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Seven Portraitsof a

DiscipleHerb Hodges

Seven Portraitsof a

Disciple©2011 Herb Hodges

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted in any form without

prior written permission.Spiritual Life Ministries

2916 Old Elm LaneGermantown, TN 38138

Herb Hodges -- Executive DirectorE-mail – herbslm@mindspring.com

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Contents

Portrait 1 – SON - Like Father, Like Son…….…. 9

Portrait 2 - SOLDIER - Born for Battle …….…. 27

Portrait 3 – ATHLETE - Running to Win in the Race of Life ………….. 49

Portrait 4 – FARMER - The Laws of the Harvest ……..………… 81

Portrait 5 - WORKMAN - Lessons for Christ’s Harvest Hands …….. 99

Portrait 6 - VESSEL - God Has a Market for Cracked Pots …..… 109

Portrait 7 - SERVANT - Life at the Bottom of the Ship ……….…..125

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The Apostle Paul and his spiritual son,Timothy

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INTRODUCTION

Some years ago, a renowned American authorwrote a lesser-known short story entitled, SevenCharacters in Search of a Plot. Think of the implications ofhis title. It suggests seven independent people movinghere and there aimlessly, but looking. In the fabric of IITimothy chapter two, there are threaded seven portraitsof what a disciple of Jesus Christ is. The seven do notcomprise a complete list. There are many more goodpictures of what a disciple of Christ looks like. Many arein the Gospels, a few are in the book of Acts, and manymore are in the epistles of the New Testament. Theseven portraits presented in II Timothy chapter two makea great mosaic of a true disciple. They could be calledseven portraits in search of a single Christian in whom theymay incarnate (“in-flesh”) themselves. It is God’s design toexhibit Himself and His intentions in each follower ofChrist. This is the composite portrait of one character, asingle Christian, but it is also the intended portrait of eachChristian. Or it could be viewed as a set of pictures onone page of a family album, with each picture on thispage giving a different angle of the same person.Furthermore, the individual is not expected to simplyemerge with these characteristics in his person. Instead,these features are worked out in the warmth of apersonal and practical working relationship with God—i.e., in the “rough and tumble of life” as that personpursues the Person and Purpose of Jesus Christ. Theseare not automatic character features, they are “cause and

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effect” developments.

What is the upshot of this? The Holy Spirit hasdisclosed in these seven pictures a suggestive picture ofwhat he expects of those children of God whom He has birthedinto the Father’s Family. Let me survey the “characterpanorama” of these portraits with that in mind. First, I ama “son” who is the disciple in a discipling relationship witha believer who is farther along in the Process than I am.So the Holy Spirit expects from me a developing sense ofsonship. This sonship is both vertical (I am a son of Godby a “birth from above”) and horizontal (I am the son ofthe man who led me to Christ, i.e., the man whospiritually “spawned” me in Christ), and I am to exemplifysonship in each relationship. Second, I am a “soldier” inthe army of the Lord. So the Holy Spirit expects of me amilitant mentality and a military mode of life as I preparefor and participate in His army. Third, I am an “athlete” inthe Game of Life. So the Holy Spirit expects me to beconstantly learning the Game, to know the “playbook”that defines all the dimensions of my participation,to fullyconcentrate on the necessary training regimen, and to“be ready always” to answer the Coach’s call withmaximum contribution in game-time competition. Fourth, Iam a “farmer” in the Lord’s Harvest Field. So I amexpected to sow, cultivate and reap for Him wherever Heplaces me. He is “the Lord of the Harvest”—and of theharvester. Fifth, I am a “workman” or “laborer” whose workis rigidly proscribed and focused by the demand of theMaster Worker. Here, the Holy Spirit insists that the work

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He has assigned to me involves “study”, the seeking ofthe Master’s approval, and the maintaining of a regulardiscipline of “rightly dividing the Word of Truth”. Sixth, Iam a “vessel” in the Father’s household. So the Holy Spiritexpects me to be “set aside” from common use anddevoted to His use, a container of His “treasure”,“purged” (the very word means that we as His vesselsare not perfect, but that we may be purgated from anyimperfection that contaminates us) and ready for theMaster’s use. And finally, seventh, I am a “bondslave” ofother people for my Master’s sake. In context, the HolySpirit expects my disposition to be formed by closeassociation with my Master, and He builds me to patientlyteach His Standard among men. It is the intention of theHoly Spirit to use me as His instrument to move out-of-fellowship saints and lost sinners to repentance.

All of these things are suggested by the context inwhich the portrait is presented in Second Timothy chaptertwo, or are suggested by the practical dimensions of theknown performance of sons, soldiers, athletes, farmers,workmen, vessels, and servants. I pray that God will usethese studies to implement these realities in me/us asnever before.

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Portrait 1

A SONLIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

II Timothy 2:1, “Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in thegrace that is in Christ Jesus.”

I Peter 5:13, “Marcus my son salutes you.”

We are examining seven suggestive pictures ofwhat a disciple is in Second Timothy chapter two. Thoughthe terms are not exhaustive (presenting a completepicture of a disciple), they are very strong in theirsuggestions of the character and characteristics of adisciple. The seven pictures are: (1) A son, II Timothy 2:1;(2) A soldier, vss 3 & 4; (3) An athlete, vs 5; (4) A farmer, vs6; (5) A workman, vs 15; (6) A vessel, vss 20 & 21; and (7)A bondslave, vs 24. The first picture is in the very firstverse of the chapter. The writer is the Apostle Paul, andthe recipient of the letter is his primary disciple, Timothy,whom Paul calls “my son”. The second text recordedabove is in the fifth chapter of First Peter, and is made up

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of the words of the Apostle Peter to his primary disciple,John Mark, whom Peter also calls “my son”. The tworeferences provide an interesting field for research, com-parison, contrast, and spiritual lessons to be learned. Wewill elevate imagination a notch in exploring these texts.

The Steady “Father” and the Steady “Son”

The first text at the beginning of this study revealsthe beautiful and challenging picture of a steady “father” inChrist and his steady “son” in Christ. Since Paul callsTimothy his “son” in the faith, we may call Paul Timothy’s“father” in the faith. The steady father is the Apostle Pauland the steady son is his apparently much youngerdisciple, Timothy, whom he calls “my son”. We must notoverestimate the word “steady” in either of thesedescriptions. All of the body of material we have in thebook of Acts and in his personal letters reveal that Paulwas and could still be a somewhat erratic figure.

One Christian psychiatrist, Dr. David Stoop, in hisexcellent book entitled You Are What You Think, saysforthrightly that Paul “struggled with anger even morethan we do” and he candidly declares that Paul was“basically an angry man”. Any unbiased, objective readerwould be forced to grapple with this strong possibility.This does not judge Paul, it simply evaluates him. Withhis “mix” of parental and family background, his nationalJewish heritage, his Judaistic religion and his hot-hearted(and hot-headed) devotion to every facet of it, hisrevolutionary conversion to Jesus and his recognition of

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Jesus as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, his close andconfrontational verbal and mental jousting with Jews andGentiles would leave his spirit in a tense state of unrest,and would surely tend in his kind of personality towardoutbursts of passion and anger. D.L. Moody often said, “Iwouldn’t give a dime for a man who didn’t have a temper,but I wouldn’t give a nickel for the man who couldn’tcontrol his temper.” I’m sure that Paul experienced manya struggle for self-control in the matter of anger andtemper.

A. The Steady “Father”

But Paul became polarized, consolidated andsolidified by his faith-center, Jesus Christ. So close washe to Jesus after his conversion, so aware was he of HisLife and Resources, so committed was he to the new-found God, that he was remarkably steady and fixed inhis character, devotion and message. So, in spite of histumultuous and erratic background, we can identify himin this relationship as the steady Father. I am sure that hislove and appreciation and aspiration for Timothy madehim an even more competent and self-disciplinedfather/discipler to the younger man.

Furthermore, he clearly saw himself as Timothy’sfather in the faith. Indeed, Paul saw himself as theresponsible father of every person whom he led to Christ.He wrote concerning this to the Corinthian Christianswhen he said, “I write not these things to shame you, butas my beloved sons I warn you. For though you have ten

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thousand instructors in Christ, yet you don’t have manyfathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten You through theGospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers (inGreek, the word is ‘mimics’, the word that might describethe action of children in imitating their parents) of me” (ICorinthians 4:14-16). Incidentally the very next versesupports this point, when Paul wrote these words, “Forthis cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is mybeloved son and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring youinto remembrance of my ways which are in Christ, as Iteach everywhere in every church.” What a wealth ofdisciple-making insights there is in this verse.

Christian, please understand that the responsibility towin people to Christ is universal among Christians (noexemptions, no exception, no exclusions), and then theresponsibility to raise the spiritual children whom God hasgiven us belongs to the “parent” who led them to Christ.Both responsibilities are greatly aided in fulfillment by thedisciple-making process which is the universalresponsibility of all believers (to be disciples and to builddisciples). That process always equips the disciple tothink soul-winning and to practice soul-winning, and to thendisciple the new convert when he is won to Christ. Sofuture generations of soul-winners are guaranteed by anadequate and Biblical standard of disciple-making.However, any other standard of generating soul-winnersis necessarily hit-and-miss and will leave vast membersof the Family inactive, uncommitted to soul-winning, andthus completely non-productive.

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In six of Paul’s letters Timothy’s name is associatedwith his own in the opening lines of the letters, and in fourof those letters Timothy’s name is the only one associatedwith Paul’s in the salutations of the letters. From the verybeginning of their Christian association, Paul was willingto share his ministry with Timothy in the most personal,open and transparent ways possible. Timothy was Paul’sdisciple, Paul’s intern, Paul’s apprentice, and wasgroomed always to become Paul’s successor in fruitfulministry.

The relationship of Paul and Timothy began very,very early in Christian history. The year was probablyabout A.D. 47, some 17 years after the death, burial,resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Christian,ponder this carefully. Paul and Timothy were in the frontline, the vanguard, of Gospel advance, and each playedhis role with precision and skill. The church in Antiochhad been led by the Holy Spirit to extend Christianitywestward, and they selected Barnabasand Paul to be their first missionaries. They traveledwestward, and everywhere they went, they not onlystimulated faith in Jesus Christ, they also stirred upopposition to Christ and His Gospel. Lystra, Timothy’shome city, did not seem to be on their original missionaryitinerary. It was a replacement venue, sovereignlyselected by God for now-obvious reasons.

After persecution in each of their last two stops, themissionary team walked through the city gate of the smalland secluded mountain town of Lystra. Nearby, Paul was

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stoned by enemies of the Gospel and left for dead.Timothy may have seen this stoning, and the Holy Spiritmay have used it to stimulate a deep sympathetic interestin his heart toward Paul. In course of time, it seems thatLois and Eunice, Timothy’s grandmother and mother,were saved, and then young Timothy trusted Christ, also.

In one line, Paul almost gave an autobiographicaland biographical description of his relationship withTimothy. In I Timothy 1:18, he wrote, “Timothy, my son, Igive you this instruction.” Paul won Timothy to Christ,then immediately “took him to school in Christ’s school ofdiscipleship.” The word “instruction” describes an activityPaul carried out comprehensively in Timothy’s life. Dearfellow believer, you should have in your life at least one“Timothy” who occupies the same position in your life,and into whom you are building the Truth of God forstrategic purposes.

On Timothy’s part, he was surely a rare student ofScripture. Paul mentions his education provided by hismother and grandmother in the Old Testament Scriptures,which “from a child” had made him “wise unto salvationthrough faith in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:14-15). AndPaul told him to “continue in the things which you havelearned and have been assured of, knowing of whom youlearned them.” Much later, Paul again admonishedTimothy to “Study to show yourself approved unto God, aworkman not needing to be ashamed, rightly dividing theword of truth (II Timothy 2:15),” and we haveoverwhelming evidence to believe that Timothy didexactly that. Paul encouraged Timothy to “give

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attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (ITimothy 4:13), and again we may be sure that Timothydid as he was taught.

As I write, I cannot but wonder what staggeringadvances would have occurred in the world or in Americaif every person brought to Christ in the history of theChristian work here would have been placed under theproject and possibilities of this kind of discipling, and hadfollowed the standard of it. What if every believer hadbeen a true disciple of Jesus Christ? What if every“Christian” had been a true learner, pupil, student,understudy, SCHOLAR, learning the Life, Truth andPractice of the Gospel and its Strategy and pursuingthem with passion of heart and life? What if every born-again child of God had become, AS JESUSCOMMANDED IN THE GREAT COMMISSION and Paulechoed in II Timothy 2:2, a maker of other disciples likehimself, thus LIKE CHRIST)? But alas, this kind ofChristian is seldom to be found. We tend to station thosewho profess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord on seats ina church building and make passive auditors to someoneelse’s growth, study, and communication of the Gospel,and seldom does one emerge to really go to the frontlines of Gospel advance over the earth.

I have often said that a seated Christian (as one “inchurch”) has two points of contact with his naturalenvironment—his seat and his feet. And his history as aChristian can by predicted or summarized by which ofthose dominates his Christianity. Remember, the Book does

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not say, “How beautiful are the seats….!” Rather, it says,“It stands inviolably and unchangeably written, How beautifulare the FEET of those who announce or herald (in this text, wecan forget ‘preaching’ as we think of it, i.e., in a churchbuilding and behind a pulpit; this is not the consistent useof this word in the New Testament) the Gospel of peace, andbring glad tidings of good things” (Romans 10:15). NoChristian is likely to be an effective disciple,or servant, orwarrior, or spokesman for Christ unless he issystematically, comprehensively, and person-to-persontaught and trained in all the matters of Christian life andtruth. Just consult the procedure of Jesus with Elevensurviving disciples to see this substantiated and proven-in-practice-and - in-product! And note how the sameprocedure and strategy are now being followed by Paulwith Timothy. The evidence of the Strategy, theProcedure, the Truth-and-life transfer of New Testamentdiscipling is presented overwhelmingly in I and II Timothyand in the first three chapters of I Thessalonians (note IThessalonians 2:8 for a clear statement of the transfer ofTruth and life from discipler to disciples). Paul was anabsolute master at personal, close-up relationships usedstrategically for the Cause of Christ (as was Jesus thePrototype). For the sake of Christ, for the sake of everyperson he might influence and disciple, for the sake ofthe fulfillment of the Mandate of Christ, for the sake of theworld-wide and history-long Cause of Christ, Pauldevoted himself to become and be a steady and competentfather for any sons or daughters God might give to him inChrist. Is there any question about the outcome? But why

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is such a course not being pursued in an at-large andmany-persons way in the Body of Christ today?

B. The Steady “Son”

The steady “son” of Paul in the text was Timothy,his primary disciple. In this case, it was surely mucheasier for Timothy to be a steady son simply because ofhis personality and background mix. He was quiteapparently a somewhat mild-mannered, shy and timidperson. It was remarkable from the beginning that thedynamic Apostle would choose a mild-mannered butsteady person to be his understudy and successor. Yes, Iam convinced that Paul chose Timothy to be his ownsuccessor in the ministry.

Being a close-up pupil of Paul, Timothy was alsotutored in the disciple-making process, both by Paul’sexample and his exhortation, by his practice and hisproclamation. By close observation of Paul, by hands-ontraining from Paul himself, and by first-hand on-the-jobtraining, Timothy emerged as another strong link in thedisciple-making chain that stretched through the earlychurch. Repeated exposure to the skilled disciple-makingof the Apostle Paul riveted the practice in Timothy’s life.Plato, the Greek philosopher, said, “Learning isremembering,” and Timothy had enough great examplesstored in his mind to promote lifelong remembering andcontinuous learning. Dear Christian, what a bonus it is ifyou have time after time seen disciple-making modeledright before your very eyes, but what an immeasurable

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loss if you are well-educated in every other discipline butdo not have an image of Jesus’ Mandate and Model of“making disciples” fixed in your mind and heart andforming your practice.

It is my pleasure and unspeakable privilege toteach the Strategy of Jesus in place after place and togroup after group of motivated believers on a regularbasis (in one major U.S. city last weekend, another majorU.S. city this weekend, and yet another the followingweekend), and to experience the gratification oftestimony after testimony (and model after model) ofthose who are seriously adapting their lives to theStrategy of “making disciples of Christ who will reproduceothers of the same kind and thus will multiply to the endsof the earth until the end of time.”

There is one more profile to see in this study, and itis both encouraging and discouraging. It is encouragingbecause it proves what God can do to graciouslyovercome our failures, but it is discouraging because itforces us to face the reality of failure among Christians. Infact, I firmly believe that one of the overt failures of theChristian church that I know is that it does not have anadequate theology of/for failure, and yet every Christian Iknow is marked by significant failure (and I head the list,more often failing than I care to think about). Indeed,since God’s salvation comes to us “by grace”, it ispredicated upon our failure! If we had not badly failed, wewould not need God’s grace.

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The Sometimes Stumbling “Father” and theSometimes Stumbling “Son”

The second text at the head of the chapterconjures a quite different picture. It is the story of SimonPeter and his relationship with his primary disciple, JohnMark. Both men had a checkered and erratic picture ofhistorical spiritual failure, modified by growth in grace andChristian maturity, and concluding with stories of greatspiritual successes for Christ’s sake and the sake ofmultitudes of people. I want now to examine them as thesometimes stumbling “father” and the sometimes stumbling“son”.

A. The Sometimes Stumbling “Father”

I call Simon Peter the “sometimes stumblingfather”, recognizing that he was the spiritual father of his“son”, John Mark (cf. I Peter 5:13). Simon Peter’s failureswere numerous. Some were failures of weakness, manywere failures of willfulness, many others were failures ofspeech, and a few were very serious failures. Thesefailures dotted his history with Christ for a long time aftertheir first meeting. Simon seemed to always be dustinghimself off after a fall. When he first met Jesus, hisgenius seemed to be that of failing. He had a seriouscase of “hoof and mouth” disease spiritually, either failingwhile on the move or failing by opening his mouth. Hismotto was, “Open mouth, insert foot.” Someone said, “Heshould have worn peppermint shoes; at least his foot

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would have tasted better when he inserted it into hismouth!” His movements were predictably inconsistent,and his speech suffered from the “Speak first, askquestions later” syndrome. He often seemed to bemarked as much by failure as by faith. Parenthetically, Iwill say that I love the guy, because I often find in the Biblicalpicture of Simon Peter a full-length mirrored reflection ofmyself! Happily, Jesus remained faithful to Simon (as Hehas to me), or he would have left the Apostolic ranks ahopeless failure (as would I).

A Submitted but Sometimes Stumbling “Son”

There is no question in the consensus of NewTestament scholarship that Simon Peter discipled theyoung man, John Mark. Almost all Bible scholars todayrecognize that the main source for most of the materialwhich Mark incorporated into his Gospel was theteaching he received from Simon Peter in their personalrelationship. In fact, many scholars have called Mark’sGospel “The Gospel According to Simon Peter”, reflectingthe influence of Peter the discipler on John Mark, hisdisciple. Simon Peter was an action-oriented per-son,though his actions were at first quite undirected and oftenwrong, and Mark’s Gospel is conspicuously an actionoriented book. One brilliant Bible commentator wrote that“Mark traveled extensively with the Apostle Peter asPeter’s traveling companion, secretary and interpreter.”Note that in the text at the beginning of this study, Peterhimself called his disciple, “Mark my son”.

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Papias, an early historian and church father, wrote:“Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrotedown accurately whatever Peter remembered. After-wards, Mark accompanied Peter, who accommodated hisinstructions to the necessities of his hearers, but with nointention of giving a regular narrative of the Lord’ssayings. Wherefore Mark made no mistake in thus writingsome things as Peter report-ed them. For one thing, hetook special care not to omit anything he had heard andnot to put any-thing fictitious into the statements.”

Irenaeus, another early church father, wrote that“Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himselfhanded down to us in writing the substance of Peter’spreaching.” Clement of Alexander wrote that Peter wasalive at the time that the Gospel of Mark was written.Eusebius recorded that Peter “was pleased” and“authorized the book to be read in the churches.” Anadditional writing of Clement of Alexandria that has beenpreserved only in Latin, but accurately translated intoEnglish, states the following: “Mark, the follower of Peter,while Peter publicly preached the Gospel at Rome beforesome of Caesar’s knights, adduced many testimonies toChrist, in order that thereby they might be able to committo memory what was spoken by Peter, and he wroteentirely what is called ‘The Gospel According to Mark’.”

Note that numerous early writers used the word“interpreter” when referring to the work of Mark and hisrelationship to the Apostle Peter. There is a strongpossibility that Mark may literally have been an interpreteror translator for Peter, since it is widely accepted that

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Peter spoke primarily Aramaic whereas evidenceindicates that Mark’s primary language would have beenGreek. So the evidence is substantial that Mark wasPeter’s disciple.

New Testament scholar A. T. Robertson describesJohn Mark as “a protege of Simon Peter.” He also saidthat John Mark was “one of Peter’s pupils, who as ayoung disciple must often have sat at his feet to becatechized and taught the way of the Lord.” Robertsonadds straightforwardly, “Behind John Mark and hisGospel stands the figure of Simon Peter.” Dr. Robertsonfurther says, “It is clear that in Mark’s Gospel we havereports that come from an eyewitness, and it is well-known that the eyewitness was the Apostle Peter.

Mark has been willing and able to use Peter’s eyesfor us.” Again, “In Mark’s Gospel we are dealing primarilywith Peter’s interpretation of Christ after his reception ofthe Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It is quite likely that Markmade notes of Peter’s preaching from time to time,beginning at an early date, using this and other data forthe final book which we possess.”

When Peter was released from prison (Acts 12),the first place he thought to go was “the house of Marythe mother of John whose surname was Mark” (Acts12:12). Peter had spent many an hour in that same homethrough the years of John Mark’s early life, and adiscipler-disciple relationship had developed betweenthem. Mark reveals his vocation of listening, learning,note-taking, and repeating what he was taught in the

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Gospel that bears his name. Thus, the life and Gospel ofhis disciple, John Mark, were some of God’s chosenmeans for multiplying the ministry of Simon Peter. Thereis also in this relationship a quirky example of the “likefather, like son” rule.

