THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR "Grow in Grace!" Rev. Carl HaakMarch 2, 2003; No. 3139

Dear radio fr iends,

Where there i s l i fe , there must be growth. That i s t rue of your baby. I f your baby d id not grow, you would be alarmed. You would seek the best medical advice. That i s t rue for a farmer. I f the wheat that he p lanted does not come up and grow, he would immediate ly be on the phone with the agr iculture department of a univers i ty, to send out a special i st to analyse the problem and provide a solution. There must be growth i f there i s l i fe .

That is , above al l th ings , true spi r i tua l ly . Sp ir i tua l ly we must a lso grow in the grace that i s in Jesus Christ . This i s the exhortation we receive in the Word of God, I I Peter 3:18: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ .”

The work of God’s grace with in your heart i s a progress ive work. What do I mean? I mean th is . Sanctification, which is the Bib le’ s word for God’s work of making us holy, i s a process that goes on throughout our l i fe .

Justification — that i s the truth of the Bib le according to which God declares that we have been forg iven and pardoned of our s ins in Jesus Chr ist , that the debt of our s in has been removed, not because of any work we have done or could do but only because of Chr ist . Justification is a completed and a finished work of God. God declares concerning His e lect (Rom. 8) that there can be brought no accusation aga inst His e lect , aga inst those whom He has justified. I t i s finished.

But sanctification - once again, that is the work of God in making the chi ld of God holy or, the Bib le says , conforming the chi ld of God more and more unto the image of Jesus Chr ist —is not over until death. I t i s progress ive, i t i s on-going.

Are you growing spi r itual ly? Are you growing in the use of your tongue? Are you growing in resisting besetting s ins? Are you growing in hope and patience and trust in God? Are you growing in love for God and for His people? Are you growing in new and holy 1

desires? Or are you remaining a chi ld? Are you remaining fickle , gul l ib le? Or are you maturing sp i r i tual ly? I f you are not growing, why not? Are you a l lowing the impediments of s in to restr ict that growth? Are you l iv ing in b itterness or anger? Do you l ive in a lust for the wor ld? Or is i t due s imply to negl igence — you do not g ive yourself to sp i r i tual th ings? We must grow in grace.

When Peter g ives us th is exhortation, but grow in the grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Chr ist , he i s doing so as a contrast to something he sa id before. “But grow in grace.” That means that , in the context ( i f you read I I Peter 3) , you wi l l find that Peter has been urg ing upon us the importance o f rea l ly grasping the t ruth. He has sought to impress upon us the importance of a careful and reverent study of the holy scr iptures . He said to us in verse 14 that we must be d i l igent. And he has gone on in verses 15 and 16 to speak to us of the b less ing of the holy scr iptures and that there are many wonderful and profound th ings that we must g ive ourse lves to understand in the scr iptures . And he says that we must do th is because there i s a danger that we be led astray, that we be led away with the wicked and fa l l f rom our own steadfastness. What i s needed is a careful s tudy of the scr iptures in order that we are not led away or seduced by errors .

Instead of being led away and seduced by error , the apost le says , we must grow in grace. And the point that i s be ing made is this : the only way to avoid fa l l ing in the Chr istian l i fe is to advance. The only way to avoid s l ipping back i s to go forward.

Let me explain. The scr iptures are very p la in that God wil l preserve the chi ld of God. I t is no b ib l ica l teaching that a person can be t ru ly saved today and be lost eternal ly . No, the work of God is a fa i thful work. The work of God that He begins w il l , by His grace, be fu l ly done. You can compare Phi l ippians 1:6 to what I just sa id. Or , the Lord’s words in John 10:26ff. But al though that i s true, the scr iptures also teach that the Christian l i fe is not s tatic , that the chi ld of God is preserved by God in the way of God work ing in us perseverance, cal l ing us to be d i l igent in the th ings of salvation.

Let me use an example. You remember, as a boy, we used to have these tops, you know, with their s t r ing. You wind the st r ing around the top and that top would spin. Wel l , the top stood upright on the 2

top of the table as long as i t was spinning. But the moment i t s topped spinning it fe l l over. So also we are cal led to grow in grace, to be d i l igent with the th ings of sa lvation. I f you are not growing, you are fa l l ing backwards, you are exposed to the error of the wicked, you are exposed to a great fal l , which wi l l br ing d ishonour to your God and shame before men. Grow in the grace that is in Chr ist Jesus.

Now, exactly what does that mean? I t suggests a few bas ic truths , does i t not, of the Chr istian l i fe . I t suggests , first of a l l , that being a Chr istian means that you have received, by grace, a new l i fe , that you have been regenerated. Peter has talked of th is in I Peter 1 :3 , where he says that we have been begotten again. And he goes on in verse twenty three to say that th is l i fe from above is the implanting into us of an incorruptible or undying seed of the l i fe of Chr ist . I f we are to grow in grace, then the first thing that i s impl ied i s that the Chr istian i s the product of the grace of God. You have been born again by the grace o f God. God has given to you the l i fe of Chr ist , so that now you are able to see spi r i tua l ly . You are able to know God and yoursel f and you have the des ire to walk in obedience to God. That was g iven to you. That was not the product o f a decis ion of your wi l l . The chi ld of God is born f rom above by the grace of God. And as God has g iven that l i fe , we are now ca l led to l ive out of that l i fe of Chr ist , we are cal led to develop in that l i fe of Chr ist . That means that Christian growth is poss ible only when the l i fe of Christ has first been implanted in our hearts by the work of the Holy Spir i t , according to the sovereign power and the wi l l of God .

Chr istianity i s not mora l ity. What do I mean? I mean th is , that Chr istianity is not s imply teaching men how to l ive a better l i fe and to improve themselves and to make themselves better through reform. That is not Chr istianity . The Bib le i s not a se l f - improvement book. The Chr istian l i fe i s not s imply, “ I do th is ,” and “ I keep that ,” and “ I wear th is type of c lothes and that ’s what makes me a Chr istian.” Now, do Chr istians do certa in th ings? Yes . Do they keep certa in th ings (the commandments of God)? Yes . Do they have a certa in appearance? Yes . Is that what makes them a Christian? No.

What makes a Chr istian? A Christian i s one who has received the d iv ine l i fe of Jesus Chr ist freely by the grace of God. He has been

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given a l i fe d ifferent from the wor ld. He has been born again. And out of that l i fe we must grow. You see, Chr istian growth is v i ta l growth. Let me try to explain that . What i s the d ifference between the growth of a p lant and the growth of a p i le of sand? I f you have a p i le o f sand in your back yard, you can make that pi le of sand grow. You get a shovel and you start throwing more sand on top and you would say, “Look, the p i le i s growing.” A l l r ight. Now, i f you have a plant, and that p lant i s growing, i t goes up too. What i s the d ifference? The d ifference is th is . One i s v i tal growth. Chr istian growth i s not s imply the p i l ing on top of , the mere external p i l ing on top of certain th ings . You can grow in the knowledge of geometry , or phys ics. You p i le more information on top of what you know. No, Chr istian growth i s that growth of the l i fe of Christ with in, go ing more and more into every aspect of our l i fe , control l ing more and more by the grace of God. I t i s v ital . I t i s Christ growing more and more in me. Or , put i t th is way, i t is the chi ld of God being conformed, by the hand of God, more and more to the pattern of Jesus Chr ist , be ing brought into c loser fe l lowship with God. I t is l iv ing growth.

