Four Essentials to Finishing Well

Jerry Bridges (at the Bethlehem Conference)

Paul endured to the end but Demas, as far as we know, did not (2 Timothy 4:7,10), even though he was once a fellow worker (Philemon 1:24). This is a sobering thought because so many of us are still very young. Finishing well is guaranteed to none of us, apart from the grace of God. How can we, like Paul, endure by God's grace?

1) Daily time of focused personal communion with God. It must be daily, otherwise we will find ourselves drifting in the wrong direction. Demas was in love with this present world. Our time with God must build in us affections for God that trump the temptations to love this world. It's helpful to have a plan, but the plan must direct us to God himself.

2) Daily appropriation of the gospel. The gospel is for sinners. Before we spend time in communion with God, we must come to him with the attitude of the tax collector who prayed, "Have mercy on me, a sinner," and trust God alone to make us righteous. This alone will give us the confidence to approach God and have communion with him.

If we don't daily appropriate the gospel then we will begin to base our spirituality on our performance, which will eventually lead us either towards pride or despair. But reminding ourselves daily that we are sinners and that, by God's grace, we've been clothed with the righteousness of Christ, will equip us with true and pure motivation to continue following Jesus and renouncing the desire to love this world. We ought to work hard, not in order to earn God's approval but because we already have it.

3) Daily commit yourself to God as a living sacrifice. Romans 12:1. The Old Testament sacrifice that Paul alludes to was daily performed by the priests. He carries that same significance over to new covenant saints. Our bodies are on loan from God, and we must daily re-consecrate ourselves to him. Just as Paul appealed to Philemon (Philemon 1:8-10), even though he had the right to command him, so also he appeals to us to give ourselves to God. The sheer wonder of the mercy of God should cause us to spontaneously give it, and this we will do if we daily bask in his love.

4) A firm belief in the sovereignty and love of God. Lamentations 3:37-38. Life is full of pains, through natural circumstances and the ill will of others. But God is sovereign over all such evils, and—by faith—we can give thanks for them. God is using them to conform us to the image of Christ and will never leave us or forsake us. The gospel and the promises of God will never fail, nor will he take them from us.

Does Jesus Command Us To Succeed? Part 2

Continued from yesterday . . .

How Does God Define Success?

Jesus never asked a disciple to be successful. He asked us to be faithful.

In our society, only a few can be rich, powerful, at the top of things. In the Kingdom of God, all can serve with honor, all can be faithful, and many can be great. Why? Jesus says that those who serve will be greatest in the kingdom.

Not only is serving the way to God’s upside-down definition of success, but God uses failures. Again and again in scripture and in history we see that great men and women of God endured great hardship and disappointment. They did not get their “first wish.” They were not necessarily the most talented. God has often used “losers” who believed in him to get things done:

· God used a failed Egyptian second-rate aristocrat, whose career was crippled because he was not the right race and he committed a serious crime: Moses.

· God used a Hebrew boy whose homeland was ravaged by war, who was carried off captive and forced to work for the empire that had broken his dreams. But God gave him new dreams: Daniel.

· God used a British boy who was kidnapped and forced into slavery for ten years or more. This boy ran away from his masters and tried to become a priest, but his academic record was so bad and his past was believed to be so questionable that when he applied for a missionary assignment he was at first rejected by the church as incompetent: St. Patrick, the evangelist of pagan Ireland in the fifth century.

· God used a coal-miner’s son who had become a neurotic monk, fearful and angry at the God who knew and punished every sin. And in his quest for righteousness, he re-discovered the message of grace through Christ: Martin Luther, the founder of the Reformation.

Wilberforce:

But one of my real heroes is a nineteenth century Christian named William Wilberforce. He was a young aristocrat, a member of British Parliament. He had been converted to Christianity as an adult, and wanted to do something useful with his life. He and his friends decided to address the problem of the British trade in slavery, shipping the human cargo from Africa to the West Indies.

