When faced with a challenge or an unanswered prayer, it’s unlikely that we all would respond with joy. In this sermon, Dr. Stanley examines what causes our trust in God to waver and encourages us to address our own moments of fluctuating faith.
Dr. Charles Stanley: Do you
often wonder why God hasn’t
answered your prayer when you’ve
come to Him over and over again
about the same issue?
And you tell Him about it, you
give Him all the details and yet
nothing happens.
Could it be it’s because of your
faith?
Not that you don’t have any, but
your faith sort of wavers.
It’s strong today and tonight
you’re not sure, strong
tomorrow, maybe the next day
it’s not so strong.
And so, we have wavering faith.
That is, it comes and goes.
And then we wonder why God
doesn’t hear and answer our
prayer.
In James the first chapter–and
I want you to turn there, if you
will.
The second verse the first
chapter he says, “Consider it
all joy, my brethren, when you
encounter various trials.”
now, we don’t like trials very
much, but he says count it
joyful, “Knowing that the
testing of your faith is
producing endurance.”
That is, there’s something good
about the test.
“And let endurance have its
perfect result, so that you may
be perfect and complete, lacking
in nothing.
But if any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask of God, who gives to
all generously and without
reproach, and it will be given
to him.”
And then he says, “But he must
ask in faith without any
doubting, for the one who doubts
is like the surface of the sea,
driven and tossed by the wind.
For that man,” or woman, “ought
not to expect to receive
anything from the Lord, being a
double-minded man,” or woman,
“unstable in all their ways.”
He’s simply saying this: just
because you pray for something
once doesn’t mean necessarily
God’s going to answer it right
then.
And oftentimes because God
doesn’t answer on our schedule,
we stop praying and our
conclusion is He’s not
listening.
Or our conclusion is there must
be something wrong with me.
In other words, because God
doesn’t answer it on our
schedule does not mean that He
is not going to answer it.
But sometimes God does what?
He lets us pray and pray and
pray, not to get Him to do it,
but we pray and pray and pray
until God has accomplished His
purpose in answering the prayer.
And it’s not always the fact
that you get what you’re praying
about.
Sometimes it’s about the way you
get it.
And that is we have to wait, we
have to trust Him, and we have
to believe in our heart that God
is hearing us.
We don’t see any evidence of it.
And I think all of us can say
we’ve been through those times
when we’ve prayed and prayed and
prayed and we thought, God,
where are You?
Here’s what You’ve said.
And I’ll have to admit sometimes
there have been times when I’ve
held up the Bible and said,
“See, God!
You read this verse.
You wrote this.
And I just want You to see that
I’m trusting You for it and I
don’t know why I’m not having an
answer.”
Well, because God doesn’t
promise to answer on my
schedule, but on His.
And if you’ll think about it,
who knows best when to answer
your prayer?
We think we do, but not always.
So, I want us to think about
this whole idea of the wavering
of our faith.
And James lived close to the Sea
of Galilee, no doubt.
And when those hot winds would
come down off the mountain
across the sea and storms that
Jesus talked about, and they’re
right in the middle of them.
And the waves would go this way,
then they’d go that way, and the
ship’s up and the ship’s down,
and they were scared to death
knowing they were going to sink.
He said that’s the way our
faith is sometimes.
That is, it’s not steady.
It’s not always the same.
So, watch this.
One of the marks of our devotion
to Jesus is the fact that we can
pray and pray and pray and we
don’t give up because God
doesn’t answer on our schedule.
And so, I’ll tell you how you
know when you’re giving up when
you think, “Well, I don’t know.
Maybe I’m not asking the right
thing.”
Deep down inside, you know you
are.
And you–and so you wake up one
morning and you think, “God’s
going to answer my prayer
today.”
Praise the Lord.
You’re excited.
It doesn’t happen.
The next thing you get up and
think, God, what happened?
And so, we judge ourselves.
We condemn ourselves.
We conclude that God does not
always answer prayer.
He does always answer, maybe not
the way I like Him to, but He’s
always going to answer it.
So, would you say your faith is
sturdy, steady, consistent,
believing, unwavering, trusting
with all your heart, knowing
that God is going to answer your
prayer?
Or would you say, “To be honest,
I can believe Him as long as
I’ll get a little encouragement,
but sometimes I think, God,
where are You?
