly anchored in one location, which is the same way that we must be according to scriptural teachings. Our feet must be firmly planted, with opinions that are unchangeable because they are solidly rooted in the truth. In the sky the position of the clouds changes from day to day. Daily temperatures fluctuate from hot to cold, but God’s Word is constant and will never change.
To eventually obtain eternal life we must settle down and abide in the truth of scripture because it is the path of Christ that leads to salvation. Continuing in our faith means we must become a doer of God’s Word, which results in conversion, sanctification and perfection. These things must take place in a person’s life in order to obtain salvation. It’s a message that has been preached by Jesus and His disciples for thousands of years. We must turn from sin, we must depart from sin, we must repent of sin, casting away the sinful works of the flesh, and becoming a new creature formed through faith in Christ. Sinners must be transformed into saints, ready and prepared to enter into paradise. Many people who profess Christianity have forgotten these main tenants of our faith, and instead of settling down in what they have been taught, they have wandered off into the world, being led astray and following its teachings instead. The Apostle Paul warned the Church of this very thing.
Colossians 2:5-8 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
The people spoken of in these passages never really lasted in the faith. For them, the Christian walk was only temporary. Instead of remaining firmly stablished in the truth, they uprooted and left, becoming disobedient and reprobate. They knew the will of God, they just didn’t want to do it.
2 Peter 2:17-22 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
To be grounded and settled in our faith means that it is permanent, long-lasting and enduring. It goes beyond just hearing or knowing scripture, it means doing the will of God from your heart. Knowing the scriptures are the map that leads to heaven, but a map by itself cannot get us to the treasure that we seek, until we first get up, take action, and begin to walk in the direction that it instructs us to go.
James 1:21-25 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Continuing in our faith will bring blessings from God, and ultimately result in our own salvation.
1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
If you want to enter into eternal life, you are going to have to place your permanent residence deep upon the foundation of Holy Scripture. We must remain fixed in our beliefs. We must abide faithfully in the truth. We must remain unmovable in our faith. Spiritually, we must learn to do what the early pioneers did so many years ago. We need to follow their example by….
…Settling Down
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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