Whatever spiritual success was developed by theHoly Spirit in Mark’s life later, he is marked by whatappears to be a singular failure early in his ministry. I say“appears to be” because I myself have importantquestions about the action of John Mark that is usuallybranded as dark and immature failure. I am not nearly assure as some that John Mark should be labeled as sucha drastic failure. Furthermore, I am not laying Mark’sfailure at the feet of Simon Peter as the one who modeledfailure for John Mark. No, the incidences of failure in theirlives are simply representative of many believers whofailed through either weakness or willfulness—andsometimes the failures are many and horrible. I am justsaying that Paul and Timothy look like steady believers(though this “pancake” has two sides to it), and Peter andJohn Mark look like stumbling believers (although this,too, might represent too simplistic a view of theirministries). We will explore the surface situation and thepassages that are used to explain it.

Acts 13 records the remarkable account of theremarkable first missionary journey by the first missionaryteam in Christian history. The primary players on theteam were Saul (who would become the Apostle Paul)and Barnabas. As the Antioch Christians were praying,God pointed out His purpose to send these two choice

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and capable saints to penetrate into fields west of Antiochwith the Gospel. And the text adds, “And they also hadJohn (Mark) as their minister” (Acts 13:5). Here is my firstreason to suspicion that our accusations against JohnMark have been very unfair and unfounded. Many havesaid that he simply got homesick on this journey and“abandoned ship and high-tailed it for Mom and home.”Some have conjectured about other causes for hisdefection from the team. Acts 13:13 simply says, “Nowwhen Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, theycame to Perga in Pamphylia: and John (Mark) departingfrom them returned to Jerusalem.” Note that he returned,not to Antioch, the place of departure for the team, but toJerusalem, the home of John Mark. John Mark was akinsman of Barnabas, who probably enlisted him to be a“gopher” or servant on the missionary team.

Note the word “minister” used to describe JohnMark in Acts 13:5 (mentioned in the last paragraph). Thisis a very specialized and definitive word. It comes from acaptivating Greek word, huperetes, which means an“under-rower”. The word refers to a person who waswilling (or forced) to remain under the decks among thelowest (third) tier of oarsmen on board a ship to man theoars while the captain of the ship gets the credit for itsspeed, determines its destination, and governs itsmovements. The purpose of the under-rower was toprovide the means of transportation that would guaranteethat others would get to their destination. This is the wordthat Paul used in I Corinthians to state the ideal forChristian ministers—lowly servants of others, who would

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simply follow the Captain’s orders for the purpose ofdelivering other believers to God’s intended destination ofservice and strategy for them. That is, John Mark wasalready a remarkable and lowly, self-effacing servantwhen he set out with the missionary team. To support thisview, Mark was called a “diakonian” in II Timothy 4:11, alowly “dust-kicking slave” who hurried to minister toothers. So John Mark is not to be dismissed with a glibcharge of homesickness or shallow failure. Apparently,something more serious happened in his mind and heartearly in the journey with Paul and Barnabas.

Let me tell you what I think happened, and then Iask you to put yourself in Mark’s place on the trip withBarnabas and Saul and think of what you might havedone. Remember that it was this trip that began withBarnabas as the leader and Saul (now known to us asthe Apostle Paul) as a follower. But on the trip, itapparently became evident especially to Barnabas thatPaul was the one best equipped and skilled to lead sucha team and such work. So the leadership quietlyswitched, as seen in the “Barnabas and Paul” order earlyin the trip (Acts 13:2) and the shift to the “Paul andBarnabas” order as the trip progressed. Acts 13:13 evenidentifies the team as “Paul and his company”—andBarnabas is not even mentioned at this point! John Mark,proud of Barnabas his kinsman and himself marked byyouthful idealism, simply could not adjust to the youngupstart Paul usurping the place occupied by Barnabas asthe team leader. Nursing a sense of outrage and insult,he showed his protest by dismissing himself and going

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back home. So his was not a failure of weakness (exceptmaybe weak vision and weak tolerance), but of protestagainst his view of Paul’s audacity and disrespect for hiskinsmen’s veteran leadership. I’m sure that Barnabashimself did not feel this way at all, but John Mark,youthful and idealistic, would have been very susceptibleto irritation and over-reaction at this change. So it is verylikely, in light of all the evidence in the text, that JohnMark did not revolt from the team for such reasons as wemay think, but for an altogether different motive, that ofjealousy for his kinsman’s position.

At any rate, historical distance from the scene andbetter Christian perspective will enable us to see thatJohn Mark did not make the wisest decision when hedecided to abandon the team. If he had only known whatGod had in mind for this team led by Paul!

If he had only known what a role he could haveplayed in supporting one of the most importantmovements ever launched on this earth! John Mark’sname would probably have loomed large in thechronicles of the missionary movement in the Book ofActs if he had not defected from the team on the basis ofa totally personal reaction. The message? We must befaithful to Jesus even when the circumstance looks smalland insignificant, and we must not let personal feelingsdetermine our reactions to irritating circumstances. At anyrate, here is a stumbling disciple, Peter’s “son” in thefaith, Peter’s primary disciple, John Mark, placed in the IPeter 5 text in a filial relationship with a stumblingdiscipler, Simon Peter.

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I find great comfort in knowing that such men asSimon Peter (like Jacob in the Old Testament, who“limped” all the way Home) and John Mark hadconspicuous clay feet and were marked and remembered byfailures both large and small. In spite of these failures,God’s rule is still, “My grace is sufficient for you”—if youwill face Him with your faith and your failures, and live infull dependence upon Him for His overcoming provisionof that grace.

Here then are the profiles of two pairs of disciplingpartners, Paul and Timothy on the one hand and SimonPeter and John Mark on the other. Each pair models aspiritual “father” and “son” discipling relationship. Paul thespiritual “father” of his spiritual “son”, Timothy, and SimonPeter the spiritual “father” of his spiritual “son”, JohnMark. All four men were marked on occasion by spiritualand personal failure, and all were recovered by grace tofind significant niches in the annals of Grace andGodliness. Again, the disciple-making Strategy of Jesusis on very high profile in their relationships. But whatabout you, dear Christian? Whom has God given you asyour spiritual “son” or “daughter”, and what are you doingwith them to advance them into disciple-makingreproduction of others of the same kind so that they willmultiply in enlarging generations of disciples and disciple-makers? The Great Commission still stands with authorityand assignment for us today, and Jesus’ Strategy is stillthe best modus operandi for advancing His Cause—thestrategy of “going into all nations and turning individualsinto disciples.” To whom can you say, “Thou, therefore,my son?”

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Portrait 2

A SOLDIER

BORN FOR BATTLE

II Timothy 2:3-4, “You, therefore, endure hardness as agood soldier of Jesus Christ. No man at war entangleshimself with the affairs of this life: that he may pleasehim who has chosen him to be a soldier.”

Years ago, Evangelist Dwight L. Moody prohibitedhis crusade singer from singing “Onward ChristianSoldiers” in his crusades, because he said he knew nochurch whose members looked or acted like an army ofChristian soldiers. It is noticeable today that, even inevangelical churches, this song is seldom sung. Was/isMoody right?

Every culture is replete with stories of its militaryheroes and their celebrated exploits. The very names ofAlexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, GenghisKhan, Lord Horatio Nelson, George Washington andDwight Eisenhower are renowned in history because of

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great exploits of military conquest. When I visitedAbbotsford, the home place of Sir Walter Scott, the Scotsnovelist who broke down the hostility between Englandand Scotland by his massive volumes of historicalromance novels, I was completely intrigued by the aura ofthe place, and most of all by the rooms full of weaponsand military artifacts Scott had collected from the greatbattlefields of Great Britain and Western Europe. My visitwas an historical reminder of great military leaders andtheir recognized conquests.

It is somewhat shocking to focus on the manymilitary metaphors that are used in the Bible for God, Hispeople and His or their action in history. I will mentiononly four of these “army analogies”, four which will formthe foundation of this study.

First, every Christian is a soldier. We need go nofurther to see the problem of the connection betweenrevelation and reality. The Christian community has soglibly departed from God’s clear revelation of this pointthat hardly any Christian today is truly recognizable as areasonable facsimile of a soldier. Indeed, there issomething about the modus operandi of the typical localchurch that neutralizes and negates the very possibility ofemerging the passion and performance that befit asoldier.

Second, the Christian’s character and communityare the battleground for the waging of the Christianwarfare. However, we must sadly admit that, measuredby impact and product, there is little evidence of much

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real “waging of Christian warfare” in the character ofChristians and in the communities in which they live.

Third, the Church is an army. But how can a sedategroup of passive listeners (the profile of a typicalassembly of believers in a local church) who seldombreak that mode be called an army?

Fourth, Christ is the Conqueror of sin and death,the Captain of our salvation, and the Commander ofGod’s Army. At last we have reached an analogy whichwe can clearly trace, acknowledge and honor! In Christ,the Ideal is intact, but what about the fulfillment of themilitary role of His followers? We will look at each ofthese concepts in more detail as we approach the Biblicalpicture of the intended Christian soldier.

Truly militant Christianity is extremely rare today.Most Christians have retreated into the “comfort castles”that we call “churches”. The local church should be likethe huddle in a football game—a strategic gatheringwhich leads to purposeful and powerful execution on theline of scrimmage, the battle-line of a football game. Haveyou ever heard of a football player being hurt in ahuddle? Has one ever made a touchdown run, or throwna touchdown pass, or laid a crunching block, from thehuddle? To follow the much more replete Biblical analogy,that of soldiers, armies, battles, victories, defeats, etc., dosoldiers spend their lives only in the barracks andsimulated battlefields of boot camp, or is that training forbludgeoning, burgeoning, brutal reality on a violentbattlefield? True bruises, celebrations of victory, regrets

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over defeat, the emotional highs of participation, theemotional lows of casualties and losses, can only beexperienced as fierce struggle occurs. In military terms,this fierce struggle will be attended by danger, firefights ofimmeasurable magnitude, battle cries that will summonmaximum effort from every participant, and rest andrecovery only when the enemy is conquered or quietedon the battlefield. This militant mentality penetrates thepages of the New Testament, and must be restored to theBody of Christ or it will wither, wrinkle and die of passiveinactivity.

Why has the church hidden this metaphor andfailed to redevelop this mentality? Has the ugliness of wardulled our senses to our responsibilities andopportunities? Has our inbred and excessive culturalhedonism, emerging in the church as ruggedindividualism, self-curl, self-addiction, self intoxication,and self-piety (in short, “comfort-first” Christianity),aborted for the Church any possibility of marching againas His Army, banners flying, and celebrating His victoriesas the enemy is routed through us in every nation onearth? Could it be our cultural desire for tolerance,mildness and moderation in all things, what someonecalled “the worship of the happy mean” (our unwillingnessto go to the radical extremity of true self-denying, cross-bearing,Jesus carrying Christianity), avoiding extremeseven in goodness and Godliness, and aiming above all ata mild, civilized, undisturbing, innocuous and non-impacting discipleship?

Please note my use of the word “discipleship”; I

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believe that every evident failure in the Church beginswith a failure to adjust to the New Testament Model,Method and Mandate concerning “making disciples.” Theonly way I can imagine to restore the militant mentality(indeed, any true Christian mentality) to today’s WesternChurch is through full-blown pursuit of that Model,Method and Mandate of Jesus and the New Testament.Indeed, I believe that great doses of love for Christ andothers, balanced by this militant mentality and a militantstrategy for world advance, accounted for the world-tackling, world-changing impact of the early church aschronicled in the Book of Acts. And I do not think we cansee a recurrence of such advances again without arestoration of this balance and the action stimulated by it.

Now, to the message at hand. Jesus Himselfequated conversion with a declaration of war. Beginningwith His general term for personalizing a truth, “For whichof you…”, He then added this illustration, “What king,going to war against another king,” (to paraphrase) doesnot carefully count his resources to see if he can financethis war? Note that this leader is going to war, that he hasan enemy and a goal, and that he must own and useadequate resources to achieve his goal.

Let me pursue the New Testament doctrine.Preceding conversion, a sinner is at peace with Satanand at war with God. Following conversion, he is, bynature of his new birth and the “contract” of the Christianlife, at peace with God (!) and immediately at war withSatan. Satan does not easily abandon the lifetime controlhe has exercised over or within every lost sinner. He

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instantly declares war on the new-born believer, andseeks to neutralize and negate the effects of his newbirth. Here is another reason that full-blown disciplemaking should be practiced as quickly as possible withevery new believer, and a mere institutional reduction offormal teaching will not work in implementing in him all ofthe dimensions of his new life in Christ. Do mothersabandon the raising of their children to short-time trainingin institutions? The question contains its own answer. Alltrue care for new-borns is hands-on, close-up and long-term. The same is true in disciple-making. Look at Jesus’“training of the Twelve”!

It is from Christ’s lips, also, that we hear thestartling declaration, “Do not think that I have come tobring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, buta sword.” Let’s pursue the ideas of the military metaphormore closely, using the text recorded above and theanalogy of Scripture in other texts.

The CHRISTIAN is a SOLDIER

The first idea I want to explore is that, Biblically,every Christian is presented as a soldier. In the II Timothytext printed above, he is called “a soldier”, a “goodsoldier”, and “a man at war.” Ponder these wordscarefully, and question yourself about their validity in yourlife.

A. The Establishment of the Christian as a Soldier

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Since our text is found in the flagship SecondTimothy letter of the Apostle Paul to his younger disciple,let me stay a moment (only) in First and Second Timothyto establish this truth that in the New Testament, everyChristian is pictured as a soldier. In I Timothy 1:18, Paulwrote, “Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction . . .that you might war a good warfare.” In I Timothy 6:12,Paul exhorted Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith.”The words of the text recorded above simply repeat andamplify this call.

In Paul’s First Letter to Timothy, he used a militaryterm five times in exhorting Timothy. The term isparangello, which according to the Greek lexicon means,“to issue a military order which must be obeyed.” In ITimothy 1:3, Paul told Timothy to “charge (issue an orderto) some that they teach no other doctrine.” Here we seehow exact and careful disciples and teachers must be tobe doctrinally sound, and how a discipline like militarydiscipline must be enforced to guarantee this.

In I Timothy 4:11, Paul said to Timothy, “Thesethings command (issue an order) and teach.” Can youhear the crispness of a Commander’s order in thesewords? No wonder they had a militant mentality in theearly Church! This text exemplifies a leader (in this case,a discipler addressing his disciple) in the early churchrealizing that he was expected to give to his disciple“God’s Marching Orders”. In I Timothy 5:7, he wrote, “Andthese things give in charge (issue an order)”; i.e., passGod’s marching orders down through the ranks of the

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frontline troops. Timothy, do everything you canpersonally do to enlist and activate every believer as asoldier under orders. “I give you charge (issue this orderto you)”, Paul said to Timothy (I Timothy 6:13), and thenhe told him to “Charge (issue an order to) those that arerich in this world” (6:17). Paul was marshaling thesoldiers! He was assembling the Army and issuing theCommander’s orders! He was prepping those who areBorn to Battle! Where is this in today’s Church?

B. The Enlistment of the Christian as a Soldier

Now, let me address the specifics of the soldier’sassignment and resources. The text mentions thesoldier’s enlistment. According to the text, he has beenpersonally “chosen” by the Key Recruiter in the universeto participate in the Most Important War this world hasever known. Recruiting in this warfare is the Joint Effort ofJesus the Commander and the Holy Spirit, the ChiefExecutor and Enlistment Officer of this Army. By virtue ofhis salvation, every born-again believer in Christ is asoldier in this Army.

C. The Endowment of the Christian as a Soldier

Then, think of the soldier’s endowment. The firstverse in the chapter that specifies the assignment of thesoldier also reveals his enablement. Paul said to Timothy,“My son, be strengthened (a passive voice verb, whichmeans that the entire enablement of the Christian soldiercomes from Some-one Else, and not himself) in the grace

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that is in Christ Jesus.” This verse alone could commandthe attention of this entire message, and still we wouldleave much unsaid. Note the word “grace”. This is the all-inclusive shorthand word for our total reservoir ofresources as Christians. What is grace? It is God’s Helpgiven freely to those who do not deserve it. And faith isour taking, our receiving, our appropriating, our using, ofall of the available resources to be employed through uson the terms of the Commanding Officer (not on our poorlimited self-piety course). Christian, take heed—you willnever fulfill your assignment as a soldier without taking inmassive daily doses of the grace of God!

D. The Enlightenment of the Christian as a Soldier

Think, too, of the soldier’s enlightenment. What“light”, what orders, does he follow? Again, disciple-making is the prominent feature in the total text. One ofthe flagship verses on disciple-making in the Bible is IITimothy 2:2, which says, “And (a connecting conjunction;note the succession with something preceding the verse)the things which you (Timothy) have heard from me(Paul)…, exactly the same things (this is minor emphasisin the Greek text) deposit into the lives of faithful men,who will be enabled in the Process (again, minoremphasis) to teach OTHERS, ALSO (according to onescholar, these two words are major emphasis, whichwould mean they are the Holy Spirit’s loud shout from thepage).” All of the terms in parentheses in this quote aremy additions. So Timothy’s enlightenment came frompersonal communication from his faithful disciple-maker,

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the Apostle Paul. Read II Timothy 1:13-14 very, verycarefully, and you will see the personal communicationbetween Paul the discipler and Timothy the disciple, aswell as the substance of the communication. It was thiscommunication that provided Timothy’s enlightenment,and should provide the illumination for every soldier ofthe Cross.

E. The Entanglements of the Christian as a Soldier

Consider, also, the soldier’s potential anddangerous entanglements. The text says, “No soldier atwar entangles himself with the affairs of this life.” Asoldier’s life is one of consolidation of interests to “thisone thing I do”, and concentration of mind and actionupon all the dimensions of being “a good soldier”. If hedivides his lifestyle between soldiering and socializing (inany of its dimensions), he will likely go AWOL and willsooner or later be court-martialed as a traitor. Thesoldier’s devotion to his regimental leader and to thatleader’s assignment is to be total and undivided. He mustnot allow business interests, back-home demands, socialenticements, pleasure and entertainment, to interfere withhis consuming commitment to be a soldier. The same istrue of the Christian soldier. “A double-minded (dipsukos,literally, ‘two souled) man is unstable in all his ways”(James 1:8). Christian, clear away the entanglementsthat prevent all-out loyalty to Christ.

F. The Equipment of the Christian as a Soldier

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Finally, think of the soldier’s equipment. On abattlefield, the unequipped or ill-equipped soldier will notmatch the soldier with full and adequate battle clothingand weapons. The New Testament is clear about theequipment of the Christian soldier. In fact, it is called “thewhole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11, 13), and thatarmor is itemized one piece at a time—the belt of Truth,the breastplate of righteousness, shoes which pictureserene and settled readiness, the shield of faith, thehelmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Thus, thebeliever’s integrity, purity, serenity, certainty, mentality,and victory are secured by God Himself—if he will fullyemploy his equipment.

Note that some of this armor is for offensive action,some for defensive action, some for covering and somefor wielding, but not a single piece is for retreat. There isno provision of armor for the backside! Every piece mustbe used or there will be vulnerable and indefensible gapsin the believer’s exposure to the enemy.

I will leave the full discussion of this “whole armorof God” for another time and another study. You willnotice that I omitted a discussion of the two main battleweapons, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word ofGod” (Ephesians 6:17), and “praying always with allprayer…” (Ephesians 6:18). I will reserve them foranother study.

Let me conclude this point with an historicalillustration that warns of carelessness and loosenessabout “putting on the whole armor of God” (Ephesians

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6:11). On November 22, 1963, the President of theUnited States, John F. Kennedy, was gunned down by ahidden assassin while riding in the Presidentialmotorcade in Dallas, Texas. Several shots rang out, andthe fatal bullet crashed into the President’s head, killinghim. As the motorcade began its short trip down theDallas streets, the Secret Service agents who wereresponsible to protect the President urgently requestedhim to put the protective bubbletop which was availableover the Presidential limousine, but Kennedy vehementlyrefused their advice. So the path to his skull wasunguarded when the assassin fired the fatal shot.Christian, the assassin of souls, Satan, has you in hiscrosshairs, and acts with steady determination toneutralize or negate you as Christ’s soldier. You must notride heedlessly into the Devil’s ambush without putting onyour protective armor.

I read this happier illustration in the dailynewspaper of my city. A Pittsburgh man named John Oldhad escaped two brushes with robbers while working at agas station. Forewarned by these close calls, heforearmed himself for future emergencies. He secured abullet-proof vest and wore it to work every day. It provedto be the right choice. Just before Christmas that year, aman robbed the station where Old worked, shot him atleast twice, and escaped with about $110. Old walkedaway with bullet dents in his vest, but unharmed. His“armor” had saved his life. Christian, take heed; far, farmore is at stake than your one life.

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G. The Assignment of the Christian as a Soldier

Finally, consider the assignment of the Christian asa Soldier. A man came upon a person playing a cello, buthe noticed that he was playing the same note over andover, and that he did not vary from that one note. At a lullin the incessant sound of the one note, the observer said,“You play strangely. Everybody else plays the entireinstrument, but you play only one note.” The playerretorted, “Yes, but they are looking for it; I’ve found it!” Ioften feel this way when I strum the string or play thenote of disciple-making. No Christian as aware as I am ofthe gigantic place this strategy played in the Bible couldever separate this strategy from any assignment oractivity of the Christian life!!!