Where are You, God?
Why haven’t You answered my
prayer?”
Do you think that fussing at God
is going to get Him to answer
your prayer?
No, because what that says is,
well, He’s accomplishing His
task.
That is, when we argue with God,
what’s He doing?
He’s showing us, first of all,
we’re impatient.
Secondly, we don’t know His
will.
Number three, we’re not ready.
And so, what seems to us to be a
mistake on a part of God or
forgetfulness on His part is not
that at all.
He’s in the process of teaching
us, listen, to be consistent, to
trust Him, to believe Him.
Now, watch this, to believe Him
when I don’t see any evidence,
real faith is I’m trusting God.
I’m believing what He says, not
because I see it, not because I
feel it, but because He’s
promised it.
Watch this carefully.
Are you listening?
Say amen.
Your connection to the source of
all your blessings, your
connection to the Person who
releases those blessings, your
connection to your future
eternity is in the Person of
Jesus Christ.
So that, that being true, and we
don’t get our answers when we
want them, we have to ask
ourselves the question: why?
And here’s what it’s not.
It’s not because God doesn’t
care.
It’s not because He didn’t hear
you.
It’s not because He can’t answer
it.
There are other reasons.
And one of the primary reasons
is we think we’re trusting Him
when we’re not.
If on Monday, I’m praising God,
I’ve been to church, I got all
fired up with the music and the
message and I’m–God’s answering
prayer.
“God, this is a week for me to
really pray.
God’s going to answer my
prayer.”
And Thursday comes and you
haven’t said–had a single
answer yet, then what is God
saying?
Maybe you’re looking at the
wrong thing.
And so, what we do, we begin; we
don’t like to admit it; we begin
to doubt what God says.
“Ask and it shall be given you,
seek and ye shall find, knock
and it shall be opened to you.”
Well, Lord, I’ve been asking
since Monday and I don’t have an
answer.
And then we quote Him some other
verses and doesn’t seem to
impress God at all.
And so, what happens?
The next thing you know, we
think, oh, He’s not going to.
Oh, yes, He is.
Maybe He will, maybe He not.
And so up and down our faith
goes.
Wavering faith doesn’t get
anything from God.
So, let’s think for just a
moment.
What causes our faith to waver
like that?
When we choose to go by our
feelings rather than the Word of
God.
When we move our eyes from the
Word of God and His promises to
how we feel, we are going to
begin to be unstable in our
faith.
And God knew that.
The wonderful thing about this
Word, you never have to question
what God says.
What He says is not just true
sometimes, it’s true all the
time.
And when we choose to go by our
feelings rather than the Word of
God, our faith is going to be up
today and down tomorrow.
So, we put our feelings first.
That’s one of the reasons we
waver.
Secondly, when we yield, listen,
when we yield to reason rather
than believe God.
In other words, you can’t go by
reason, because reason and faith
do not always agree.
God’s reason, for example, for
not answering my petition the
way I ask may not be the
reason I would come up with.
For example, when we come to God
and asking big things of Him, we
have all kind of reasons for–to
believe He’ll answer our prayer.
It may be that God sees
something we haven’t thought
about, and He’s not about to
answer our prayer till He deals
with that.
So, if there’s a reservation, if
there’s a hesitation, if there
is–if there’s an instance in
which God is waiting, it’s
because He has a legitimate,
good, divine, helpful reason for
it.
And I think oftentimes
believers, because God doesn’t
answer our prayer when we expect
it, what happens is we just
doubt Him.
We pout.
We think, “Well, there’s no
point in me praying anymore
because I asked God for this.”
And every once in a while, I’ll
meet somebody who says, “I hear
you’re talking about prayer.
I used to pray.”
I say, “What do you mean used to
pray?”
“Well, I prayed before and God
didn’t answer my prayer, so I
just forgot that–just gave up
on that, and God doesn’t answer
prayer.”
It’s amazing how juvenile and
child-like we can become because
things don’t happen the way we
expect it and when we expect it.
So, ask yourself the question:
do you go by reason or by the
Word of God?
And then, a third thing.
We fail to see God at work in
our circumstances.
That is, if you don’t see God at
work in your circumstances,
you’re going to doubt what’s
going on.
