That’s A Good Grip You Got There

Well, good morning to everyone, and it’s good to be back and to see you this morning. We had the opportunity last weekend to memorialize my dad down in Austin, Texas, and I’m grateful that I had that opportunity. And I wanted to talk a little bit about that this morning, actually, but by way of introduction, let me just say this, that whether you know it or not, I’ve been preaching a series of sermons centered around the theme, true stories, true stories.

And maybe you remember the story about the football player who ran the wrong way, right? That was one of them. And then a couple of weeks ago, we talked about the fight for life. That was another one of them. And then many months ago, we did a story about, you know, our true stories in relationship to things that made a significant impression on us, like 9-11 or the assassination of John F. Kennedy and things like that.

And we did one about a baseball player, so we wouldn’t leave that sport out, you know. But anyway, this morning we’re going to finish that series up, and this is actually a series that I’m going to be preaching in a gospel meeting coming up here.

My wife and I will be traveling in September to Fort Worth, where we will be with the Birdville Church of Christ for a Sunday through Wednesday gospel meeting. And then in October, we’ll be traveling down to San Antonio, where I will hold another gospel meeting.

And we’re going to present these lessons, or I’m going to present these lessons, at those meetings. But this is the last in the series, and it’s designed to encourage people to be faithful to the Lord. And originally, I had intended to key it off of the speech of Winston Churchill when he said, Never, never give in. You know, maybe you’re familiar with that famous speech from the Second World War.

But, in light of the things that have happened in my life the past two months, I’ve decided to go a slightly different direction with it. And to key it off of the story of my dad. And maybe you already know this, but my dad did pass away on July 4th this year, and he was a very, very interesting fellow.

He was a Texas history teacher. For 35 years of his life, he taught history, math, social studies, and then for another 15 years as a substitute teacher for a total of 50 years teaching in the Texas education. He was a deacon and then an elder in the church. But what a lot of people didn’t know about him was that he grew up in Northeast Texas, Not too far from here, close to a little town called Roxton. And maybe some of you are familiar with Roxton, Texas. And he was the son of a sharecropper. And sharecroppers had very, very difficult lives. But from the time that he was able to walk, most likely, his mother and father had him out in the cotton fields, picking cotton.

And that’s just a life that we don’t know anymore, you know, but back then, if you were old enough to walk, that’s what you did. And so, he picked cotton, and he was picking cotton even before he started school and into grade school and into high school. He picked cotton, and I don’t know if you’re familiar with picking cotton or not. I think most of us probably are not, but it involves Getting down and bending over and picking those cotton bowls and then putting them in a sack, and that sack, after you put enough cotton in, it got really, really heavy, and you dragged it along with you, and you had to have a good, good firm grip on that cotton sack to drag it along with you so you could pick that cotton and put it in the cotton sack.

And I don’t know if it’s from holding on to the sack or from picking the actual cotton, you know, over and over again with your fingers like this, Dad developed a grip that was so strong that it would crush most men’s hands.

And he couldn’t really control it. He would just squeeze your hand really tight, and it would be something of a difficult thing to let go of if you weren’t used to it. And so, when someone else would match his grip, he found that unusual, and he would comment to them, you know, that’s a good grip you got there.

And the last time I saw Dad, back in the end of June, it was, we were there for a little bit, and then we got to see him one more time, I got to see him one more time, and I told him I loved him, and the dementia had fixed his mind so that he didn’t really recognize me, and so he wasn’t comfortable saying, I love you, back to me, because he didn’t really know who I was.

He was, but he told my mother he loved her and he knew who she was to the very end, but then he stuck his hand out because that was kind of his default, you know, for someone who he recognized or met or something like that, so he stuck his hand out from the hospital bed. He was in there and he shook my hand. I shook his hand and he said, that’s a good grip you got here. That was the last words that my dad said to me.

That’s a good grip you got there. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 58 says, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. We need to have a good grip. God wants us to have a good grip on several things. First of all, He wants us to have a good grip on the gospel.

Secondly, He wants us to have a good grip on salvation. Third, He wants us to have a good grip on Christ. And finally, He wants us to have a good grip on eternal life. And so we’ve got to stay faithful to Him. We’ve got to have that good grip and we’ve got to maintain that good grip all of our life. So let’s talk about that this morning. First of all, God wants us to have a Good grip on the gospel. And my dad was a lover of the gospel and he supported the gospel. And when I started preaching, we went to different places where I would preach the gospel and he always went with me, always supported me. And I really enjoyed that time that I had with him back then. But there was this one place we went down to Viter, Texas. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Viter, Texas. It’s down in In South East Texas. And I was preaching there and we were staying with an older couple there. And they said, the man, he said, well, we only have one bed. I hope that’s okay. It’s a queen size bed. But we only have one bed for both of you. And we assured him it would be fine. But Dad, he snored a lot in his sleep. What we used to call saw in the logs, all right?

And when we got in bed, he could go to sleep at the drop of a hat. And he went to sleep, and then I was on the other side of the bed there, and then he started sawing the logs, and I couldn’t go to sleep.

