Category: Steadfastness

A majority of Canadians celebrated Easter over the weekend but not all of them went to church.

While 73 per cent of Canadians responding to a poll by Ipsos-Reid believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and was resurrected to eternal life and 62 per cent agreed that through his life, death and resurrection, God provided the way for the forgiveness of sins, just 17 per cent said they attend church regularly.

Continue reading “Religion Without the Pews” →

In 1 Corinthians 16, the apostle Paul ended his epistle with various exhortations to the Christians at Corinth. In light of the tone and purpose of the letter, these exhortations are understandable. The church at Corinth was a struggling church, divided, and in the midst of much controversy.

A short list of their problems includes: Continue reading ““Watch, Stand Fast in the Faith”” →

Recently, while reading through a stack of bulletins, I came across the following pithy statement under the heading: Sentence Sermons:

“Many people fail in life because their wishbone is where the backbone should be.”

There is a lot of truth in that short statement, as it establishes the truth that each one of us must have conviction to be successful in any endeavor.

Continue reading “Backbone? Or Wishbone?” →

(Hebrews 12:12-15) “Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be {dislocated}, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all {men}, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”

The writer of Hebrews discusses the need for endurance in the context preceding the above passage. In verse one he states the Christian’s life as being a race which must be run “with endurance.” The picture is of a marathon, not a sprint. We must maintain our steadfastness to the end of the race. We must continue to the finish. A suggestion is given here as to how we can maintain that focus, it is by looking to Jesus (12:2). When our eyes are locked on Jesus, and we see the hope He has made available to us by His sacrifice, we are given strength to endure to the end.

The idea of endurance is continued in verses 3-11, as the writer discusses God’s chastening of His children. As verse 11 states, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” This trek we are engaged on is sometimes difficult, but to maintain our steadfastness “trains” us and makes us righteous.

Having stated the need for great endurance, the writer now gives recognition to the inevitability of fatigue. Picture again the marathon runner. Is it possible for a man to run 26 miles, and not get tired? Of course not! The arms grow tired, causing the hands to “hang down”. The knees grow feeble, and the legs feel like lead weights. Therefore the writer says to “strengthen” the hands and knees!

How to strengthen and renew your spiritual vitality? There are two things we would do well to remember. First is the need for training. The marathon runner does not get too tired to continue because he has prepared for the race. He has trained. Exercising his body prepares him for the rigors of the marathon. The Christian must also train. He must study his Bible. He must pray. He must exercise his senses to strengthen them. Earlier in Hebrews, the writer discusses the need for study, and says, “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, {that is,} those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

Second, you must recognize your weaknesses. Some marathoners do not finish the race because they do not recognize their limits. They begin the race on too fast a pace for their training, or they begin the race too soon after an injury. The Christian is in danger of this as well. Hence, the writer states that we should, “…make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be {dislocated}, but rather be healed.” We must recognize the impediments littering the path of life, and try our best to remove them that we may not stumble. Proverbs 4:25-27 states, “Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil.” While the image is slightly different, the lesson is the same. Stay away from evil, let your weakness (lameness) be strengthened. Do not allow yourself to be continually tempted with evil, but rather direct your paths in such a way as to stay as far away from temptation as possible.

Listen to inspiration in this matter, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22). “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed {is} willing, but the flesh {is} weak” (Matthew 26:41). “{Let} love {be} without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9). “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:12).

Remember, as indicated in verses 14-15 of the text, the danger is of defilement. Without maintaining steadfastness through exercise and focus, we can fall short of our goal. Therefore we should “pursue peace with all men”, pursue “holiness”, and be diligent, “lest anyone fall short of the grace of God.”

Brethren, let us not falter. We need to exercise ourselves through prayer and study. We need to resist evil, and carefully place our steps on the straight path. And finally, we need to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”

On several occasions the apostle Paul used the Greek athletic games to illustrate the need for zeal in the Christian life. Paul wrote to the Corinthians,

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

The word temperate here comes from the Greek word egkrateuomai and is used in the New Testament only here and in 1 Corinthians 7:9. In that passage it has reference to sexual chastity, and here refers to the training and self-denial that was a part of the 10-month training process of the Greek athlete. It literally means, to exercise self-restraint (in diet and chastity), (Strongs).

Thayer says the word means, to be self-controlled, continent… in a figure drawn from athletes, who in preparing themselves for the games abstained from unwholesome food, wine, and sexual indulgence.

Notice the following quotes concerning the athlete’s training, from ancient sources, taken from Wuest’s Bypaths in the Greek New Testament, pages 53-54.

Thou must be orderly, living on spare food; abstain from confections; make a point of exercising at the appointed time, in heat and in cold; nor drink cold water or wine at hazard. (Epictetus)

The youth who would win the race hath borne and done much, he hath sweat and hath been cold: he hath abstained from love and wine. (Horace)

They are constrained, harassed, wearied. (Tertullian, commending the example of the Greek athlete to Christians).

As Wuest states, “If we Christians would exercise as much care and self-denial, and rigidly hold to a life of separation as did the Greek athlete, what powerful, successful, God-glorifying lives we would live. Illustrations such as these were not lost upon Paul’s Greek readers” (pg. 54, ibid).

Paul here points out a contrast between the motivation of the athlete and that of the Christian. He writes, “Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.” The perishable crown referred to here was called a chaplet. It was a woven crown of oak leaves, and was the sole prize given to the athlete. Consider how much time and effort, how much discipline and self-denial the athlete invested in order to attain such a small reward. Next, consider the value of the crown supplied to the victorious child of God!

At the end of his life, Paul talked about the crown that had been reserved for him. He wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). No doubt during the difficulties of his life, the hope of the crown sustained Paul. He suffered greatly for the cause of His Lord. He endured imprisonment, torture, shipwreck and treachery. He gave up everything he had held dear prior to his conversion. He did it for the Lord, with his eternal destiny in view.

Here he points out that the crown, the object of his life for Christ, was available not only to him, but to all who seek the Lord. But, it takes dedication and zeal. Going back to his message to the Corinthians, Paul wrote in verse 24, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” This does not indicate that only one Christian will actually get the crown of life; rather it indicates the type of zeal we must have to be acceptable to God.

The Christian race is not a “fun run.” We should not approach it as a hobby, something to do on a sunny day. Rather, it should be to us as competition is to the Olympic athlete. We must give ourselves to it totally, and deny all else that we may obtain the victory in Christ.

The Hebrew writer likewise refers to the Christian life as a race, and establishes the focus we must have in our efforts. “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2). We must set aside any encumbrance, and run the race with a narrow focus. In our lives, we must constantly look to Jesus. We must always consider the eternal reward of His presence, and never grow weary in the progress we make toward that goal.

I may not have the skill of the Olympic athlete, but I can have the zeal and focus to obtain the imperishable crown which God has reserved for those “who have loved His appearing.”

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God (John 3:19-21).

For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you (1 John 3:11-13).

Last week I received three emails from a person who did not reveal his name.  He was very critical of some writing I have done on the internet.  To give you a sense of the tone of the posts, note the following quote: Continue reading “Evil Hates the Light” →