And remember this, as a follower
of Jesus, nothing can happen to
you unless He allows it.
And so, difficulty, hardship,
pain, suffering, moments of
doubt.
He–why does He allow this?
Because He’s trying to grow us
up.
And so, we fail to see God in
our circumstances, what happens
is we begin to wobble in our
faith.
How is He going to grow us up if
He doesn’t test us?
If He doesn’t try us?
If He doesn’t allow us to face
things that we don’t understand,
things that we don’t like.
Things that oftentimes would
drive us to the Word?
I think about times I’ve been in
situations and I thought, “God,
you got to speak to my heart.”
And I’ll flip to something like
this, “The counsel of the Lord
stands forever.”
See, I just happened to turn to
that.
But that’s what He usually does.
Not all the time.
But turn me right to the verse
of Scripture He knows I need.
Because all of us are going to
face tests and trials.
And one or two things’ll happen.
I’ll turn to Him and trust Him.
I’ll turn to the Word of God and
read and strengthen my faith.
Or I’ll find myself wobbling and
wasting time.
And oftentimes, that’s where
people get in trouble.
Well, if God loved me, He
wouldn’t let this happen.
You, listen, you stay out of the
Word of God a few days and
you’re in trouble.
Because the devil loves for you
to leave the Word.
Because then he can inject into
your thinking things that are
not true.
The next thing you know, you’re
doubting God.
And so, God, He knows, watch
this, He knows exactly when to
answer your prayer.
He doesn’t have to check a
clock.
He doesn’t have to check the
calendar.
He knows exactly when you’re
ready.
That’s true of every blessing,
everything we ask of God.
He knows, watch this, He knows
exactly the right time because
on big issues oftentimes, and
sometimes small, big issues, God
has a very particular time to do
what we’ve asked Him to do in
order to accomplish what He
wants to accomplish.
And that is, God isn’t just
interested in meeting my
desires.
He’s interested in doing what?
He’s interested, primarily,
listen carefully.
He’s interested primarily in
shaping us into the likeness of
His Son, which means I have to
learn to be patient, trust Him
when I don’t feel like trusting
Him, trust Him when I don’t see
anything in sight, trusting Him
when I’m tempted to give up, but
trust Him.
He’s not promised to do it on my
schedule.
All of us have a divine
schedule, but we can’t run it.
God knows exactly the right time
to meet every single need we
have.
And sometimes He waits a long
time.
Sometime He waits a long time,
and we give up and we go back
and we give up and we go back
and we give up and we go back.
Remember this, if you, watch
this carefully, if you have
asked something that’s in the
will of God, relax.
It’ll come in His timing when He
knows you’re ready and He’s
ready, and your receiving it at
this time will enable Him to
accomplish what He wants to
accomplish in your life.
He’s in charge.
Then sometime we listen to
negative counsel from other
people.
How many people have said to
you, “Well, you–must be
something wrong what you’re
asking for because how long have
you been praying for that?”
And I think about people, for
example, who are looking for a
husband or a wife or something
as serious as that.
And they’re thinking, “Okay God,
mmm-mm, times going by God,
mmm-mmm, God, where are You?
Here’s what You promise.”
Let me ask you a question: how
many of you believe that God
forgets His promises?
We all believe He doesn’t
forget, right?
Then the next question is: God,
what are You trying to say to
me?
Because God is more interested
in His purposes for our life
than He’s interested in what our
purpose is.
And how often have people given
up?
Lord, okay, maybe this is just
not for me in life, so I’m just
going to trust You.
And all of a sudden, everything
unfolds.
God is in the process of
teaching us to trust Him.
God loves to answer our prayer.
Listen to what He says.
“Ask, it shall be given you,
seek and ye shall find, knock
and it shall be opened unto
you.”
So, think about why you find
yourself wavering in your prayer
request.
Because think about this: what
do we call Him?
Our Heavenly what?
Father.
Our Heavenly Father loves us.
And if you’ll think about this:
the next time you think God
doesn’t care, all you have to do
is remember this: look at the
cross.
You want to know whether He
cares or not?
Look at the cross.
There’s nothing to equal that.
There’s no love equal to what
God did through His Son, the
Lord Jesus, at the cross of
Calvary; nothing that will ever
happen will match that.
