We all have seasons where we are lukewarm, tepid in our pursuit of God in His Word, in deep prayer, and in confession of sin. Thankfully, God pursues us through His Word, His Spirit, and His people, and we oftentimes repent and once again take up the Sword of the Spirit and struggle on. But, there is a very real possibility that some of us that sit together on Sunday mornings, and whose names are on our membership roll, are moving in the wrong direction in the things of Christ.
How do we know if we are drifting? I wanted to give some thoughts for self-reflection and application regarding the sermon I preached on April 30th, 2023.
Search you heart, and see if there are any of these symptoms.
If there is ...
- a settled indifference to the Word of God that continues,
- a lackadaisical view of hearing the Word preached that persists,
- no true, long-term growth in holiness, without which we will not see God,
- little affection for the body of Christ, no concern for the spiritual well-being of others, no desire to gather with believers to worship God in Christ,
- little passion to support mission work and see the gospel run to the ends of the world, that Christ would be exalted as Savior, and the Father be glorified,
- a lasting dullness, and unresponsiveness to the beauty of Christ, our King, our Great High Priest,
- or a lack of being moved by the fact that God had to send His Son to die on the cross for your sins, and mine.
Then, realize those are symptoms of those who fall away. You need to hold fast to Christ, to His Word, and to His people. If these symptoms persist, there is a very real danger that you will fall away from Christ.
We also need to be reminded that we need one another. We can’t be content, in any of us, with a past commitment to Jesus. We must have our commitment to Him renewed daily. We need to continue holding fast to Christ, actively, day by day. So, we must encourage one another with the gospel. We must pray for one another, that our faith may not fail.
For those who seem to be drifting, or who have walked away, we must pray for them. We must continue to share the gospel when we can. We must trust that God still uses the gospel to draw people to the Son.
Some who drift will return; some who drift will not. But, we must keep sharing the gospel, with those who do not yet believe, as well as those who seem to have stopped believing.
Active faith in Christ, through believing the gospel is the only means by which we can be sure to inherit the promises.
Hold fast to Christ, to the end.
Encourage others to do the same.
His...yours,
