South Attleboro Assembly of God

Isn’t it interesting how people greet each other?

· The Japanese are fond of bowing when they meet someone; it is courteous but distant.
· Paul Harvey encouraged people during the flu season to give a ‘snappy salute’ to others.
· The fist bump has probably stopped the spread of germs.

However, you can learn a lot about people by shaking hands with them, by touching them. The other night I met our new High School teacher Katy (Monteiro). When we shook hands, there was a nice, firm handshake and a smile that said, ‘I am genuinely glad to meet you.’ It told me a lot about her.

I am sure you have experienced various handshakes, like the …

· Dead-fish handshake – their hand is sticky and grip is limp.
· Ironman handshake – their grip is so strong that it seems the want to hurt you; you regret wearing a ring.
· Hand-pump handshake – when they hang on and go up and down several times.
· Heart-association handshake (sometimes known as the dairyman’s handshake) – when they squeeze your hand several times.

We can laugh, yet, there is something special about touching someone –even if it is only a casual handshake. I am told one of the things that the elderly in nursing homes miss is being touched. Let me remind you that Jesus touched the untouchables: ‘A man with leprosy approached Jesus. He knelt before him, worshiping. “Lord,” the man said, “if you want to, you can make me well again.” 3 Jesus touched him. “I want to,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared (Mt 8:2-3 NLT).’ Amazing. Imagine being a leper. He longed to feel – especially to feel the touch of another; he longed for acceptance, and Jesus reached out and touched him. And he felt it; he was healed!

Did you know that there is a verse that resembles a handshake with God? It is a …

A Heavenly Handshake
Holding, I am Held, Phil 3:12

You see, we reach out by faith only to find that God himself is already reaching out to us. Last year I had Pastor Andrew preach on this exact passage and he did a wonderful job. We were going through the book of Philippians at the time, but he emphasized a different aspect than my point. I believe the Lord wants me to encourage you with this little teaching about faith today.

Let’s look at the verse and its setting.

1. The Passage and Setting, Phil 3:10-15.

Paul wrote, ‘I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection … 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:10, 12-15 NIV).’ Here, Paul dreams of winning the prize, of being a faithful runner in life’s race, knowing that someday he will cross the finish line into heaven. He presses on like a runner in a race. Paul is saying here that the Christian walk is by faith and that Christ supplies the energy and resources to press onto the goal.
There are many similarities between the church at Philippi and us today.
· There was an increasing hostility towards Christians. Paul foresaw a day of intense persecution by a Caesar Nero.
· Therefore he encouraged the Christians at Philippi to ‘strain toward the goal,’ to ‘press on toward the goal,’ to ‘win the prize.’ He was like a coach standing alongside the race yelling, ‘don’t stop, keep going, don’t look back, you’re doing great.’

But this passage is really about faith. Verse twelve is the key passage for today’s message: ‘but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me (v. 12).’ Look carefully at who is holding who. Paul imagined himself reaching out only to find he is already being held.

· One way to think about this passage is to think of a toddler learning to walk. The toddler holds tightly to their parents hands and yet the parent is holding the child as well.
· When our girls learn to ride a bicycle it was rather difficult because of the hills. So we had to put the bikes in the car and drive to a level place. For each of them I would run alongside of them holding onto the seat or basket and at some point I let go. Of course they fell a few times but eventually they took off and I couldn’t keep up with them.

But the word picture breaks down. The goal of walking and riding a bicycle is to do so independently of an adult. Whereas Paul envisions God constantly holding onto us as we hold onto him by faith.

This passage is about two sides of faith: our grip by faith on the things unseen and the assuring touch of God.

2. Two Sides of Faith.

There are two sides to faith: our side and God’s side. Let’s unpack a few passages that will help us understand this divine handshake.

Our grip of faith:

· Hold firmly, Titus 1:9; He 4:14; 3:6. Here is the basic concept: ‘Let us hold firmly to the faith we profess (He 4:14 NIV).’ This is expressed multiple times in the New Testament. We are to hold unswervingly by faith.
· Hold unswervingly, He 10:23. ‘Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful (He 10:22-23 NIV).’ That means we are not to have any doubt, but the hold on with a tight grip as if our very lives depended upon it.
· Grip the ‘mystery of the faith,’ 1Ti 3:9. There is a mystery to faith. It can be viewed as absurd to believe in something unseen. Yet, if God fully revealed himself, there would be no need for faith; creature would automatically respond to the divine creator. Paul instructs the deacons must keep ‘holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience (1Ti 3:9 NASB).’ Finally, we are encouraged to hold on to sound teaching.
· Hold fast to sound teaching, 2Ti 1:13; Tit 1:9.

Friends, we will never have all our doubts answered, but we can have faith to hold on and occasionally we will recognize a divine handshake. The Bible says, ‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (He 11:1).’How can we ‘be sure of,’ and ‘certain of’ what is unseen?There is a divine handshake that gives us faith to believe.