And so, when we give up, we
don’t realize what God’s up to.
He’s always up to something
good, no matter what it might
be.
And so, when we listen to
negative counsel, we’re heading
for trouble.
Listen, if you’re asking God
about something in your life,
probably it’s best that you keep
it to yourself.
Some things you can ask other
people to help you pray about,
naturally.
But then there are some things
that God just wants the two of
you, just the two of you, to
deal with it.
“Don’t talk to anybody else
about it.
Just talk to Me about it.”
And you say, “Okay, well Lord,
I’ve been talking to You three
months and You haven’t done
anything.”
Yes, watch this, yes, He has.
Listen carefully.
When you think God hasn’t done
anything, He’s had three months
to work on you and to get you
ready for the answer.
And oftentimes, right before God
has it all prepared for us, we
want to give up.
We say, “God hasn’t heard me.”
We walk away from God at a
pivotal point in our life.
Don’t forget that!
I see it happening all the time.
Well, I’ve been praying.
Well, what happens?
Well, you know what?
I’ve decided God just hasn’t
heard me.
Yes, He has.
Think about this: why wouldn’t
God listen to you?
You say, “Well, I’ve never been
saved.”
He’s waiting for you to
recognize your sinfulness, cry
out to Him to save you.
So don’t give up on God.
He knows exactly where you are
in your life.
Then of course, when we focus
our thinking on our
circumstances rather than God,
what does He do?
Remember this: He always has, as
His objective, our love and
devotion and commitment to Him.
Our mind is on something else,
His mind is on what will build
our relationship.
And so, when we think about we
focus on the circumstances and
we think, “Well, how could God?”
In other words, now that this
has happened, how could God
possibly do anything with this?
You can’t rush God.
You cannot hurry God.
Does God care?
Yes.
Does He care about everything?
Yes.
Care about everybody?
Yes.
But He knows the right time, the
right place, the right person,
or the right things, whatever it
might be.
God knows exactly what you need.
He knows exactly the right time
to provide it.
He knows how long to withhold it
until He gets your attention.
Would you say that God wants the
best for you or just pretty
good?
The best.
He wants the best for us.
Then I must be willing to wait
for the best.
Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and ye shall find.
Knock and it shall be opened to
you.
Three simple promises of God.
You know why He said it?
Because He wants to answer our
prayer, ready to answer our
prayer.
Because it doesn’t come when I’m
expecting it or anticipating it,
or it doesn’t come like I
expected it to come, we give up.
We say, “God doesn’t answer
prayer.”
Or we conclude God’s not
listening.
Or we conclude I must have done
something wrong back yonder in
my life somewhere along the way
and now God doesn’t answer my
prayer.
All of these are Satanic traps
to fall into.
And when I think about that,
circumstances, you can’t go by
circumstances.
Then of course, one of our
problems is we’re sort of
ignorant of God’s ways.
In other words, there’s nothing
in the Bible that says, “Ask and
it shall be given to you
immediately.”
That’s what we wish it would
say, but it doesn’t say that.
And when you think about how God
operates, watch this, whatever
we’re asking for that may be the
will of God, usually He has not
only that but something else in
mind also.
And God is a loving God.
In other words, God isn’t trying
to withhold anything good from
us.
It’s that our faith begins to
waver because we don’t get it
when we want it the way we want
it, and it may be that we don’t
get it through whom we expected
it to come.
And the more we understand the
ways of God, the more patient
we’ll become when it comes to
answered prayer.
Because oftentimes He withholds,
watch this, He withholds what
I’m looking for because He’s got
something better than I was
looking for.
Think about this: God, your
Heavenly Father, why would He
withhold from you anything
that’s good for you?
Why would He give you something
less than the best?
And I think back through in my
life how many years I’ve been a
Christian, God has never
withheld anything from me unless
He gave me something better.
I’ve thought about that many,
many times.
God, thank You for not letting
me have that.
Thank You, God, for making Your
choice.
So, ask yourself the question:
are you usually demanding when
you come to Him?
When you make a request, are you
willing to say, “Lord, here’s
what I’d like to have.
Here’s what I have my eye on.
Here’s what I’m praying for.
I’m trusting You.”
Now, Lord, I need this in sixty
days.
No, you don’t.