This assessment bears the giant seal of Jesus’attention and endorsement in making it the onlycommand in His Great Commission. Look at Hisoverwhelming example. In His eternal pre-existence,Jesus modeled being a disciple of His Father (see Isaiah50:4-8, NASV). In His early life on earth, He wasdiscipled by His mother (in such things as learning theScriptures), and by His foster father, Joseph (who tutoredHim to become the village carpenter of Nazareth). In Hisadolescent years, He was discipled (as was every Jewishboy) by the leaders of Judaism of that day. Then, to cap itall, He built His public ministry around the aggressivediscipling of twelve men. He filled His teaching withconcepts of being disciples and building disciples. Finally,He funneled His total Mandate into the command to “turn

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people into disciples in all nations”. With regard to theproduct, I simply echo Jesus, “Come and see”; theproduct speaks loudly and clearly for itself, for the eternalgood of multitudes of people, and for the eternal glory ofJesus Christ.

Here, we must acknowledge another “warfaredanger” of a Christian. It is the easiest thing in the world,with all of the pressures of training and performance, fora soldier to relax his focus on his main assignment. Justthis morning in my “morning watch” with God, I read anillustration that highlights this danger. Let me cite thestory. In 1948, General Dwight Eisenhower published hismemoirs on World War II entitled Crusade in Europe. Hetestified that as commander in chief of the Allied Forces,he faced many pressures to give up his primary goal, touse the beaches of Normandy for an all-out invasion ofthe Nazi empire at the earliest practical moment. Twosentences on page 48 of his book sum up his struggle:“History has proved that nothing is more difficult in warthan to adhere to a single strategic plan. Unforeseen andglittering promise on the one hand, and unexpecteddifficulties or risks upon the other, present constanttemptations to desert the chosen line of action in favor ofanother” (The italics in the quote are my addition). OurSupreme Commander did not waver in His teaching andpractice of disciple-making, nor in His one supremecommand to His followers to “make disciples”, andneither may we waver in this assignment. This is ourwarfare, and it must be waged against all odds andopposition.

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Furthermore, the gratification, present rewards andpromised rewards are greater than anything I have everseen or heard in any other field of endeavor in theChristian mission.

The Christian is a soldier, and his career is bothprescribed and proscribed by the New Testament.

THE CHRISTIAN’S CHARACTER IS THEBATTLEGROUND

Let me abbreviate my discussion of the secondpoint. The Christian’s character and community comprisethe battle-ground in this soldier’s warfare. Every Christianhas three consistent and continual enemies in thewarfare between good and evil. One is the externalenemy, the world. We might call this the “social” enemy.Another is the infernal enemy, Satan. We will call him the“spiritual” enemy. But the worst enemy of all is theinternal enemy, which the Bible calls “the flesh”. We willcall this the “sensual” or “selfish” enemy. To understandthe word “flesh” as it is used in the teaching of the NewTestament, spell out the word, remove the “h”, and turn itaround—SELF. The “flesh” is the self curl, the self-addiction, that remains through a believer’s conversion,and supplies his training ground for his most necessaryvictory. “He who conquers and controls himself is mightierthan he who takes a city.”

The main battles in the believer’s warfare arefought in “the Castle of Mansoul”, that is, within the

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believer himself.

He who wins the big battles within himself will notneed to fear the external and infernal enemies. Butbeware, the flesh is the “handle” that we extend to Satan,inviting him to reassume his forfeited control over ourlives, and the world’s most alluring enticement to theChristian is through his self-life or his “flesh.” Just as theWall of China was breached four times through betrayalto an enemy from someone inside the wall, so theChristian can only be conquered by the world and theDevil if he gives permission in favor of his own selfindulgence. D.L. Moody often said, “My biggest and worstenemy is the man who wears my coat—and I don’t meanafter it has been stolen!” Satan is a master of theopportune time for making his “hit” on you, and hegenerally does it when you are weak, troubled, alreadystruggling with temptation, or hard-pressed in the give-and-take of battle. The poet said it well:

“Set up Your standard, Lord, that we, Who claim aHeavenly birth,

May march with You to smite the lies That vex Yourgroaning earth.

We, fight for Truth? We, fight for God? We poorslaves of lies and sin!

He who would fight for You on earth Must first betrue within.

Then, God of Truth, for whom we long, You who willhear our prayer,

Fight Your own battle in our hearts And slay thefalsehood there.”

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Christian, this is a Tag Match, and there is anundefeated and invincible Champion in our corner! TagHim by the touch of faith, invite Him to fight for you, andyou will be free to fight and win His battles. “Be madestrong in the Lord, and in the power of His might”(Ephesians 6:10).

THE CHURCH IS AN ARMY

The third point is ideally true, but practically, thechurch is a caricature of this truth. The hymn opens withthese words, “Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as towar…”, but a bystander would be hard-pressed to seeany evidence of this claim in the typical church. In fact, hewould find such a claim laughable.

“Like a mighty army, Moves the church of God,Brethren, we are marching, Where the saints have trod.”

A mighty army? And “moves” is its definitive actionword? Friends, an incredible adjustment would need tobe made within the ranks of this “army” if it is ever againto justify this ideal.

May I say again, and firmly, that only disciple-making will ever produce this profile in the lives ofbelievers. I work daily and perennially with disciples in allkinds of settings and activities. I spend a lot of timeoverseas with teams of incredibly well-trained discipleswho are also disciple-makers and world-impactors, andwe teach large numbers of pastors and ministry leadersthe strategy of Jesus and the New Testament of building

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disciples. This year, we will have at least 45 teams ofthese trained laymen (!) in many nations of the world,training pastors and ministry leaders there. One of thesein-the-know laymen recently estimated conservativelythat all of the disciple-making teams of teachers will haveat least 9,000 pastors in front of them overseas this year.

The spirit of these team members is incrediblyoptimistic and opportunistic, and their impact is continualafter they leave “the field.” All of this is strategic andintentional. How can this be? Simply because they knowhow to train local leaders (pastors and ministry leaders)in any setting, and they leave behind them upondeparture leaders with equipped and motivated heartswho can “deposit” exactly the same things into the livesof faithful men, who in turn will be enabled by thecontinuing process of disciple-making to teach others,also (II Timothy 2:2). Furthermore, contacts aremaintained with representative leaders in each field, andregular correspondence is received from them andanswered by us, and curriculum passes almost daily fromus to them, further encouraging and equipping them tofulfill in their setting the strategy modeled and mandatedby Jesus. Thus, movements of multiplying disciple-making are occurring all over the world as God continuesto build and deploy His Great Commission Army. Again, Iwould not highly evaluate any ministry that does not havethe endorsement of Heaven upon it, and the attendingpower of the Holy Spirit—and in my experience, theministry of disciple-making certainly does.

Christian, why don’t you sign up today, enlisting in

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the Greatest Army in the world, joining the Lord’s Host ofsoldiers who are committed to fulfill the GreatCommission of Jesus in “all nations”? This year alone, Ihave been in one Central American country and fourAfrican countries and am scheduled to return to two moreAfrican countries and to travel to two Asian countriesduring the remaining months of 2010. After many happyyears in productive pastorates, this is by far the mostgratifying and productive ministry I can imagine, nomatter what other plan is followed.

This, then, is the Christian’s battle plan, andbecause the Church is simply the composite of allmembers who make it up, this is to be the Church’sprimary battle plan. However, I personally do not believethat this is a corporate assignment, loosely spread over avarying group of Christians who differ widely incommitment, obedience, loyalty, etc. I challenge anyoneto show an exception to this statement: when the processof disciple-making is institutionalized instead ofindividualized, it is almost totally neutralized and evennegated. I have never witnessed an exception to thatrule. An army is only as strong as its weakest regiment orsoldier, and untrained, unequipped, disloyal soldiers willmake the entire battle plan vulnerable to enemy assaultand corporate defeat. Disciple-making will largely correctthat shortfall on an individual (and thus responsible)basis.

CHRIST IS THE CONQUEROR OF SIN ANDDEATH, THE CAPTAIN OF OUR SALVATION,AND THE COMMANDER OF GOD’S ARMY

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The last military analogy in our list is the mostimportant of all. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is theconqueror of sin and death, the Captain of our salvation,and the Commander of the Lord’s Army. We cannotadequately express this point, and certainly cannot makean exhaustive statement of it. It is the source and secretof all of our understanding of the war fare and of all of ourvictories. Again, it is the supremacy of Christ thatguarantees all things Christian, and this is no exception.

One Mighty Man of Valor excels all others in vitality,valor and victory. He always and only draws His Swordon the side of what is right and righteous. Who is He, andhow may we identify Him? Let the Bible provide itsringing answer: “The Lord is a Man of War. JEHOVAH isHis name” (Exodus 15:3). Much has been writtenhistorically about the skill of one general, the bravery ofanother, and the brilliance of yet another. But the trophiesand crowns and medals of Immanuel, “God with us”, willoutdo them all, and with no real contest. “Behold, I havegiven Him for a Leader and Commander to the people”(Isaiah 55:4). God has committed to His people (you andme) a great work to do. It is variously described as“warring a good warfare, fighting the fight of faith,wrestling with principalities and powers, and keeping thebody under and bringing it into subjection.” Each of us iscalled to glory and honor on this battlefield. But the roadto the palace of our King and the path to His final rewardsruns through the heart of the enemy’s country, andfurthermore, our assignment as we fight is not of our ownchoosing—it has already been planned for us before wewere enlisted in the Army. We have too many soldiers

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operating by human traditions, and thus they haveabandoned Jesus Christ in His Biggest Assignment. Inourselves and by our own ideas, we know not what to do;we need much instruction and direction. So He hasprovided for us an infallible Battle Manual, His Holy Word,the Bible. And He has given us a matchless Commander.He has Almighty power, wonderful skill and knowledge,and He is full of compassion and love.

Does a Commander deserve the title if he issuesno commands? What is a Commander who sits in thecomfort of the fortress while His soldiers enter the intenseand dangerous battlefields to wage war for Him? But thischarge cannot be made against Christ our Commander.He left His Palace in Paradise and took the field Himselfagainst the foe. He engaged Appolyon face to face,overcame him in the wilderness and administered a fataland unrecoverable blow by His own Death on the Cross.By His Death, He put Death to Death, thus removing oneof the enemy’s primary weapons. You see, He asks nosoldier in His Army to take the field where He has notgone Himself. Though the battles may be long andbloody, the war has already been won.

Remember, dear Christian that you are to be“conformed to the image of God’s Son” (Romans 8:29),and He was “a man of war.” You, then, must learn the artof war, and engage the enemy by His Plan of conquest.God wants no cowards in Heaven, so you must stayclose by the side of your Commander, move when Hemoves and fight when He fights. If you would wear thecrown of conquest, you must carry the cross of conflict.

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When Lord Horatio Nelson, the greatest naval command-er in British history, was sailing the seas and defendingEngland’s cause against all foes, his sailors would returnto England after impossibly hard trips, riddled withwounds, racked by disease, often having suffered severedeprivation and hardship. They were often asked aboutsalaries and rewards. Their reply often was, “Pay?Salaries? Rewards? The only reward we ever reallywanted was to be with Nelson!” Christian, are you seeingmy analogy?? It is enough to fight under the banner ofChrist our Commander!! But how many are reallyengaged in His assigned battle?? If we are not verycareful, our good-faith traditional substitutes for HisOriginal Assignment will rob us of all possible medals atthe Last Great Hearing.

High above Trafalgar Square in London, adorningthe top of a tall, thin monument in his honor, standsNelson’s statue. He died at the battle of Trafalgar whilerevealing his usual heroism. Arrayed against a Frenchfleet of warships, significantly outnumbered andoutgunned, he led his navy against the enemy. He had inearlier battles twice spared a French ship, TheRedoubtable, when he could just as easily have sent it tothe bottom of the sea. But here it was again, in the Battleof Trafalgar, and the musket ball that blew away part ofNelson’s face and one of his eyes was fired from themast of The Redoubtable. Nelson, as usual, wasstanding in the bow of his ship, directing the battle fromits most intense point. The French were having the bestof the battle, and they began signaling by code forsurrender. Nelson held his telescope to his eye, watching

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the enemy movements, until one side of his face and oneeye were shot away by a musket ball. He had just seenthe demand to surrender delivered by the enemy whenthe bullet struck his head. He quickly shifted histelescope to the empty socket, signaling that he wouldnot even consider surrender. His sailors ralliedresoundingly to the courage of their commander and wonthe battle. Meanwhile, Nelson collapsed and died in thepool of his own blood.

It is enough to fight and die with Christ ourCommander. It is enough to win victories that will secureHim the spoils of His own suffering at Calvary. But wemust give exceeding great care that we are really in Hisassigned battle, and not merely in pursuit of traditionalsubstitutes that will prevent His approval. It will be worth itall if we made the right investments, saw the returns Hecommanded and finally hear Him say, “Well done, goodand faithful soldier. You have fought well and bravely inthe battle I assigned, and because you have been faithfuland productive on my terms in time, I will give you moregratifying assignments with full reward in eternity.” What atrip, and what trophies await the war heroes of His Army!

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Portrait 3

An ATHLETE

RUNNING TO WIN IN THERACE OF LIFE

I Corinthians 9:24-27, “And this I do for the gospel's sake, that Imight be partaker thereof with you. Know you not that they whichrun in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that yemay obtain. And every man that strives for the mastery istemperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptiblecrown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not asuncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air: But I keepunder my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by anymeans, when I have preached to others, I myself should be acastaway.

The Christian life is far more active and aggressivethan most Christians have realized. According to this text, theChristian life is not a spectator sport, but a “game” calling fordiligent participation from each believer. However, it must besadly conceded that most Christians today never seem to getout of the spectator mode.

Alonzo Stagg is renowned as the founder of theAmerican game of football. As a coach, he was known for his“coaching on the bench” while a game was in progress on thefield. On one occasion, the game clock was winding downwhen Stagg turned to his third-team quarterback, who had

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only been on the field for a few plays all year. The coachposed to the young quarterback this situation: “There areeighteen seconds left on the game clock. We are behindby six points, but we have the ball on the opponent’stwelve-yard line. It is fourth down, with two yards to go fora first down, and twelve yards to go for a game-winningtouchdown. What would you do?” The uncomfortableyoung quarterback quickly answered, “Coach, I think Iwould move down to the other end of the bench to get abetter view of the play!” Tragically, the most participationwhich many Christians have in “the big game of life” is tojockey for a position on the bench as they see someoneelse running the plays. Christian, don’t spend all your timein the locker room, listening to “chalk-talks” by a smartcoach, or in the huddle discussing the plays. Go to the lineof scrimmage and get the “feel” of the game. You may getbruised by a few hard hits here and there, but you will likethe feel of victory when the game is won!

Some years ago, cartoonist Al Capp caricaturedour society in a comic strip called Li’l Abner. The comicstrip was a combination of political and social satire. Oneof the characters in the comic strip was an odd-lookingcharacter called the “shmoo.” The shmoo was shapedlike an exaggerated pear. Its head was small and round,blending into a big, round body. The shmoo was intendedto be a commentary (indeed, a satire) of the trend of thetimes in our society. The idea was that, if our societycontinued in the direction it had taken, soon allAmericans would have small brains, big bodies, and evenbigger bottoms! In other words, it was a critique of the

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“spectator syndrome” of our society. Tragically, mostChristians are caught in this syndrome. In fact, it neverseems to occur to most Christians that there is anotherpossibility except the “survival routine” of going to church,being a good person, reading the Bible, praying, andgoing to church again. Friends, the Christian life is fargrander and greater than that! When properly lived, itoffers a great gamut for risk-taking and winning andlosing. It offers a challenge that makes great demandsand offers great rewards. In short, it can be asadventurous as any life man has ever known.

Our text is one of over fifty references to athletics inthe New Testament, most of them appearing in the lettersof the Apostle Paul. One cannot read such a passage asthis with any degree of understanding without realizingthat Paul must have been a very intelligent sports fan. Hemust have observed in person the athletic events herefers to in this text. There are at least ten specificreferences to sports personnel and sports events in thisbrief paragraph.

For example, he refers to the runners in a track andfield event (verse 24).

Then he refers to the race itself. The word he usesfor “race” in verse 24 is also the word from which wederive our English word “stadium,” but in Paul’s day itreferred to the distance of a race (some 202 yards) ratherthan the place where the event occurred.

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Also in verse 24, Paul refers to the prize which thewinner receives in such a race. And he counsels eachparticipant in the Christian race to run in a manner thatwill make a winner of him (verse 24c).

In verse 25, he mentions the athlete himself,referring to him as the “man who strives for the mastery.”Literally, that phrase speaks of the athlete “who agonizesin order to attain excellence.” The word “agonizes” refersto the disciplines and conditioning the athlete must practicein order to adequately compete in the field in which heparticipates.

Also in verse 25, Paul says that every athlete “whodisciplines himself in order to attain excellence must betemperate in all things.” The word “temperate” means “self-controlled,” and the text says that the winning athlete’sself-control must extend to “all things” in his life. You see,a champion athlete will not only omit from his daily life allthings that are bad for his performance, he will alsoeliminate many “good” things that will prevent fullconcentration or unhindered performance. Following thissame athletic picture, Hebrews 12:1 says that the athletewill “lay aside every weight” that hinders his bestperformance, and not merely the obvious wickednessthat will destroy his effectiveness.

In verse 25, our text also refers to the trophy or theaward the winning athlete will receive at the judge’s standwhen the race is over. He says that the winner in anearthly event may win a “corruptible crown” such as a

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wreath or a plaque or a trophy, but the Christian isrunning the true race in order to gain an “incorruptiblecrown.” Here, Paul points out the inconsistency of earthlyathletes engaging in such rigorous training in order togain only a temporal crown, while the Christian often willnot pay any price to win an “incorruptible” (eternal)reward.

In verse 26, Paul moves from running to fighting.He says that he does not run or fight without a goal orwithout purpose. “I do not run as one who is uncertain ofthe course or the finish line," and “I do not fight as onewho aimlessly flails at the air.” The latter reference is tothe common training practice used by a boxer known as“shadow boxing.”

Then, in verse 27, Paul leaves running and boxingand moves to wrestling. Note that the events mentionedhave moved through a progression – from the individualparticipation of separate performers (running) to moreintense and more aggressive contact with otherparticipants (boxing and wrestling). In verse 27, Paulsays, “I keep my body under (that is, underneath me),” apicture of extreme discipline. The idea is that he controlshis body in order to prevent his body from controlling him.

In verse 27, Paul refers to the public addressannouncer who officially starts the events and introducesthe participants with each new event. He does this underthe image of “preaching,” or heralding the events. Then,he closes with a warning that it is possible to run the

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Christian race, and then break a rule and lose the rewardat the end of the race.

What a cosmopolitan picture given by acosmopolitan Christian of the cosmopolitan life that isours in Christ! Some time ago, a college wrestling teamwas traveling to a neighboring college to compete in awrestling match that evening. As they traveled, the coachwarned them of the other team’s strategy. “They haveperfected a certain hold and have been winning all oftheir recent matches,” he said to his team. “The particularmaneuver that has been winning for them is called ‘thedouble reverse.’ Here is the way it works. Your opponentgets a hold on you, then he folds you up once, then hefolds you up again, and while you are helpless, he throwsyou down and pins you, and before you know it thematch is over.” However, it was obvious that his wrestlersdid not think the “double reverse” would be a reallyserious threat, so they didn’t seem to take his warningseriously. He continued to exhort them, but they showedlittle interest in hearing of the “double reverse.”

The team arrived at the opponent’s gymnasium,preparations were made for the six matches on schedulefor that evening, and the coach continued to warn histeam. Every wrestler reassured the coach, and thematches began. However, in the very first match, thevisiting wrestler was victimized by the “double reverse”and lost the match – as the coach groaned. The playersimmediately began to refer to the “dreaded doublereverse,” taking it a bit more seriously than before.However, the second wrestler was also defeated after

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being thrown by the “dreaded double reverse.” Thecoach’s despair and anger intensified with each newmatch. His team went through five matches withoutsolving the “dreaded double reverse,” losing all fivematches. The coach was seething with anger as he saidto his last wrestler, “Please don’t get caught as the othersdid; I would like to win at least one of these matches!”The match began, and within two minutes, the finalwrestler on the visiting team was caught in the “dreadeddouble reverse.” The coach groaned and buried his headin his hands and refused to look at the inevitableoutcome. The home stands were cheering wildly – butsuddenly the cheering stopped, and the visitor’s bencherupted with cheers. The coach looked up just in time tosee his wrestler pin his opponent and win the match!When the celebrations had finally ceased, the coach tookhis winning wrestler aside and exclaimed, “Whathappened? When I last looked, you were locked in thedouble reverse and there seemed no way out. How didyou get out of his hold and win the match?” His wrestlerreplied, “Well, coach, when he got that hold on me, I wasso twisted up I could hardly move. But when I opened myeyes, all I could see inches away from my nose was a bigtoe. So I did the only thing I could think of to do; I openedmy mouth and bit down on that toe as hard as I could bite– and coach, it is absolutely amazing what a man can do whenhe bites off his own big toe!”

The story explains the radical difference betweenextrinsic motivation (illustrated by the counsel of thecoach) and intrinsic motivation (illustrated by the athlete

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biting off his own big toe). The motivation of the athletemay be casual when he is hearing instructions from someother person, but it becomes very intense when damage(or delight) is being experienced by him personally. Oneof the great problems among Christians is that we havedepended far too much upon the imposition of extrinsicmotivation and not nearly enough upon the individualizingof intrinsic motivation.

What kind of life is the Christian life? Just how arewe supposed to live it? The text supplies an excellentcommentary on the nature and method of the Christianlife. Let me point out several features of that life as it ispresented in this text.

CITIZENSHIP

The first requirement for living the Christian life iscitizenship in the kingdom or the family of God. Thebackground of this text is the famed Isthmian Gameswhich were played periodically in the city of Corinth. Thecity was located on a narrow ribbon of land whichconnected the bulbous Peloponnesian Peninsula ofsouthern Greece with the mainland of northern Greece.Athletic contests were held near the city which rivaled thefamous Olympian Games. Paul uses these games as thebackground for his great picture of the Christian life.