In 1787, he decided to bring the cause of Abolition before Parliament in early February 1788. In January 1788, Wilberforce fell so sick that his doctor gave him less than a year to live. He recovered, but did not appear again in Parliament for 11 months.

In May of the next year (1789) he finally brought before Parliament a measure to abolish trade in slaves altogether by British shipping and merchants. His opponents argued the House did not have enough evidence to draw a conclusion, and the resolution was dropped.

The next year (1790) Wilberforce managed to get Parliament to agree to investigate the slave trade, and testimony both for and against the slave trade was heard—enough to fill over ten thousand folio pages. The issue was debated in Parliament a year later (1791). One of the opponents of Abolition (a Colonel Tarleton of Liverpool) tried to trash Wilberforce by saying that his band believed they were led by “a religious inspiration”, obviously implying they were fanatics! The pro-slavery forces argued that the abolitionists were all misinformed. Slaves were well treated; hardly any died on the voyage from Africa; they really lived happy lives. And the vote to abolish the slave trade failed.

Wilberforce made no secret of the fact that he was motivated by faith in God: “There is a principle above everything that is political. And when I reflect on the command that says, ‘thou shalt do no murder’, believing the authority to be divine, how can I dare set up any reasonings of my own against it? And, Sir, when we think of eternity, and of the future consequences of all human conduct, what is there in this life which should make any man contradict the principles of his own conscience, the principles of justice, the laws of religion, and of God?”

Although four years’ work went into that failed attempt, he did not give up. Although he was ridiculed in the highest ranks of British society, he did not give up. Although the King of England himself publicly scorned Wilberforce and humiliated him, he did not give up.

Another bill was brought to Parliament in 1792, and failed. And another. In fact, nine more bills were brought before Parliament from 1792 to 1804 and every one failed. Finally in 1807, nineteen years after starting his efforts, the bill to abolish the slave trade in all British possessions and ships passed. And even that was only a partial victory. For it banned the trade (carrying slaves from Africa to the West Indies), but not slavery itself. And only on British ships: it did not affect slaving by French, Spanish, Portuguese or Dutch ships. Wilberforce worked to the end of his life to try to get other nations to abolish the trade and to see slavery for what it was: inhuman, unchristian, not fit for civilization. And thanks to him, not only was slave trading banned in the British empire, but indirectly he contributed towards the end of slavery in America also.

Did Wilberforce believe he was a success? In fact, he most often felt a failure; and even after the ban on the slave trade of 1807, he believed he had achieved only a fraction of what needed to be done. For what he really wanted was to see the trade banned by all nations, slavery outlawed altogether and the slaves emancipated. Looking back on his life, we can count his efforts an important success for the cause of abolition (not to mention Christian values). But was Wilberforce a success only because his legislation passed? My point is this: Wilberforce was not merely doing God’s will when he succeeded. He was doing God’s will for the nineteen years when his legislation failed. He was faithful. He was a witness to the truth. He was trying to bring God’s justice to his nation.

The Human Soul Matters

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “You never met a mere mortal.” He meant of course that Christians believe every human being, created in God’s image, has an eternal soul. Long after this building collapses, long after this galaxy ceases to exist, your soul will still be around. And you are important to God. Your salvation is important, and affects your eternal destiny—even if you and those who taught you about God are not important or famous here on earth. And so it is with the souls of those you will touch throughout your life. It does not matter if you or they are perceived by the world as great, successful, or famous; they are important because they matter to God. After all, God gave his best for you, in sending his Son.

We never know what God will do with our lives. We cannot see ahead to what our faithfulness to him will mean. Without faith, your success is meaningless. With faith, even your failure may redeem someone. Trust God. Act on that little you have in faith, for you will make a difference in life for someone. If because of you even one soul is encouraged to not give up on God; if because of you even one soul is turned from a life of skepticism, despair, and sin to find life with God; and if because of you even one soul is nurtured, cared for, loved into the Kingdom of God—is not that something marvelous?

