Focal Point

Dave Druey: Today on Focal Point with Pastor Mike Fabarez.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Before you throw up your hands and say we're living in a time that's really not hostile to the gospel—oh and I know, maybe they're not throwing us in prison, yet. Are we really giving our all?

The writer of Hebrews trying to say, you know, can't we do more? Maybe we shouldn't complain about the splinter in our finger when the greats of the Christian life have hauled around the beam of a cross and been killed for the cause.

Dave Druey: It's easy to start grumbling when we're the least bit inconvenienced. And yet previous champions of the faith experienced similar persecution and far worse. Today on Focal Point, Pastor Mike Fabarez coaches us to toughen up when it comes to our fight with sin.

Perhaps the struggle of temptation is overwhelming you, or you're taking some criticism because of your commitment to holiness. We'll find motivation to stand strong as we look at Hebrews chapter 12. It's a message called reconsidering how hard we're willing to fight.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Well, dodgeball was the first to go. Bombardier, don't even think about it. Capture the flag, not going to happen. Not in a lot of places, not in these days of our hypersensitivity to everyone's feelings.

As you might have read, a growing number of school districts across the country are banning all kinds of sports—soccer, football, any kind of sport that may require keeping score. They don't like that. As a matter of fact, some school boards have even suggested that teachers not use red ink because of the oversensitivity to Johnny's feelings about the negativity of the color red. That might hurt his feelings.

I'm not making this up. Some of you nod at me, you've read this stuff, right? We don't want our precious's feelings about this paper being substandard, and so we want to be really careful that we don't make him feel like he could do better, perhaps. We wouldn't want that.

I'm sure there's some bleeding heart somewhere that wants our teachers to stop grading altogether. Just not grade them. We might hurt their feelings. We don't want anybody to feel like they are less than what they could be. Well, that kind of lets you know what I feel about that. Was that obvious?

I feel that way, I would hope in part, because God's Word seems to be antithetical to that kind of thinking. God is not the kind of God who shies away from the fact that there are winners and there are losers. And that even among the winners, there are some that bear fruit, some 30, and some 60, and some 100 fold.

He's forthright about his methods of testing and grading and evaluation. God doesn't shy away from that. As a matter of fact, he knows that that is a very important tool in our lives to motivate us to move forward. He knows that if we understand where we are and where we could be or where we should be, he knows that can be the prompting that we need to move forward.

It doesn't always feel good. We don't like the grades posted in the hallways so we can have everybody see how we compare. It's kind of akin to the feeling we get in bristling at a parent saying, "Why aren't you more like your brother?" We don't like that. But sometimes if you think about it, that's a valid question. Why aren't you more like your brother?

There are times when if you have equal privilege and equal opportunity, then why is it that maybe you're not applying yourself as you ought? Sometimes the highlighting of the comparison is helpful, though it doesn't always feel good.

We've been looking in Hebrews chapter 12 at the calling for us to fight sin. To say no to temptation and say yes to what is right. And we've done a lot of comparison. Against the backdrop of Hebrews chapter 11, we've seen a lot of drawerful of baseball cards and hitters that are batting 350. And we saw last week even the beginning of a comparison.

But it starts to get pretty personal in verse number four. As a matter of fact, there are some people that read this verse and want to quickly just move on to the next verse because it almost feels like a backhanded insult like, "Well, you know what, you're just a minor leaguer." And people don't like that.

But remembering Proverbs 27, which tells us that it's really the enemy who loves to multiply kisses, and faithful are the wounds of a friend. Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed. I think it would be good for us, it would behoove us to say, "Why don't we let that resonate for a while?"

Why don't we make these eight words in the Greek New Testament in verse number four, why don't we let those words just penetrate our heart for a while, even though they may make us feel a little inferior? Even though it may look like he's saying to us, "Well, you really don't measure up to some other people."

And if you think I'm just kind of hopscotching over the first-century group, just recognize that if we were to compare ourselves to the first-century Christians, we might even seem like minor leaguers to them. And the writer of Hebrews is saying to them, "You know what, you're not really having the kind of resolve and commitment to fight sin and do the right thing that some of the people of old had." So the comparison is doubly true for us.

Here's what he says. Hebrews chapter 12, verse number four. He summarizes what we've been talking about. He says, "In your struggle against sin," you can see this, you can feel it now. Come on, guys, he says, "you haven't resisted to the point of shedding your blood." It's kind of like, come on, look at you. You don't even have any blisters yet.

Talk about batting 350. I mean, you're walking home with the bat over your arm going, "I'm just kind of sore." And he's saying, "Where's your calluses? Where's the signs of your struggle to really say no to sin and say yes to what is right? I don't really think you compare to the guys we just read about in chapter 11."