In order for an athlete to compete in the IsthmianGames, he first had to be a born citizen of Greece. Hehad to be Greek by birth and by blood. No athlete who

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was not a Greek citizen could participate. Even so, beforeany human being can participate in the Christian race,the “race of life,” he must be a born citizen of theKingdom of God, a born member of the Family of God.Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot seethe Kingdom of God.” The word translated “again” is theGreek word anothen, which means “from above.” You see,your first birth was “from beneath”. You were born in sin,and your birth created momentum in a sinful, downwarddirection. If that direction and momentum are to bechanged, you must be born “from above,” “of God,” andthat birth will give you an upward direction toward God.

A physiologist once said, “The immense energiesof an individual human life are rooted in the moments ofconception and birth.” Even so, the immense spiritualenergies of the Christian life are rooted in the miraculousmoment of the new birth. If a human being is going to runin the “race of life” pictured in our text, he must be acitizen of the Kingdom of God. He must be “born again.”Have you been born again?

CHOICE

Second, the believer’s participation in the “race oflife” is dependent upon his choice. Many citizens ofGreece never participated in the Isthmian Gamesbecause they were not chosen. And, even when acitizen-athlete was invited to participate, he had to agreeto participate by his responsive choice.

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If you are a born-again person, if you have beensaved, you should pause at this moment and remindyourself, “I have been recruited by the greatest of allCoaches to participate in the greatest of all games, thegame of spiritual life. I have been chosen to ‘run withpatience the race that God has set before His people.’”However, you must remind yourself, too, that not only areyou chosen, but you also must choose. There is nothingautomatic at any time about the running of this race.

One of my all-time favorite movies is the award-winning Chariots of Fire, the story of the Christianmissionary to China, Eric Liddell. The movie is largely setin Liddell’s college days and features the competitionbetween Eric Liddell as a record-setting runner andHarold Abrahams, a man struggling to find his own value.On the occasion of a race between the two, Liddell hadjust beaten Abrahams in a 100 yard dash and Abrahamswas sitting sulking in the empty stands. His girl friendslipped into a seat beside him and chided him for hisattitude. Abrahams said dejectedly, “Sybil, if I can’t win, Iwon’t run!” She replied gently, “Harold, if you don’t run,you can’t win!” Many believers need to respond to Jesus’choice of them by choosing to run for Him “the race Hehas set before them” (and running it on His terms, nottheir own).

Years ago, a great linebacker played for the UCLAfootball team. His name was Don Moomaw, and in thedays of freshman eligibility, Don Moomaw did theimpossible – he made the All-America football team all

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four years of his college eligibility. When Moomaw cameto school for his senior season, he had accepted thechallenge to provide “senior leadership” for the lowerclassmen on the team. After arriving ahead of the rest ofthe team and beginning practice early, the seniorswelcomed the rest of the team. One evening, Moomawcame back to his dorm room, “dragging” from anexhausting workout. When he entered the dorm suite,one of his freshman roommates was sitting with anotherfreshman in the lounge, each holding and reading a blackbound New Testament. “What are you guys reading?”Moomaw asked. “Oh, it’s just a book,” one answered. “Isit any good?” Moomaw asked. “Is it any good?” oneanswered with enthusiasm. “It’s just the best!” “A goodplot?” Moomaw asked. “A good plot?” the freshmananswered. “You wouldn’t believe it!” “Any goodcharacters?” “Man, the main character is incredible!” saidthe freshman. “Why don’t you read it and see foryourself?” Don Moomaw took the New Testament, beganto read it a short time later, and sat up all night that nightreading the New Testament. Jim Murray, the greatsyndicated sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times,when telling Moomaw’s story later, said, “When the suncame up the next morning, Don Moomaw changedcoaches.” Moomaw had realized what an incredible honorand blessing it was to be chosen and recruited by JesusChrist, the greatest of all Coaches, and he signed hisname to the Letter of Relationship. The last time I tracedDon Moomaw, he was the pastor of the BellairePresbyterian Church in the Los Angeles area. The choiceof God was matched by the choice of the believer, and

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Moomaw began to play on God’s side in the game of life.Playing the game of life requires choice on the part ofeach believer.

COACHABLE

Third, not only must each “player” in the game oflife be a citizen of the Kingdom of God, not only must hemake a choice to fully participate in the game; he mustalso be coachable, or teachable. A good athlete mustrespectfully surrender his will, his schedule, and hisability to the coach. In the Christian life, this involves asettlement in the heart of the individual Christianconcerning the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In the terms ofour text, the Lordship of Christ means that Jesus, thegreatest of all coaches, calls all the shots for those whoplay on His team. In fact, Jesus is not merely a“benchwarmer” who smugly calls the plays from thecomfort of the bench. He is a “playing coach,” who joinsus in the heat of the battle. In His incarnationalparticipation on the playing field, He received the fullonslaught of the opponent and his team, was apparentlyoverrun at His position, but then showed the resiliency ofthe resurrection for His “second-half run” at victory. Whatan unbelievable honor and pleasure it is to be coachedby Jesus Christ!

However, it is in the nature of the beast, theperforming athlete, to elevate his ability and his instinctfor the game above the decisions of the coach. There isnot a sports field in the entire wide gamut of athletics that

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does not have its uncoachable athlete. Many a giftedyoung athlete has arrived on the practice field with greatexpectations, great public attention, and great mediaaccolades, only to “bomb out” and become adisappointing failure – because he refused to be coach-able. Paul wrote to Timothy in II Timothy 2:5, “If an athletecompetes to win in athletic contests, yet he will not winthe trophy, unless he competes according to the rules.”Every good coach knows the importance of training rules,and he knows that he must not tolerate flagrant violationsof those rules by any member of the team. The dailynewspapers seem to carry many notices of athlete’sdismissals from certain teams “because they violatedcertain unspecified team rules.” The reprisal for thisstreak of disrespect and rebellion may vary from rebuketo suspension, or to dismissal from the team altogether.The athlete must be coachable, and this means that hemust do everything necessary to keep the rules andfollow the “game-plan” of the coach. In the greater game,every Christian must carefully maintain his obedience toJesus as Lord. He has proven His worth and capabilityagain and again, and He calls for our loyalty andsurrender at every “turn” of the game.

If you saw the great athletic movie, Hoosiers, amovie about Indiana basketball, you will recall that a newcoach arrived at a basketball-mad Indiana town to teachin the local high school and to coach the boys’ basketballteam. “Armchair coaches” were everywhere in this town,and in their own “correct” opinion, they all knew morethan the coach about how to run the team. You will

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remember the great showdown, the great stand-off,between the coach (played by Gene Hackman) andseveral athletes on his team, as well as several loud andardent citizens of the town. Finally, through the coach’sdemand that his rules be honored, coupled with theathletes’ desire to excel and win, the coach was able toblend his players into an excellent team, and they evenwon the state championship against a team which “onpaper” seemed to have every advantage over them. Themovie revealed that it was the difficult choice of theplayers and the citizens to honor the coach’s control thatwon for the team.

The same is true in being a Christian. Our coach’sstrategy is sound. He needs no “correction,” no “alternategame-plans,” no “sideline quarterbacks.” We must hangon His words and follow His game-plan. We must besensitive to His leading and knowledgeable of Hisstrategy, then we must obey with our very lives.

Every baseball fan is familiar with the name ofReggie Jackson, the “Mr. October” of baseball fame whobecame renowned for getting big hits, especially homeruns, at crucial play-off moments in the baseball play-offmonth of October. Jackson closed out a remarkablecareer playing with the Baltimore Orioles under amanagerial wizard named Earl Weaver. One year, theOrioles were in the thick of a pennant race, and everygame was crucial in deciding the winner. In one particulargame, the two pitchers were outstanding and the scorewas tied in the fourth inning. Reggie Jackson led off theinning as the first hitter for his team in that inning. Reggie

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stroked a line drive into right field for a leadoff single. Theopposing pitcher was renowned for his control, themixture of the speed of his pitches (keeping opposinghitters off balance), and his curve ball. He was not knownas a pitcher with an overpowering fastball. As Reggiestood on first base, he rehearsed all these facts in hismind. He calculated the pitcher’s slow delivery to theplate – and decided that he could easily steal secondbase against this pitcher. However, Earl Weaver hadestablished the clubhouse rule that nobody could steal abase this late in the season without a direct signal fromthe manager himself. Reggie glanced at Weaver on thebench, but the manager turned his head and refused tolook at the base runner. So Reggie made a decision onhis own; he knew he could steal second base and getinto scoring position. So he carefully took a long leadfrom first base, calculated the delivery of the pitcher, andbroke for second at the pitch. He was right in hiscalculations. He slid into second ahead of the catcher’sthrow and the second baseman’s tag, and waited with asense of satisfaction over his triumph. The fans clappedand shouted their approval of the advance of the baserunner and the possibility of scoring a run.

When the game was over, a fuming Earl Weavermanager called Reggie Jackson into his office. Themanager said to his player, “Reggie, you might be thebest player who has ever played this game, but you haveplayed your last game for me if you do not quickly relearnone basic lesson – the game of baseball is not playedfrom the perspective of the fans in the stands, or the

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perspective of the player on the field. It is played exclusivelyfrom the perspective of the manager in the dugout. Let me tellyou what you did by stealing second base. First, you tookthe bat out of the hands of our best power hitter, LeeMay. They walked him, putting him on the base you hadjust left. Because we had two runners on, I was forced touse my best pinch hitter early in the game. We did notscore, and probably lost the game – and possibly thepennant – because you stole second base. The decisionlooked good at the moment, but it was actuallyinsubordination against the manager and a disservice tothe entire team.” What a perfect example of theimportance of listening to our Manager, the Lord JesusChrist, Who views the entire game from His elevated andinfallible managerial perspective in heaven! Rememberthat He is not only “the Lord of the harvest,” He is also“the Lord of the harvesters,” and He must direct ourmoves on the field if we are to win in the manner Hedesires. Our part is simply that we must be coachable.

COMPETITION

The fourth characteristic of those who would havevictory in the game of life as Paul reveals it is a strongsense of competitveness. Many people dislike this word asa definitive word for Christians, but I think their dislike isbased upon a misconception. The idea here is not that ofbuilding self-aggrandizing performance, self-servingeffort, but that of necessary competition with the forcesthat oppose the Christian walk.

As I write these words, the National Basketball

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Association has reached its final annual playoffcompetition. The Los Angeles Lakers are again playingfor the world championship. The Lakers are anchored bya giant of a man who plays center on the team, ShaquilleO’Neal. His play is a “dishing out” of punishment to thosewho play near him, and a receiving of punishment fromthem. Suppose “Shaq” went to his coach before animportant showdown game and said, “Coach, go over tothe other bench and tell those guys who are guarding meto ease up a little. They keep attacking me, and they’redestroying my enjoyment of the game. Every time I getthe ball, several of them swarm over me to take it awayfrom me. Every time I try to shoot, they bump me andpush me to throw me off balance. Coach, I could do awhole lot better if they would just leave me alone.” No,that would be laughable and ludicrous. The coach mightreply, “Sir, this organization doesn’t pay you megamillionsof dollars annually for the other team to leave you alone.The fans come to see you fight your way through allthose obstacles you mentioned to lead this team tovictory.” A part of Shaq’s satisfaction in participating in thegame is in overcoming the obstacles that the other teamsthrow at him, and a part of the fan’s pleasure is in seeinghim accomplish that. In the same way, opposition andcompetition are necessary for the participant in the gameof life.

Earlier, I mentioned the forces that oppose theChristian walk and the Christian’s service for Christ.There are three such forces – two objective forces, thedevil and the world, and one subjective force – the “flesh,”

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or the lower drives of the self-life. The devil is the infernalfoe against whom every Christian must compete, theworld is the external foe against which every Christianmust compete, and the flesh is the internal foe againstwhich every Christian must compete. The devil is thespiritual enemy of every Christian, the world is the socialenemy of every Christian, and the flesh is the sensual andselfish enemy of every Christian. Christian, you will face-off with all three of these foes today. And the competitionis fierce. All three of these enemies are competitively bentupon destroying the Christian, and he must learn how toengage each in real battle if he is to win in this game.

The Apostle Paul vividly identifies the competitionin our text. His first illustration may be a reference to theenmity of the flesh. In verse 27, he said, “I keep my bodyunder, and bring it into subjection.” This is a wrestlingfigure, which pictures the Christian as a wrestler who“pins” his own body lest it throw and defeat him. This textsounds similar to the counsel of Romans 12:1, whichcharges the Christian to “present your (his) body a livingsacrifice.” Actually, the figure in our text also contains areference to boxing, with the strange twist that theopponent is one’s own body. One translation says, “I hitmyself under the eye, giving myself a black eye.” Anothersounds almost brutal when it says, “I beat myself blackand blue.” This is certainly not a masochistic idea, but asimple acknowledgment that I must discipline myself withwhatever discipline is necessary to keep myself under thecontrol of Christ.

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Evangelist Mike Gilchrist recounts a relaxedSaturday evening in a city away from home as heawaited the closing services on Sunday in a church inthat city. A church member took him to see a game wherea colorful African-American press box announcercommented on the game plays from the booth,broadcasting his comments over the field on the publicaddress system as the plays were occurring on the field.Mike said that in the third quarter, a running back brokeinto the open field and was apparently on his way to ascore when he stumbled over his own foot. He tried toregain his balance, running for several yards off balance,then sprawling headlong to the turf, still some fifteenyards from the goal line. The announcer, trying to explainthe play, said, “He’s away for a touchdown! No, no! He’sstumbling! He’s stumbling! And now, he’s down…, he’sdown…, he’s down – by self-tackleization!” Self-tackle-ization – what a vivid word in describing the reason formany falls and failures in many Christian’s lives! Theundisciplined, unchecked flesh causes them to stumble intheir spiritual walk.

A boy showed up from school one day with a blackeye. His mother saw it and exclaimed, “Who gave youthat?” He replied, “Mom, nobody gives you one of these;you have to fight for it. Many Christians need to shift theirthinking from passive ease to an intense militarymentality. We must again see ourselves as competitors inthis great game. We must maintain a healthy sense oftrue competition if we are to win.

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The world is also a formidable enemy for theChristian. The inference of the test is that a worthyathlete must renounce the glitter and glamor of the worldsystem and stay focused on his goals and purposes to“win,” to succeed in the athletic field in which heparticipates.

A teacher asked her young class, “What is thehardest thing you ever tried to do?” The answers werefairly predictable until she came to young Jimmy. Inanswer to her question, Jimmy replied, “The hardest thingI ever did was to pull up a cornstalk by the roots.” Theclass hooted and jeered at Jimmy’s answer, but theteacher wanted further information. “Jimmy, why was thatso hard?” she asked. “It was so hard because, while Iwas pulling on one end of that cornstalk, the whole worldwas pulling on the other end.” Even so, the godless socialsystem of this world is pulling against us as we seek towin for Christ, and we must ignore its allurement andkeep our eyes on our coach and our goals.

The last enemy in the competition against us is thedevil. The devil is deadly and deceitful, and often gainsthe upper hand before we know he has entered the field.Jesus said, “The thief comes not except to steal, kill anddestroy” (John 10:10). Note Satan’s three weapons:dispossession, death and destruction. That is, he worksto steal the things of greatest value from the Christian –such things as his character, his testimony, his joy, hisparticipation in the game, etc. Also, death is his “stock-in-

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trade,” and he is always working to advance his product.He knows that “to be carnally-minded is death” (Romans8:6), and so he labors tirelessly to make every Christianas carnally-minded (self-centered in thought, word, deedand purpose) as possible. And it is Satan’s design toleave every field strewn with carnage and destruction.What a vicious, consistent, hateful competitor he is! If weare to win, he must be treated by us with the same regardwith which he approaches us. He hates us, and we mustreturn the favor. He strives to stop our advance in histerritory, and we must strive to stop his advance in our(His) territory.

It is an old axiom in sports as well as in other fieldsthat “a good offense is the best defense.” A team thatscores at every opportunity is going to lose very fewgames. Christians must stop merely playing defense,always protecting themselves against the assaults of theenemy, and venture into the enemy’s strongholds to dealhim some hard and heavy blows. The “race” involvesindividual production, not just individual protection. Our textis about production, not mere participation. Take amoment and reread the preceding verses, especiallyverses 19-23. A sense of valiant effort and victoriouseffect prevails in what I call “the greatest picture ofcosmopolitan Christianity ever written.” Ponder the keywords again: “I am made all things to all men, that I mightby all means save some. And this I do for the Gospel’ssake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.” Theseare the words of a man who has mastered the strategy ofthe Christian battle – and has every intention of winning

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for Christ’s sake.

In the days of the Miami Dolphins National FootballLeague dynasty, the days of Dolphin glory under CoachDon Shula, the Dolphins had a great linebacker namedMike Kolen, who was nicknamed “Captain Crunch”because of his fierce defensive tackles. Kolen, a formerAuburn University All-American, played on three Dolphinteams which won Super Bowl championships. When heretired from NFL play, Kolen was asked by his old coach,“Shug” Jordan of Auburn, to become a part of hiscoaching staff. He asked Kolen to head Auburn’s annualrecruiting effort to convince the best athletes to play forJordan and Auburn. When Kolen arrived on campus, hewent to Jordan’s office. “What kind of players do we wantto recruit, Coach?” “Well, Mike, you know the guy whogets knocked down and gets up . . . ?” “We don’t wantthat guy, do we, Coach?” “No, we don’t,” Jordan replied.“You know the guy who gets knocked and gets up, getsknocked down and gets up, gets knocked down and getsup?” “We don’t really want that guy either, do we,Coach?” “No, we don’t,” Coach Jordan replied. “You knowthe guy who gets knocked down and gets up, getsknocked down and gets up, knocked down, gets up,knocked down, gets up, knocked down, gets up, knockeddown, gets up, knocked down, gets up ….? Jordan’svoice faded as if he was continuing the idea. Mike Kolensaid, “Coach, that’s the one we want, isn’t it?” “No, Mike,it’s not,” Jordan replied firmly, “We want that guy who isknocking all those other people down!”

Jesus Christ is looking for the strategic Christian

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who will establish beachheads in enemy territory, drivethe enemy back, and begin to build strong, militantChristians for Him in all these territories. For this tacticalmission, well-trained, loving competitors are required.

CONCENTRATION

The fifth characteristic of the Christian who wouldparticipate in the contest suggested in the text isconcentration. That is, his life must be focused and notfragmented. Paul suggests this characteristic in verse 26,when he says, “I run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not asone who beats the air.” Before verse 26, the Apostle hasbeen writing to others and about others, but here, hespeaks personally about himself. It is as if he said, “I can’tdecide for anyone else. I can’t determine the destiny ofothers. But for myself, I know what I will do.” Here is awonderful picture of determination, consolidation ofattention, focus of mind, heart and will – in short,complete concentration on the crucial thing.

Can you imagine a sprinter in a track meetdevoting his attention to the other runners as he runs therace, or focusing on the crowd in the stands, or localizinghis attention upon his girl friend in a certain seat, or evenlooking at his own feet? No, every runner knows that hemust focus on the goal and be careful to run in his lane.Every boxer knows that he must concentrate upon hisopponent, and the same is true of a wrestler. To allow hisconcentration to be interrupted will likely be fatal to any ofthese performers.

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Paul was following this analogy when he wrote inPhilippians 3:13-14, “This one thing I do, forgetting thosethings which are behind, and reaching forth unto thosethings which are before, I press toward the mark for theprize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Here is aman with a splendid concentration upon the Person andpurpose of Christ.

The first heralded “Miracle Mile” was run on August7, 1954, between Roger Bannister, a 25-year-old Britishmedical student, and John Landy, a 24-year-oldAustralian. Both had already cracked the much-soughtfour–minute mile. When the big race began, Landy ledalmost the entire race, but he didn’t know how long alead he had near the end. Curiosity conquered him andhe looked back to locate his opponent. Bannister hadenough “kick” to put on a burst of speed in the last fewyards, passing Landy at the last second, and winning atthe finish line. What beat Landy, putting RogerBannister’s name in the record books instead of his? Thelack of concentration in the last ten yards of the race. Perhapsa number of Christians reading these words need to takea few minutes with God just now and ask Him to fullyfocus your attention upon Himself and His purpose – lestyou fail to “receive the prize” because of attention that iseither divided or totally distracted. The Christian liferequires full and undivided concentration upon its Object,Jesus, and upon its objective, His purpose.

The Bible often reminds us to maintain focus upon

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Jesus and the assignment He has given us. The personalassignment is to cooperate with Him in our owntransformation into Christ-likeness. The universalassignment is world impact by “turning people intodisciples” (Matthew 28:19). To see this assignmentdiscussed in much more complete detail, consult mybook, Tally Ho the Fox.

At this point, let me say that many Christians seemto have other focal points for their lives – self-piety,faithfulness in institutional church activities, etc. – andhave apparently omitted His assignment from their lives.Christians and groups that have no vision of world-wideoutreach, no strategy for multiplying themselves, are indanger of catching the disease someone has called“koinonitis” – an overdose of fellowship! And they may beshocked when they arrive in heaven charged with toomuch introspection, too much introversion, too muchimplosion. Nature shows that inbreeding within the samefamily will produce deformity, and the same is true in thespiritual realm. I repeat: the Christian life requires full andundivided concentration upon its Object, Jesus, and uponits objective, His personal and universal assignments forus.

CAUTION

The sixth characteristic of those who wouldsuccessfully “compete to win” in this race is caution. Paulindicates that it is possible to enter the race, recruitothers to participate, and yet finally be a “castaway”

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(verse 27). He indicates that a believer may focus on“others” (minor emphasis in the text), and yet “he himself”(major emphasis in the text) “be a castaway.”