That growth i s a lso gradual . And i t never reaches perfection. No matter how long we are in th is l i fe , we have that o ld man of s in against which we must struggle day-by-day. And the growth of Chr ist in us i s that gradual work of God. I t is very important to stress that today because today spir i tua l growth i s supposed to be th is sudden th ing. The idea of Chr istianity that i s being peddled by many i s th is: You can arr ive. You go to the r ight seminar, you go to the r ight conference, and you final ly find i t . When you find i t and have arr ived at i t , you are there. You are suddenly at this p lateau, th is level . That i s not t rue. That i s not what God is teaching us in His Word. That does v io lence to the truth. No, sp ir i tua l growth is a gradual growth through pain, through exerc ise , through eating the r ight sp i r itual d iet , through exerc is ing what you learned. That is how spir i tua l growth comes. Does a baby jump into manhood? Does a p lant break ground and flower and produce fru i t in one day? Of course not. There are stages. And those stages somehow blend into each other . When does the boy become the youth and the youth the man? I t i s a gradual growth. Hol iness in l i fe is not something you receive al l at once . But God works that in you through spir i tual growth.

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Now grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Chr ist . Grow in a deepening o f an understanding o f the gracious favour that has been shown to you in God. Grow in a knowledge of your own unworthiness , your own s in . Sp ir i tua l growth is not that the chi ld of God says , “Ah, s in is gone. I t ’s absent in my l i fe . I can’t th ink of the last time I had a bad thought .” That is not spi r i tua l growth. Sp ir i tua l growth is more and more that I become aware of just how dev i l i sh and just how ins idious my own s infu l nature i s . I begin to see more and more my own s in . And in the l ight of that s in I see more and more of the wonderful grace that has come to me in Jesus Chr ist , and more and more I am humbled and des irous to l ive , no longer after myself , as the apostle says , but to l ive unto H im who has loved me and who gave H imsel f for me.

Grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ . That is the knowledge of fa i th. Fai th, of course, i s a l iv ing knowledge. Grow up in the knowledge of Chr ist .

How?

Of course, th is i s the work of God. But , as expla ined before, i t i s the work of God whereby He i s p leased to work in us . There are means for sp i r itual growth. We can use the earthly example to guide us . I f a baby is going to grow, then there must be food and drink . There must be a ir and nutr ients for your phys ical growth.

So also for sp ir i tua l growth. There must be spi r itual nutr ients . At the top of the l i s t i s what the Bib le refers to as the means of grace. The means of grace are g iven to us privately , as every chi ld of God, by the reading of our Bib le and prayer . But God has a lso instituted in the church the essential and the chief means of the preaching of the gospel . So the apost le has sa id in h is first epist le (chapter 2, verse 2) , “ desire the s incere mi lk of the word, that ye may grow thereby .” You must feed on the Word, and especia l ly that Word as i t i s preached to you. This i s the means that God has granted, has ordained, for sp ir i tua l growth. In th is way you shal l find grace to help you in time of need. Sp ir i tua l growth comes, then, by attending to these th ings: the reading of the Bib le , your own prayer , and specifical ly attending the church d i l igently on the Lord’s day — being there in a fai thful church — and coming under the

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preaching of the Word of God and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper . These are the means that God has g iven. In fact God says , in Psa lm 81:10: “Open thy mouth wide, and I wi l l fi l l i t .” Do you feel , on Saturday evening, a need for your soul to be fed? I f you have been l iv ing sp i r itual ly , out of Chr ist , you certain ly do. Do you have an appetite, so that on Sunday morning you are eager to go to church to hear the Word of God and you need more food i f you are going to l ive as a chi ld of God in th is wor ld?

So you must take heed to the means of grace.

But not only must we have the r ight food, we must a lso avoid al l that i s harmful to growth. That is a lso t rue in the phys ical wor ld. I f you want your l ittle boy , your l ittle toddler , to grow, you put away poisons out of your house and you make your house “baby-proof.” I f you want your plant to grow, you keep deadly poisons away from that p lant . You avoid what i s harmful to the l i fe of the chi ld or the p lant.

So also for our sp i r itual l i fe . There are th ings that are very harmful. I t i s what the B ib le cal l s “the world.” I t i s what the B ib le says is “ fr iendship with the ungodly.” I t i s what the B ib le refers to as “temptations.” The chi ld of God must put away these temptations from his l i fe — pornography, dr ink ing, greed.

But then there are a lso our own s ins , the s ins of our own flesh. Espec ia l ly destructive of sp ir i tua l growth is the s in of goss ip (on the phone saying th ings and te l l ing th ings and speaking evi l judgments about others) . The ev i l tongue does not only do damage to other people. I t does damage to ourse lves . I t s tunts, i t twists, i t perverts sp ir i tua l growth. We must have a sp i r i tual atmosphere in our homes. And we must have a sp i r i tual atmosphere in the church which promotes sp ir i tua l growth. That means that we must have the love of God as the law of our tongue.

Not only must we have the r ight food. Not only must we avoid th ings that are harmful to sp ir i tua l growth. But i f we are to grow, we must a lso have rest . We often forget about th is one, I th ink, sp ir i tua l ly . We do not forget about i t with a baby. I f your baby i s going to grow i t needs to s leep. But we a lso, sp i r i tual ly , i f we are to grow, need to have our times of rest. We need to have a quiet mind, to be at rest and peace. What do I mean? I mean th is . Sometimes

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people of God develop pained expressions on their faces and ask “why does God do th is to me?” Or the chi ld of God begins to look to h imself and wonders i f he has prayed correct ly enough or done something wel l enough to be received by God. We must rest. What i s that rest? That rest is the great t ruth that we are justified by grace in Jesus Chr ist . Rest i s th is , that I know that I am accepted with God on the bas is of what Chr ist has done, and my future i s certa in because i t rests on nothing but the b lood of Jesus Chr ist . Rest i s th is , that I know I d id not make mysel f a Chr istian, that th is i s the work of Chr ist , that in Chr ist i s a l l of my standing before God, a l l of my redemption, and that He has sworn to be fa ithful to me. Rest i s when we recl ine in the arms of God. I f we are to grow, we must cultivate a restful , peaceful sp i r i t .

Grow in grace that you might stand, that you might not be led away with the error of the wicked, says the apost le Peter . That i s why you must grow. But Peter says you must also grow for another reason. “To h im be g lory both now and for ever . Amen.” We must grow because in th is way God is g lor ified, glor ified in us , by our growing up in the grace of Jesus Chr ist .

God grant that to you th is week. God grant you grace and strength to be d i l igent, that you grow in understanding of His Word, that you grow in a des i re to be as Chr ist , that you grow in love for Him and for your fe l low bel iever , that you grow in humi l i ty, se l f -denia l , and del ight in God’s wi l l , that you grow in the grace and knowledge of Chr ist .

Let us pray.

Father, we thank Thee for Thy ho ly Word, and we pray that i t may be appl ied by Thy Spir i t unto our hearts . Remember Thy chi ldren th is day . Remember Thy church. Watch over us in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR "Grow Up!" Rev. Carl HaakMarch 9, 2003; No. 3140

Dear radio fr iends,

Grow up. That is something, perhaps, that every one of us has had said to us at one po int or another in our l i fe . Leave your chi ld ish ways, be mature, and be wise. So a lso God speaks to you and to me as we are born aga in in His Son Jesus Chr ist . He says , “Grow up. Be no more chi ldren, subject to being led astray, but grow up into Jesus Chr ist .”

Ephesians 4 :14, 15 reads: “That we henceforth be no more chi ldren, tossed to and fro, and carr ied about with every wind of doctr ine, by the s le ight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they l ie in wait to deceive; But speak ing the t ruth in love, may grow up into h im ( that i s , Chr ist ) in a l l th ings, which i s the head, even Chr ist .”

