Fellowship Of Christian Athletes: 50th Anniversary Celebration

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI
FEBRUARY 22, 2004

JESUS CHRIST said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13: 5.

Our beloved Lord has been and is creatively at work in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Our every attainment enabled by Him gives us cause to – – – –
I. CHERISH THE PAST (VERSE 6)
“The Lord is my helper.”
It is He who has blessed and honored this organization in the past.
Years ago a commitment was made by those who held in trust this organization.
The commitment was to affect the community not reflect it.
Knowing that divine operation often waits on human cooperation persons committed themselves to that end.

Across America dynamic persons aglow with zeal have faithfully served our Lord under the banner of FCA in arenas where the church is barred. Marching in cadence with the heartbeat of Calvary they have won many victories. The legion of loyalists who have ministered faithfully have given us an admirable legacy.

Jesus who spoke the Universe into existence and then walked across a bit of real estate in Asia Minor with a cross on His back has enabled our every victory. The praiseworthy past He has enabled is prologue to a promising future.

Our past should well be encapsulated in I Chronicles 29:11:
“Yours, O Lord is the greatness, the power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, And you reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.”

Our theme for summer camps this year is a dramatic statement made by Jesus Christ.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

If we believe that and proclaim it we will be among the most criticized non-PC people in America. We should not marvel that there is only one way. We should rejoice there is a way. In order to have the courage of our convictions we need to know who said that. Who was Jesus? John 1: 1 states: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Logos was the Greek term translated “Word” and is a reference to Jesus Christ. To know the meaning of a word it helps to know how it was used at the time employed. About the time of the writing of the gospels the philosopher Philo used it to mean “all that is known or knowable about God.” That is Jesus, He is all that is known or knowable about God because He was God.

In the Greek text “In the beginning” literally means, “Before time began to begin the Word was.” He is eternal. There never was a time He wasn’t and there will never be a time He isn’t.

Skeptics scoff at the idea of Him being God and being with God the Father. Positionally He was with the God the Father. In essence, that is, His nature was God. Muslims ridicule Christians as having three gods. They quote, “Hear O Israel your God is one God.” Indeed, the tri-unity is one. As H2O in a liquid state is water, in a gaseous form is vapor, and in a solid form ice. In all three-forms it still is H2O.

One God can be illustrated by there being one bunch of grapes consisting of three grapes. There is one bunch consisting of three. Place three matches together and strike them. There are three matches but one flame. So the Godhead, the tri-unity, is three in one.

The Trinity should never be spoken of as God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The name “Son of God” confuses some who question who was Mrs. God? The title is not used in the sense of progeny. In a good big unabridged dictionary you will find one definition of “son” to mean “one identified with a cause.” For example, there is an organization named “Sons of the American Revolution.” They are descendants of those associated with the revolution. Jesus was the “Son of God” in the sense He was associated with God the Father positionally and in essence, that is, His nature.

He who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me” was God. Again the structure of the Greek text is important. It means, “I, and I only, always am the only way….”

Scripture identifies Him as God. Of Him it is said, “Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God” (Romans 9:5). Colossians 2:9 reveals “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” I Timothy 3:16 magnifies this fact: “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified by the Spirit, seen of angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.”

Who was? God was. When and how was all this accomplished? In the person of Jesus Christ. Who according to this was Jesus Christ? God!

If you are to defend the statement: “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through Me” you need to know by whom and with what authority it was said. Download these texts on the mainframe of your mind and never delete them.

That gives us cause to – – – – –
II. CELEBRATE THE PRESENT (VERSE 5)
Christ furthermore said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5.)

His abiding presence gives us cause to celebrate the present. He has proven Himself to be a faithful and true companion God. He has shown the ministry of FCA His divine good pleasure. All we celebrate has been made possible by His grace working through His faithful servants. That is what we celebrate.

He who has been with us said: “I will never leave you…”
That is a forever never with no exceptions ever. The statement in the Greek text consists of five compounding negatives. These are synergistic negatives. That means these negatives are not just added to one another but they are multiplied by each other. That is very strong. It means: “I will never, no not ever, no never.” Linked with the little Greek word “leave,” aniemi, means: “I will never, no not ever, no never leave you behind, abandon you, give up on you, or send you back.”