And, listen, watch this, time,
time, time becomes an issue in
your prayer life, you have to
leave that to God.
You have to leave the time to
God.
Would you not agree if He’s
omniscient, He knows exactly the
best time?
So, we sit in church and say,
“Oh yes, I know that’s true.”
But Tuesday night, you may
think, “Well, God, where are
You?”
His timing is perfect timing.
And I could give you example
after example, personal things
in my own life where He’s been
right every single time.
And there’ve been times when I
thought, God.
And I remember one occasion that
was a very critical moment in my
life.
And so, I remember coming back
from breakfast that morning and
kneeling down and talking to the
Lord and I thought, I don’t feel
You very close, God.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I
prayed.
I cried.
I begged.
I pleaded.
I reasoned.
I fussed.
I argued.
I did everything possible, and
the longer the week went by, the
worse I got.
Saturday night, when I’d given
up, said, “Okay, forget it, God.
Just forget it.”
Saturday night, I didn’t get
down to pray by my bed.
I didn’t open the Bible.
I just said, “Forget it.”
I remember walking out and, you
know how you brush your teeth
and look in the mirror?
I was brushing my teeth looking
in the mirror, it’s like,
what–God said to me, “What
did You ask Me for?”
And I remember being very
haughty and saying, “Well, God,
I’ve been asking, why You–what
are You doing–this week’s
been a horrible week.”
Went back and sat down.
God beautifully and quietly
answered what I was asking for
and it was fantastic.
And you know what?
I had to get on my knees and
confess and confess and repent
and repent and repent about my
lack of patience and blaming God
and accusing God and pointing to
Scriptures and telling, “Well,
God, what about this verse?
And what about that verse?”
God is interested in growing us
up.
He’s interested in growing us
up.
Listen, He says He’s, watch
this, predestined.
That is, He’s predetermined to
conform us to His likeness.
Well, let me ask you this: how
many of you think you’re pretty
much like Jesus today?
Nobody?
Well, if that’s true, doesn’t He
have the right to keep working
till He gets us where He wants
us?
Anytime you think you’re about
there, ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Here’s what happens.
He gives us a dose of something
in order to remind us He’s still
working on us.
And I don’t know whether this
will be encouraging or
discouraging, but until the last
day of your life and the last
moments of your life, He’s going
to be working on you.
You know why?
Because He predestined us to be
this–He predetermined divinely
to conform us to the image of
His Son.
In other words, above everything
else, if you want to know what
Jesus thinks, what God the
Father thinks, what’s His
primary ultimate objective, not
getting you to heaven; He’s
going to do that; but conforming
you to the likeness of His Son
now while we’re here.
So, what would He have to do in
your life to get you looking
more like Jesus?
Well, you don’t want to answer
that, because nobody knows you,
but you and the Lord.
He knows that secret something
in your life that He’s been
working on.
He knows something that you
don’t feel worthy of.
So, He knows exactly where we
are.
So, He’s working at us.
And He wants to deepen our
faith, strengthen our faith,
change our negative attitudes
and our lack of faith.
He always has our best interest
at heart.
And so, whatever He’s doing in
your life is God loving you into
His image, working on your life,
till He gets you where He wants
you.
Will we ever be there totally in
this life?
No, but think about this.
Here’s the will of God: He’s
going to work on us.
He’s going to work in us.
He’s going to work for us till
we breathe our last breath, and
His ultimate purpose is shaping
us, conforming us into His
likeness, because one of these
days, He knows He’s going to
call our name and we’re going to
stand before Him.
He’s got big plans for all of
us.
And they have to do with,
listen, they have to do with
making us like Himself,
conforming us to the likeness of
the image of Christ.
That’s what He’s interested in.
All this other stuff’s something
we do.
So, we’re ignorant of God’s
ways.
And one of the things that
causes our faith to wobble is
our guilt over present or past
sins.
And, watch this carefully, as I
talk to people over the years,
one of the biggest handicaps to
trusting God is they look back.
And instead of looking at God
and His love and forgiveness and
kindness, they look back and
they think, how could God ever
love me for what I’ve done?
How could God ever love me
for what I’ve been, where I’ve
been, what I’ve been?
And so, we judge ourselves; and
the devil, he loves that.
God doesn’t want you looking
back.