Sometimes Scr ipture, when i t ca l l s us to grow up, i s us ing those words as a rebuke. (Cf . I Cor . 3:1-3, where the Cor inthian bel ievers were behav ing as carna l , that i s , l iv ing their church l i fe in envy, str i fe , and d iv is ions. They were acting l ike a bunch of k ids. And the Lord said to them that He was ashamed of their ch i ldish, s inful behaviour .)

But in the verse from Ephesians 4 , where we are to ld that we must grow up into Chr ist , there the Scr ipture i s not rebuking us. Instead, that should be the heartfelt desi re of the chi ld of God. Paul , under inspiration, i s wr iting th is verse. And he says , “That we henceforth be no more chi ldren, … may grow up into Christ in a l l things .” He i s express ing the heartfelt des i re g iven to us from God. When you are sp ir i tua l ly hea lthy, you want to grow, you want to add to your fa ith , you want sp i r i tua l matur ity. Is that not your desi re? Once aga in, the only other al ternative i s that we would be backs l id ing. We e ither grow up into Chr ist or we s l ide back into our own s ins and the ways o f the wor ld. But , by the grace of God, we want to grow up into Chris t . Notice, that is God’s wi l l for us . Notice that , not only i s that God’s wi l l but, in the context of Ephesians 4, you wi l l find that 8

the Lord has prov ided the means whereby we might grow up. In the beautiful context of Ephesians 4 you wi l l learn that the ascended Lord Jesus Christ , when He left us and went up to g lory, d id not leave us or abandon us but poured out H is g ifts upon the church. One of those g ifts was the g ift of the pastoral ministry, of ministers. And the purpose of th is g ift of Jesus Chr ist , says the apost le , i s for the edi fy ing of the body of Christ . Or , as he says , so that the body of Christ might grow up to the measure, or stature, of the fu l lness of Christ . The ascended Lord Jesus Chr ist , then, has poured out upon H is church His gifts, has g iven to the church the office of the ministry, in order that through the minist ry of God’s Word we might grow up in the saving knowledge of Jesus Chr ist .

But the apost le knows that we have not yet arr ived and that there i s a lways so much more that must be done in each one of us . He says , rea l ly , that we are l ike l ittle chi ldren, but that we must not stay that way. We must constant ly be growing up. Be no more chi ldren, says the Word of God, but grow up into Christ in everything.

What does that mean? Once aga in, the fact that we are referred to as the chi ldren of God means that a Christian is one who has been born by the Holy Spir it . What i s a Chr istian? What i s the d ifference between the Chr istian and the non-Chr istian? Are they both bas ical ly the same — the only difference being that a Chr istian has added to h is l i fe certain re l ig ious th ings? Is a Christian someone who is decent , good, fami ly-oriented, respectful? Is that what constitutes the essence of a Chr istian? The answer i s , No. A Chr istian i s one who has been born by the l i fe of Jesus Chr ist . By the grace of God he has been raised by Chr ist , r i sen with Chr ist out of the death of h is s ins . That l i fe that Chr ist has g iven into us , or p lanted in us, must grow. I t must a lways be developing. For always there remain with in us the tendencies of a chi ld . The apost le says, as God has granted to you by grace the l i fe of Chr ist , we must constantly then be maturing in Christ . Each one of us must do that. We must grow up into Chr ist .

The apost le knows that th is i s a necess ity for us . Sp ir i tua l growth, as we read th is passage in Ephesians 4, i s not a luxury but a necess ity . The apost le brings out the necessi ty of sp i r itual growth because, he says , i f we remain as a chi ld , i f we do not advance and desi re that our fai th become mature, then, as a chi ld , we wi l l be

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subject to being led astray. We wi l l remain unstable , gul l ib le , fick le in our fa i th , and then be prey to al l types of fa lse doctr ine and to men who are begui lers and deceivers , who wi l l rob us and lead us astray without even our own perceiv ing or knowing that i t is happening.

The apost le brings out two characteristics of a chi ld . He says that we henceforth be no more chi ldren, tossed to and f ro . There he is referr ing to the character istic of a chi ld, that a chi ld i s changeable and fickle . A chi ld cannot help that . That i s the nature of a chi ld . The apost le says, “tossed to and f ro.” He has in mind the ocean and a ship or vessel on top o f that ocean being p i tched about , up and down, ag itated. That i s characteristic of a chi ld . A chi ld i s subject to changeableness — from smi les to tears . A chi ld cannot help that . A chi ld i s eas i ly fr ightened, easi ly depressed, eas i ly made happy, confused, or frustrated. So a lso as chi ldren of God we are subject to v io lent mood swings, ups and downs.

Think o f Peter . One moment, when he sees the Lord walk ing on the water, he says , “Bid me come unto thee on the water .” And He does so. The next moment Peter sees the wind boisterous and begins to go down. He cr ies out , “Lord, save me.” (Matt. 14:22-33) Think o f Peter . At one moment he i s saying that he confesses Christ . When al l others are confused, Peter says , “Thou art the Chr ist , the Son of the l iv ing God.” And Jesus says , “Blessed art thou.” And the next moment? We find Peter rebuking Jesus when Jesus says that He has to be k i l led, and the Lord says to h im, “Get thee behind me, Satan… thou savorest not the th ings that be of God.” (Matt. 16:13-23) Remember Peter . Peter sa id to the Lord, “Lord, I ’ l l never deny you.” Then, just a few hours later , “ I don’t know that man!” (Matt. 26)

That i s our character, as ch i ldren of God, in ourse lves . We are fick le. We are up and down. We are subject to impulse and mood. Se lf -control and sel f -d isc ipl ine are not in a chi ld . A chi ld wants something and wants it r ight now and shows h is temper i f he does not get i t . A chi ld i s fick le and changeable. We must not remain spi r i tual ch i ldren.

Not only does the apost le say that a chi ld i s unstable , he also says a chi ld i s a lso l iable to be misled or deceived. “Be no more chi ldren,” 10

says the apostle , “carr ied about with every wind of doctr ine, by the s le ight of men, and cunning craftiness , whereby they l ie in wait to deceive.” When he says “carr ied about with every wind of doctr ine,” he means “carr ied about in every d irection,” just l ike a weather vane wil l fo l low the changing wind. A chi ld i s gul l ib le . A chi ld wi l l be l ieve almost anything i f i t is said in a conv incing manner . A chi ld does not have exper ience, is not able to exerc ise d iscr imination, does not know enough yet to test and to evaluate what he i s hearing. A chi ld lacks judgment.

Even more, a chi ld has an inward i r r i tation at being taught and does not want to be taught . “Don’ t te l l me, I know. You don’t need to te l l me.” A chi ld i s impatient and does not want to exerc ise the d isc ip l ine that i s necessary to be taught . L ike tak ing your music lessons. You s it down as a l ittle g i r l and have v is ions of being a grand p ianist . But the way to become a great pianist i s through many music lessons. And you do not want to do that because that i s hard.

These are the character istics of a chi ld. Now the apost le i s say ing that sp i r i tual ly we must not remain chi ldren, we must not remain unstable , we must not remain l iable to be led astray and deceived.

What about you? Speak ing spi r itual ly , now, are you stable or unstable? Are you a chi ld? Do you crave novelty? Are you eas i ly swayed? Do you find yoursel f be l ieving one th ing after you talk to so-and-so, but then you ta lk to another person who has a dec idedly d ifferent opin ion and you bel ieve what he says? Are you stable? Are you able to d iscern through the t ruth of Scr ipture? Do you know the t ruths of Scr ipture? Are you steadfast on those truths? You see, th is i s important because, apart f rom spir i tua l matur i ty , we are subject to be carr ied away with every wind of doctr ine by the cunning craftiness of men who l ie in wait to deceive, says the Word of God. There we are taught that false doctr ine i s not a p lac id th ing but an active th ing, and that i t is a lways working to seduce or to lead astray the chi ld of God, that i t l ies in wait to deceive us , to ensnare us . Do you know your pos ition as a chi ld of God in th is present world? False doctr ine, evi l l i v ing, heresy i s something that i s p lanned out and that i s often carr ied forth with extraordinary zeal . And i t can come from every d i rection.