A life of faith is a beautiful thing—however ordinary the life may be. But really, a life that is faithful to God can never truly be just ‘ordinary’; it will have a beauty all its own. It will mediate the presence of God to others. It will hold out relief from the buffeting of life, like a rest stop on a long highway through a dreary country. You will be that for others. And others, in turn, will be that for you; and you will thank God for those ordinary people.

Does Jesus Command Us To Succeed?

It's chancy putting so much on a blog, but I feel it's worth it for you to read this 2001 Baccalaureate speech for Houghton Academy from Terence Paige, Associate Professor of New Testament at Houghton College, Houghton, NY. I was so impressed by his focus that I asked him afterward for a copy.

“We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense.” (2 Cor. 10:12)

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another (Romans 12:3-5).

On the eve of your graduating and going off to make your own way in the world, I want to pause and think about success. For most of us want success, and if you’ve learned anything here at the Academy, you’ve learned that (a) you need to know what the assignment is; and (b) you have to plan to do it. But I also want to talk especially to the “second-bests” in the audience, about being second best for God. Yes, you heard me correctly: second best.

Statistically speaking, most of us will be second best (or third or fourth) in life. By definition, there are few “bests.” Statistically, the majority of sports teams do not win the championship. Only one student can be Valedictorian. Most of us will never make the top ten list in any magazine of the best dressed or most beautiful people. Probably none of us here will be famous. Few will be rich.

What does this have to do with Baccalaureate and graduation? What does this have to do with an hour in which we contemplate God’s will for our lives? The answer to both is, everything. For God’s will cannot be a will for the perfect only, a will for the best only, a will for the successes only, else it would be a cruel joke.

No, the God who is Lord of all is also Lord of the mediocre; Lord of the ordinary; Lord of losers. Not only that; He is Lord of the blessings of the ordinary; God of the glory of the plain. It must be so; else, there would be few followers indeed, and God himself would have ordained a scarcity in worshippers. But Scripture tells us, and reason echoes, that the Creator wishes to embrace all people; that his blessings are for as many as believe. He does not merely call those who are (or will be) the greatest in their field. He does not only call the “successful”—at least, not success as we usually measure it.

All of you will face disappointments of various sorts in the years to come. It may be disappointments about college, about work, about love, or churches, or health, or just your own abilities. It is not pleasant, but true. Part of the disappointment comes from circumstances you cannot control. But part of it comes from how you face those circumstances, and how you evaluate yourself.

When we look around us and compare ourselves to people we see in the media, or read about in books, we may often be tempted to become jealous, dissatisfied with our looks, our clothes, our houses, cars, physical strength and athletic ability, or our intelligence. Perhaps even compared to others in this school you may fear “you are the weakest link.” We want to be “the best” but we despise ourselves or our condition because second best, just ordinary is not good enough.

The irony is that being obsessed with success, with being “the best,” can ruin your life and prevent you from enjoying whom God has made you and what you do have. However, I have something to tell you tonight that will make your life more fulfilling, joyful, and meaningful. And it is about what kind of “success” God requires of us.

To tell you this truth, we have to begin by noticing something about Jesus’ teaching that may surprise you: Jesus never asks anyone to succeed. In fact, the noun “success” is not found in the NT. Study the gospels as much as you want, you will never find Jesus commanding or demanding that anyone be successful. He may make requests that they do this, say that, go here or there, or proclaim the gospel, but he does not order them to succeed. In fact, his instructions include explicit directions for what to do when you fail (e.g., “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.” Mt. 10:14). Jesus anticipated that there would be disappointments.

