You Can't Be Kept Forever

John 17:12

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Jesus said that He kept those who were saved and none of them is lost. In other words, while Jesus was alive, He was able to keep those who followed Him doing the right thing. As long as Jesus was with them, the disciples did what they were supposed to do. However, Jesus would not always be with them, which meant they needed to make His faith theirs. The day would come when Jesus would be gone, and who would then keep them doing right? At some point, these disciples had to keep themselves doing right instead of depending on Jesus to keep them in the right way.

One of the great dangers in Christianity is that people follow an influential leader, but once he is gone, they stray from what they were taught. I am amazed as I see believers who were once under great men of God doing the complete opposite of what they were taught by those men. When I was a young boy, Dr. Lee Roberson was at the zenith of his ministry. His church and college produced over one thousand graduates who started old paths, independent Baptist churches around the world. These graduates at one time stood firm, but now that he has been gone, I come across graduates today who have not kept what they were taught by this great saint of old.

During my teenage years and into my early thirties, I had the privilege of being influenced by Dr. Jack Hyles, widely regarded as one of the greatest church builders, leaders, and Christians of my lifetime. I watched men on his church and college staff stand for truth and were avid soul winners––over one thousand graduates from Bro. Hyles college started churches worldwide. However, now that he has been gone for over two decades, many, if not most, of the men who were on his staff, and many of the graduates from his college have not kept what they were taught by this great man of God.

My friend, no man of God can keep you in the faith and on the old paths your entire life. At some point, you have to make the faith of the old paths yours. Your preacher cannot keep you in the faith of the old paths after he has gone to Heaven. Your parents cannot keep you in the faith of the old paths after they are gone. You have to make the faith of the old paths yours if you will continue to serve God after your spiritual influences have gone to Heaven.

Moreover, just because a spiritual influence has fallen in sin does not mean that the faith of the old paths has changed. Sin is what caused a spiritual influence to fall, not the faith of the old paths. Too many want to blame the faith of the old paths for a man of God’s failings instead of blaming the sin when that man of God left what his faith taught.

There is nothing wrong with following a great man of God for a while, but at some point, you must make the faith of the old paths your faith. You must set up protections that will keep you in the faith. If you don’t, you will quickly be pulled away from the faith when you leave their influence or they go to Heaven. The perpetuation of the faith of the old paths is dependent on you making that faith yours. You can't ride on the coattails of great men of God forever; you must make their faith yours, and if you do, you will stay in the faith when they are gone.