Much attention has been focused by a variety ofcommentators representing many viewpoints on the word“castaway.” Of course, there are those who say that thisindicates that a person who has been saved can lose hissalvation. However, Paul has already clearly settled thatmatter in I Corinthians 3 when he indicates that a believermay have built “wood, hay, and stubble” into thesuperstructure (his life) that he is building upon the onefoundation (Jesus Christ, I Cor. 3:11). However, whenthat believer stands at the Judgment Seat of Christ(where only believers will stand; unsaved people willappear before the Great White Throne of Revelation20:11-15), though his fleshly works or sins will be “burnedup,” “he himself will be saved, as if through fire.” The fireof judgment will consume the dross of his fleshly worksand his sins, but he himself will be saved. So Paul is nottalking about salvation here.

Let me give an illustration that will show thenecessity of balancing competition, concentration, andcaution in the service a Christian renders. In the annals ofsports, the 1984 Olympics will be remembered for atragic event. The women’s 3000 meter run was givenincredible media build-up because of the focus on twogreat runners, Mary Decker of the United States and ZolaBudd of South Africa (though Budd actually ran for GreatBritain). The race lived up to its hype. Midway in the race,the runners had matched each other stride for stride and

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were running even. It appeared that the race would bedecided by a “photo finish.” But suddenly, Zola Buddallowed herself to be slightly distracted, moved too closeto Mary Decker, and slightly clipped Decker’s foot.Decker fell to the track as if she had been shot. The fallinjured her so badly that she could not finish the race. Notonly did the mishap cost her an opportunity to win thatrace, but she also did not run competitively for a longperiod of time. It cost her many opportunities and manyvictories. Zola Budd, on the other hand, was disgraced bythe mishap and never fully recovered her status and theappreciation of the sports world. She was a temporary“castaway” in the sports world. Competition must beseasoned with concentration and caution, and cautionand concentration must be exercised even in the mostheated competition.

Remember that the essential backgroundqualification for participation in the Isthmian Games wasthat the participant had to be a Greek citizen. Thequalification for the Christian life is that the prospect mustbe born again. He must be a citizen of the Kingdom ofGod, a member of the Family of God. Many differentthings can happen in the life after birth, but a born personsimply cannot be unborn! The disqualified Greek athletedid not lose his citizenship, only his opportunity to win aprize.

Furthermore, Paul is talking about his ownapostolic service here, and he isolates himself in the text.In verse 26, he said, “I (and the word ‘I’ bears majoremphasis in the text) so run.” The race represents the life

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he lives and the service he renders after he is saved, andhe indicates that he does not want to serve others (anemphatic word in verse 27) and then have his servicedisapproved so he wins no award at the end of the race.The suggestion here is that a believer must be sure tokeep himself right before God, and must not become soinvolved with others that he fails to keep his own life inorder. So the issue here is one of reward, not salvation.However, this does not reduce the caution of thepassage. A Christian’s holy fear of himself is one of hisbest guards against failure. Every believer should be verycautious lest he become so busily absorbed in servingothers that he fails to keep his own fences repaired.

In interpreting the word “castaway,” I do not want tominimize the warning of Paul’s statement. He is talkingabout the Christian servant being “put on the shelf” as faras his service is concerned. I recently found a greatparagraph by Glyn Evans which I want to share with you.Evans wrote, “God’s way is, ‘If the people don’t respondto My call to serve, I will get others.’ Personally, I haveoften been guilty of ‘the sin of indispensability.’ I havetreated some leaders and some friends as indispensable.However, in God’s eyes there are no indispensableservants. All are expendable in His service. I cannot claimsuch a privileged position with God that He cannot affordto bypass me in the ongoing of His work. I must neverabandon the conditions on which fruitful servanthoodrests, and never give myself the luxury of feeling thatGod’s work will die when I die. God abhors that kind of avacuum, and He will quickly fill it with someone else.

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Isaiah 42:4 says, ‘He will not fail or be discouraged untilHe brings justice to victory.’” Every servant of Christ musthear and heed these wise words of caution.

Let us remind ourselves again of Paul’s words toTimothy, “If a man competes to win in an athletic contest,yet he will not win the trophy unless he competesaccording to the rules.” An athlete needs a deep-setsense of personal integrity, and he needs to be remindedof the importance of that integrity.

Just recently, I read the announcement of thecoming retirement from NBA basketball of 7’ 2” DavidRobinson of the San Antonio Spurs. At 36 years of age,Robinson has played for thirteen years in the intensecompetition of the professional National BasketballAssociation, where nerves are easily frayed and temperseasily flair. But David Robinson has been faithful to hisconvictions as a firm believer in Jesus Christ, and hasgained the respect of teams and players around theleague. He has also shown a remarkable self-controlwhich likely has developed from the daily disciplines ofhis Christian life. In the news article that announcedRobinson’s coming retirement at the end of next year’sNBA season, Los Angeles Lakers’ center ShaquilleO’Neal was quoted as saying, “David Robinson is a classact, a legend, still my idol. I can’t say anything bad abouta guy like that.” I’m sure that the inner character of DavidRobinson is a mix of positive faith in Jesus Christ andnegative caution that he not fail His Lord. I’m sure, too,that some other players who have faced him on the courtadmire his integrity but do not have the firmness of

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character to maintain such integrity themselves.Wholesome caution is necessary.

Examples of failure to maintain such cautionabound in the field of athletics. For example, in 1912, ayoung American Indian athlete named Jim Thorpe wonthe decathlon and the pentathlon at the Olympic Gamesin Stockholm, Sweden. He was presented to the king ofSweden, who said to him, “You, sir, are the greatestathlete in the world today.” But a short time later he hadto return the gold medals he had won because it wasdiscovered that he had played professional baseball in1911, earning $5 a week. He had won the events but hadbroken the rules, so he lost the prizes he had won. It wasnot until 1984 at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles thatthe Olympic Committee reversed the long-standingdecision and restored his awards. But Jim Thorpe’s greatathletic achievement was forever stained by the fact thathe broke the rules. There are many more examples, mostmuch more flagrant and arrogant than Jim Thorpe’s, ofathletes who have thrown caution to the winds in self-favor and self-indulgence. I am glad to be able to remindmyself of the need of caution through a testimony thatnow hardly seems worth mentioning, but I would prefernot to cite some of the more abusive failures. I mentionjust one to show the possibility of radical failure in anundisciplined life.

My home city, Memphis, Tennessee, has justhosted a heavyweight championship boxing matchbetween world champion Lennox Lewis and challengerMike Tyson. Everyone with any sports interest has been

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dismayed again and again by the antics and patheticdisplay of selfish and sinful indulgence shown by MikeTyson. Tyson provides the classic current example of theneed for character and caution in the world of sports. TheChristian life also has great possibilities of success andfailure, and caution is one of the necessary monitors tocheck failure and to promote success.

Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of God rule inyour hearts.” Hidden in this verse, there is another greatathletic picture. The word translated “rule” is the Greekword for an “umpire” or an “arbiter.” An umpire at anathletic event is the official who announces and enforcesthe rules, calls all close plays, and maintains the integrityof the game. The peace of God is the Christian’s innerumpire. The Christian should always consult the peace ofGod in determining the “close calls” in his life. If thatpeace is missing, something needs to be corrected in hislife. Never under any circumstance should the old athleticcry, “Kill the ump!”, ever condition a Christian’s attitudetoward God’s inner peace. Again, great caution isnecessary.

COMPENSATION

Finally, every Christian who “competes to win” inthe disciple’s “race” must be mindful that a time of fullcompensation is coming. There is a “prize” to be received,and each believer should “run that he may obtain it”(verse 24). That prize is identified in verse 25 as “anincorruptible crown.” This is one of the five “crowns”identified in the New Testament in picturing the possible

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rewards of faithful participation in the Christian race.

I Corinthians 4:5 says, “So then (in the day of finalreckoning before the Lord) every believer shall havepraise of God.” I believe that this verse presents God’sintention, God’s ideal, for each of His children. It is Hisintention to reward and “praise” each of His children.However, the rewards and the praise will be measuredout according to the participation of the believer in theChristian life on God’s terms.

Let me close this study by inviting your attention toa very suggestive text which presents some wonderfulconcepts about the faithful believer’s rewards. On theoccasion of the death of the first Christian martyr,Stephen (whose name means “crown”), Acts 7 gives avivid account of the closing minutes of his life. Verse 58says that he was “cast out of the city, and stoned.” Verses55 and 56 tell us that Stephen, “being full of the HolySpirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw theglory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand ofGod.” This is the only time recorded in the NewTestament when Jesus is seen standing at God’s righthand in heaven. He is normally pictured in a seatedposture, but here he is standing. Verse 59 says thatStephen spoke to the standing Christ as he was dying,saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” The word “receive”means “to give a access to oneself.” What a combinationof devotional riches! When Stephen faced death, Jesusstood in heaven, as if to say, “I stand in his honor and forhis welcome.” It is almost as if Jesus refused to remain

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seated when such a man as this came home to heaven.Stephen’s story reveals the greatest reward a believercan receive in heaven. The greatest reward is not acrown, or a throne, or a special allotment. The greatestreward is that Jesus opens His arms in welcome andappreciation – and gives us full access to Himself! A greatold Christian hymn declares, “It will be worth it all whenwe see Jesus.” How true! But can you imagine what itwould be like to see Him standing to welcome you, as ifHe cannot give you enough honor and attention!!!! Whilesome people live “with their eyes on the clock,” theChristian should live with His eye on The Coming, and onThe Compensation. And whatever that means, andhowever faithful he has been in the race oflife, and whatever rewards He may receive, He willrecognize that every blessing has come because of thegrace of God and he will finally and happily give all gloryto God.

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Portrait 4

A FARMER

SOMETHING EVERYFARMER KNOWS

orTHE LAWS OF THE

HARVEST

Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, forwhatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

The God of the Bible, the one true and living God,presides over a universe of law and order. No one reallybreaks God’s laws; a person only illustrates them. Thetheme of this study is “The Laws of the Harvest.” Thereare certain harvest-laws that prevail in every farmer’sfield as he engages in the agricultural processes. In ourtext, the Apostle Paul clothes eternal laws in languagederived from agriculture, or “fresh from the farm.” In otherterms, the study could be called “the Law of Cause andEffect”, or “The Law of Retribution or Retaliation”, or “TheLaw of Compensation.” Because Paul’s statement inGalatians 6:7 is based on agriculture, it could besubtitled, “Something Every Farmer Knows.” I want to

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mention some five laws of the harvest that are revealedin every harvest field, in human life and experience, andin the Word of God.

The Law of LABOR

The first law of the harvest I want to examine is thelaw of labor. The text says, “Whatever a man sows, thatshall he also reap,” and the following verse says, “For hewho sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption,but he who sows to the spirit shall of the Spirit reap lifeeverlasting.” Note the repetition of the word “sow” inthese verses; it occurs three times. Without theagricultural exercises of cultivating, sowing and reaping,there will be no harvest. The one indispensable exercisein farming is to sow the seeds which will produce thecrop. Sowing always precedes reaping, and the reapingof a desirable harvest proceeds from the sowing of thesame kind of seed. If you reap without sowing, it isbecause someone else has sowed without reaping. And ifyou sow without reaping, someone else can reap withoutsowing. But sowing is necessary to reaping. And everyfarmer knows that if he is to adequately sow to bring inthe sizeable crop he wants to produce, this will meanlong and hard labor.

This law prevails also in the moral and spiritualworld. Many an undesirable harvest comes in spirituallyjust because someone has sowed the seeds for thatharvest, and many a spiritual blessing with enlargingreturns is experienced simply because someone earlier

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sowed the seeds which would produce that harvest. Thetext says, “He who sows to his flesh shall of the fleshreap corruption.” This means that the person who onlylives a self-curled, self-centered, self-serving, selfish life isconstantly sowing seeds in the fields of his life and thathe will reap an unwanted crop in the future.

In a remarkable parable recorded in Mark 4:26-29,Jesus told of a man who “cast seed into the ground,” thenwent his way to his regular activities, sleeping by nightand rising to the activities of each new day. While he isbusily engaged in his daily activities, “the seed springs upand grows, and he himself doesn’t know how.” ThenJesus made this straightforward statement, which Ibelieve to be one of the most important things He said:“For the earth brings forth fruit of herself.” The Greekterm translated “of herself” is automate, and it is a termwhich bears major emphasis in the Greek text. Thismeans that it is, in effect, a loud shout from the page. Youwill recognize the Greek word automate in our Englishword, “automatic,” and that is its exact meaning.

The statement of Jesus is this: when seed is sownin the earth, the harvest is automatic! Once the seedreaches the soil, the earth brings forth automatically. Now,every farmer knows that not every seed sown will be apart of the harvest, but he also knows that if no seeds aresown, there will be no harvest. So the presence of aharvest is a testimonial to the previous activity of seed-sowing, and the absence of a harvest is a testimonial to

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the absence of seed-sowing. In fact, the first harvest aftera sowing will be proportionate to the quantity of seedsthat were sown. II Corinthians 9:6 says, “He who sowssparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he who sowsbountifully shall reap also bountifully.” This law should beapplied almost rigidly in the life of every Christian. Jesussaid, “The seed is the Word of God, and the field is theworld” (Luke 8:11). If the Christian sows seeds of self-curled living (“the flesh”) in the soil of his life, Paul saidthat the harvest will come back to him in “corruption”. If aChristian consistently sows the seed of the Word of Godin the soils of the hearts of those people he meets, theharvest will be “automatic.”

Each Christian should be aware of the urgency ofthe labor that is involved in the spiritual exercises ofsowing and reaping. He should educate himself aboutthese laws of the harvest, and he should be sure he fullyunderstands the nature of the seed and the importance ofregularly sowing it. Let me give a strange example of thisnecessity and urgency in a story from early Americanhistory which I stumbled upon in casual reading.

Many years ago, when the United StatesCommissioner of Indian Affairs sent to the hungry SiouxIndians a supply of grain for sowing, instead of sowingthe seeds for enlarging future harvests, they ate up theseed! In the same way, both sinners and saints oftensacrifice their eternal future to the passing enjoyment ofthe present moment.

The opportunity for sowing will not last forever.

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Indeed, it is slipping through our fingers moment bymoment. Sowing is an urgent act, and harvests do notwait on man’s convenience! Spiritually, every day of aman’s life is seed time, a time of sowing. If he wants ahappy harvest, he must be about the task of sowingsuitable seeds. This is the law of labor, and it presentsone of the greatest warnings as well as one of thegreatest privileges and responsibilities a Christian canknow.

The Law of LIKENESS

The second law of the harvest I would mentionmight be called the law of likeness. Not only does a farmerreap after he has sown and because he has sown; he alsoreaps exactly what he has sown. Does not the text clearlysay this? “What-soever a man sows, that shall he alsoreap.” Let me repeat this law for emphasis: Not only doesthe farmer reap the harvest after he has sown the seed,he also reaps exactly what he has sown. The kind of seedthat is sown determines the kind of crop that will beharvested.

This law was established by God at creation, and itis a standing, inviolable law. Genesis 1:11-12 says, “ThenGod said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb thatyields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according toits kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so.And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seedaccording to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose

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seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that itwas good.” The term, “according to its kind”, occurs noless than ten times in Genesis chapter one, and thus Godestablished and declared the law of likeness. And in eachcase, the law shows the likeness to be a locked-in likeness.

In drawing a contrast between two kinds of fruit,good and bad, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,“Do men gather grapes from thorns, of figs from thistles?”The question presupposes a strong negative answer:“Never!” Then he enforced his question and answer withthese words: “Even so, every good tree brings forth goodfruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good treecannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt treebring forth good fruit” (Matthew 7:16-18). The use of themoral terms, “good” and “evil,” indicates that he is notessentially talking about agriculture, but about humanbeings. Men reap exactly what they sow, and nothingelse should be expected.

At this moment, I have in front of me a little Gospeltract entitled, “Want to Know Your Future?” It capitalizeson man’s pressing desire to know the/his future. The tractopens with these words: “Would you like to sit down at atable and write out your future? You can. This world isone of law and order. If you know the law, you can use itto your advantage. If you plant radishes, you’ll getradishes. You don’t expect pansies. If you plant wheat,you know you’ll reap wheat. You know this law of naturecannot be broken. The One who wrote that law in naturewrote the same law for us: ‘Be not deceived; God is not

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mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he alsoreap’ (Galatians 6:7). You are perfectly positive aboutgetting corn if you plant corn, but you may be like manyothers and think you can sow one thing in your life andreap another. God says, ‘Don’t be deceived. You maythink you can live for yourself, selfishly. Sure you can, butremember, plant corn, get corn. Can you think evil, readevil, hear evil, or watch evil without these becoming apart of you? No; what you sow, you will reap.’”

Note the very plain words that are used in thestatement which follows our text: “For he who sows to hisflesh (his self-life; that is, he lives selfishly) shall of theflesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit, shallof the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:8). Note thetwo soils in which you may sow, pictured in the words, “tohis flesh” and “to the Spirit.” The first term means that theperson sows inwardly. That is, he sows for himself, intohimself, for his own advantage. His worst sins are forhimself, and even his best acts are still for himself. Hisaction always terminates on himself, even when he isacting toward other people. He is the axis of his own life;he is the polar center of his own existence. The self-curlof his life is never corrected—and cannot be correctedwithout a new birth, what Jesus called “being born fromabove.” Every desire, every attitude, every action thatdoes not have God for its end and object is seed sown tothe flesh. “Sowing to the flesh” is scattering these seedsof selfishness, which always must yield a harvest ofcorruption.

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There is a subtle statement of the law of likeness inone of the great chapters of the Bible, I Corinthians 3, butit will be necessary to look carefully at the statement torealize its declaration of this law. In I Corinthians 3:16-17,Paul wrote, “Know ye not that ye (plural pronoun,referring not to an individual Christian, but to the entireCorinthian church) are the temple of God, and that theSpirit of God dwells in you? (again, plural, meaning ‘all ofyou’) If any man defile the temple of God, him shall Goddestroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye(again, ‘all of you’) are” (KJV) Any careful consultation ofa Greek text, or a lexicon, or a good commentary, willshow that the same verb is used in this verse: “If any mandefile the temple of God, him shall God defile.” The sameverb is used twice, though the KJV translates one “defile”and the other “destroy.” The use of the same verbindicates that the sin of mistreatment of the church,Christ’s Body, will lead to the same treatment from God.So the sinful response of men toward the church willbring a strong reaction of judgment from God—and thisapplies to Christians, first of all.

Unfaithfulness to the Church will lead to God’sindifference to you!!! Abuse of the Church invites God toabuse the abuser; destructive attitudes and actions towardthe Church invite reprisal-in-kind from God—and this isespecially true of Christians, the members of the Body ofChrist upon whom God depends for His self-expression(just as I depend on my body for my self-expression)!!!This aspect of judgment-in-kind, or reaping as we sow,should be seriously considered by each person until he

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adjusts his life to it.

Let me use a space-age illustration. Man wasmade to be a satellite revolving around God, drawingupon God’s power in absolute and happy dependence,just as man depends upon breathing oxygen to stay alive—and he does it happily and without argument or protest.But an alien factor has entered man’s experience andhas corrupted his entire orientation. Due to this factor,which the Bible calls sin, man wants to be the center of theuniverse. He persistently pushes to polarize everything aroundhimself. To paraphrase Augustine: “Thou hast made us torotate around Thyself, O God, and our hearts will not becontent until we are in that orbit.” But the rub is that mancan’t be in full control because he himself is out of control(God’s control). So things tend to deteriorate toward anundesirable reaping. But a miraculous re-positioning, a re-polarizing, of one’s life is wonderfully possible. If it doesnot occur, the person will continue sowing “to his flesh,”and the harvest will be “corruption.”

There is a graphic illustration of the law of likenessin the book of Esther in the Bible. The dark character ofthe bookis a man named Haman. In fact, Haman is quitesinister and evil. Conniving an evil plot to get rid ofMorecai, a Jew whom he hated, Haman built a gallowson which he hoped to hang Mordecai by legal decree.But, through a series of Providential events, Haman washimself hanged on the very gallows he had prepared forMordecai. You see, your sins will whiplash on you andthe judgment may be in exact kind as the sin committed.

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Now look at the alternative presented in the text.“But he who sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap lifeeverlasting.” What does this mean? Well, there are twokinds of “seeds” which a person may sow on the spiritualsoil that is always before him. These are the seeds of“faith” and the seeds of “unbelief.” When a person hearsthe truth of God, he will respond with faith or withunbelief. Faith means, “Forsaking All, I Take Him,” andthat critical act leads to a “Fantastic Adventure In TrustingHim.” Believe me, that is wonderfully true! The moment aperson trusts Christ as his own personal Savior and Lord,the seed of faith is flung out from Him to Christ; this is“sowing to the Spirit.” Then, for the remainder of his life,he may continue sowing to the Spirit, but at the momentof his first sowing, he “reaps everlasting life”. “Sow toyourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy,” Hosea said.Thus, any sowing you do, whether good or bad, is a“sowing to yourself” in the sense that the crop finallycomes back to the sower. The possibilities of sowingrighteousness are as great as the possibilities of sowingto the flesh, or sowing seeds of selfishness and evil, andthe harvest is far more gratifying!

A doctor, or anyone else with a goal in life, has tobe willing to spend many long years of preparation toreap the rewards of his profession. Is it not atremendously good investment to sow once to the Spirit,reap everlasting life, then continue sowing in the soil ofthe Spirit for the few years you are on this earth in orderto reap the same kind of harvest forever? What does itmean to “sow to the Spirit”? It means to follow the leading

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of the Holy Spirit of God, to live in the realm of the Spirit,to live a spiritual life, and to do that which pleases God(see Romans 8).

So, dear friend, here is your future in a line—youwill reap exactly what you sow! This is the law oflikeness.