What was it then that Jesus demanded of his followers? To be faithful. To believe in God; to follow and believe in him (Jesus); to not give up, no matter what. In one parable meant to illustrate the point that “the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour”, Jesus spoke of a master who left on a long trip and comes back unexpectedly. “Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives,” Jesus says (Mt. 24:45-46). Doing what the master expected. But success? That is up to God. Some of our Academy students were called home to meet Jesus this year at an unexpected hour. They did not realize they would be meeting him so soon—nor did we. Do you think when they meet Jesus they will be judged on their success? Their grade average? Or on their faith?

If you can get this into your head now, at the start of your life, and if you are determined to be faithful to God, you will be blessed indeed. This is a goal you can achieve. This is a goal that does not depend on someone else losing; or on your being “the best” at whatever you do. This is a goal that everyone in this room can achieve, and as you live in faith you will help others also to find faith and to find life in God. And those who find life in God have found a new existence that lasts forever. How’s that for success?

Desire for success can backfire: it can breed disappointment, bitterness, hatred of others, jealousy of others who succeed where we do not. Such feelings will poison your life, and make you blind to the blessings that God has given you now. Obsession with success, and failure to be happy with being lesser or just plain ordinary, may in fact be a symptom of a deadly spiritual pride. The author of Genesis tells us that our first parents gave up paradise because they begrudged God for what he had not given them. They had land, companionship and a family, God to visit them, all the free food they could eat, a pleasant climate, and no dress code! They threw it all away. Why? They were tempted to want one thing more, and to despise what God had already given them because of the one thing more that they did not have.

It has been said that gratitude is the beginning of worship. You could also say that lack of gratitude to God, which usually goes along with lack of faith, is the beginning of sin.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not telling you not to try, not to dream. You should. I am not encouraging you to be lazy, for sloth is a sin. You should continue to do your best work, put forth your best effort. There is every reason for Christians to strive for excellence in their work, whatever it be. What I am saying is this: be the best person you are, in faith. Live every day with God, in faith; doing whatever you do in faith—whether or not it is the best compared to others; and whether or not it is your “first wish.” Live up to your best wherever God has placed you, whether or not you think that is “successful”. And if the best you are is just average—then live that average in faith. In this way, you will be a blessing to others. You will make a garden among the weeds of this world. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about some conceited false teachers that, “When they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense” (2 Cor. 10:12). Neither do we when we measure our “success” simply by comparing our performance to others.

In the scripture I read at the beginning, Paul reminds the church at Rome that we are all like the various parts of the body. We are different. We are also necessary to each other. God loves each of you and wants each of you to do your individual part in the work of God in the world. We are not to think too highly of ourselves (not to think we are indispensable, or absolutely “the best”); but neither are we to think too little of ourselves! Minor body parts are still body parts. You are still important to God, however small your abilities are.

After all, when you think about it most of the work in this world is done by average people. Most families are led by average people, with average children. “Average” does not mean “worthless” or “bad.” Get that notion out of your head. Most Christian work is done by average people—often talented, yes; but not the very best at what they do, not famous. There is honor in being God’s people and being faithful, whether or not you get any recognition in this life.

Tomorrow: "How DOES Jesus Define Success?" A great answer for our day. Don't miss it!

Turning Up The Heat! Part 2

If you find yourself passionless in prayer, then try the following. These are a continuation from an article begun yesterday, quoted from Joseph Winger in PRAY! Magazine:

Open up to the Holy Spirit: As we cultivate sensitivity to the Holy Spirit's leading in our lives, He will periodically drop a prayer target into our thoughts. If we take time to pray immediately over these targets, a Spirit-induced fervency will often accompany these leadings.

Activate praise: Begin all your prayers with thanksgiving and praise. Praising God causes us to look toward Him and forget about ourselves. A self-absorbed focus is one of the biggest hindrances to fervent praying. When our eyes are on Him, however, passionate prayer comes more readily.

Pray with others: When I pray with others who are more fervent than I, it ignites passion in my own prayer. I recently helped two boys who were struggling with an out-of-control grass fire. I noticed that the fire acted as if it were alive. It kept moving and affecting everything it touched. I saw that that's the way with passion. You get close to someone with it, and you are affected.