It'd be good for us to look at those again real quick. Look at that, the end of chapter 11. We could read the whole chapter, but when he gets to the place where he says, "I'm out of time," we get this rapid-fire list of people and he says things like this, verse 32. "What more shall I say? I don't have time to tell of Gideon or Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, or the prophets."

There's a mouthful. A lot of people who did some amazing things for God who through faith they conquered kingdoms. You want to talk about stepping out of the crowd and being distinctive in an ability to follow God and say, "I'm going to do whatever it takes." They administered justice. When the calling came, they stepped up.

They're not perfect, they're not Jesus Christ, I get it. But man, they sure showed that they were willing to follow even at great personal cost. And speaking of that, middle of verse 33, sometimes their commitment to do what's right, it landed them in places like the lions' den. But the good news is we saw great exploits of these people of faith shutting the mouths of lions.

Or how about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, verse 34. They were thrown into the fire because they weren't keeping their little Jewish dietary laws and not compromised. But you know what, look what God did. He met them in the furnace and they quenched the fury of the flame. Or how about those people that were so hated for their righteousness that they were threatened?

They were on the most wanted posters, but God allowed them to escape the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. Their cowardice was turned to boldness. Their timidity was turned to courage. They became powerful in battle and they routed foreign armies. And even in the height of the classical prophet period of the Old Testament, in the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, we see women receiving back their dead. Their children were raised to life again. Amazing victories.

But right here in the middle of verse 35, everything turns. But sometimes because they stood up for what was right, God didn't protect them. I know sometimes he didn't let them have their sandals wear out, they didn't even get blisters on their feet, but you know what, sometimes they were tortured.

But even in their torture, they recognized the privilege of suffering for what is right and they refused to be released. They knew they would gain a better resurrection. But as a regular fare for these people that did some amazing things for God, they were tortured and they refused to be released. They were jeered at, they were flogged, they were put in chains and put in prison.

Verse 37, some people threw rocks at them. They were stoned, they were sawn in two and God didn't deliver them. They paid the ultimate price. They were put to death by the sword. They didn't get rich off their commitment to godliness. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated. And man, these are the heroes. The world wasn't worthy of these folks. They wandered in the desert and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground.

After that list, he says, "Being surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, come on, let us run with endurance the race set before us. Let's cast off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us." And then he says, last week we saw it, look at Christ. He was willing to go to the cross.

Talk about shedding blood for the sake of doing what's right. He could have whipped out in the garden but he didn't. He said, "I'll do the right thing, I'll go, I'll be crucified." And now he says, "What about you guys? Back to you again. How about your struggle against sin? Your commitment to do the right thing? Oh, that's right. You don't have any scars. Haven't really cost you a whole lot."

And before you throw up your hands and say, "Well, you know, that's because we're living in a time that's really not hostile to the gospel," I think you'll find there's a lot that we could do to really distinctively stand up for truth that probably would cost us. As a matter of fact, it's the cost that often keeps our mouth shut.

It's the pain, it's the ridicule, it's the people looking away from us when we walk into the office and we don't want to distinguish ourselves that way. Oh and I know, maybe they're not throwing us in prison, yet. But things are getting worse, aren't they? It's just a matter of time. I know we've had a little reprieve here in modern American history in the last few hundred years, but times are changing.

And to stand up and say this is true, Jesus is the way, the truth, the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him and anyone else who says they're the path to God is wrong. To make statements like that of the exclusivity of the gospel, that's going to get you in trouble. Not to mention the ethical code that comes in the scripture that says this is right and that is wrong.

Start preaching that stuff 25, 30 years from now and see if your preachers and Bible study leaders don't get thrown in prison. It's getting worse. And if for nothing else, it's time for us to gear up and say, "What are we willing to pay for this? Are we really giving our all?" And I know it's hard, but he makes the comparison.

Look at your brothers. Look at your brethren, if you will, who were spilling their blood to do the right thing. What about you and your struggle against sin? Oh, that's right. You haven't resisted to the point of shedding your blood. You know what he's saying to us? He's saying we're lightweights and we need to admit it.

Number one on your outline—I don't know if you're willing to admit it, but jot it down—I think we should admit it. We're lightweights. That's a good way to put it. We're just lightweights. We're playing tee-ball here, okay? Little American Christian with your struggle to do the right thing. Come on, really?

Look at what we complain about. I got a nasty email. I did the right thing and look, they're persecuting me. He hurt my feelings. He doesn't want to fellowship with me anymore. Paul is looking over the scars of being whipped and stoned, people throwing rocks at his body, and we're complaining about an email.

A lot of people are going, "Well, I don't know if I can do another night out this week for church stuff. I don't know, I've just been out so much." We're just martyrs for the cause, really? Another hour? You won't get to watch your favorite television show? You'll have to TiVo it, really? And watch it at another time? Oh, you're suffering for Christ, really? That's big. How impressive.