The Law of LARGENESS

The third harvest law that I will discuss could becalled the law of largeness. Not only does a farmer reapafter he has sown,and what he has sown, he also reapsmore than he sows. The volume of the harvest is alwayslarger than the volume of the seed sown. A sack full ofseed can produce many, many bushels of grain. Thevolume of the crop brought in is totally disproportionate tothe size of the seeds that are sown. A full-grown harvestmay be gigantic in volume, but all of it is potentiallycontained in the seed that is sown, though its volume ismuch, much smaller than the volume of the comingharvest. Morally and spiritually, the full results of sin orholiness are potentially contained in the sinful or holydeed.

Several years ago, Judy and I visited two nationalparks in California, Yosemite and Sequoia NationalParks. We were amazed at the sheer size of the giantSequoias trees that grow in Sequoia National Park. If mymemory is correct, we saw in Sequoia National Parktrees that stand between 200 and 300 feet high. One day,

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fog had descended to a point just above the earth in thePark area, and it looked like a massive pipe organ withthe tops of the pipes engulfed in a layer of smoke farabove the earth. It was an eery, mystical sight, and itimpressed upon us again how big these trees really are.One day, we drove out on a fallen tree—and two carscould pass each other on the fallen tree trunk! Onanother day, we drove our automobile through a gigantichole carved out of the base of one of the living trees!While observing them one day, the thought suddenlyentered my mind: “And all of this came from a singleacorn!” This is the law of largeness. Each of thosemassive trees came from a single acorn that could easilybe enclosed in the palm of your hand! This is the law oflargeness.

Not only is it true that a single fruit of a single acornmay be the size of a Sequoia tree, but it is also true thatan endless succession of multiplying Sequoia trees cancome from a single seed (the acorn that spawns thetrees). An acorn is the father of the full-grown tree, but itis also the father of innumerable and limitless forests.Here we see the law of largeness.

Jesus expressed the law of largeness in his well-known “parable of the sower” (Matthew 13:3-9, explainedin Matthew 13:18-24). He spoke of seeds sowed on fourkinds of soils. The first three seeds/soils proved to benon-productive because of handicaps in the soils. Thenhe described the fourth seed/soil arrangement in thesewords: “But other seeds fell into good ground and

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brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty-fold, somethirty-fold.” In a good crop, a farmer may expect to reapmuch more than he sows. He knows that he can sow inone day a crop that will take ten men to reap.

Comparing the seed sown with the increasingvolume of later harvests introduces us to the spiritualprinciple of multiplication. When God said to early man,“Be fruitful and multiply,” He was stating a law thatapplies both materially and spiritually. He fully expectedman to biologically multiply, and when the full strategy ofmaking disciples is explored, it becomes apparent thatHe expects exactly the same thing spiritually.

Some years ago, while preaching in severalmeetings in the Chicago area, I was taken to the ChicagoMuseum of Science and Industry. My mind is fuzzy aboutwhether I actually saw this exhibit or merely read about it,but the illustration is the same in either case. Just insidethe entrance of the Museum, there stood a large tablewhich was marked like a giant checker board—with sixty-four fairly large squares. In the first square in the lowerleft-hand corner, one wheat seed had been glued intothat square. In the second square (to the right), twowheat seeds had been glued. In the third square, eight. Inthe next square, sixteen. Then, thirty-two. Then, in thesquare in the lower right hand corner, square numbereight, there were sixty-four wheat seeds glued in a smallpile in that square. Then the other fifty-six squares on theboard were empty. A bronze plaque in front of the tableexplained what was there. It explained that the other

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squares were empty simply because the enlargingprocess from square to square had filled the eighthsquare, and there was not enough room in the rest of thesquares to accommodate the successively enlargingvolume of the wheat seeds from square to square. Thenthe plaque added, “Had we continued to the sixty-fourthsquare, there would have been enough wheat seeds tofill the entire sub-continent of India fifty feet deep!” This isa vivid illustration both of the principle of multiplicationand of the law of largeness. Here we see why we mustcarefully study the spiritual laws of the harvest, the matterof spiritual multiplication, and the necessity of regularseed-sowing with an eye to the future harvest. A wise oldadage says, “Anybody can count the number of seeds inan apple, but only God can count the number of apples ina seed.” This is the law of largeness.

The Law of LATENESS

The third law of the harvest we will examine couldbe called the law of lateness. We have established thatsowing always precedes reaping, that the sower reapsthe kind of crop he has sown, and that he reaps morethan he sows. Now, we will see that the sower reaps laterthan he sows. The text says, “He shall reap whatever hehas sown,” and the “shall” suggests that the reapingcomes after the sowing. The future reference is repeatedtwice in the following verse (6:8), and verse nine says, “indue season we shall reap.” The future will simply be theharvest of the present attitude or action.

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A Sunday School teacher has just been relating tohis class the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and heasked the boys in the class, “Now, which would yourather be, boys, the rich man who lived sumptuously butdied and went to hell, or Lazarus, the poor man whoended up in Heaven?” One boy answered, “I would ratherbe the rich man while I live, and Lazarus when I die.” Ashumorous as the answer was, it constructed animpossibility. The laws of the harvest correctly tell us thata person’s living determines his dying and his eternity.His eternity will simply follow the direction andmomentum of his life on earth. An eternity of reaping willexactly follow the life of sowing.

This law of lateness expresses the consistentteaching of the Bible, of human experience, and of theworld of agriculture. Every farmer knows that the sowerdoes not reap the evening of the sowing. He knows thatthere is a season for sowing and a later season forreaping. He knows that the crop “springs up and grows”(Mark 4:27), always developing toward the full harvest,“first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in theear” (Mark 4:28), until “the harvest has fully come” (Mark4:29).

Now, let’s apply this law Biblically, spiritually,morally, and negatively. I say “negatively” because thesame thing is true in spiritual harvest positively as well.“He who sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap lifeeverlasting,” according to Galatians 6:8. In fact, in spite ofour negative application and fears concerning this law,the positive side is the one more developed in the context

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(Galatians 6:7-10). However, because human beingsinsist on “sowing wild oats,” they must be warned of theenlarged, coming harvest. So let me address the matternegatively for a moment, and let it be remembered thatAdam and his action are microcosms of the people andconduct of the entire human race.

This harvest law can be seen in the earliest humanhistory. When Adam and Eve united in committing thefirst sin, they were reaping even before they were drivenfrom the Garden of Eden later that same day. And thesame kind of sowing and reaping have continued in thelives of all human beings (except One, Jesus, Who onlysowed “to the Spirit”) from that day until today. One tasteof forbidden fruit, and the poison has been spreadingthrough the human bloodstream ever since. So this lawhas been demonstrated in an enlarging way forthousands of years—and yet man, deceived by sin (everyhuman being without God, without Christ, is under adelusion), continues flinging seeds of unbelief and sininto the soil of life, and he invariably reaps the crop heasked for. The Bible says, “He that soweth iniquity shallreap vanity” (Proverbs 22:8). “Vanity” meansemptiness,and the word is often used to include all of theartificial substitutes that men practice to fill the vacuum.Multitudes (multitudes) of empty lives prove this truth.Empty speech, empty activities, empty living, aboundeverywhere, practiced by people who are just markingtime as they live, and the activities they stuff into theirlives are something to behold. The Bible says, “Becausesentence against an evil work is not exercised speedily,

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therefore the hearts of the sons of men is full of evil,” butonce the seed of sin hits the soil, the harvest is automate(automatic), said Jesus in Mark 4:28. The harvest will notnecessarily be speedy, but it will be sure.

The writer of Hebrews enforced this law when hesaid, “The farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,and has long patience for it, until he receive the early andlatter rain” (Hebrews 5:7). This is actually a statement ofthe positive side of this law, and Christians must live withthe awareness of this law if they are to maximize theirstewardship, their service for Christ and others, and theirown reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

The Law of LOVE

There is an aspect of these laws of the harvest thatdoes not “unravel” easily, but it is one of the mostimportant of all. I call it the law of love. Every farmerknows that the harvests of future years must not beprobated or aborted because he one day sows his lastcrop. He knows that if he is a wise steward he will investin the future of farming for all future generation farmers.He must leave his agricultural know how as a deposit inthe total farming mix. He must leave seeds which willmultiply in and through future sowings. He mustguarantee a crop for future generations. He must makethe means available for multiplication through futuregenerations.

You see, all of us are “reaping” today because

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someone else lovingly sowed in the past, and surely wewill want someone to reap in the future because we arefaithfully, fully, and skillfully sowing today—on God’s terms.Remember that the Bible has a lot to say about what ouractivities are to be today, what lifestyle we are to livetoday, what strategy we are to follow today, in order toguarantee a maximum and enlarging crop in all futuretomorrows. It is not enough to be decent, moral, good,even “Christian,” unless we send the Christian Gospelfrom our hands and hearts into an enlarging Gospelfuture. The reproduction and multiplication which Jesusmodeled and mandated, if carefully practiced by me andyou, will guarantee that enlarging future. This is whyJesus commanded us to “turn people into disciples” in theGreat Commission, because disciple-making as it wasrevealed and practiced in the New Testament will expandtoward infinity in future generations.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian, pastorand teacher, said, “The truly righteous man is a man wholives for the next generation.” Elton Trueblood, wiseteacher and author, wrote that “the wise man plants atree under whose shade he knows full well that he willnever sit.” Each of us is to be a link in a chain of love, achain that connects the past generation with the next andwill enlarge in the next generation because of what weforged in the link. The chain has been made weak orstrong because of Christians in the past. Will it beweaker, stronger, or break altogether because of us?

So, “let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due

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season we shall reap, if we faint not.” As we havetherefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men,especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”“In due season (harvest time) we shall reap”—if welovingly sow Gospel seeds into men’s lives. We will reapwhat we sowed, more than we sowed, later than wesowed, and because we sowed.

How much will you be worth to the cause of Christwhen you are gone? How much dividend will accrue toHim when you are dead? If the world stood a thousandyears, would the influence you threw into the mix duringyour lifetime possibly contribute to Gospel success then?Do you even realize that it could? If you respond to Christin love and obedience, thus building other people intoreproducing disciples and disciple-makers, the product ofthat enlarging process might shock you at the JudgmentSeat of Christ.

When most people die, their assets, influence, andimpact are gone within a generation. But this is not sowith a true disciple-maker. He should only gain more andmore influence (though his name is not mentioned),accumulate more and more true riches, and receiverewards of staggering proportions. Remember, the finalrewards are not reckoned until all the returns are in, andwhat you are sowing in the lives of people today will bethe basis of those final rewards. If you love Christ, lovepeople, and follow His Strategy in sowing into the lives ofpeople with regard to a multiplying future, the law of theharvest dictates that the results will far exceed yourexpectations.

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Portrait 5

A WORKMAN

LESSONS FOR CHRIST’SHARVEST HANDS

II Kings 6:1-7, “The sons of the prophets said to Elisha,Look now, the place where we live before you is toosmall for us. Let us go to the Jordan, and each man getthere a beam, and let us make us a place there where wemay dwell. And he answered, Go. One said, Be pleasedto go with your servants. He answered, I will go. So hewent with them. And when they came to the Jordan, theycut down trees. But as one was felling his beam, the axehead fell into the water; and he cried, Alas, my master,for it was borrowed! The man of God said, Where did itfall? When shown the place, Elisha cut off a stick andthrew it in there, and the iron floated. He said, Pick itup. And he put out his hand, and took it.”

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What is the greatest loss a Christian can suffer? Isit not the loss of the near presence of the Holy Spirit? Is itnot the loss of spiritual power which comes from an up-to-date relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? The storyin Second Kings six concerns that loss.

Let me turn the miracle into a parable. In this story,we will let Elisha the leader represent Jesus the Lord.The "sons of the prophets" suggest all vocationalChristian workers (all Christians, according to Ephesians4:11-12). The axe handle stands for your life. The axehead represents the Holy Spirit, the "cutting edge" of theChristian life. You see, dear Christian, you exist to becontrolled by and to carry and convey the power of the HolySpirit! The trees represent lost, Godless men, (all men intheir natural condition), who must be "felled" by the HolySpirit and fashioned together to build "a house for God todwell in, a habitation of God through the Spirit" (seeEphesians 2:19-22). Keep these identifications carefullyfixed in your mind, and let's explore the story.

A PATTERN FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE THATWE SHOULD APPROVE

First, this story suggests a pattern for Christianservice which we should approve. Elisha, the miracleprophet, was the president of a seminary which existed toteach and train God-called preachers, "the sons of theprophets." The seminary had grown so rapidly that it hadexceeded its dormitory space. The students suggested

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that the seminary be moved to the Jordan River valley,and that larger dormitory and classroom space should beprovided for it. Note the pattern suggested for us by theseservants and their service. They worked in a closerelationship with the master. Verse one says,"The sons ofthe prophets said unto Elisha." They did nothing in theirservice without consulting him. Did not our mastersay,"Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bearfruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can youexpect you abide in Me." (John 15:4)

They worked under a deep burden over their need.They said to Elisha in verse one,"Behold now, the placewhere we dwell with you is too small for us." If a Christianwalks in close relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit willusually give him a deep burden for expanded vision andlarger ministry. Job 36:16 says,"God would remove youout of the narrow place into the broad place, where thereis no narrowness."

They received a specific commission from their Masterto go ahead with the project. They said to Elisha, "Let usgo unto Jordan, and let us make us a place there, wherewe may dwell." And Elisha answered, "Go ye." AChristian cannot read Elisha's command without hearingJesus' Great Commission, "Go ye and disciple allnations." "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel toevery creature."

They worked with a recognition of full dependence uponthe Master. When Elisha said, "Go ye," one of the

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preachers then said to him, "I pray thee, go with thyservants." And he answered, "I will go." The Christianworker must have the Presence of Jesus, his "HeavenlyPresident," all the time and all the way!

They worked in a unified effort, yet each had a senseof individual responsibility. In verse two, they said, "Let usgo, and take every man a beam, and let us make us aplace there, where we may dwell." One of America'sgreatest early statesmen said, "The greatest thought thathas ever passed through my mind is the thought of myindividual responsibility to God." And this consciousnessof individual responsibility must be balanced by awonderful sense of teamwork, of family fellowship, and ofunified effort with all other Christians in fulfilling ourMaster's Great Commission.

They engaged in diligent service. Verse four says,"When they came to Jordan, they cut down wood." EveryChristian should take seriously the old adage, "We arehere, not to loaf, but to labor." Paul said, "I labor moreabundantly than they all," and so should we.

So here is a beautiful, practical pattern for allChristian servants, a pattern we should approve.

A PERIL IN CHRISTIAN SERVICE WHICH WESHOULD AVOID

Midway in the story, there is a sad interruption, andthe interlude points to a peril every Christian worker should

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avoid. Verse five says, "As one was felling a beam, theaxe head fell into the water." Let me remind you that, inour analogy, the axe head represents the Holy Spirit, the"cutting edge" of power in the service of a Christian. Andthe axe head was lost. What a peril for a servant ofChrist, and the deadly danger is always present!

Note that this servant did not lose the axe handle!Though this is foolish and inconceivable to us, it isexactly what many Christians do when they experiencethe loss of the Holy Spirit's power in their service.However, to hew with a handle alone only bludgeons andbruises the trees, and seldom hews one down! Howmany lost people in our communities have been leftbludgeoned and bruised, but "uncut" by the sharp, sin-killing, sinner-felling conviction of the Holy Spirit —because our service is in the flesh, a mere axe handle,without the axe head of the Spirit's mighty hewing power.

Psalm 74:5 says, "A man was famous according ashe had lifted up axes upon the thick trees." How strong,thick, and deep rooted in sin the "trees" are today! EachChristian servant is to lift up the axe upon these thicktrees. But what if we lose the axe head? Look at the peril.

He lost it while he was working. " As one was fellinga beam, the axe head fell into the water." It surely did notfly off the axe head without becoming loose first. Howcareful we must be about looseness in the Christian life,even while working for Christ. The axe head probablygradually loosened on the handle, and because the

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worker did not exercise great caution, it was soon gone. Itis perilously possible to lose the power of the Holy Spiritwhile engaged in Christian service!

What he lost was borrowed. He said to Elisha, "Itwas borrowed" (verse 5). You see, dear Christians, thepower by which we serve Christ is never really ours(anymore than the axe head and axe handle are ours).Psalm 62:11 says, "Power belongeth unto the Lord."Jesus said, "Ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghosthas come upon you." The power is never inherently ours;it is borrowed. How dependent we should be upon thetrue Owner!

He was conscious of his loss and deeply distressedabout it. Verse 5 says, "And he cried, and said, 'Alas,master!' for it was borrowed." Many of us today are likeSamson, who suffered the loss of the Spirit's power, but"knew not that the Spirit of the Lord had departed fromhim." The church at Laodicea thought it was "rich, andincreased with goods, and had need of nothing," but itdidn't know that it actually was "wretched, and miserable,and poor, and blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17). Thistree-cutting servant was in an emergency — and he knewit.

Dear friends, the loss of the Holy Spirit's powershould never be treated as a casual matter. It is anabsolute crisis! Any sense of loss of this power on ourpart should prepare us for the third part of the story.

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A PROCEDURE IN CHRISTIAN SERVICEWHICH WE SHOULD ADOPT

The concluding verses of the account outline for usa procedure we should adopt in order to have the lost powerrestored. If you have lost the "cutting edge," if yourspiritual life has been sinking below the surface of thewaters of sin, selfishness, idleness, indifference,worldliness, bad disposition, etc., take heart. You may berestored, renewed, reinstated, and re-equipped inservice. How? The prescription is vividly spelled out. Letme put it in Christian terms.

Abandon all labor. This man stopped workinginstantly when he realized the destitution of his loss. Howfoolish for him to go on working, and yet, Christians arenot always as wise as he. Thousands of pastors,evangelists, Sunday School teachers, witnesses, keep on"flailing away," even when the axe head has been lost.For our Master's sake, we must stop all work until theloss is corrected.

Approach the Lord. "Alas, master!" the servant cried.And so must we. Each of us must get alone, make a fullconfession of our loss and the possible reasons for it, andput our case absolutely into the Master's hands. Don't tryto recover the axe head yourself! Don't try to borrow asubstitute! Don't give up and leave the forest! Jesus ismore interested in this than you are. He wants you tohave a sharp axe head to be employed in the most

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effective work of "cutting down" the trees and "buildingup" the House. Cry out to Him about the lack of power.

Admit the loss. This young preacher must have feltawfully foolish as he confessed the problem. After all, heshould have felt the loosening of the axe head. He shouldhave known that a serious problem was developing. Buthe did not let his embarrassment prevent him from afrank and full confession of loss. And we, too, mustshamefully confess our loss to Jesus.

Acknowledge the location. When the servant toldElisha, "The man of God said, Where fell it?" (verse 6)."And he showed him the place." How simple! The bestplace to find something that is misplaced is where youlost it. Many of us need to retrace our steps spirituallytoday to some "river bank" where we watched ourspiritual life sink out of sight and lost the power of theHoly Spirit. If you don't know the exact place, retrace yoursteps like Mary and Joseph did after they had "lost"Jesus without knowing where they had lost Him. You'llfind the axe head back where you left it.

Appropriate the lifted power. "Appropriate" — what animportant word! How did Elisha restore the axe head tothe servant? Strangely, "he cut down a stick, and cast itin" the water where the axe head had fallen. A branch ofa tree! How peculiar! Will any Spirit-taught Christianquestion the interpretation? Before the power can berestored, the Cross and the Resurrection of Jesus mustbe applied anew to the believer's life. The Christian must

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"re-enter," in effect, the Death and Resurrection of theLord. The cut down stick represents the Death(the Cross)of Jesus. He Himself was "cut down" in death, and castinto the river of death. And when even a splinter ofCalvary's Dying is inserted into our lives at the point ofour loss, a miracle occurs! Then "the iron did swim." Godraised the iron against all natural laws. God raised Jesusagainst all natural laws. And God will restore the power ofthe Holy Spirit in spite of all the down-dragging gravity ofthat which caused the loss. God's grace can raise yoursunken spiritual life, dear Christian, though it hasdescended into the mud of this world, if you will follow Hisprescription and apply anew the Death and Resurrectionof Jesus.

This young man was never told to analyze themiracle, but to appropriate it. The miracle did not call forthe explanation of reason, but for the exercise of faith."Elisha said, Take it up to thee. And he put out his handand took it." (verse 7). There's a work to be done! Thereis a great House building! Others are wielding axes,felling trees, and trimming branch-es. Remember, God'spurpose is, "Every man a beam." Is the sharp, keen axehead in its proper place on the axe handle of your life?Are you working on some "thick trees" in your part of theforest?

SOME PRINCIPLES TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED

We dare not leave the story without searching outsome of its larger principles.

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1. The responsibility of a lent life

How careful we ought to be with borrowedproperty! When something is loaned to you by someoneelse, you have a special responsibility to the real owner,and you must not be careless about this responsibility.Christian, do you recognize that your life is a "loan" fromGod? "You are not your own.” You are the product of God,the purchase of God, and the project of God. You are Hisby production, by purchase, by providence you by God—toserve God's purpose on His terms. May God illumine us!

2. The tragedy of a lost life

The axe used to be so keen, so sharp, so bright, souseful, but now it is sadly reduced to uselessness. Theaxe is damaged, the work is hindered, the workman isfrustrated, and the owner is grieved. This speaks, not of alost soul, but of a lost life (a Christian, but now "good fornothing” Matthew 5:13). When we are in this condition,we need His special lifting power. We need a visitationupon our lives that produces the equivalent of theformula, “and the iron did swim.” May God grant thismiracle to us!

3. The glory of a lifted life

The sunken iron was rescued by means of a tree(think Cross), raised by means of a miracle (think power),and re-stored to its former use (think grace). Both theregeneration of a new believer, and the restoration of a

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backslider, are absolute miracles. May this "glory of theLord our God" be upon us!

