The Sword Room

Hebrews 12: tells us we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. He is not talking about angels, as the word “therefore” indicates, but to the heroes of the faith mentioned in the previous chapter. The word “witnesses” is not used here in the sense of observers, but of those giving testimony or witness by their lives. What is their witness to us? That the life of faith is not a bed of roses. When you walk by faith and not by sight there are hardships all along the way, and you never realize your ultimate hope in this life. In spite of this the walk of faith is do-able because so many have done it; and it is worth it. That is the message of the great cloud of faithful witnesses.

The first thing we are told to do is put off something–sin. Sin entangles us and weights us down. Why put it off? Because we are in a race, and when you run in a race you want to be as light as possible. You never see obese people winning the Boston Marathon, do you? You never see distance runners carrying backpacks full of rocks on their backs or wearing ankle weights. Nor do you see them trying to run with their shoe laces tied together. Why–because to do so would be stupid and would cause them to lose.

We must travel light in the race of faith because it is a long cross country course, not a fifty meter dash. “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (v. 1). Notice too that one must run with focus. “Fixing out eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (v. 2). Jesus said that he who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven (Luke 9:62). The Parable of the Sower (Matt. 13:1-23) teaches us that many make what looks like a good start and then finish badly. They get tired, discouraged, and bored, and drop out of the race.

The fatigue comes often by being weighted down and tangled up in sin. Boredom sets in when we take our eyes off Jesus waiting for us at the finish line with the great cloud of witnesses standing by cheering us on. So many who professed faith back when I was saved in the Jesus Movement have abandoned the God of the Bible. Some are living nominal Christian lives where they still retain a personal faith in Jesus that rarely expresses itself in any genuine way. Others have rejected the Scripture for Openness Theism, humanism, and even Buddhism. A strong start but a disastrous finish.

I have a son named Jeremy who is the #1 ranked wrestler in the state this year in his weight class. This is his senior year and he is the youngest of four brothers who were all wrestlers like their dad. When Jeremy was a freshman he did not know how to pace himself, and he would go out and spend his energy in the first round trying to pin his opponent. This strategy resulted in him losing about half his matches that year. Through his high school career he has learned to pace himself and wrestle smart. He was a state runner up last year and has his eye on a state title this year. But he must keep his eye on the finish line. And he must work hard every day in practice. He needs to get his sleep and eat healthy foods. He has to keep his grades up. He has a target on his back, and if he is careless or overconfident he could get knocked off by someone who isn’t on his radar.

This is a metaphor of the race of faith. You must not just make a start of it and then drop out. You must run until you cross the finish line and then you can collapse into the arms of Jesus. If you are His you will not quit because He will not let you. He will give you what you need to finish the course.

Yet He has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach–if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard (Colossians 1:22-23).

You have heard of the perseverance of the saints. It is true that the elect persevere to the end–we are on solid ground in adhering to this doctrine. Unfortunately, it often is presented in a way which creates bondage and legalism. The Puritan writers, for all their insight and contribution to the body of Christian literature, often framed the doctrine of perseverance in a very dour way, as if it were up to the Christian to keep himself free from all spot and blemish. Puritan believers were admonished to make full proof their election and test themselves to see if they were in the faith–very biblical when understood aright. The Colossians verse above was often used as a proof-text in this connection.

Certainly there are warnings in Scripture about walking in a pattern of flagrant ongoing unrepentant sin. Without a doubt a person living in this backslidden condition ought not assume he has a free fire insurance policy. On the other hand, your average believer need not be constantly questioning his position in Christ based on his his ability to keep himself holy, blameless, and beyond reproach. The truth is, no one is able to do this–it is only through the perfect imputed righteousness of Christ that we can stand in the presence of God. A genuine Christian will choose to obey his flesh sometimes. Believers often experience seasons of defeat. But the faith God implanted in their hearts in the new birth is never fully quenched. A true believer in sin is the most miserable person in the world–as he ought to be. I know because as a young believer I struggled almost hopelessly with sin. My flesh wanted forbidden pleasures, but my inner man– energized by the indwelling Spirit–hungered and thirsted for Christ and His righteousness. The battle is not over, but guess who’s winning!

What I have discovered over the years is that many Christians are motivated by the nearly subconscious (or not) fear of hell. Yes, they trusted Christ as Savior, and they know His death and resurrection are sufficient. But when they look at their own failures they begin to wonder how they could really be saved. Their own performance or lack thereof becomes the measuring stick. Their righteous deeds become benchmarks of their progress, and as such an evidence that heaven will be their home. They hop on to the treadmill of good works performed as compensation for their sins (sometimes in lieu of genuine repentance). Again, there is a sense in which we need to take sober inventory of our lives–our words, thoughts, and deeds. We do need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. But at the end of the day if we are prodded along by the nagging fear of hell, we have not been perfected in the love of God, and all our progress will be short-lived. The burning coals of joy will be smothered by the wet blanket of fear.