He wants you looking straight
toward Him.
He forgives every sin.
He wipes it clean with the blood
of Jesus.
We’re His children.
He’s conforming us to His
likeness.
He’s working in our life every
single day, because He knows
ultimately where we’re going to
be.
So, ask yourself the question:
is your faith solid, strong,
immovable?
Or, is it wishy-washy?
Don’t be like the waves of the
sea, coming and going.
So how do we correct our
wavering faith?
We correct it by asking the
following questions.
So, I have a list of them.
Ask yourself the following
questions.
Number one: where are these
doubts coming from?
Where are these doubts coming
from?
Probably something in your past,
something going on in your life.
Listen, when you are asking God
about your life and you are in
the process of living in sin,
you’re going to have confusion.
Listen, a spirit of confusion
will envelope the life of a
person who’s living in sin and
talking to God.
You’re going to have a feeling
of confusion.
Where are these doubts coming
from?
Secondly, you think about this:
did God promise to meet all your
needs?
Well, I hear a couple of yeses.
How many of you say–would say,
“God, yes, He’s promised to meet
all my needs,” amen?
Has He?
Ooh, He must have missed
somebody.
Not only has He promised it,
watch this, He’ll meet all of
our needs; not all my wants, not
all of my desires; but all of my
needs.
Now, why doesn’t He meet all my
wants and all my desires?
Because He loves me too much.
If my wants and my desires come
into conflict with the Word of
God, He’s not going to answer
it.
Why?
Because He loves us too much to
give us what we shouldn’t have.
Thank God He’s not given me a
few things that I’ve asked for.
Because, listen, He always has
something better.
And think about this, we all
would say, “Yes, He’s promised
to meet all of our needs.”
Think about this: did He not
promise to be with us all the
time?
What’s that verse?
Real short.
“I will never leave you nor
forsake you.”
How many of you have ever felt
left and forsaken by God?
The rest of you are not being
honest.
Sure you have at some point.
And you think, God, where are
you?
God, what–why aren’t you
answering my prayer.
What’s going on?
He’s always interested in
drawing us to Himself and making
our life count.
Somebody says, “Well, sometimes,
I don’t feel God’s presence.”
Watch this, why has He made it
so that sometimes I don’t feel
his presence?
Why would God do that?
Can you have a good reason?
Sure, because He doesn’t want us
to live by our feelings.
He knew we’d vacillate.
I feel fantastic today.
Well, God was so close
yesterday, I–God’s nowhere to
be found.
In other words, if we live by
our feelings, we would never
know where we are in our
relationship to God.
Because, for example, is it not
true that sometimes you get up
in the morning, head out to do
whatever you do, and it’s like
you left God back at your house.
Or, when you got out of your car
and you left Him there.
Or, when you left your business,
you left Him there.
In other words, we don’t always
have this jolly feeling that God
is with me, because if I lived
that way, I’d be living by my
feelings.
We live by what?
Truth.
We live by the truth.
“I will never forsake you.
I will never leave you.”
We live by truth of the of the
Word of God.
And sometimes we come to forks
in the road in our life.
We have to make choices.
And some of these choices are
very, very serious.
That’s why living in the Word of
God is so very important.
Because the truth is, this Book
is our spiritual compass.
And listen, it never points in
the wrong direction.
Whatever you’re looking for,
whatever you’re seeking God to
give you guidance and direction
for, you get in the Word of God
and start reading.
You say, “Read where?”
Well, it’s–have some favorite
places, but reading the Psalms,
read the Proverbs or read in the
Epistles or wherever it might
be.
And it’s like a compass.
And it’s always pointing in the
right direction.
If I don’t live in the Word of
God, my faith is going to waver.
And then, listen to this, did He
not give you one of the greatest
gifts of all?
And that is when you were saved,
He indwelt you with the Holy
Spirit.
That is, listen to this, God
says, “I’m going to send the
Holy Spirit, who will be in you,
with you, and upon you.
He’s going to be your guide.
He’s going to be your helper,
the parakletos.
He’s going to be your helper.
He’s going to be the source of
your strength.
He’s going to be there for you
anytime, anywhere, in any
circumstance.
He’s going to be the One who
empowers you, enables you.
He’s going to be your very
life.”
