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Don't Quit [ Selected ] May 19, 2003 Don't Look Back--Finish The Course! Jesus, Himself, said, in language anyone can understand, ...No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62. Don't be concerned about what is behind you, if it is covered by the Blood of the Lamb! Oh the world wants to make a joke out of it: "Don't look back, something may be gaining on you." I tell you, don't you worry about what is behind you, if it is covered by the Blood of the Lamb (salvation through Jesus Christ)! Our adversary, the devil, may try to use your past to defeat your future, but you need to remind him of his: he is ALREADY defeated! Don't give him any ground! The Bible calls it "giving place to the devil": don't allow him to worry and batter and biff you around! He's a liar! If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your PERSONAL SAVIOR, you have been blood-bought and your past is just that: the PAST. Oh, you will never forget many things (and we need to remember a lot of them for their lesson value), but they cannot be used against you by the enemy of your soul, UNLESS you give up or give in! A Findochty fisherman had been converted under James Turner's preaching. He was assailed by the enemy, who cast doubt on the Word of God. Lying awake one night, the fisherman's soul was in great conflict with the adversary. His wife heard him say aloud, "God says it in John 6:37." Then after a little, she heard him say, "I'll prove it," upon which he sprang on to the floor, lit a candle, turned to the Bible reference, and said, "Look at that, and say nae mair." We MUST, just like the Apostle Paul, continue to PRESS toward the mark! We cannot allow ourselves to be seduced, by anyone or anything, into quitting or giving up. Just as Noah was the laughingstock and considered insane as he built the ark, don't you reckon folks' opinions quickly changed when the rain began to fall and the rivers began to overflow? When we reach that which we have pressed toward for so long, all those who declared we were "strange", or "out of step" won't think so any more! We will have obtained the greatest prize of all: the MARK--our goal. Not by quitting, not by "coasting", but by pressing onward! Some folks don't "last long enough" to allow God to prove Himself to them! Jesus said, Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:4-7. Remember just before the Israelites crossed the riverbed, dry-shod? They looked back and could see the Egyptian army coming after them. Oh how they began to lament their "fate". Lot and his family were warned to "not look back" as they fled. Yet his wife could not resist---and was turned to a pillar of salt. On the other hand, let's read about Paul and Silas: And when they had laid MANY stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas PRAYED, and SANG PRAISES unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. Acts 16:23-26. What? Singing praises when they'd been beaten and thrust into prison? And we throw our hands up in defeat over an unkind word, or some imagined slight? Someone might say, "But we can't be like Paul or Silas." Truer words were never spoken! And the reason for it is because they pressed toward and we draw back! Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Hebrews 10:38. Paul and Silas counted it "high calling" (privilege and honor) to serve the Lord; we consider it an imposition and inconvenience! We have the records of what these great men of faith went through so we can know the same is available to us, even in this modern world! For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4. Don't stop. Don't quit. Don't give up. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. Hebrews 10:35, 36. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us RUN WITH PATIENCE THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE US, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1,2.
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