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Are you one in the church who says “Oh, we don’t need a l l these negatives about doctr inal d ifferences and evi l l iv ing or warnings. P lease don’t g ive me any more negatives. Love i s incompatible with denouncing error . You should not denounce error . We al l have a l ittle t ruth in our own way. I t rea l ly doesn’t matter what we bel ieve or what we say the Bib le teaches. I t a l l ends up the same anyway.” You ta lk that way? The Word of God (not me, the Word of God) says to you as a chi ld of God, “You must not remain a chi ld . You must not remain unstable . You must not remain eas i ly led astray, but you must grow up, you must know the truth.” The apostle puts i t th is way, “You must speak the truth in love, that you may grow up into Chr ist in a l l th ings .” That is the way of sp i r i tual matur ity. That is the way of gain ing stabi l i ty and steadfastness . The truth — you must speak the truth in love.

L i teral ly , we read, “hav ing” or “hold ing” to the t ruth, “profess ing” the truth. The apost le has much more in mind than just speaking the truth. Yes , we must speak it . But he means we must profess i t , we must lay hold of that truth. Understand that he i s not s imply saying th is : “Now be n ice and loving.” This text i s repeatedly used to support the idea that doctr ina l correctness i s not important. The only important th ing i s to be n ice and loving and never cr iticize another v iew too strongly because, as was said, the popular idea i s that there i s a l ittle truth in everything. No, Paul i s not saying that . God is not say ing that in that verse. But He is saying, “Hold on to the t ruth in love!” He i s not saying, “Smi le on every doctr ina l teaching no matter what it i s and never condemn or re ject any other v iew.” He i s not saying that. He says , “ I f you are that way, then you shal l remain as a chi ld , tossed to and f ro. You wi l l not know what d i rection the land i s . You wi l l be out in a sh ip not knowing where you are.” But , he says , “Speak the t ruth, profess the truth in love. Hold on to the t ruth, profess the truth.”

That means that the truth of holy Scr ipture i s knowable, i t i s certain, and i t i s unchangeable. I cannot hold unto mist . I cannot hold on or s ink my gr ip into something that i s forever changing. I f I am to hold on to the truth, then the truth must be definite . How am I to be stable in th is present wor ld? How am I to judge th ings that come

into my l i fe? I am in a col lege c lass and there are d ifferent 12

teachings being thrown at me. How am I to d iscern unless there is one absolute, fixed truth? There i s that absolute, fixed truth. I t is the infa l l ib le and holy Scr iptures . How am I to stand at work when different influences come to me? How am I to d iscern when I watch the TV and the news reports and a l l these d ifferent ideas are b lowing around me from every d i rection? How do I know that what I hear, which often sounds so good, i s r ight or wrong? I need a standard. I need the correct standard. And that standard i s the truth, the truth of the Scriptures — the Chr istian fai th.

That is the t ruth. The Reformed, b ib l ica l fa i th. You see, the Christian faith is not a nebulous, vague, indefinite th ing that is constant ly in the process of being defined as to what i t i s , and changing, ro l l ing over f rom age to age to take on new appearances. No, the Christian truth i s s teadfast . I t i s fixed. That i s why i t i s the power of God unto a ho ly l i fe. I t is the t ruth of the infal l ible Scr iptures . And i t is expressed in creeds and confessions.

The modern attitude is that , “Well , everybody is seeking truth in h is own way. Everyone looks for d ifferent routes to the same summit .” This i s a denial of Scr ipture. This i s a denial that the t ruth of the Scriptures can be stated and can be known. That i s what a creed i s . The creed i s the work of the Holy Spir i t as the Spir i t guides the church to understand the Scriptures and to say, “This i s what the Scr iptures teach.” The modern idea is arrogance. The modern idea i s that creeds are men try ing to push ideas on the church. No, that i s not true. Creeds flow from the very nature of the B ib le i t sel f , because the nature of the Bib le i s that i t s t ruth can be known and confessed and professed before the world. Jesus said in John 17:17, “Thy word is truth.” The apost le Paul says to T imothy ( I I T im. 1:13) , “Hold fast the form of sound words.” That i s a very important chapter. There Paul i s saying “good-bye” to T imothy. He i s br inging to T imothy something f rom his heart for T imothy’s future minist ry. What does he say to T imothy? Does he say, “Now, T imothy, as I am leav ing I hope you can imitate my spir it . I hope that a l ittle b i t of the fire that burned in me burns in you. I hope, T imothy, that you can jo in my quest for a truth that I was on. I hope that you wil l a lso jo in the quest for the t ruth”? No, he does not ta lk that way to T imothy at a l l . Th is i s what he says , “T imothy, hold on — take a firm hold by fa ith — on the form of sound words that I 13

imparted to you, the truth that came through revelation of God which I received not of man but the revelation of Jesus Chr ist (Gal . 1:11, 12) . Hold on to the t ruth! You cannot be lazy. You must hold on to the t ruth.”

You must come under a minist ry where the minister i s t rained in the truth of the Word of God. You must attend a church where e lders are committed to the t ruth of the Word of God. And you must hold on to that t ruth in love.

Oh, yes . Love. Love for the t ruth. As we speak and confess that truth among ourse lves we are to speak that t ruth in the love o f God. That i s very important. We must not have the t ruth and speak the truth in a se l f - r ighteous manner . We must not use the t ruth s imply to prove everyone e lse wrong and ourse lves r ight . We must not use the truth s imply to win an argument . The Word of God is saying to us that we may not use the t ruth out of a party-spir i t — to advance our own name and reputation. And we must p lead gui l ty to th is . We may not use the truth for the exal tation of ourse lves . Instead, we must speak it in love. When we speak the truth to those who differ w ith us, when we speak the truth to those who are unlearned, we must so speak the t ruth as to win them. We must speak in humi l i ty. We must speak hav ing sympathy and compass ion for them. I t is the t ruth which i s the power that wi l l br ing others to understand i t . We must speak that t ruth in love.

That does not mean that we compromise the t ruth. However , i t does mean that we speak the t ruth wisely , careful ly , that we are s low to speak and swift to hear . In th is way we grow up into Christ , grow up deeply into Chr ist , into Christ who is the person, the Son of God, at God’s r ight hand, that we become more and more l ike Him in everything. We want a ba lance in our Chr istian l i fe . Sp ir i tua l growth i s a balanced growth. Would you say i t i s growth i f the arm of your five-year-o ld boy in the coming year grew a foot? Would that be growth? No, you would say, there i s something wrong. Yes . Growth must be entire, balanced, in everything. Are you growing up in fa ith , in love, in truth, in love for Chr ist? Do you walk l ike Christ? Do you desi re to be l ike Chr ist before the wor ld? Are you cruc ify ing your s ins , c ruci fy ing your mal ice , your lust , your hatred, your envy? Grow up! Grow up in the body of Chr ist . Grow up into Jesus Christ .

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Let us pray.

Father, we thank Thee once aga in for Thy Word. We pray that Thou wi lt use i t as the power of God unto our salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray , Amen.