That’s our security.
That’s our absolute assurance.
And so, once you receive Christ
as your Savior, listen to this,
He loves you so much, you cannot
be lost.
Watch this, once He writes your
name in the Lamb’s Book of Life,
you’re trusting Him as your
Savior, there’s nothing in the
Bible about erasures.
Not in there.
Nobody can erase your name from
the Lamb’s Book of Life because
it’s written with indelible
divine ink.
Cannot be erased under any
condition.
Once you’re saved by the grace
of God, watch this, grace says
in the very beginning, I don’t
deserve it.
Grace is all about love and
forgiveness and cleansing and
acceptance.
Once you trust Him as your
personal Savior, your name
written in Lamb’s Book of Life,
and what?
You sin against God, you get
chastised.
You sin against God, you pay the
price.
But, watch this, the price is
never your soul, never your
soul.
Once you’re saved by the grace
of God, you’re forever saved.
You start living in sin, what
happens?
Chastisement comes.
And you–He will chastise you.
You say, “Well, how much will He
chastise me?
He’ll chastise you until you
think you can’t stand it
anymore, and you get
straightened out with God.
That may be where you are this
morning.
You may have to admit, “Well,
you know what?
I got out of the will of God
back yonder and I told God I
didn’t want to live that way
anymore.
It didn’t work for me, so I
showed up this morning hoping
I’d hear something that’ll
help me.”
Once you trusted Jesus Christ as
your personal Savior, you are
forever a child of God.
You may be a child of God with
lots of doubt, lots of fears,
things are not working right in
your life, but watch this, but
not lost, not lost, because He
loves you, because He cares,
because He has the best for you.
This is Holy God who said, “I’ve
sealed you unto the day of
redemption.”
That is, when He calls us home.
Sealed, secured forever.
We have no reason to doubt Him.
And every once in a while, I’ll
meet somebody who says to me,
“You don’t know what I’ve done
in my life.”
I said, “It doesn’t make any
difference.”
“No, but if you knew the kind of
life I live, you wouldn’t be
talking about–to me about God’s
love.”
Yes, I would.
No matter what you’ve done,
where you’ve done it, with whom;
it doesn’t make any difference.
This is the awesome forgiveness
of God.
On the cross, every single
solitary sin that man has or
could ever possibly commit, the
price has been paid for your
forgiveness, your salvation for
all eternity.
He’s an awesome God.
He loves us with a love that we
can’t even describe.
And when I think about people
whose faith wavers, I think
sometimes they must think that
there must be something too hard
for God.
No, it’s a matter of
surrendering to Him and watch
Him work in your life.
That’s who God is.
He’s this awesome, infinite God,
full of love that’s
indescribable.
I ask you one last question:
what could Almighty God have
done to prove His love for all
of us that even matches what He
did at the cross?
What else could He do to prove
His love?
“For God so loved the world that
He gave His only Begotten Son,
that whosoever,” watch this,
“whosoever believes in Him,” not
works for Him, not labors for
Him, “whosoever believes in Him
would not perish but have
eternal life.”
Do you believe Him?
Do you believe He died for your
sins?
Do you believe that when He went
to the cross, He paid your sin
debt in full?
Are you willing to ask Him to
forgive you of your sin,
surrender your life to Him and
start, listen, begin life anew
with Jesus in your life, sealed
by the Holy Spirit and, one of
these days, welcomed into heaven
by Almighty God?
Trust Him.
Don’t let your faith waver.
Know who you are.
Know what He’s done for you.
Know where your name’s written
and know that, listen, watch
this, you can’t sin enough to
erase your name from the Lamb’s
Book of Life.
You can’t.
You say, “Well now, mmm-hmm.”
No, no, no, no, no.
You can’t.
He doesn’t forgive our sins
partially or for a limited
amount of time.
When we confess Him as our
Savior, sealed by the Holy
Spirit and, one of these days,
welcomed into heaven by Almighty
God?
Amen?
Father, we thank You for loving
us and we look at the cross and
think, oh, how unworthy we are.
Oh, how much You must love us.
Show us how to live out what
You’ve done for us and what You
do for us continually.
Deliver us from all doubt, all
fear.
And may we rest absolutely and
totally in Your loving arms.
In Jesus’s name, amen.