And so every time he’d snore, I’d just kind of reach over my elbow and just kind of hit him in the ribs, you know. And then he’d settle down a little bit. And then he’d saw the logs again, you know, and I’d hit him in the ribs.

And finally, after a while of doing that, we both got to sleep. Well, we woke up the next morning, and Dad said, How’d you sleep last night? And I said, Well, after I could get over your snoring, I went to sleep pretty easily.

He knew he snored. It wasn’t a big deal, but I finally got some sleep, you know. And I said, Well, how did you sleep last night? And he said, I slept pretty good, but for some reason my ribs are really sore.

Well, Dad really loved the gospel and he would support it even if he got sore ribs because of it. And the Bible tells us that we need to have a good grip on the gospel. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 2 says, Brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, and in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast. There it is. Hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. We’ve got to have a good grip on the gospel. We’ve got to hold fast.

Paul wrote, “…therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 15. And in 2 Timothy 1 and verse 13, he wrote, “…hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and in love which are in Christ Jesus.”

We’ve got to have a good grip on the gospel. I’m really thankful that my dad had a good grip on the gospel. He supported it, and he really knew what the gospel meant. Well, certainly, we’ve got to have a good grip on salvation. You know, sometimes we talk about salvation and we want people to understand that, yes, to be saved, you’ve got to hear the gospel and believe it, repent of sins, confess Jesus as Lord, and then be baptized, but there’s really one more step to that process of salvation that sometimes we don’t mention in the invitation, but we probably should.

More often. And that’s, you’ve got to live a faithful Christian life. You know, salvation doesn’t stop at the baptistry from that point of view. We’ve got to continue to live that faithful Christian life. And salvation is really a relationship with God and with Christ.

It’s 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17 says this. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. This is salvation. This is what it means to be saved, to live that Christian life, and to have the newness that God wants us to have within our life.

And as I look at the desires of God, you know, God wants us to have a good grip on salvation and think about my dad. He had a good grip on salvation. You know, he had, he lived the abundant life.

My dad rarely complained about anything and I think that’s probably because of his upbringing. You know, he was taught very early and very young not to complain, to just work and to kind of keep your mouth shut. And he didn’t complain. He tried to make the best of every situation that he found himself in. He loved singing. He enjoyed good food, especially corn and coleslaw. And he had good friends. And he lived that abundant life, you know, that Jesus talks about in John chapter 10 and verse 10.

And he knew what it meant to be faithful and to live a life of salvation. To not only be saved, but to stay saved and to have that life. You know, God wants us to have good things in our life. He wants us to lay hold of that wonderful salvation that we have.

John chapter 10 and verse 10, Jesus said, I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. The abundant life. Is that something that we live each and every day? You know, I’m convinced that a lot of times the difference between someone who’s saved and someone who’s lost is in large part just the attitude that they have toward life.

You know, if you can’t be happy in this life with being saved and being happy with what you have in this life, what makes you think you’re going to be happy in heaven? I don’t know that’s going to happen, you know, if you can’t learn to have joy in this life in whatever circumstance you’re in. We’ve got to live the abundant life.

Salvation is more than just coming up out of the badmestry. That’s where it begins. But then it continues on as we embrace the wonderful things that God has created around us and as we make the best of everything that we have.

In 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 21, we read, Test all things. Hold fast what is good. We’ve got to hold fast to the good every single day. Jesus said in Revelation 2, verse 25, But hold fast what you have till I come. Hold fast what you have. We have something special.

We have something good. We need to hold on to it. It’s worth holding on to. And then in Revelation 3, verse 3, Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard, hold fast and repent. We have received the message of the gospel.

We have received salvation. We have heard the truth. We have received blessings and blessings from God. We’ve got to hold fast to it. In those areas where we’re not holding fast, we need to repent. And we need to make the best of everything that we have in this life.

God wants us to hold fast, to have a good grip on salvation. Third, God wants us to have a good grip on Christ. You know, exemplifying Christ in our lives is super important for the Christian. You know, Paul would say in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20, I’m crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.

You know, that’s what the Christian is striving for, for Christ to live in Him. And salvation is something, and Christ is something that each one of us needs to have within our lives. You know, I remember when I was a kid, and Dad and I would go out and we would mow lawns for widows.

He did so much to take care of widows in his life. And there were some who lived down the street from us, and then there were others later on. And he was always finding some way to help others in his life. He was truly a demonstration of Christ.

And we need to exemplify Christ within our life, not just by caring for widows. It’s just one area of service. There’s a lot of areas of service that we can be involved in to exemplify Christ within our life. But we need to recognize Christ’s role in our lives. You know, in Hebrews 3 and verse 6, we read that Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope, firm to the end.

And we got a lot of great families here in the church in New Boston. And I love all of our families. And they’re very special. Each one of them, very, very special. And I know you love your family. And your family is very close and very special to you.