He further stated: “Nor forsake you…” Forsake comes from the Greek word encatalipo meaning “never cause you not to survive, or leave you helpless.”

Combined that means, “I will never, no not ever, no never leave you behind, abandon you, give up on you, send you back, nor cause you not to survive, or leave you helpless.”

The statement begins with “I,” meaning Christ, and ends with “you.” This is an I/thou relationship. It is a promissory note that can be cashed innumerable times. Notice who said that: “He Himself said…” Jesus said it. Who is He? Romans 9:5 says, “He is over all, the eternally blessed God.”

Appropriately we call Him Emmanuel, meaning “God with us.”

Titus 2: 13 urges us to be “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

A rule of Greek grammar confirms “our great God” and “Savior Jesus Christ” is a reference to one person. Thus, our great God is our Savior Jesus Christ. Acts 20: 28 further confirms this by referring to “the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

Whose church is it? God’s.
How did He get it? He purchased it.
With what did He purchase it? His own blood.
When did God shed blood? On the cross of Calvary in the person of Jesus Christ, God the Son.

An embryo does not get any blood from the mother or the father. It manufactures its own blood. The red blood that dripped on the gray stones of Calvary was the blood of God.
Christ said, “I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16: 18).

The gates of the city were where the elders of the city gathered to make plans. Thus, Jesus was saying, “Let the devil and all his demons plot and plan how to stop me but they can’t stop me from building my church.”

It is important that every Christian closely identify with a local church and serve the Lord therein. The FCA Mission Statement notes: “To present to athletes and coaches, and all whom they influence, the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church.”

Jesus loved the church enough to give Himself for it. We should love it enough to give ourselves to it.

Do you ever feel so weak you can’t carry on? Do you ever feel all alone? Do you ever feel you don’t know what to do? The next time you feel so weak you can’t go on remember He who is omnipotent, all powerful said, “I will never, no not ever, no never leave you behind, abandon you, give up on you, send you back, nor cause you not to survive, or leave you helpless.” The next time you feel all alone remember He who is omnipresent, all present said, “I will never, no not ever, no never leave you behind, abandon you, give up on you, send you back, nor cause you not to survive, or leave you helpless.”

When you feel you don’t know what to do, remember He who is omniscient, all knowing said, “I will never, no not ever, no never leave you behind, abandon you, give up on you, send you back, nor cause you not to survive, or leave you helpless.”
To those without knowledge of what to do: He Himself, the all knowing God said, “I will never, no not ever, no never….”
To those all alone He Himself, the all present God said, “I will never, no not ever, no never….”
To the weak He Himself, the all powerful God said, “I will never, no not ever, no never….”
That is a forever never with no exception ever. Never includes right now. Regardless of how you feel He is available right there with you.
Practice the presence behind the promise. Remember, He Himself who said it was Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. There never is a time He isn’t with us and there never will be.
That will enable you to celebrate even when weak, all alone, and don’t know what to do.

As a result you can confidently – – – –
III. COMMIT TO THE FUTURE (VERSE 8)
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

We must so commit ourselves as to meet the challenges offered by our increasingly secular society. Today’s evangelists are secularists who preach immorality. Our decadent society has turned back to the gods of decadence.

We face a culture defined by:
Low commitment level
Pluralism
Improperly defined tolerance
A low moral base line.

As we face this challenge we must stay focused on our Master and the mission on which He has sent us. Constantly practice the presence behind the promise. Every blessing we have enjoyed has come from Him. He who has blessed us is – – – –

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.”
Yesterday, He was the Redeemer on earth.
Today, He is the intercessor in heaven.
Forever, He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the eternal blessed God who is over all.
It is He Himself, the all knowing, all powerful, all present God who said, “I will never, no not ever, no never leave you nor forsake you.”
We must perennially practice the presence behind the promise.
He had the authoritative right to say, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Not my favorite theologian, Fredrich Nietzche, in his work “Beyond Good and Evil” wrote: “The essential thing “in heaven and earth’ is…that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and always has resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth while.” That has and must define FCA, a long obedience in the same direction.

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13: 20 – 21
Dr. Nelson L. Price
www.nelsonprice.com