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THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR "Abide in Him!" Rev. Carl HaakMarch 16, 2003; No. 3141

Dear radio fr iends,

In our last two broadcasts we looked at the truth of sp ir i tua l growth. F i rst , we looked into I I Peter 3:18, where we were cal led to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Sav iour Jesus Chr ist . Last time we looked at Ephesians 4 :14, 15, where we were exhorted to be no longer chi ldren, but grow up into Chr ist in al l th ings .

I would l ike to br ing your attention to our Lord’s words in John 15:1 and 5 , where our Lord again i s speak ing to us on the important truth of sp ir i tua l growth. There He says , “ I am the t rue v ine, and my Father is the husbandman. I am the v ine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in h im, the same br ingeth forth much fru i t : for without me ye can do nothing.” Here we are taught that Jesus Chr ist is the t rue v ine and we, H is d isc ip les , are branches. I f we are united to Him by fai th, says Jesus, we wi l l be bring ing forth much fru it . In the context , Jesus goes on to expla in that His heavenly Father , as the husbandman, prunes each branch, that i s , He purges each branch so that i t may br ing forth more f ru i t . He cuts away the f ru i t less branches, and He so works that each branch in Chr ist br ings forth more f ru i t . God, then, i s des i rous o f growth. He i s des i rous of f rui t . He i s des i rous of repentance in our l i fe and hol iness , a walk with God, and a love for God. Are you br ing ing forth much fru i t?

Jesus says to us that the tree i s not known by i ts leaves, but by i ts fru i t . The chi ld of God is not s imply one who externa l ly takes on the trappings of a Christian l i fe . But a chi ld of God is one who, from within (that l i fe of Chr ist with in) , l ives into Chr ist and out of Chr ist and produces much f ru i t to the g lory of God.

Jesus says to us today, “Abide in Me.”

We must abide in Jesus Chr ist because, as Jesus says , He i s the t rue v ine. When Jesus says , “ I am the t rue v ine,” He means to say to us

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that He i s the source of a l l sp i r i tual l i fe . Only by being united to Him in a true fa i th can we l ive and bear fru i t .

I need to talk to you a moment about the setting of our Lord’s words. Our Lord, in John 15, i s say ing His farewel l to H is d isc ip les . He i s going to go away f rom them. That very n ight He i s going to be betrayed and arrested. And He te l ls them that they cannot fo l low Him now as He goes the way of the cross , the resurrection, and the ascens ion. He i s going to be leav ing them. This fi l l s their mind and their soul with great sadness . What had they ever been without Jesus? Out of the s ight of the Lord, they were only flops. So the Lord says , “ I am the true v ine.” And He sa id that for them and for us in order that we might soak in the comfort. “ I ’m not going to abandon you. I am the true v ine. You are united to me. You shal l stil l have me and draw your l i fe f rom me.”

But when He says , “ I am the t rue v ine,” He also means to warn His d isc ip les at that time, and to warn us . For He knew that there would be severe dangers for His d isc ip les that very n ight and in the coming days. The world would c lose in upon them. The dev i l would come to tempt some of them. And their own s infu l nature would lead them astray. So, the Lord says , “you must abide in Me.”

He says that a lso to us today. Abid ing in Jesus Chr ist i s not an option. I t is a necess i ty . Abid ing in Jesus Chr ist i s not only our comfort that we cannot be severed f rom Him and that we, through fa ith, draw from Jesus eterna l l i fe . We do that r ight now, by fa ith. But abid ing in Chr ist is a lso for our warning and our cal l ing. “Abide in Me! You must be rooted, by fai th, in Me as you are in th is present wor ld. And you must do th is so that you br ing forth fru i t . ” In other words, the Lord i s say ing to us that the church is not a flower garden . The church i s an orchard. The church i s not on earth s imply to look nice. The church i s on earth to bring forth fru i t to God. The church i s a v ineyard in a desert , the only p lace where fru i t i s produced to God. But th is can happen only when we abide in Jesus Christ .

Now when the Lord uses that figure, He is us ing, of course, a very wel l -known figure, for there were many v ineyards in Judea. The

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landscape was covered by them. He i s referr ing to H imsel f as the v ine, or the stock , with the roots , which would sprout. Other branches would be grafted into that stock and draw their l i fe from the root, from the v ine. Jesus is say ing to us, “ Just as in the earthly sense a l l of the l i fe is in the v ine, the sap i s in the v ine and i t flows out of the v ine into the branch, so I am the t rue v ine. I s ink My roots eterna l ly into God. I am the Son of God.” John says to us in John 1 :4 , “ In h im was l i fe .” Jesus Chr ist d id not receive His l i fe . He possesses l i fe . He i s the Alpha and the Omega. He i s the v ine. He i s the eternal Son of God now in our flesh. And in our flesh, He has been crucified as our Saviour . Therefore, He possesses al l the reservoirs, a l l the l i fe , a l l the sap of r ighteousness and l i fe . He i s the r isen Lord. He i s the l iv ing One. He says , “ I am the true v ine. Only by being united to Me does a person l ive.”

When He says , “ I am the true v ine,” He also has in mind that there are many fa lse v ines , there are many who c la im to do what He does. There are al l types of fa lse re l ig ions. There are those who would say to us, “Well , you can find l i fe in p leasure. You can find the source of your l i fe in your lust, o r in money, or in drink , or in sel f , or in education.” But Jesus says that these are fa lse v ines. There is only one t rue v ine.

Let me make i t p la in. You have a branch from your apple t ree th is spring. You want that branch to grow. What are you going to do — stick it into the dry d i r t? No, i t wi l l not grow there. Shal l you graft i t into your wi fe ’s broom handle? No, there is no sap in that broom handle. Shal l you just erect it in the back yard with a c inderblock , a concrete b lock? Wi l l i t draw i ts l i fe from a concrete b lock? No.

So also the Word of God says , “You must be engrafted into the t rue v ine i f you are to l ive .” Where are you look ing for your l i fe , for your satisfaction? I t can be found only in one p lace, in one person: Jesus Chr ist , the t rue and eterna l v ine. We must be united to Him.

When Jesus says , “ I am the t rue v ine,” He i s not just g iv ing us a p iece of information. He i s te l l ing us that we must, by God’s grace, l ive out of Him or there i s no l i fe in us. There must be a true fa ith. A t rue fai th, according to Scr ipture, i s a fa i th that God g ives. I t is f rom God (Eph. 2:8) — the g ift o f God. I t is something that the Holy Spir i t produces in us . Fai th comes from God (Eph. 18

6:23). Fai th, then, i s not s imply a human, emotional attachment to Jesus Chr ist . Faith is not s imply an intel lectual acquaintance with Jesus Christ . Fai th i s a l iv ing union that God makes between us and the Lord Jesus Christ whereby we bel ieve in Him and receive from Him al l things .

Fai th i s a l iv ing real i ty . Let me use another example. Let us take a p lastic branch. The artificial t rees and branches today are so much l ike the or ig inal that i t i s hard to te l l the d ifference sometimes. You have to go up and feel i t , to find out i f i t i s a rea l plant or i f i t i s a fake p lant . Let us say that we get an artificial grape v ine and we go to an orchard and h ide that artificial branch somewhere in the orchard. Could you find it? Now, i f you p laced i t there, you could find i t . But i f you had not p laced it there and someone said, “Go look for i t ,” i t might be so wel l camouflaged that you would never find it . I t is p lastic , not a l iv ing branch. But you cannot find i t until…. Until when? Until i t comes time for f ru i t . Then you are going to te l l that there is no l i fe in that branch because it wi l l have no f ru i t .

