KEEP THE FAITH
“I have kept the faith.” Il Timothy 4:7
Adoniram Judson was the first missionary to leave America’s shores to carry the Gospel of Christ. He
was imprisoned by Burmese officials and suffered very cruel trestment for a long period of time. It took
years to gain his first convert, and when he returned to America, he was asked how bright the prospects
for converting the heathen were.
The steadfast faith that made him successful is seen in his answer: “As bright as the promises of God.”
The Burmese government officials and their cruel torture could not douse the light of God’s grace
shining in this great soldier’s heart.
The apostle Paul faithfully and heroically “kept the faith.” As an apologist, he proclaimed the faith profo-
undly and more clearly than the disciples who walked side by side with the Saviour. He kept the faith as
a treasure and imparted it freely to all who would listen and believe. He contended for the faith and made
it plain he would not compromise the claims of Christ. He kept the faith in spite of his past (Acts 9), his
own personal problems (Romans 7), preacher problems (his conflict with Peter) and personnel issues
(Bamabas and Mark).
Friends, if we will fight a good fight, finish our course and keep the faith, there is a crown laid up for us
(II Timothy 4:8), and we don’t have to worry about it being there. It is “laid up” for us personally, and the judge
that oversees that crown room is righteous!
— Evangelist Tim Green
SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEARN!
A man noticed his friend had bandages on both ears and asked, “What happened to your ears?”
Oh,” he said, “the phone rang and I ran into the kitchen where my wife had been ironing, picked up the
iron, stuck it up to my ear and said, “Hello” and burned my ear.”
“Well, that explains what happened to your right ear, but what about the lift one?”
“Oh,” he said, “you wouldn’t believe it; but as soomI set it down, the crazy phone rang again.”
A man who changed doctors told a friend the new doctor had him on iron tablets, iron shots and once-a-mo
intravenous iron injection. “And you feel better?” “Only when I’m facing north.”