A last word to the reader who may not even havethe axe head. Friend, if you have never trusted andreceived Jesus Christ as your own Lord and Savior, yourheart may be as heavy as iron at the bottom of the fast-running river of sin, but Jesus loves you and He died androse again for you. When you fully trust him to save you,he will raise you from the dead and raise up your naturalearthly affections to things in Heaven above (Colossians3:1-3). Trust Him, receive Him into your heart today, andthen you can tell your own personal version of this story:"And the iron did swim."

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Portrait 6

A VESSEL

GOD HAS A MARKET FORCRACKED POTS

II Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthenvessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God,and not of us.”

A Christian is a person in whom there is aninherent paradox. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels”— that’s the puzzling paradox. Because it is a paradox,we have adjusted it into many “sensible” variations.

For example, some conceive of Christianity as alltreasure, and no earthen vessel. “Give me God, give meJesus, give me the Gospel,” they say, “but not theChurch, and not the Christian.” “Christ, yes; Christianity,no” is their motto. “I want the treasure, but I can’t toleratethe earthen vessel,” they are saying. But God’s strategyis both “treasure” and “earthen vessel”; indeed, the

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treasure is in the earthen vessel.

Some, on the other hand, are so conscious ofearthen vessels that they see no treasure at all. They seeChristianity, the Bible, the Gospel as a purely humanaffair. They say, “Don’t ask me to believe it, when youhave only these people as evidence.” They arepreoccupied with the earthiness of the vessel.

Others make endless proposals to reduce thedisproportion between treasure and vessel. Theirmotivation and persistence are commendable, but theirefforts are largely fruitless simply because the “vessel”remains “earthen.” These folks say, “Let’s create a betterchurch, one so efficient that it will infallibly present Christ,one so strong that His power can freely flow through it.” Isay again, the motivation is fine, but this view suffersfrom a deficiency. This view is that the church is to besufficient for God rather than that God is to be sufficient forand through the church (the New Testament view).

Happily, some have read the New Testamentcarefully enough to rightly conclude that there is a Divinepurpose in the disparity between the treasure and thevessel. The “inconsistency” is intentional! So it is certainlynot a hopeless case if earthen vessels are in evidence inthe celebration and presentation of the Gospel!

There is a great example of this paradox in thetwelfth chapter of the books of the Acts of the Apostles.Herod had imprisoned Simon Peter, and apparently was

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intending to kill him as he had already killed James (12:1-3). “But prayer was made without ceasing by the churchunto God for him” (12:5). The night before he was to bekilled, an angel came to his prison cell and set him free(12:6-11). We are probably safe in assuming that hisrelease resulted from the always-strange combination ofhuman freedom and responsibility (the church’s prayers)and Divine sovereignty. But when Peter then went to thevery house where the church was gathered praying forhis release (12:12), their faith broke down terribly. First,they said the person reporting his presence was “mad,”then they tried to explain his presence by saying, “It is hisangel” (12:15). Do you see the frailty of the “vessels”?There was faith there, true faith, such faith as couldsecure an answer from God; but the weakness of manwas still very evident. You see, God’s power is manifestin human weakness. Christianity is not the removal ofweakness, nor is it merely the manifestation of Divinepower; it is the manifestation of Divine power in humanweakness. And this weakness does not limit God’spower.

Let’s examine this marvelous text under fourdivisions: first, the Gospel treasure that is identified;second, the gracious trust that is imparted; third, theglorious transaction that is indicated; and finally, the greattruths that are implied.

THE GOSPEL TREASURE

“We have this treasure.” What is this treasure?

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Many attempts have been made to define the treasure,and most of them are reasonably on target. Some havesaid that the treasure is the Presence of Jesus Christ,others that it is the power of the Holy Spirit, and stillothers that it is the precious Word of God. And, withoutquestion, these are fabulous treasures! But there isalways a Divine genius exposed when we let theScriptures speak for themselves.

The one great descriptive term that is used indefining the treasure is the phrase, “The glorious Gospelof Christ” (II Cor. 4:4). So the treasure is the “Gospel.”However, we can identify three distinct aspects of theGospel in this passage, and each is a vital part of the“treasure.”

First, the Lord of the Gospel may be regarded asthe treasure. Remove Jesus and all Gospel value isgone! In Ephesians 3:8, Paul spoke of “the unsearchable(untrackable) riches of Christ.” Colossians 3:2 says, “InChrist are hid all the treasures of wisdom andknowledge.” Colossians 2:9 says, “In Christ dwells all thefulness of the Godhead bodily” — so even This Treasure(all the fulness of God) was in an earthen vessel, thephysical body of Jesus! The treasure is Jesus, the Lord ofthe Gospel.

Second, we may view the luxuries of the Gospel asthe treasure. The Gospel is replete with incredible richesand luxuries. The book of Ephesians is an itemizedaccount of many of these riches. It speaks of “the riches

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of God’s grace” (1:7), “the riches of the glory of God’sinheritance in the saints” (1:18), the riches of His mercy(2:4), “the exceeding riches of His grace” (2:7), etc. Thereare in the Gospel the riches of pardon, forgiveness,justification, reconciliation, redemption, regeneration,conversion, adoption, sanctification, expectation,glorification, etc. All of the communicable attributes ofGod — love, joy, peace, etc. — are items in the list ofGospel luxuries, and these comprise a great part of thetreasure of our text.

Finally, our text directs us to think of the light of theGospel as the treasure. Verse four speaks of “the light ofthe glorious Gospel of Christ.” And verse six draws aGospel parallel from creation itself in these words: “ForGod, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,has shined in our hearts, to give the light of theknowledge of the glory of God in the face of JesusChrist.” We must not miss the sequence of verses here,the connection between this verse and our text (the nextverse): “But we have this treasure (the light of verse 6) inearthen vessels.” There is no question in my mind thatPaul refers here to the great story of Gideon’s battle withthe Canaanites in these verses (see Judges 7:16-22).The Gospel light, like Gideon’s lamps, is carried inearthen vessels (our lives). Just as a small, plain boxmay carry acostly jewel, or a plain and battered ship may carry aprecious cargo, a weak lamp of clay may carry a brilliantlight. Note that in the case of Gideon, the strategy ofvictory included both the breaking of the lamps and the

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blowing of trumpets. So our strategy for victory includesthe release of the light of the Gospel (even if it means thebreaking of the earthen vessels) and the sounding of thetrumpet-notes of personal testimony. Our regular prayershould be, “O Lord, send out Thy light and Thy truth” bymeans of us (Psalm 43:3). Our text affirms again thatGospel victories are gained, not by an array of humanmight and effort, but by the treasure of Divine light inearthen vessels, and by the shout of faith that makesappeal to Heaven first, and then to the hearts of men.

So the great treasure may be viewed as the Lord ofthe Gospel, the luxuries of the Gospel, and the light of theGospel. Having seen the Gospel inventory, we will nowlook at the dizzying truth of the Gospel’s investment.

THE GRACIOUS TRUST

“We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” Just asEastern kings and men of wealth often stored theirfortunes of gold, silver, and jewels in earthenware jars, soGod has deposited His greatest wealth in human lives.This deposit is made for two purposes: 1. For safety. Paultold his disciple Timothy to “guard the Gospel which hasbeen deposited in your care.” 2. For service. Paul alsotold Timothy to deposit this Gospel and all of itsimplications into the lives of others for the sake ofmultiplying the original investment.

There is a great example of this truth in the Old

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Testament book of Jeremiah (32:6-14). A cousin ofJeremiah had mortgaged his land. According to the law,the nearest of kin (the kinsman-redeemer of the OldTestament, a type of Christ) had the right to redeem theland and use it until the year of release, when it wouldrevert to its original heirs. So Jeremiah bought the landfor his cousin, and a bill of sale was received (andapparently copied). Jeremiah 32:14 says, “Thus saith theLord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Take these evidences,this evidence of the purchase (the receipt and its copy),one of which is sealed and one of which is open, and putthem in an earthen vessel, that they may continue manydays.” Sometimes the “earthen vessel” was the nearestthing to a safety deposit box that existed in their society,so the documents were placed in an earthen vessel forpermanent security and for service, if necessary. The storyillustrates our text in a vivid way.

I have had the privilege of visiting the Bible landson two occasions. Twice I have been in Egypt, one of thecradles of the Bible. To visit the Egyptian museums is aneducation in itself. In the British Museum in Cairo, there isa huge foyer. The foyer contains hundreds of stone bustsand some golden goblets which had been used by thePharaohs of Egypt. At one end of the hall is a largealabaster bowl about twelve feet in diameter. The bowlrests on a marble pillar. The guide may tell part of his tourgroup to walk to the other end of the hall where there isanother bowl exactly like the first one. He tells them tolean over the bowl, but not to touch it. Then he whispersin one bowl, and despite noise all around, the group at

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the other bowl can hear clearly every word. One pastor,after observing this acoustical phenomenon, said, “Whatan illustration! God can speak to us in that still, smallvoice even when there is noise and thunder around us,and we can hear Him distinctly, provided our hearts are inperfect tune with His, even as these alabaster bowls arein tune with each other.”

In one of the other rooms of the museum, a row ofcracked earthen vessels stand on the most prominentdisplay shelves. The guide explains the “inconsistency” ofmaking these equal to the brass, gold, or silver vessels.The tourist’s attention is directed to the jars themselves.Careful observation reveals that the bottoms of the jarshave been sawed off and new clay bottoms have beensubstituted. These earthen jars were among the goblets,pitchers, and golden bowls in the tomb, and all of theexcavators wondered why the y occupied such aconspicuous position. Then one day an administrator ofthe museum stopped near them for a minute when theafternoon sun shone directly on the clay jars. Somethingglinted through a crack near the bottom of one jar. Hiscuriosity was aroused. The jar was taken to his office,examined, and finally broken to pieces. You can imaginetheir surprise when they found that the clay bottom wasthree inches thick and that embedded in it were some ofthe crown jewels of a Pharaoh. They quickly collected theother earthen vessels and sawed off their bases. Whenthey broke them up, they found the balance of thepriceless jewels. Here is a practical illustration of theprofound truth presented in our text. “We have thistreasure in earthen vessels.”

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The New International Version of the NewTestament identifies the earthen vessel as “a clay pot.”Here is the strange strategy of our God! The fabuloustreasure is contained in “a clay pot.” What insights andexplanations arise from this truth. Each Christian is oneof the earthen vessels. We are “earthen,” so we see ourneed of God. We are so easily scarred, marred, shattered,and broken.

And we are “vessels,” so we see (do we dare tosay it?) God’s need of us! The plain and simple fact is thatGod must have carriers, containers, conveyors for Histreasure. The treasure is spiritual, and must have somekind of material conveyance. So this principle presentsitself: Having shown Himself once in Jesus in a perfect way,God now shows Himself (in a modified, reduced, but real way)through our ordinary humanity. A great trust, indeed!

Until John Keats wrote his immortal poem, “Ode toa Grecian Urn,” few would have seen anything exquisiteenough for poetry in a Grecian urn! And until we realizethat our ordinary humanity is to be a display case forGod’s eternal treasure, we will see little that is trulyexquisite about human life.

Let me mention three properties that are evident in“earthen vessels.” First, earthen vessels are fragile. Eventhe finest one is very sensitive and highly breakable. Goddid not insert His treasure in a crush-proof box, or a solid

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lead vault, or wrap it in styrofoam padding. He put it inearthen vessels, and this strategy often makes for painand injury. Over the years, if you had explored in myhome, you might have found an assortment of brokencoffee cups. These cups might have been used atbreakfast any morning. Among ourselves, we are quite athome drinking our coffee out of chipped or slightlycracked cups! Christians must remember: if I agree tocarry God’s treasure in my earthen vessel — and in thecompany of other earthen vessels — I am likely tobecome a cracked pot before I am finished!

In the famous Aesop’s Fables, there is aninteresting story of two pots, one of brass and one of clay,which found themselves in a raging flood, hurled along bythe racing waves. The brass pot cried out to the earthenpot to come close to it so that it would be protected. Butthe earthen vessel replied, “No, no, to get too close toyou is to run the risk of shattering.” It survived only as itremembered that it was an earthen vessel. And so, ourusefulness depends upon our understanding that we arefeeble witnesses, and “it is not by , saith the Lord ofhosts.”

Second, earthen vessels are fallible. There is nevera guarantee that an earthen vessel will succeed at the jobfor which you want it. Someone has called this “God’scalculated risk.” You understand the grave limitation ofsuch language, but you should also understand themeaning of it. There is a line in Francis Thompsonfabulous poem, “Hound of Heaven,” that echoes what we

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are and how we sometimes feel about ourselves. Hedescribes how he had desperately run away from Goduntil God finally caught him. Then God said to him, “Of allearth’s clotted clay, (you are) the dingiest clot.” Have youever felt that way, that you are the dingiest clot of allearth’s clotted clay? You feel that way all the time, yousay? Then remind yourself that God does not believe thatyou are too dingy, too dirty, too delicate, too common, tocontain and convey His treasure.

Finally, earthen vessels are functional. Clay jars arenormally made for some practical use. Museums the worldover are full of earthen vessels, but they were notoriginally designed to be ornaments. They were made tocarry water, or wine, or for multiple other purposes. WhenI was in Israel the first time, I made a choice picture of amodern-day “woman at the well” beside Jacob’s well inChary of Samara. She is dressed as if she was trying outfor a Hollywood role — in blue and white robes. She hasa tall earthen jar balanced on the top of her head. It madea beautiful and stately picture, but that jar wasn’t made toform a fragment of an American tourist’s photo album —it was made for a practical purpose. A vessel is oftenused to carry and to pour. So is God’s earthen vessel. Butnote: the vessel must be fallible to be functional. It may befragile and fallible, but it is functional if fallible. This isGod’s strategy, and He makes no apologies for it! He hasalways operated this way. It is not as if He wantedsomething better, but has to put up with the likes of us.Oh, no! If you believe God is marking time with you until

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an angel shows up, you have misread the contract.Earthen vessels are God’s first (and only) choice.

But we have a problem with this strategy — wesimply can’t believe it! This is revealed in our hero-worship and in our idolatry of size and success. Indeed,guess what the earliest heresy was in Christian history. Itobviously would concern the Person of Christ, and youmight guess that it would attempt to deny His Deity. Butno! Instead, it was an attempt to deny His humanity. AndChristians have been guilty of modified versions of thisheresy — in their own lives and in the church — eversince that early date. But it is God’s design to deposit anddisplay His Fortune in common, ordinary “clay jars.”

THE GLORIOUS TRANSACTION

Note the stated reason for this strange strategy.“We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that (in orderthat) the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”Why does God do it this way? Why does He not employbionic women and six million dollar men? Why does Heuse timid, uncertain, stumbling, fumbling Clark Kentinstead of sensational, supernal Supermen?

The answer is both simple and profound. Thegrand reason why frail men are employed to preach theGospel and do God’s work is that the glorious salvationthat results may conspicuously appear as the work ofGod, and not of man. Both God and the Gospel gainglory from the weakness of the vessels in which they are

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contained. This is God’s way of keeping us alive to whatis really going on. Thus, He keeps us ready for Hisperformance, His working, His surprises. He wants tomake it perfectly clear that it is His power alone that doesthe necessary job. We are left weak in order to makeclear that it is God and God alone who is strong.

To illustrate this “excellency of the Divine power,”Paul introduces his own experience. In him, we canclearly see the “earthen vessel.” In this context, he tellsus that he was “troubled on every side, perplexed,persecuted, cast down, and always bearing about in thebody (the earthen vessel) the dying of the Lord Jesus.”But in Paul we can also clearly see “the abundance of theDivine power.” Though he experienced all the abovetrials, he was not distressed, not in despair, not forsaken,not destroyed, and the life of Jesus was made manifest in hismortal body (see verses eight through eleven).

“That the excellency of the power may be of Godand not of ourselves.” Consider this principle, first, withreference to God. When this is the working strategy ofGospel advance, something that exemplifies God isproduced. Something that displays God, something thatexhibits God, something that demonstrates God, isproduced. Only in this way is something worthy of Godproduced.

Then, consider this principle with reference toourselves as Christians. The excellency of the power “is

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not of us.” This understanding will keep us humble andwill keep us near to Him who is our strength. It also willprevent our discouragement. II Corinthians 4:1 says,“Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we havereceived mercy, we faint not.” The awareness of thisministry and our reception of mercy for this ministryprovides encouragement to us.

Finally, consider this ministry with reference to ourhearers. If they understand this matter, their expectancywill be turned toward God and not toward us.Furthermore, other Christians who receive the ministry ofthe treasure through us will be inclined to pray for us,knowing how helpless we are without the anointing of theHoly Spirit. What a transaction occurs when weunderstand our status as earthen vessels and fullydepend upon the “abundance of the power which is fromGod!”

THE GREAT TRUTHS

There are several great truth implied by thestatement in our text. First, we note the importance of theproper control of the vessel. If you control the vessel, youwill invariably put the wrong things into it and will use itfor wrong or inferior purposes. However, if God controls it,He will fill it with Himself and all the attending benefits ofHis Presence, and will use it only for eternal purposes.Good news! When we belong to Him, these earthenvessels are held in His hand. Revelation 1:16 speaks ofthe “candlesticks” (churches) and the “stars” (servants ofthe churches). It says, “He (Jesus Christ) has in His right

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hand the seven stars.” We are in the Divine hand to beprotected, to be filled, to be poured out — and to bebroken, when necessary.

Second, we see the importance of the content ofthe vessel. We are to bring our emptiness to Christ in orderthat He might fill us with “all the fulness of God” (Eph.3:19). Dear friends, let us not remain empty vessels. Avessel of gold or silver may be of considerable valuethough it be empty. But an “earthen vessel” is good forlittle if it is not available to its master. Its master puts inwhat He wishes, and pours out when and where Hewishes. Christians are here to be filled and poured out —both at the Master’s discretion. If people are wise, theywill not want the vessel as much as they want thecontents of it. It is far more important to be rightly relatedto the Treasure than to the earthen vessel!

Third, we see the importance of the context in whichthe vessel is used. A clay jar filled with water in a housefilled with water faucets will be of very little consequence.A Christian whose “ministry” is sitting in church analyzingand rejoicing in the treasure will be of little use. He is justone vessel among many. But that same vessel of water ina blistering desert could mean the difference between lifeand death. When we circulate “in the desert,” we are in aworld of people dying of thirst, and from within us shouldflow rivers of living water (John 7:37-39).

Finally, we note the importance of the condition of

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the vessel. Every Christian is to be a “vessel unto honor,”not a dishonorable vessel. A vessel can be rendereduseless by being dirty or cracked.

This entire symbol may seem frightfullyinconsistent, that so great a treasure should be placed inan earthen vessel, like a priceless jewel enclosed in aclay box, or a lovely picture in a tawdry frame, or a king’scrown in a cracked and dingy case in a dusty museum,yet this is precisely the strategy of our God. This is His verybest strategy, for it was His strategy in the coming ofJesus. The treasure of everything God is was wrapped inthe human flesh of the body of Jesus. In the old Negrospiritual, “Sweet Little Jesus Boy,” there is a poignant linewhich says, “Please forgive us, Lord, we didn’t know whoyou wuz.” It was not the simplest thing in the world torecognize, for “this treasure” came in an “earthen vessel.”

Then, this is God’s strategy for the living of theChristian life and for Gospel advance. A vessel of clay iswell suited to represent the human body and theChristian life. The body is highly subject to damage,danger, disease, decay, and death. A vessel of clay isbound to break sooner or later. Yet, through this unworthykind of lamp the light of God may shine. God’s beststrategy for Gospel advance is still to place His treasurein an earthen vessel and charge that poor vessel to carrythe treasure to someone who hasn’t yet come to share inits wealth.

Dr. A. T. Robertson, in his book, The Glory of theMinistry, tells of the Jewish Rabbi Joshua who was once

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taunted by an emperor’s daughter on his uglyappearance. He pointed to the earthen jars whichcontained her father’s wine. He noticed the next day thatshe had placed the wine in silver vessels; but it promptlyturned sour. The rabbi then ventured to remind her thatthe humblest vessels sometimes contain the greatesttreasure. Even so, God has placed His immortal tidings inour mortal hands! We are vessels of clay, but we arevessels. God can use us, and will, if we give proper attentionto the control, and the content, and the context, and thecondition of the vessel.

Are you available and expendable to God? If not,you will live a poor and meaningless life. If so, He will fillyou with “the light of the knowledge of His glory” and let itshine out through the earthen vessel of your mortal life.We must remind ourselves that our opportunity for livingthis life and sharing this treasure lasts only as long as ouroccupancy in this “earthen vessel.” Be sure that thetreasure is within you, surrender to the Master’s control,seek the place of maximum usefulness, keep the vesselclean and usable, and let the Master pour His Treasurethrough you.

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Portrait 7

A SERVANT

LIFE AT THE BOTTOM OFTHE SHIP

I Corinthians 4:1, “Let a man so account of us, as of theministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries ofGod.”

Claire Booth Luce once wrote, “Every great man’slife can be summarized in one sentence.”

Jesus had already said, “Whosoever will be greatamong you, let him be your minister; and whosoever willbe chief among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew20:26-27). There is the life of any great man, summarizedin a single sentence. Claire Booth Luce completed her

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statement with these words: “The life of every great mancan be summarized in a single sentence — and it isalways a sentence that has an active verb at the heart ofit.”

If you should look back over your own life — asobjectively as possible — what sentence would you writeto summarize your life? What would your active verb be?The active verb of every Christian should be, “serving.”According to Jesus, the overwhelming concept of everyChristian throughout this age is that of a servant (seeMatthew 25:14-30, where a departing landlord called hisservants together before he departed on a long trip to adistant land, and gave them the goods they were to usein serving him throughout the time of his absence).

In this study, I hope to profile a servant — to showwhat a servant looks like from God’s point of view. Thetext will be comprised of one brief but staggering verse.The context of this verse constitutes one of the greatestexplorations of servanthood found anywhere in Scripture.Our text is I Corinthians 4:1, but before we explore it, let’sbriefly analyze the passage that supplies the context ofthis verse. The larger context is I Corinthians 3:4-4:5, anentire chapter of Scripture. Let me outline the context,moving freely in the passage to create an order oftreatment.