Live a balanced life: There is a definite correlation between how we live and how we pray. If we live holy, peaceful, and self-controlled lives, we can go deeper in prayer. The Bible links a sound, balanced lifestyle with greater purposefulness in prayer: "Be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer" (1 Pet. 4:7, NASB).

Be yourself: Relax. We are not all created equally when it comes to passion, zeal, and fervor. Some personality types are fervent about everything. For others, it is more of a struggle. If your personality type tends toward the stoic, be free and don't condemn yourself for not being as expressive as someone else. Throw your whole self into prayer, but let go of how it looks.

J. Hudson Taylor, the ground-breaking missionary to China, noted that most of his breakthroughs in prayer came during emotionless praying. He even confessed that many times his heart felt like wood when he prayed. Taylor's "emotionless praying" released God's power to establish over 200 Chinese mission stations, bring hundreds of missionaries to the field, train 700 Chinese workers, and develop a Chinese church of approximately 125,000. Some reports claim that he baptized nearly 50,000 Chinese.

Fervency to Taylor was sensing and grasping God's heart on a particular issue. It was a willingness to persevere in prayer regardless of the obstacles. Be encouraged. God can use this same kind of whole-hearted, urgent, desperate faith in your prayers to change your world as well.

Turning Up The Heat!

At the risk of losing my "audience," I am going to write something about prayer, specifically intercessory prayer. Just kidding, sort of. But I know the general population of Bible-believing churches face low numbers in often dull prayer meetings! That's is terribly unfortunate--a travesty really since it is one of the marks of the early church (Acts 2:42).

So, . . . if we're struggling with intercessory prayer (which requires selfless love), then the following article was written for us. PRAY! was a magazine and now an online publication full of articles and helps for prayer, both personal and corporate. Joseph Winger wrote this for the March/April 2005 magazine published by NavPress:

I've been serious about intercession for at least three decades—yet I still go through seasons that are decidedly not fervent. There have been times when I have prayed long and passionately about a given topic, and other times when I couldn't concentrate on it for five minutes. There's no question about it: intensity levels in prayer can fluctuate.

Perhaps you, too, have experienced times when you prayed the right words, but felt passionless about the topic. Here are some suggestions you can try the next time that happens:

Embrace God's heart: When we see things from God's perspective, our passion increases. For example, when we see unbelievers as our heavenly Father sees them, our prayers get more urgent. When God reveals the seriousness of some condition in our home, community, or world, we intercede with a greater zeal. Ask God to give you His heart about any issue you are praying over.

Expand your vision: When our troops first went to Iraq, I tried to pray as consistently as I could. But as important as I knew my prayers were, I would lose focus. Then I scheduled a prayer meeting and invited families of soldiers to attend. When several small children showed up, I was struck with the reality that they could become fatherless at any moment. My prayers for the military took on renewed fervor. I started carrying in my pocket the names of the men and women from our church who were in harm's way. I frequently placed my hand over the list and asked God to protect each one.

Increase your sacrifice: Sometimes we need to step into a new adventure with the Lord that really costs us something. For example, a mission trip can make your vision for the Great Commission come alive. Or try staying up all night in prayer. My prayer intensity for my city flared when I stayed up one Friday night asking God to increase my heart for my community. Fasting is another sacrifice that can increase fervor for prayer.

Ask for prayer: One time when our church was praying for a crucial issue, I could not get my heart into it. During a prayer meeting, I saw someone really crying out to God for this issue. I asked the person to pray for me to have that same intensity. After only a brief prayer, I was deeply moved by the issue, and my prayers for this topic have never been the same.

Empathize: The more a request touches me personally, the more fervent I become. As a pastor, I've been asked many times to pray for people who were having back surgery. I could see their pain, and I prayed the best I could. Then I had back surgery. After walking through that excruciating agony, I found I could pray with more intensity for those in pain.

Continued tomorrow . . .