The Lord i s warning us , then, that we must be attached to H im by a true and l iv ing fai th. He i s warning us o f the artificial . He says in John 15:2 , “Every branch in me that beareth not fru it he taketh away.” That does not mean that a chi ld of God can fal l away, that the chi ld of God can be in Chr ist one day and out of Chr ist the next day . The Lord said in John 10:2 9, “No man is able to p luck them [my sheep] out of my hand.” But He warns us that there can be the mere outward profession of Jesus Chr ist , a mere p lastic re l igion — everything looks r ight — but there i s no l iv ing union to Jesus Chr ist . I t is just l ike a p lastic flower. And the d ifference between a rea l p lant and a p lastic p lant i s everything. Sometimes with the eye you cannot see it . Those who have a p lastic re l igion are those who do not have a broken heart over their own personal s ins. They th ink that s in is great only when they see i t in someone e lse. They have no trust in Jesus Chr ist for r ighteousness . They do not know what that means because they do not know themselves as fi lthy s inners . They have no des i re for a l i fe of ho l iness. They have no desi re to know the l iv ing and the true God. In br ief , we can say that p lastic re l ig ion is a l i fe that has no repentance, no heartfelt repentance before God. For that i s the gift of God, the great g ift of 19

God through the v ine Jesus Chr ist . What i s the f ru i t? How do you know that you are a branch in Jesus Chr ist? Do you repent? That i s what i t means to be united to Chr ist .

Jesus says , “ I am the t rue v ine. I am the true v ine for you. Draw your l i fe f rom Me. I am your l i fe . I am the true v ine.” So the Lord i s cal l ing us to exerc ise our fai th: “Abide in me,” He says, “and I in you.” That i s the ca l l to al l of us , to every chi ld of God. Whether you are an e lder or a minister or a deacon or a parent, aged, teenager , boy, or g i r l , you must abide in Chr ist . Maybe you say , “How is that poss ib le? Didn’t you say that God must give us fa ith , God must graft us into Chr ist?” Yes . But God’s grace is not mechanica l . God works in us so that we desire Chr is t . That is the activi ty of fa i th , the power of God with in us , so that we draw out of Chr ist our l i fe . That i s a very r ich and wonderful idea. Abide in Chr ist . Take hold of Him. Depend upon Him. Grow in Him. Recognize just how needy you are, how sinfu l you are. Real i ze that apart f rom Christ you are worthless .

To abide in Christ then means that you are a member of a true and fa ithful church where you hear sermons mined f rom the Scr iptures, bui l t f rom holy Scr ipture, expla in ing, expounding to you the truths of the holy Word of God, and laying that before your conscience and your heart. I t means that you l ive a l i fe of prayer and Bib le-reading. I t means that you l ive in the fe l lowship o f the church with other bel ievers , that you have your chi ldren instructed by the church in catechism.

There are many dangers today, there are many threats to our l i fe of abid ing in Jesus Chr ist . Sometimes instead of abid ing in Jesus Chr ist we can be defined as those who dangle in Jesus Chr ist . There i s the threat of our pr ide. What an awful th ing pr ide i s . Then we say ( in our pr ide) , “but I ’m not l ike so-and-so . Look at so-and-so. I don’t do that!” We do the r ight th ings in the Christian fai th but it i s a l l an outward show then. We must be aware o f our pr ide. We must be aware also of wor ld l iness. Things in th is l i fe become so important to us , more important than Chr ist , more important than the church. And we must be aware o f unconfessed sin . That too. We must beware that i f we walk in s in then we cannot abide in Christ .

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This i s why Jesus says that the heavenly Father purgeth every branch that abides in H im and bears f rui t , that i t may bring forth more fru i t . The word “purge” means “prune.” That i s a very necessary part of spi r i tua l growth. I f the branch i s to grow and to br ing forth fru i t , i t must be pruned. That i s the law in every orchard. But that i s a lso the law spir i tua l ly . That is the reason why God sends to us chastisements and tr ia ls and d ifficulties. Today there i s much d ifficulty in the church in t ry ing to understand why Chr istians suffer. But the Bib le i s not unclear on that t ruth. I th ink the d ifficulty i s s imply that Christians become more and more attached to th is present l i fe and want to use Chr istianity s imply to have more enjoyment of the earthly rather than real iz ing that Chr istianity i s the enjoyment of Jesus Chr ist . So God br ings chastisements . He br ings d ifficulties into the l i fe o f H is ch i ldren. I t i s a heresy , i t i s a l ie r ight from the dev i l , which says that i f you have enough fai th then you wi l l never have any financial problems or any s icknesses or cancers . That is not the teaching of God’s Word, the Bib le . That is a d ifferent Chr ist than the Chr ist of the holy Scr iptures .

The Bib le teaches us that God sends chastisements for the same reason that the husbandman wi l l prune the branch of h is pear tree or o f h is apple t ree. That branch needs to be pruned. The sucker branches must be cut away. I t must be pruned in order that the branch may draw more sap, in order that i t may bring forth more fru i t to God. God wi l l have us abide in Christ . To do that, He comes with His d iv ine shears and He begins to prune in our l i fe .

Have you ever seen an old orchard? Perhaps one or two apple t rees have been left. But these apple trees are no longer cared for by the husbandmen. They have been neglected. The apple t rees have not been pruned for many years . Have you ever looked at that? Oh, there are some apples up there. But they are l ittle , p itted, d iseased. And the tree i s fi l led with d isease. Why? Because it has not been cared for, i t has not been pruned.

So also for you, ch i ld of God. What i s going to happen to you i f you are left to yourself? You must be pruned.

We say to God, “This i s the way I want th ings: I want heal th, I want th is , I want that, I want th is job, I want th is income. I don’t want my husband to d ie. I want th is home. I don’t want struggles .” Then 21

the Lord does not g ive us what we want . He cuts us back. Why? In order that we might abide in the v ine, Jesus Chr ist , that we might draw a l l of our l i fe out of Chr ist and abide more and more in Him.

In order that we might bring forth much fru i t . That is why God has p laced us into Jesus Chr ist , by His grace. That i s why He elected us to be in Christ . That i s why He bestows care upon us . That i s why He prunes us with His chastisements , in order that we might br ing forth much fru i t . Jesus says , “Herein i s my Father g lorified, that ye bear much fru i t . ” ( John 15:8) This i s what p leases God. This i s why God has given His Son, Jesus Chr ist , in order that we, H is ch i ldren, might br ing forth much f ru i t to His honour and to His g lory — fru i ts of repentance, of fa i th , of a holy l i fe , of good deeds, of a testimony of the grace of Chr ist . That we br ing forth much fru i t .

Is there fru it in your l i fe? Are you abiding in Jesus Christ? Do you know what i t i s to have a broken heart? Do you trust in Chr ist for r ighteousness? Do you desi re more and more to l ive no longer for sel f but for H im and out of Him? Jesus said, “ I am the t rue v ine. You are the branches. Abide in me and I in you.” In th is way we shal l br ing forth much fru it to the g lory o f our Father .

Let us pray.

Father, we thank Thee once again for Thy Word. We pray that i t may be a b less ing unto our hearts . G ive us that grace that we might abide in Him, through Jesus’ name, Amen.

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THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR "Fight the Good Fight!" Rev. Carl HaakMarch 23, 2003; No. 3142

Dear radio fr iends,

Our message today i s taken from the Word of God in I T imothy 6 :11, 12 . There we read, “But thou, O man of God, flee these th ings; and fo l low after r ighteousness , godl iness , fa i th , love, patience, meekness . F ight the good fight of fa i th , lay hold on eterna l l i fe , whereunto thou art a lso cal led, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”

These words need very l ittle introduction other than that each one of us must be ready to hear them as spoken by the Lord to us . They are, of course, Paul’ s word to h is young f r iend and fe l low minister T imothy, words of intense focus, deepest pass ion, and warmest love. “T imothy, fight the good fight of fa i th.” They are spoken by a great fighter in the battle of fa i th , the apostle Paul, who was a great sp ir i tua l warr ior . He wi l l say to T imothy in h is second epist le to T imothy (chapter 4 verse 7) , “ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the fai th.” Paul ’s whole l i fe f rom the road to Damascus was about keeping the fai th. And he was able to fight th is fight of fa i th because he had been made at peace with God.