I. The Complete Realism of a Servant — 3:4-8.

A servant realistically recognizes that he is

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“nothing.” He is free to admit this because of who he is inChrist. He is Somebody’s “everything”; therefore, he caneasily concede to be earth’s “nothing.”

II. The Crucial Role of a Servant — 4:1. This studywill deal with this verse.

III. The Constant Requirement of a Servant — 4:2.

IV. Because he is a steward as well as aservant, he must be “faithful.”

IV. The Consistent Resources of a Servant — 3:21-23. “All things” belong to the servant.

V. The Current Review of a Servant, 4:3-5.

Christian servants constantly pass in review before thesaints’ judgment, society’s judgment, self judgment, and theSaviour’s judgment.

VI. The Coming Reckoning of the Servant, 3:9-EveryChristian servant will be appraised forapproval at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

VII. The Compassionate Reward of theServant, 4:5.

We think that Jesus is “picking us to pieces” to see if Hecan find something to condemn in us, but He is actuallyexamining us to see if He can find anything in us to

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commend.

These premises underlie the text: (1) All believersare servants and ministers. (2) Each is to have his own God-given ministry. (3) By command, there is to be one ministrycommonly done by all believer/servants. Matthew 28:19commands all believers to “turn people into disciples,”and no servant should engage in any ministry that doesnot accomplish that.

In this study, we will seek to discover the crucialrole of the servant/minister. Paul said, “Let a man soaccount of us (major emphasis), as of the ministers ofChrist, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” How doyou want people to think of you? Some people want to bethought of as powerful, some as wise, some as wealthy,some as successful, etc. How do you want people tothink of you? Here, Paul tells us how a Christian shouldwant people to think of him. “Let a man esteem us thisway,” or “let a man think of us this way.” The verb“esteem” or “think” (“account” in the KJV) is in the presentimperative, so it says that this is the way we should wantpeople to think of us all the time, and that our lifestyleshould command this evaluation. Stand warned, dear friend,because this verse contains a tough ethic for a Christianto pursue.

There is a double profile of a Christian in this verse.Christians are ministers of Christ and stewards of themysteries of God. The word translated “ministers” might

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better be translated slaves (as we shall see), so the twokey words are conveniently “s” words. Christians are tobe thought of as slaves and stewards. Slaves of Christ, sotheir entire tenure and kind of slavery is to be determinedby Christ Himself and by their relationship with Him.Stewards of the mysteries of God, so their entirestewardship is a stewardship of truth; indeed, of the“deep things” of His Word.

The word “stewards” means “managers,” oroverseers, or caretakers, or trustees — and the estate tobe managed is that of God’s truth. God should be able to“turn His back” on you and have no worries at all aboutthe management of His truth! The position of a steward isa position of trust. No wonder, then, that verse two saysthat “it is required in stewards, that a man be foundfaithful.” Every Christian will give an account of how heheard, received, managed, taught, and propagated God’struth. Did I not say that this verse contains a tough ethicfor a Christian to pursue?

I want to call your particular attention to just oneword in this verse, the word translated “ministers.” Thisword is a giant word with a giant history. The Greek termis huperetes. This Greek word is a compound word; that is,it is a large word that is created by combining two smallerwords. Huper is a preposition which means “under” or“underneath.” The remainder of the word is the word foran oarsman on a boat, a person with his hands locked tothe oars, and he rows, either independently or in cadence

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with someone else. So this word means “an under-oarsman,” or “an under-rower.” “Let a man so think of you,”Paul says, “as an under-rower who belongs to Christ.”The city of Corinth was a large city of about 600,00 in thatday. It was located on a narrow strip of land (called an“isthmus”) which connected northern (mainland) Greecewith the Peloponnesian Peninsula of southern Greece. Amodern counterpart is the Isthmus of Panama, whichconnects North America and South America. So Corinthwas a maritime city. There were sailors everywhere,because the city was on a main east-west trade route.Ships and goods were transported by tramway acrossthat narrow strip of land to prevent the long andsometimes dangerous trip through the MediterraneanSea around the Peninsula.

Anyone who has ever visited Athens, Greece,probably saw more history than he realized. To look inany direction from Athens, Greece, is to look at theinception of western civilization. If you stood on Mars’ Hill,from which Paul preached when he was in Athens (Acts17), you could look in a westerly direction, and see thesetting sun shimmering like silver or gold on a bay ofwater. It is called the Bay of Salamis. You are a part ofwestern civilization today instead of Oriental civilizationbecause of a naval battle that was fought in the Bay ofSalamis. The battle was fought between the navies ofGreece and Persia. This battle forms a part of thebackground to the Biblical book of Esther. The navalfirepower of the Persians seemed to be much greaterthan the naval firepower of the Greeks — and yet the

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Greeks won the battle, and their victory secured westerncivilization. The Greek navy seemed to be tiny and ill-equipped compared to the Persian navy. But they used astrategy that the Persians did not anticipate.

The Persian ships were long, wide, flat, and heavy.Each side of the ship had only one set of oars and oarlocks running nearly the entire length of the ship. Theships were not easy to maneuver in the water becausethey were so large and cumbersome. The Greeks, on theother hand, created a ship that was very narrow, very tall,very streamlined, and very light in the water. Instead ofone set of oars on each side of these ships, the Greeksinstalled three tiers of oars and oar locks on each side ofthe ship. There was a tier of short oars at the bottom ofthe ship, a tier of intermediate-length oars on the middlelevel, and a row of long oars at the upper level. All of theoars reached to the same depth in the water, and theywere so spaced that, if they were rowed in cadence,maximum speed could be quickly attained by the ship.Because of the three tiers of oars, these tall and fastships were called triremes. They could be maneuveredvery rapidly in the water and skimmed fast over the sea.The Greeks tapered the front of each of these ships intoa sharp point, and then they covered the point with sharpmetal (like a sharp, cutting knife). This strange procedurewas a significant part of their strategy in defeating thePersian navy in the Battle of the Bay of Salamis.

When the Persians confidently sailed in formationinto the Bay of Salamis, the Greeks shocked them by

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charging their ships nose-to-nose. Each Greek shipmoved rapidly toward the nose of its chosen Persiancounterpart. It appeared that they were stupidly going toram the Persian ships. At the last minute, each Greekship veered to the right, cutting right down the side of thePersian warship. As they sped down the side of thePersian ship, the higher oars sank into the water at asharp downward angle and propelled the boats forwardat close range with the Persian ships. The sharp metalpoint, the “knife” at the front of the ship, did the work itwas designed to do. It sheered off all the oars on thatside of the Persian ship, leaving it to turn slowly in acircle. Then the Greek ship quickly maneuvered to theother side of the Persian ship and repeated the act on theother side. Now the Persian ship had no oars, and wasdead in the water. The Persians were helpless and at themercy of the Greeks, who then took deliberate steps tosecure a victory against the powerful Persian fleet. Thisvictory proved to be one of the most significant militaryvictories in world history.

The word Paul used in I Corinthians 4:1, the wordtranslated “ministers” in your English Bible, is the word forthat galley slave down in the lowest part of the ship. Hewas known as an huperetes, or an “under-rower.” So whatis a Christian to be like? How is he to think of himself? Asa slave who lives constantly at the bottom of the ship! So Goddid not save you to make you happy, or healthy, or rich.God saved you to place you in a slave’s position at thebottom of the ship. Why? Is He trying to abuse or mistreatyou? Not at all! He places you in this position because

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the personification of greatness in His Economy is that ofservanthood.

The oarsman was captured outside the ship,brought aboard the ship, installed in one seat, locked intoplace by a metal lock around his ankle, and might remainthere for the rest of his life! He would likely sit in that seatuntil death. His total life was under someone else’scontrol, and his total endowment came from some else! Irepeat, he will likely never leave the ship alive. Once hewas seated, he was a dead man on furlough. Are youthinking carefully? Have you ever seen anythingresembling this in your church? Usually, the church isoperated by the same standards that prevail in the world.Clout, competition, comparison, human intelligence —these are the standards by which the church is operated— and these standards are the governing standards ofthe world. What does it mean to be an huperetes, an“under-rower” at the bottom of the ship?

A MATTER OF CADENCE

To be an “under-rower” in Paul’s day was a matterof cadence, and so should it also be for a Christian. Yousee, there was a cadence captain who stood in a place atthe front of the ship’s hold, a place that was visible to allof the galley slaves. If you have seen any of the greatOlympic rowing races, you have seen the counterpart tothis person in the shell (the boat), calling out theoarsmen’s cadence which keeps them rowing together.

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The galley slave had only one assignment. He wasto keep his eyes on that captain, listen for his orders, androw in cadence with those orders. He was just to followthe cadence of the captain’s orders, and everything elsewould take care of itself. The same is true in the Christianlife. Robert Browning said, “He who keeps one thing inview makes all other things serve.” In those words, hedefined the galley slave’s vocation — to keep the Captainin view, obey his orders, and make all other things serve.Someone said, “When Jesus Christ is Lord, nothing elsecan be; when He is not Lord, anything else can be.” Thedecision to allow Jesus Christ to be Lord greatly solidifiesand simplifies life. It resolves the frustration whichsomeone called “The Mixed Management Syndrome.”

In her great book entitled God’s Joyful Surprises,Sue Monk Kidd wrote: “One night in February when thewind whistled around the house, I walked into mydaughter Ann’s room and came upon her idly pushing theinflated, plastic clown she had received at Christmas. Itwas one of those punching toys that always returnsupright to its rounded base, no matter how far over it ispushed. I watched the clown flop back when Ann pokedit, then roll up on its base, which had remained stationaryon the floor due to some kind of grounded center. Agrounded center! That was what I needed. A center thatremained still when the rest of me shifted. Something inthat toy kept it balanced from the center out, so thatwhichever way it fell, it came up again. So it was alwayskept upright, or restored to upright when it fell. That’swhat I needed to be whole, and to help me meet the

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varying demands of each day, while living intimately withGod as well. What does it mean to have ‘a Christ-centered life?’ Could it mean more than we haverealized? Through a toy clown, I was helped tounderstand what it meant to have Christ as the center ofmy life.”

The galley slave on board a Greek ship was likeany other kind of slave. He had no will of his own, norights of his own, no property of his own, and no scheduleof his own. He didn’t even know where the ship wasgoing! He might not even know when it had arrived! Itwas not his responsibility to check on the other oarsmen,or even on himself. He had only one commission — towatch and obey the cadence captain. He rowed to the“captain’s beat.” Christian, the Bible says that “the stepsof a good man are ordered by the Lord.” It is also truethat the stops of a good man are orchestrated by the Lord,and the stumblings of a good man are overcome by theLord, and the schedule of a good man is overseen (andoverruled, if necessary) by the Lord. The Lord orderseverything; our assignment is to watch Him and obeyHim! The Christian life is simply a rhythm determined by aCaptain.

What if the members, or organs, or cells of mybody (or yours) acted like many members of the Body ofChrist act? My body goes by a rhythm, a cadence. Theheart beats by a cadence, the lungs breathe by acadence, I follow the reasonable cadence of a regularschedule, etc. The Christian is to go by a cadence, by a

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rhythm, by a beat that originates in his Captain, Who ishigh and lifted up, and is to be kept in plain view.

A MATTER OF COOPERATION

To be an under-rower on a Greek ship was amatter of cooperation, and so should it also be for aChristian. There were at least 150 oars on each side ofthe ship, with 50 at each level. If the ship was going to bemobile and swift as designed and desired, the oarsmenhad to row “in sync.” Their common focus on the captainand following of his commands guaranteed that theywould row together. In the same manner, one of the keywords of the New Testament for Christians is the word,“together.” If even one oarsman failed to row incooperation with the others, the efficiency of the shipcould be destroyed, and battles, wars, and lives could belost, not to mention the ship itself. Unless the whole crewwon, no one won.

The concept of cooperation is very familiar in thesports world and in the business world (and perhaps bydefault, in the domestic world). Every coach knows thathe may have a group of all-stars on his team, but unlesshe can bring them to work together as a team, they willnot win.

In 1999, the San Antonio Spurs won the NBAbasketball championship. They had a star player who hadwon almost all the honors that were available on abasketball court in the NBA. His name was David

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Robinson, and he was clearly established in a super-starstatus with the Spurs. However, though he had amassedmany individual honors, his team could not win an NBAchampionship. Then the Spurs signed Tim Duncan, anAll-American for Wake Forest University, when hegraduated from college. This created a problem on theSpurs, because both Robinson and Duncan are sevenfeet tall — and they both are superstars. It was evidentthat the Spurs had an even bigger (forgive the pun)problem now — how to get two seven-foot superstars toplay together, not to mention the necessity to play withthe other team members. Not to worry! David Robinson,a devout Christian, subdued his individual talents, statusand statistics to the welfare of the team. His scoringaverage dropped to about half of what it had beenpreviously. He deliberately deferred to the talentedDuncan, and accepted something of a supportive role onthe team he had led from the beginning of his NBAcareer. This move on Robinson’s part was probably to becommended more than his ability and success as an NBAplayer. His subordinate position was surely far moredifficult than the attainment of the other honors! Andbecause he did it, the Spurs brought home their first NBAchampionship! David Robinson was able to see thatindividual records may be fine for the history books, butwhat matters far more is the performance and success ofthe entire team.

C.S. Lewis combined the two ideas of cadence andcooperation when he wrote this great paragraph in hisgreat book, The Problem of Pain: “Every player must by

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all means touch the ball and then immediately pass it on.To be found with it in your hands is a fault: to cling to it,death. But when it flies to and fro among the players tooswift for eye to follow, and the great master Himself leadsthe revelry . . . then indeed the eternal dance ‘makesheaven drowsy with the harmony.’ All pains andpleasures we have known on earth are early initiations inthe movement of that dance . . . As we draw nearer to itsuncreated rhythm, pain and pleasure sink almost out ofsight. There is joy in the dance, but it does not exist forthe sake of joy.” Read this paragraph again, meditatingon each part. Note in particular the phrase, “ . . . and thegreat master himself leads the revelry.” When He callsthe cadence and the players cooperate with Him and witheach other, victory is in sight.

No one likes a selfish performer, but when peopleget involved in cooperative performance, it becomescontagious. Each performer is lifted, supported andencouraged by the selfless contribution of all of theothers — and the team performs at a much higher level.This is why most good coaches — and most goodleaders — speak so often in the first-person plural. “Weneed. . .” “Our effort...” “Our goal . .” Each memberassumes responsibility for the team performance and forthe team product. Each member shares the glory — andaccepts the blame. The sound of the individualinstrument is blended with all the others, making asymphony instead of a cacophony (a mix of discordantsounds).

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Mary Beth Jones wrote, “Once Jesus began Hispublic ministry, He wasted no time in forming a team.Even the Son of God knew that He could not change theworld alone.” Though His team had several strong-minded and different individuals on it, He built them into acooperating team, a team on which these strong-mindedindividuals agreed to agree.

With three levels of oarsmen and 150 oars, it wasnecessary that the oars cut into the water simultaneously stroke after stroke, mile after mile, battle after battle. Thesame thing is true in the Christian life. It is clearly amatter of cooperation.

A MATTER OF COMMITMENT

To be an “under-rower” on a Greek ship was amatter of commitment, and so should it be for a Christiantoday. Even the galley slave’s commitment wasdetermined by the captain he was assigned to follow andby the government which owned him. Even so, aChristian’s very commitment is not to be determined byhimself. That would be a total violation of the Lordship ofChrist. His commitment is to be determined by thedecisive decree of his Captain and Owner. EveryChristian should know that he is not his own, that he hasbeen bought and paid for at a fearful price, and that he isto glorify the One who bought and owns him.

It has been said that “when you resign yourself tomediocrity, your resignation is accepted.” A boy came

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home from school one day with a black eye. His motherdemanded, “Who gave you that?” He retorted, “Mom,nobody gives you one of these; you have to fight for it!”Will you resign yourself to mediocrity, or make thecommitment that will enable you to fight through tovictory?

A father arrived home from work one evening. Hisyoung son bounced up into his lap and hugged him. Thefather asked, “Have you been a good boy today?” “No,”the boy answered. Then have you been a bad boytoday?” Again the answer was, “No.” “Well, if you haven’tbeen a good boy and you haven’t been a bad boy, whathave you been?” “Oh, just comfortable,” was the boy’ssmug reply. Many Christians are actually not very “bad,”but neither are they solidly committed to the assignedtask. If you observed them regularly, you would have tosay that they are smugly comfortable. However, in theNew Testament, a Christian’s “comfort” is miraculouslysupplied by the “Comforter” while at the battlefront.Commitment is far more to be desired than comfort. Tobe an under-rower aboard “the good ship Zion” requirescommitment.

A MATTER OF CONTINUATION

To be an “under-rower” on a Greek ship was amatter of continuation, and so should it be for a Christiantoday. An “under-rower” often did not come out of the shipalive. When the “under-rowers” on a Greek ship cameout, it was because they were carried out — dead. Their

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vocation was a “one-way trip.”

No Christian you know is a literal slave today,chained to a seat, owned by another, and forced to live ina slave’s confinement. But the same goals are to beapplied in a modified way. Christians are not “boughtslaves” only; they are also “bondslaves.” “Bondslaves”have been purchased and set free, and then they havebound themselves over voluntarily to the master whobought them. If they are free, only a commitment that haspersistence at the heart of it will keep them faithful. Andthis is the precise nature of the Christian life — it calls for“a commitment that has persistence at the heart of it.” Apoet promoted persistence with these words:

“One word won’t tell folks who you are — You’vegot to keep on talking;

One step won’t take you very far — You’ve got tokeep on walking;

One inch won’t make you very tall — You’ve got tokeep on growing;

One trip to church won’t tell you all — You’ve got tokeep on going.”

I have an evangelist friend whose life’s motto andmotive are expressed in the two words, “Plough On.” He

wrote a “poem” which expresses it. The poem says,“Plough on, plough on, plough on, plough on, plough on,

plough on .

. .” It has a lot of stanzas, but you’ve gotten the point.Being an “under-rower” for Christ requires continuation or

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persistence.

A MATTER OF CONDESCENSION

Finally, to be an “under-rower” for Christ is a matterof condescension. Humility is a top priority for a successful“under-rower.” The “under-rower” on a Greek shipreceived no honor whatsoever; only the Captain wasvisible to the outside world.

Remember that the “under-rower” was near thebottom of a narrow ship. With 150 oarsmen, someonesurely would get seasick on a voyage or during a fight atsea. When he “heaved,” his product would fall to thelowest place on the ship. So the “under-rower” might becovered with the refuse of someone else’s sickness. Sohis position was a humble one, even if he did not concurwith his assignment. He may get callouses, but he got nocredit. He may get fatigue, but he got no flowers.

Now the punch line of the message. All that an“under-rower” did had one purpose to it: He moved theoars and the ship at the command and cadence ofanother — so that others could reach their destination!This is, indeed, a demanding ethic. Anders Nygren said,“There is no tree that bears fruit for its own use; the sundoes not shine for itself. It is only man and the devil thatin everything seek their own.”

Simone Weil said that two great forces rule theuniverse: gravity and grace. Gravity causes one body to

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attract other bodies so that it continually enlarges byabsorbing more and more of the universe into itself. Thissame force operates in human beings. We too want toexpand, to acquire, to swell in significance. Grace is theonly exception to that rule. Grace begins in a heart whoseonly ground for blessing others is its own desire to do so.The whole focus of the gracious person is on others, noton himself.

Charles Plumb was a United States Navy jet pilot inVietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane wasdestroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected andparachuted into enemy hands. He was captured andspent six years in a communist Vietnamese prison. Hesurvived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learnedfrom that experience. One day, when Plumb and hiswife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another tablecame up and said, “You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters inVietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You wereshot down!” “How in the world did you know that?” askedPlumb. “I packed your parachute,” the man replied.Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The manpumped his hand and said, “I guess it worked!” Plumbassured him, “It sure did. If your chute hadn’t worked, Iwouldn’t be here today.”

Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about thatman. Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he had lookedlike in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, andbell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I mighthave seen him and not even said ‘Good morning, howare you?’ or anything, because, you see, I was a fighter

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pilot and he was just a sailor.” Plumb thought of the manyhours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in thebowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds andfolding the silks of each chute, holding in his hand eachtime the fate of someone he didn’t know and might neversee.

Who packed your parachute – out of sight, andunsung? Whose parachute are you packing – out ofsight, and unsung? Remember that God “sees” and“rewards” those who don’t court human applause asmuch as they simply seek His approval. And someone maybe in desperate need today of the parachute you packed!

Let me conclude this study with two verses whichtravel in close proximity in Paul’s Second Epistle to theCorinthians. Note that these verses were written by theApostle Paul. Paul was at least a third-generationChristian (possibly a fourth-generation believer—Jesus toPeter to Barnabas through the Day of Pentecost toSaul/Paul). The first sentence is a small part of IICorinthians 12:19, which says, “We do all things, dearlybeloved, for your edifying” (the word in heavy italicizedprint bears major emphasis in the Greek text—a loudshout on the page). And in the next chapter (IICorinthians 13:9), Paul wrote, “This we wish, even yourperfection” (again, the word in heavy italicized print bearsmajor emphasis in the Greek text). Here is the secret ofthe servant-ministry that originated with Jesus, wasimparted to His disciples through an intensive disciple-making process, spread through the early church, and

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“turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6)! And it woulddo the same thing today! But first, an army of bond-slaves of Christ must volunteer for “life at the bottom ofthe ship.” It takes exceptional courage and commitment andpersonal poise to be willing to be little so that somebody elsecan be big. But remember that God said, “A little one shallbecome a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: Ithe Lord will hasten it in his time” (Isaiah 60:22).

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