God’s divine handshake:
· Faith comes from God, Ep 2:8. God is the source of the very faith we need to believe in him and to hold onto him. ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ep 2:8 NIV).’Our faith originates when we hear the voice of God, the word of God to us.
· When we hear God’s word, Ro 10:17. ‘Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ (Ro 10:17 NIV).’Further, God wants us to groan our faith.
· God is the author / perfector, He 12:2.‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (He 12:2 NIV).’In other words, he will bring circumstances into our lives that causes our personal faith to grow.
· It is a gift, Ro 12:3; 2Pe 1:1. Paul says we are not to think highly of ourselves because we have faith and others do not; it is a gift you have received without merit.

Now that we understand the principle and understand that the unseen and seen worlds interact, let’s look at what that means for us in our daily life.

Paul calls this walking by faith.

3. The Walk of Faith, 2Co 5:7.

Again, Paul says it so simply, ‘for we walk by faith, not by sight (2Co 5:7 NASB).’ In other words, even though we see the things of this world there is another reality overlapping and interacting with this world. ‘We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2Co 4:18 NIV).’ Let me give you a few stories to illustrate the walk of faith.

Faith’s first call is to salvation.

1. For Salvation, Lk 15:11-31.

There’s no better story than the parable of the prodigal son. An arrogant young man demanded his inheritance from his father. Because of foolishness and circumstances he was soon destitute. This son chose to separate from his family he let go of the relationship. Isaiah wrote, ‘All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own (Is 53:6 NLT).’ This son self-excluded himself from the rights and privileges of family; he followed his own way.

The story goes that, ‘He came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you (Lk 15:17-18 NIV).”’ He heard the voice of God saying, ‘your father has food.’ It is significant that he said, ‘my father (2x)’ and ‘father’ here. It means that he turned and reconnected with his father; he reached out by faith to reestablish the relationship he had with the family.

The climax of the story goes, ‘So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him (v. 20 NIV).’ The father then said let’s celebrate, ‘For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found (v. 24 NIV).’ It is significant that the father calls this prodigal ‘son of mine,’ meaning that the relationship was there. The son self-excluded himself, but the father’s embrace was always there.

In the same way, ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1Jn 1:9 NIV).’ If we reach out by faith as a sinner and grab a hold of the word of God that says by God’s grace you are forgiven, He calls us His son or daughter. There is a divine embrace.Holding, we are held.

Salvation begins the ‘walk of faith,’ but prayer is another aspect.

2. In Prayer, Lk 13:10-13.

There is a simple and short story of a woman ‘who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years (Lk 13:11 NIV).’ The story goes that Jesus saw her while he was teaching in one of the synagogues. ‘She was bent over and could not straighten up at all (v. 11).’ Do you suppose she went to the synagogue weekly for 18 years and did not pray for her own healing? I doubt it. Jesus said to her: ‘“Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God (vv. 12-13 NIV).’ Such a short story it is only for sentences. But for that woman it was a divine handshake. She prayed and Jesus put his hands on her and she was healed.

In the same way, there is an unseen struggle, a battle that can only be won through prayer. ‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ep 6:12 NIV).’ Prayer is like opening up your hands and saying, ‘daddy hold me,’ or ‘daddy, please help me.’ Holding, we are held.

In the ‘walk of faith,’ sometimes we can only say, ‘help.’

3. In Crisis, Mt 14:30-31.

On one occasion Peter was actually walking on the water to Jesus. Amazing. Was pick up the story: ‘But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him (Mt 14:30-31 NIV).’ Peter cried out, and Jesus reached out and touched him. When Peter got back in the boat, the disciples were shipped Jesus saying, ‘truly you are the son of God (v. 32).

In the same way, in those moments of crisis we can cry out to him and have assurance that he will grab a hold and rescue us. Holding we are held.

Conclusion.

This rich theology is found in the songs we sing. Matt Redman song emphasizes the faithfulness of God in holding us (2Ti 2:13).

Matt Redman – You Never Let Go (2010).
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

Bill Harmon’s song emphasizes our reaching out by faith to the unseen world.

Bill Harmon - Reach Out And Touch The Lord (1958).

Reach out and touch the Lord as He walks by;
You’ll find He’s not too busy to hear your heart’s cry.
He’s passing by this moment, your needs to supply;
Reach out and touch the Lord as He walks by.

Holding, we are held.

Friends, are you holding on by faith?

To close out the service the Lord has directed me to ask you to do something.

My natural inclination is to be quiet and reflective in my praise to God. However I am learning that my body and soul are interconnected and I am commanded by God to honor God with my body (1Cor 6:20). Honoring God not only by living a pure life, but with sacred movements and actions. For many years here I have been stepping out of my personal comfort zone to raise my hands in worship, to come to the altar and kneel before God - I am learning to make my movements holy to the Lord.

Just as God can take the bread and cup and make it holy so the Lord can take our actions are bodily movements and make them holy.

A few weeks ago I was outside praying at night and I raised my hands in adoration to God. I believe the Lord took pleasure in my physical movement of raising my hands and praising him when there was no one looking. The Lord spoke to me and directed me to encourage you to make holy physical movements.
· Today, if you have a physical need I want you to raise your hands like you’re receiving a gift.
· If you are like the prodigal son, I want you to turn and come to the front as if you were coming home. If you want to thank God for your salvation raise your hands in praise and thanksgiving to God.
· Perhaps you are in a crisis and all you can do is cry out, ‘help.’ You need to come to the front and raise your hands.

Let’s read this verse together, and then I will pray: ‘We commit to press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us (Phil 3:12 NIV).’