Now wr iting to h is beloved T imothy, the experienced warr ior Paul says , “T imothy, the Chr istian l i fe i s a battle of fa i th. I t matters not, T imothy, i f in your l i fe you attain to wealth, influence, power, happiness . But th is matters , T imothy: s tr ive always to l ive out of the fa i th, the fai th union to Chr ist . And hold tight His t ruth in your heart.”

Removing ourselves , now, from the person of Paul and T imothy and from the specific s i tuation in which the holy Scr ipture was first wr itten in I T imothy 6 , we bel ieve now that th is Scr ipture i s wr itten for us upon whom the ends of the wor ld are come. For Paul a lso wrote to T imothy, “Al l Scr ipture i s g iven by inspiration of God, and i s profitable for us .” Each one of us , now, and espec ia l ly to you who are young men and husbands and heads of househo lds , each one of us i s ca l led to fight the good fight of fa i th. Let us hear these words

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We should look at the first verse that I read (v. 11) as the necessary preparation for fighting the good fight of fa i th. We can fight only i f we have first fled these th ings and fo l low after r ighteousness , godl iness , fa ith , love, patience, and meekness . Only when those two th ings are t rue of us can we go on to fight the good fight of fa ith. The apostle addresses us as “man of God,” and that address underscores the d ifference that God’s grace has made and what God has made us by H is grace. We are made, by grace, to be men of God, women of God, ch i ldren of God.

In the Old Testament the tit le “man of God” was used to des ignate a person who was set apart by God to do God’s work on earth, as Moses was ca l led “the man of God.” In the New Testament th is word “man of God” i s used to descr ibe every bel iever . Once again, in I I T imothy 3:16, where we read, “al l Scr ipture i s g iven by inspiration of God,” then we read in verse 17, “That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto al l good works .” The chi ld of God is referred to as the “man of God,” God’s man, God’s possess ion, owned by God, purchased through the transaction of the cross. Now the tit le or ownership i s in the hand of God. The chi ld of God does not say , “ I ’m my own.” Or , “ I ’m owned by mammon.” Or , “ I ’m owned by lust and greed or the wor ld.” But we are God’s pecul iar possession. A man of God. Let that s ink in . Paul looks at T imothy and sees God’s grace. He sees what God has made him to be, that God’s grace has d istinguished him and brought him so that he i s now devoted to God. Is that t rue of you? Are you a man of God? Do you fight the good fight of fa i th?

But , as I was saying, i f we are to fight that good fight of fa ith , we must first of a l l flee certain things and fo l low after other th ings . What th ings are we supposed to flee? The apostle says, “O man of God, flee these th ings .” What th ings? You wi l l have to read the chapter ( I T im. 6) and go back to verses 3-4 , where we are warned of arrogant , proud disputers of God’s Word, who would bring in st r i fes of words. Then the apost le went on in verses 6-10 to speak of covetousness and greed and material i sm. The th ings, then, that we are to flee i f we are to fight the good fight of fa ith are especia l ly the preva i l ing and overpowering s in of mater ial i sm, of

l iv ing for th ings , p leasures , and possess ions. The apost le says to 24

us, “F lee, run away, avoid with fr ight . Don’ t back up gently f rom these th ings . Run, because the Bib le sees covetousness , the lust for earthly th ings , as a strong evi l .”

The apostle has warned T imothy in verse 10. He says that Some covet after these earthly th ings . L i teral ly , they reach out for them. Those earthly things , you know, are always held just about an inch or so from your grasp. They want you to reach out for them. They are just around the corner — your boat i s about to come in. But God says that, when you begin to covet after and compromise and l ive for the earthly th ings, soon you wi l l wander from the fai th, you wi l l err f rom the fai th, you wi l l lose focus, you wi l l lose the path. God says , “ I have set you as My chi ld on the path.” You are go ing to be influenced, tempted by s in , to reach out — just beyond your fingertips there i s going to be money or influence or sports or sex or something. You th ink, “ I can a lmost reach i t . ” The apostle says, “F lee that!” Because those th ings of mater ia l ism, greed, and lust wi l l intertwine in your heart. I t wi l l not happen overnight . But suddenly you are going to wake up and you are go ing to ask, “What am I l iv ing for? What i s suck ing up a l l my energy?” F lee these th ings of mater ial i sm, greed, and lust . And fo l low after r ighteousness , godl iness , fa i th , love, patience, meekness .

The po int is : you cannot flee mater ial i sm unless you are fo l lowing r ighteousness , godl iness , etc . The Chr istian l i fe i s not just “don’ts .” The Chr istian does not s imply stand before temptation of lust and greed and mater ial i sm and say , “No, no, no.” But the Chr istian, when he says “No,” turns around and begins to fo l low something e lse . The word “fol low” means “pursue, track down.” I t i s a word t rans lated “persecute.” When Paul persecuted the church before h is convers ion, he t racked down Chr istians to their doorstep. So, the Word of God says , “ fo l low, pursue r ighteousness . Don’ t just th ink about i t . Don’ t say , ‘Wel l , i t would be n ice to be a godly person — to have more fai th, love, patience, and meekness . ’ But run those things down! Track them down. A l l of those th ings .”

This i s necessary preparation if we are to fight the good fight of fa ith. You cannot fight the good fight of fa i th without th is

preparation of first fleeing the earthly, the temptations, and 25

fo l lowing after the r ighteousness and godl iness . You cannot fight unless you first do that . F i rst we must have these th ings in our l ives before we fight the good fight of fa i th.

But after that necessary preparation, we are brought into a very intense contest , conflict . F ight the good fight of fa i th. The word “fight” means “contend, st ruggle .” I t i s a word that Paul used frequent ly in the New Testament f rom the athletic games of h is day, with which Paul was famil iar . I t refers to an intense struggle , to str ip down, to practise, requir ing gr i t and determination. A lways the Bib le says the l i fe of the chi ld of God requires gr i t and struggle. I t i s not soft and easy. F ight the good fight of fa i th.

What i s the good fight of fa i th? The apostle i s s imply saying, “L ive your l i fe now out of your union to Jesus Chr ist .” That i s the good fight of fa i th. That is the real i ssue in th is l i fe. L ive by fa ith! L ive as one who is of Christ in th is world.

This i ssue i s the real issue. Wi l l there be a church dedicated to Jesus Chr ist on th is earth? Wi l l there be people of God l iv ing in fa ith in the r i sen Saviour? This i s the battle. And i t is a battle not because the outcome is in doubt . The outcome has been determined at the foot of the cross. Jesus says He has the v ic tory. He i s r i sen. There wil l be fai th on the earth. There wil l be a church. The battle i s not in doubt because it i s not our s trength that wi l l determine the outcome. We have the v ictory in our Lord Jesus Chr ist . The Lord fights for us . But , nevertheless, th is is a real fight r ight now because our fa i th in Jesus Chr ist i s opposed. Union to Jesus Chr ist is hated in th is present wor ld. There wi l l be a fight because there are sworn, merci less enemies — Satan, the world, and our own s infu l flesh — which wi l l come up against our fa i th.

