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The Climb Part Seven: Climbing with Faith in Your Harness!
The next few messages in the series will be in
relation to climbing with faith (part 4) a because climbing with
faith requires trust and confidence that comes from our safety
chain. We first discussed The Anchor as God the Father in
part 5, Jesus as your rope in part 5, and today discuss The Holy
Spirit as your harness.
REVIEW: The Top Rope Safety
Chain
For our illustrations we are basically speaking of "Top Rope
Climbing" The climbing safety chain consists of 4 crucial
components in a closed system. On "The Live End" of the rope
you have a climber wearing a harness that ties him to the rope.
The rope runs from the climber up to an anchor and back down to a
belayer who also connects to "The Sharp End" of the rope.
That is your closed system safety chain. Over the next
several weeks we will talk about this safety chain and how it
illustrates our own Christian Climb and how it can give us faith
to climb safely. The
subject is climbing with faith. In order to reach the highest
goal in life you need to have faith! You need to trust in your
safety system to climb higher and avoid the pitfall of fear!
Fear will send you
sprawling, tire you out, and cause you to quit without ever
reaching your true potential! Remember there are no limits to the
heights you can reach with Christ! With a good safety system!
We weren’t meant to climb
solo, we were meant to climb with God as our anchor, Jesus as our
rope and the Holy Spirit as our harness.
John
16:[7] But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am
going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you;
but if I go, I will send him to you. [8] When he comes, he will
convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and
judgment: JN 16:12 "I have much more to say to you, more than
you can now bear. [13] But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he
will guide you into all truth.
You need to have faith
in your harness!
THE HOLY
SPIRIT LIVES WITHIN US!
- The
Holy Spirit is Jesus’ continuing presence on earth and in our
lives to continue to teach us and help us grow
- We
can say it is our connection point to Jesus. And Like a Harness
it allows us to tie into the safety system.
- When
we accept Jesus we receive the Holy Spirit and we are now in a
complete safety system
– We
have the Anchor in God, and we have the Rope with Jesus, but we
also need a good harness!
–
If all you have is a rope and anchor its
still an unsafe climb.
–
The harness keeps you connected to the
rope and the anchor.
–
Your harness is the the Holy Spirit of
God.
–
Jesus left us the Holy Spirit in order
to stay connected to us. The Holy Spirit is God’s way of living
inside of us and having a relationship with us.
THE HOLY
SPIRIT IS OUR COMFORT
–
Your harness is the part of your
climbing gear that is closest to you.
–
A good harness is meant to be
comfortable.
–
The Holy Spirit has the role of
comforter! He helps us through the difficult times and keeps us
upright in the event of a fall.
–
to keep you upright in the event of a
fall.
–
IN your Christian climb, there will be
times when you need rest and there will be times when you slip.
IN those times the Holy Spirit in you keeps you connected to
Christ the rope and God the Anchor.
–
Your harness keeps you upright and
pointing in the right direction and so does the Holy Spirit.
THE HOLY
SPIRIT IS OUR COUNSELLOR!
–
While Jesus takes the weight of our sin,
the Holy Spirit provides comfort but then reminds us to keep
moving!
–
The Holy Spirit’s role is to convict
(make you aware) of what caused you to slip and fall and to
encourage you to climb on.
–
He is our comfort and will hold us close
to the wall while we recover from our fall. However if you hang
too long he will begin prompting you to make a decision. You
either need to climb on or quit. Sitting for very long in a
harness gets uncomfortable.
–
The Holy Spirit will remind us of
inactivity and of sin!
–
When you are going in the wrong
direction that rope and harness will begin to pull away from you
and you have a choice. Follow the rope to the anchor or untie
from it and go on solo!
Conclusion:
Climbing is active! Being
a Christian is active! Living for God requires courage and
determination to climb the steep faces of life! Faith is the key
ingredient that allows us to do that with confidence!
You need to have God as
your anchor! Jesus as your Rope, and the Holy Spirit as your
harness to climb safely in life! Without those things, fear will
set in and you will never climb to your true potential. We
were not meant to climb alone, we were meant to be in relationship
with the trinity of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and The
Holy Spirit.
It’s a closed system, you
can’t leave any part out!
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