And that’s what this verse is about. It’s understanding how special our families are to us, but specifically Christ’s family. Because that’s a family that’s greater than our ordinary, everyday, physical families. Christ, as a son over His own house, you could put the word family in there, over His own family, whose family we are.

If we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. We’ve got to hold fast to Christ. He’s like the leader of the family. He’s the patriarch, so to speak. He’s the older brother, the scriptures teach us. And He’s the heir, you know. So He’s the firstborn. He’s the heir and the one who receives all. And we can have the same blessings that He has in His family.

I know many of you love your families and you love the blessings that you have in your family. You know what? That’s great. That’s great. There are greater blessings in Christ’s family. And that’s the family that we need to hold on to and have a good grip on as we have a good grip on Christ. Hebrews 3, verse 14 says, For we have become partakers of Christ. If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, we’ve got to hold steadfast and we can be partakers of Christ. We are partakers of Christ. And He is our High Priest. Hebrews 4 and verse 14 says, We need to hold that confession fast as we hold Christ within our lives, as we have a good grip on Christ. God wants us to have a good grip on Christ. Hebrews 10 and verse 23, Let’s hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He is faithful who promised.

And then finally, God wants us to have a good grip on eternal life. You know, I was speaking in…I’m gonna put a picture up here of us. We went to Acadia National Park this past summer, but this picture was taken in 2005.

When we went to Acadia National Park with my mom and dad back then, and you can see I’m a little bit chunkier in this picture than I am now, and, well, you know, we get chunky, and then we get un-chunky, and then we get chunky again. So, anyway, but we had a good time on our trips, and, you know, eternal life is a lot like that.

Sometimes we look at eternal life and we just think, you know, eternal life, it’s such a concept that we don’t grasp. It’s such a concept we don’t understand because we don’t have a grip on it. We don’t know what’s going to happen exactly, but I like to picture it like this, and I like to picture it as kind of a, we’re on this road trip together, you know.

We’re on a family vacation together here in this life, and we’re headed toward a final destination, and that final destination is an amazing, amazing place. If you’ve ever been on a road trip with your family, you kind of understand what that’s like, right? And when you finally get there, it’s like everything just comes together.

But you know, before you get there, you got to make sure that you stay with the family, right? You don’t want to get lost. You don’t want to be left behind. You don’t want to be that person who gets out of the car and runs off and you’re never seen again. That would be a terribly tragic circumstance for a family on a road trip.

But if you stay with the family, if you stay in the car, y’all have the same roadmap, right? And you’re all going to the same place together. And then you all arrive there together. That’s a great, great feeling. You know, we’ve been to a lot of places. Our family has been both with my mom and dad and with the kids. And we just went to Acadia this past summer. It was great. And I enjoyed being there. It was a wonderful time.

But as much as I enjoyed those road trips with my family, I enjoy, I’m going to enjoy getting to heaven with you more. And I hope that you have that same thought toward me and toward everyone who’s sitting around here today because we’re on this trip together.

And maybe it’s not as solid as riding in a car, having the map, or the GPS, or whatever, but we’re still in that same situation. We’re still going to that wonderful destination, and we’ve got this road map here that God has given us, and if we follow it, and we stay true to it, we will arrive.

And so God wants us to have a good grip on eternal life. In 1 Timothy 6, in verse 12, Paul says, “…Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called, and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Is your family worth fighting for? Mine is, and I know yours is too. And God’s family is worth fighting for also. We want to lay hold on eternal life. 1 Timothy 6 and verse 19 says, “…storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”

God wants us to have a good grip on eternal life. Jesus said, “…behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” And then, in Philippians 3, verse 12, Paul writes, “…not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”

Christ has laid hold on us to say, come with me. Come on this trip with me. Come get in the car together with me and let’s go to an amazing place. And as long as we hold fast to Him, we’re going to arrive in that amazing place. We had some good times on our road trip, but we’re going to have better times when we get to heaven together.

You know, God wants you to have a good grip. He wants you to have a good grip on the gospel. He wants you to have a good grip on salvation and Christ and eternal life. How’s your grip? How’s your grip? Do you have a good grip? Are you living faithfully? If you do, that’s great. Keep holding on. Keep doing what you need to do to be faithful to the Lord. But if you don’t have a good grip, maybe you’re just barely holding on. First of all, don’t let go. Let’s have a better grip, though.

Let’s see if we can get into the Word of God more. Let’s see if we can fellowship with one another more. Let’s see if we can enjoy one another more as we travel together on this pilgrimage to eternity. How’s your grip? This morning, you can get a good grip.

We talked about what you need to do to do that earlier. Hear the Word of God and believe it. Repent of your sins, confess Jesus as Lord, and be baptized for the remission of sins. That’s the beginning of it. But then, be faithful to the Lord. Don’t give up. Keep going. And one day, we will, together, lay hold on eternal life.

Maybe you need prayer this morning to help you to do that. Maybe you need to become a Christian today. We’re ready and willing to help you. Whatever you need may be, you can come and make it known right now while we stand and sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!