Therefore, the word is “fight!” Very often th is fight of fa i th rages with in us in secret . Some of the most severe battles of the Christian man’s l i fe are fought in secret in our own indiv idua l souls . In the secret recesses of my heart, in the hal l s of my imagination, in the chambers o f my heart , in my mind, the battle aga inst my s in , my pride, my lust rages on and on, day after day. I t i s not very hard to fight when you have people who are applauding you. But when you must fight in secret and you must fight a re lent less foe, you readi ly become discouraged and cast down. F ight the good fight of fa i th.26

The question is a lways th is : are you l iv ing in submiss ion to the only Lord and Master Jesus Christ? Are you bowing today before H is Word? You cannot fight without His Word. You must arm yoursel f with the Word of God, with the armour of fa i th. What i s the bas is of your decis ions? What do you want out of l i fe? What do you count most dear? F ight the good fight of fa i th. Answer those questions with the word “Chr ist .” I t is by fai th that you see the unseen Sav iour who has loved you and g iven H imsel f for you, has pa id the debt of your s ins and covered your s ins in H is own blood, and has carr ied away your t ransgressions. Now you see Him as the r i sen One who is s tanding at the r ight hand of God, who empowers you unto a new and holy l i fe . Seeing now your Saviour , you wi l l be fil led with peace and hope, and wi l l ing ly you wil l battle the foes of your own soul. You wi l l fight your s in . You wi l l fight that magazine. You wi l l fight that pride, that lust , that anger . You wi l l fight anything that comes between you and your soul and Chr ist .

Lay hold, says the apost le, of eternal l i fe , whereunto thou art ca l led and hast professed a good profess ion before many witnesses. There i s the st rength to fight . That is how we fight . We fight by laying hold. I f you do not lay hold on eterna l l i fe to which you are cal led, you wil l not have the strength to fight.

The idea i s not that i f we fight then we get eterna l l i fe . That is not the idea. But the idea is that eterna l l i fe i s promised to us . We must lay hold of that promise. We must bel ieve that promise, by the grace of God, and so be strengthened in our fight . Paul says to T imothy that he had eternal l i fe . He had been cal led to eternal l i fe . There the Word of God is referr ing to the powerful cal l of God whereby God addresses us, the e lect s inner, in our soul . He addresses us by His own l iv ing Word. He cal ls us unto Himsel f . He bestows upon us eterna l l i fe . God has given to us that l i fe in Christ r ight now, which wil l never d ie . “He that bel ieveth on h im that sent me…is passed f rom death unto l i fe ,” said Jesus. We have eternal l i fe . Not wil l have i t perfect ly in g lory. But we have i t r ight now, r ight now. Not something that we earned, but something that Christ has freely g iven to us . Now, lay ho ld on that . That is how you fight. Hold on to that treasure in Chr ist . Get a gr ip on i t . Hold on to i t . Know the truth. Do not be apathetic , indifferent . But lay hold onto eternal l i fe . In th is way you fight .27

Let me use an i l lustration. Young men, when you are p laying rugby, and you are the running back , you hold on to the bal l . Why? The coach says , “Tuck the ba l l away, protect the ba l l , ho ld on to i t . ” Why? Because the opponents are going to t ry to get i t away. They are going to try to str ip you of the ba l l . They are going to t ry to jar the ba l l so that you cough i t up.

But th is is no game. Your enemies want to st r ip the ba l l so that you let go. Your enemies do not want you to l ive with the hope of eternal l i fe in your heart. They are going to try to knock it loose. They are going to threaten you. They are going to h it you hard. They are going to say, “Where i s your God? What good does i t do for you to serve H im? You don’t need to worry about eternal l i fe .” Or , i f they cannot knock i t out of your hands, they wil l t ry to seduce you. They wil l say to you, “Oh, you don’t need to gr ip it so hard. Just relax. S i t down. Enjoy yoursel f . I t ’s Fr iday n ight . A few beers , a l ittle music , some party….”

God says , “Lay hold on eterna l l i fe .” Lay ho ld on i t firmly by fa ith, so that you may fight . Out of that hope of eterna l l i fe , out of that promise of God, we fight the good fight of fa i th. Sometimes I fear , when I see how weakly and feebly we hold on to eterna l l i fe . Rather indifferently and loosely we say , “ I ’m a Chr istian, but let ’ s not be too much a Chr istian.” Of these influences that our parents , the former generation, warned us about , which creep in more and more into our l i fe and into the church, more and more the generation today seems to say , “Oh, they ’re not going to hurt us . Oh, yes , we need the Word. Church i s a good th ing. Sunday i s a wonderful day. But it ’s a n ice day too, and we’ve had a busy week, so why can’t we take Sunday a l ittle b i t more loosely?”

Beloved, what wi l l happen when the jars come? And they wi l l come. When the s icknesses and the tr ia ls and the loss come into your l i fe , are you ho ld ing on to eternal l i fe? Are you fighting the good fight of fa i th? When those tr ia ls come, do they dr ive you to despa ir? Do you begin to murmur? Do you say, “What ’s the use?” Or do you lay hold on eternal l i fe and by that grace fight the good fight of fa i th?

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What happens when you as a young person are confronted with a l l the p leasures and a l l the t reasures of the world, and the world says to you, “We can put them in your hand!” Young man, the wor ld i s saying th is to you, “We can put r ight into your hand everything — money, p leasures , sex, possess ions, good times. We can put i t r ight into your hand. There i s only one th ing you’ve got to do. Wi l l you p lease loosen your gr ip on eternal l i fe? Wi l l you quit hold ing on to i t so much? Just put i t down on the table here. We’ l l watch it for you and we’ l l fi l l your hands with a l l o f these th ings .”

Chi ld of God, lay hold on eternal l i fe . The great i ssue of your day i s fa ith in Jesus Christ . The great i ssue i s the battle that has raged over the earth and that i s be ing heated for i t s fina l c l imax. Your enemy has sworn to destroy you, to destroy your fai th , that there be no fai th left on the earth. How are you going to fight? You can fight only when you lay hold on eternal l i fe , when you l ive out of the hope of your Lord.

Then you may be confident. For we shal l not be defeated. The v ictory i s of the Lord. We are more than conquerors through Him that hath loved us . I t is not of our strength. “Did we in our own strength confide,” said Martin Luther , “our st r iv ing would be losing. Were not the r ight man on our s ide, the man of God’s own choosing. . . .” Oh, yes . The v ictory is in Jesus Chr ist . That i s our confidence.

But that confidence does not make us indifferent . I t must make us cautious and courageous. I t makes us cautious. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Keep yourself c lose to His people. I t makes you very cautious, so that you do not unnecessar i ly expose yourself to sp ir i tua l temptation. But i t a lso makes you courageous. Then you know you can endure hardness as a good sold ier of Jesus Chr ist . You know that whatever comes to you in th is battle of fa i th , He wi l l g ive you the st rength that you might fight on.

F ight the good fight . I t i s a good fight . I t i s worth i t! A l l of the other fights , wars , efforts of men in which they seek to bui ld their nations and secure their safety — al l of these other wars are not good fights. They are not good wars . And u ltimately the world, apart f rom Jesus Chr ist , i s going to c rash down in flames of judgment . But th is is a good fight. I t i s a good fight because the 29

promises are sure. The fight i s a good fight because we fight in Chr ist . He i s by our s ide. I t i s a good fight because i t ends in perfect v ictory .

Remember, the time is short. The coming of the Lord draws n igh. Now is the time to fight under His banner , with His eye upon you. God make you a fai thful sold ier of Jesus Christ . God give you strength in fai th. Lay hold on eterna l l i fe and fight the good fight of fa ith.

Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy precious Word. Apply i t to our hearts by the Holy Spir i t . In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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