FAILURE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.<\/p>\n
I. The Christian Life should Never be a Failure.<\/p>\n
That many fail in living the truly Christian life is a painful fact, although God has made no provision for failure. Why should it be a failure? When-<\/p>\n
1. The Life is Divine. Quickened by the Spirit, born from above, partakers of the divine nature, everlasting life.<\/p>\n
2. The Guide is Infallible. The unerring Word applied by the unerring Spirit (Joh_16:13). "The wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err" (Isa_35:8).<\/p>\n
3. The Provision is Sufficient (2Co_9:8). Why should there be poverty when abundance is freely offered? "My God shall supply all your need" (Php_4:19).<\/p>\n
4. Succour is Offered (Heb_2:18). Temptations will come to us as they came to Christ, but like Him we may overcome by the Word of God (Luk_4:4).<\/p>\n
5. Power is Promised (Jud_1:24). He is able to keep us from falling, and to fill us with a power sufficient to resist the devil, and to enable us to live a life that will be a witness to His mighty saving power.<\/p>\n
6. Victory is Expected (1Co_15:57-58). God has made provision that every child of His should be more than conquerors. "They overcame by the blood of the Lamb."<\/p>\n
II. How the Christian Life becomes a Failure.<\/p>\n
Through-<\/p>\n
1. Forsaking God. Broken cisterns are poor substitutes for the "Fountain of Living Waters." Preferring our own works to the grace of God.<\/p>\n
2. Stubbornness (Psa_81:11). Preferring our own wisdom to the wisdom that cometh from above. Beware of having your own way.<\/p>\n
3. Fear of Man (1Sa_15:24). "The fear of man bringeth a snare." Have the courage of Peter and John (Act_4:19).<\/p>\n
4. Worldliness. The love of the world leads to mingling with it, and the choking of the Word of God. To choke the Word is to choke our spiritual life (Mat_13:22).<\/p>\n
5. Disobedience (Psa_106:34). Consulting our own feelings and comfort, and forgetting God’s command, is the way of the disobedient. "We walk by faith; not by sight" (2Co_5:7).<\/p>\n
6. Misplaced Confidence (2Ch_16:7). To rely upon the promise of man instead of God is to dishonour God and to ensure disappointment.<\/p>\n
7. Pride (Jos_9:14). Joshua thought himself quite capable of discerning the Gibeonites, but he failed. Lean not upon thine own understanding. Seeking honour one of another is a fruitful cause of failure.<\/p>\n
8. Restraining Prayer (Job_15:4). Self-confidence leads to this. Restraining prayer restrains blessing.<\/p>\n
9. Self-sufficiency. The Laodicean Church is a solemn example of this (Rev_3:17).<\/p>\n
10. Neglect of Little Things (S. of S. Mar_2:15). Little sins unconfessed. Remember "little foxes" grow.<\/p>\n
II. Unbelief (Psa_78:19-41). They said, "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" God is sufficient for every circumstance in life.<\/p>\n
III. What Failure in the Christian Life Implies. It implies-<\/p>\n
1. Disappointment (Jer_2:13). The satisfying portion can be found nowhere else but in God Himself. Thou art my portion.<\/p>\n
2. Discouragement (Deu_1:28). The failure of one may discourage and hinder the prayers of many.<\/p>\n
3. A Selfish Life (Hos_10:1). The conceited ego within seeks all the honour; miserable self. The self-confident can never enter into the fullness of the blessing.<\/p>\n
4. Unfruitfulness (Mat_13:22). Out of fellowship with Christ brings barrenness of life, because the Holy Spirit is hindered (Joh_15:4).<\/p>\n
5. Lukewarmness (Rev_2:4; Rev_3:16). This is a condition that is sickening to the heart of God. What a change from love to loathing!<\/p>\n
6. Defeat (Jos_7:13). There can be no victory when the great Captain of the host is ignored (Jos_5:13-14).<\/p>\n
7. Dishonour. Every failure dishonours God, who would give us the "victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Co_15:57).<\/p>\n
IV. The Remedy for Failure in the Christian Life. A-<\/p>\n
1. Confession of Sin (1Jn_1:7). If we have failed, then we have sinned. "If we confess, He is faithful and just to forgive" (1Jn_1:9).<\/p>\n
2. Surrendering of the Will (Hos_14:1-4). Return and yield. Commit thyself to Him. "Not My will, but Thine be done" (Luk_22:42).<\/p>\n
3. Consecrating of the Life (Rom_12:1-2). Consenting that Christ should live in us, and work out the purpose of His will through us. "To me to live is Christ" (Php_1:21).<\/p>\n
4. Laying Aside of Every Weight (Heb_12:1). What may not be a sin on our conscience may be a weight on our life.<\/p>\n
5. Receiving of God’s Promises (2Pe_1:4-8). By these we are made partakers of the divine nature and enabled to add to faith, virtue, etc., that we be neither barren nor unfruitful.<\/p>\n
6. Steady Abiding in Himself (Joh_16:1-5). This we may do by a continual and implicit trust.<\/p>\n
7. Walking humbly before Him (Mal_2:6). The purpose of the golden candlestick was to shine before the Lord. Is this the purpose of your life?<\/p>\n
Autor: James Smith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FAILURE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. I. The Christian Life should Never be a Failure. That many fail in living the truly Christian life is a painful fact, although God has made no provision for failure. Why should it be a failure? When- 1. The Life is Divine. Quickened by the Spirit, born from above, partakers … Continue reading “0109. FAILURE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}