Friday Sundown Worship
Friday August 11, 2017
Please note that I have been sick for the past seven plus days with Pneumonia. Consequently, I have not had time to really prepare a Friday Sundown Worship for this evening. I hope you all will accept my apology for not being better prepared. So, if you don’t mind, I thought perhaps we would look back into the archives and see what could be dug up for tonight’s Sundown Worship.
II Timothy 4:6, 7
“I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
Our Christian life is not to be a matter of here and there, a little now and then; in the church and out, and back again; up today and down tomorrow. It must be from this point forward, every day, always, until “the roll is called up Yonder.”
None of us has had any more tests of perseverance and patience than did the apostle Paul. For years he went without a home, without regular pay. He had to make tents to earn his living in some places. In other places he was supported by some of his friends. He was shipwrecked. He was whipped more than once, mobbed, beaten, left for dead, wounded, rejected, imprisoned; and finally received the death sentence of a martyr for Christ (see II Corinthians 11:23:28).
In the old days of trouble, when William, prince of Orange, received a letter from mighty King Philip of Spain threatening him with the confiscation of all his goods and the loss of his life, if he did not surrender his faith or his country. The courage which came from his Christian faith inspired Prince William to fling back this challenge in the face of the tyrant: “I am in the hands of God. My worldly goods and my life have long since been dedicated to His service. He will dispose of them as seems best to His glory and my salvation.”
These were the words of a man who knew his Lord and believed that He was able to save to the uttermost. It was the speech of a man not only self-reliant but God-reliant, who believed and rested on the promises of God. He could face conflict, he could suffer the woundings of the foe, for his heart was unafraid. Like the apostle, he could say: “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them that love his appearing” (II Timothy 4:8).
My friends, are we as steadfast in our love of God as was Paul and Prince William. If not, then like me, take the time to get right with God. Ask him for forgiveness and to make your heart anew. Then like Paul you too can stand steadfast against all the enemy throws against you.
The Bible In Your Hand 