Serve God from the heart. Keep trusting Jesus as your only hope of heaven. Stand on his Word. Do not presume on the grace of God either. Strike a healthy balance. Steer a straight path between the rocks of legalism and license. Live a life pleasing to God because it is what you want at the deepest level of your being–not because you fear hell. The fact that you care about this and want to serve Him, that you struggle with you flesh and desire to walk by His Spirit, these are all evidences that He is at work in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Your chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. What could be more fulfilling? Jesus came to give you a spiritually abundant life; and there is nothing in the plan about you living in the fear of hell for the rest of your life or of a glorified awards banquet where one day the Lord will dredge up your sin and rub your face in it. On the other hand, is there any real joy in living a minimalist Christian experience where Jesus is an add-on to the more important items in your life? That rings hollow because it is. Again it is about balance. Bottom line–keep trusting Him. Keep serving Him, because for the true child of God it sure beats whatever is in second place.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude v. 24).

Here in the Pacific Northwest the churches have one thing in common with Starbucks–there is one on every corner. Well, almost. Then there is the main regional competitor to Starbucks here in Whatcom County, Woods Coffee. After that you have Tully’s, Seattle’s Best, and a host of small mom and pop operations following in their wake. No one seriously threatens Starbucks, although in certain locations Woods puts a small dent in their business. The smaller shops specialize in exotics and offer a homier atmosphere. They know they will never be up there with the giants of the designer coffee industry, so they don’t even try.

In the past two months I have had a sampling of churches in the area: big churches, tiny churches, mid-sized churches–you name it, I’ve seen it. After thirty-two-plus years of preaching myself, the church-hopping experience has been a real eye opener. The really big churches that are filling their buildings to capacity offer two things: production-quality music and specialized small groups for every imaginable demographic category and sub-category. In the services of these churches there is very little emphasis on sound doctrine or the preaching/teaching of the Word. There are quite a few smaller and mid-sized churches trying to implement their model in hopes of keeping a few more bodies in the building.

Yesterday on a whim I attended a small congregation that has been around for years. I have driven past it literally hundreds of times but have never visited on a Sunday. There were maybe forty very warm and friendly believers there who seemed to know and like each other. A very sincere man stood and led in some of the great old hymns. The congregation then spent about ten minutes sharing needs and praying for one another. The young pastor preached a really passionate sermon on the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The message was well-prepared and well-delivered. The content was excellent, and his theology was sound.

I couldn’t help but be amazed when I thought that every week scores of people pass this church on their way to one of the mega-congregations. This young guy preaches his heart out week after week, and he is like a well-kept secret. To change the figure, he is like the hole-in-the-wall diner frequented by a select few who are in the know and love good old-fashioned food, while hundreds of others plough through the drive up line at the Burger King down the street for whoppers and fries.

My heart goes out to this young preacher, his family, and his congregation. I have been where he is at, and I have done what he is doing. Only I started back in the 1970s when you could at least find a few believers who knew the Bible and cared about sound doctrine. This young man has a whole career ahead of him and, honestly, I don’t envy him a bit, considering the direction our culture is headed.

But we need young men who are devoted to God and His Word. Now is not the time to throw in the towel and adopt the if-you-can’t-beat-them-then-join-them philosophy. The reason Americans are so biblically illiterate and doctrinally ignorant is that from the schoolhouse to the churchhouse and everywhere in between we have de-emphasized Scripture and theology in favor of feel-good humanistic philosophy. Just go to the local Christian book store and you will see. It used to be that these venues offered Bibles and a few other assorted items. Now they are massive emporiums of self-help, psychobabble, so-called Christian fiction, magazines, music, greeting cards, plaques, and other assorted varieties of knick-knack items, trinkets, and junk.

So you young bucks preaching the Word keep your chin up and be faithful to the Word. No one will write books about you, but God sees your faithfulness. You might need to take outside work to support your family, as I had to do. But one thing I can tell you from experience–I would not trade the years I have spent immersing myself in God’s Word for anything. There was a time when I looked enviously at the guys leading the huge churches. But I have seen them fall time and time again, so much so that I can assure you that all that glitters is not gold. Hang in there, my brothers in ministry! You need not be Starbucks to offer a great cup of coffee.