The writer of Hebrews trying to say, "No, it's not all that impressive. You're really not suffering all that much." We're lightweights. My wife and I say that. We love that phrase. We say it back and forth all the time when we are tempted to complain about the sacrifice of doing the right thing. We do the right thing and things are hard or we get a few critics or enemies or we lose opportunities or privileges, we just say, "We're lightweights. Come on."

We are not the people we read about in the scripture. We haven't shed blood in our striving against sin. Our struggle to do what's right, we haven't done that yet. Yeah, words, we've had a few people not like us, but come on. Shedding our blood? We're not martyrs. We're inconvenienced. We get our feelings hurt. The writer of Hebrews is, come on, think about it. You're lightweights.

And the goal of that is not just to make you feel inferior, it's not to put a big F on your paper. The writer of Hebrews trying to say, "Can't we do more? Couldn't we have a greater resolve?" When we're saying in our hearts, "God, you wouldn't put this desire in my life if you didn't want me to fulfill it."

Yeah, it's about taking up our cross. There's going to be sacrifice involved. And maybe we shouldn't complain about the splinter in our finger when the greats of the Christian life have hauled around the beam of a cross and been killed for the cause. And we're worried about missing a television show. Let's admit we're lightweights.

When I think about it in ministry, I always go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Why don't you turn there with me real quick? Here's Paul's list. And it's great that it's there for us because it's so instructive and it's needed. But Paul is reluctantly saying all this. Because here's the deal, there were some in the Corinthian church that were stepping up and saying, "Follow us."

It's the precursor to the prosperity gospel. Here's a bunch of people saying follow Christ and it won't have to cost you. And Paul says, "No, that's not how it is at all." As a matter of fact, people that are really servants of Christ, they pay the penalty. There is a price tag, there is a sacrifice involved. In resisting the wrong and doing the right, there's a struggle.

And he says that's going to be part and parcel of the whole deal. Verse 23. Now remember, he's making a comparison and he's doing it reluctantly. If you glance up from verse 23, he's made it clear, "I'm not doing this because I think you need to really look at my resume and I'm polishing my badges here so you can see what a great guy I am."

He's just saying your leaders have got the wrong gospel. They've got the wrong perspective on all this. He says, "Are they servants of Christ?" This is 2nd Corinthians 11, verse 23. "Are they servants of Christ? I'm out of my mind to talk like this. I get it. But you need to know I am more. And why? I've worked harder and been imprisoned more frequently."

Because my commitment to do the right thing, it's costly. "I've been flogged more severely." And I think that's all tongue-in-cheek and definitely sarcastic. There's a ton of sarcasm, by the way, in 2nd Corinthians. Why? Because these people hadn't been flogged. The leaders that they were talking about, they hadn't been flogged. Probably none of them had ever been in prison.

He says, "I've been exposed to death again and again. And let me explain that to you," he says in verse 24. "Five times I received from the Jews the 40 lashes minus one." Now, that was the death sentence—40 lashes minus one. It wasn't going to kill you, but it was going to hurt.

They were going to take that cat of nine tails and dig those sharp shards of bone and teeth into your skin on that leather scourge, and they were going to rip and plow your back and you were going to bleed. 39 lashes. He received that five times. Can you imagine after Paul's morning ablutions as he's putting on his smock, his robe? Can you imagine what his back looked like? Think about that.

And you've got some people that might treat you funny at the office. Look at his back in your mind's eye. This is someone who's giving his all for the cause. He says this, "They took me out back," verse 25, "like with baseball bats behind the church and beat me with rods. That happened to me. Let's see, three times I think I got beaten with rods by baseball bats behind the church."

And you got folks turning their nose up at you? And we're saying, "Well, I don't know, maybe I'm too much of a radical Jesus freak now, maybe I should back it down. Relationship's important to God, you know, so I..." Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, they threw rocks at me. And I'm sure there were broken bones involved. This was not good. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I mean, this is a long list and you can read the rest. He's gone through it.

And most of this, as a matter of fact, drop down to verse number 29. Most of it was because he was caring about the things that God was caring about, including a walk of righteousness and a battle and a resistance toward sin. He says, "Who's not weak and I don't feel weak? Who is led into sin and I don't inwardly burn?"

He can't even put his feet up on the coffee table and kind of relax at night because his heart is breaking for those that are being lured into sin. Yeah, that was his life. And we need to say, "I don't know, is it really that big of a deal for me to stand up with a little more resolve and be willing to tell my appetites to take a hike because God's word tells me not to do that?" Yeah, I got desires, but I'm going to say no to those.

We're lightweights. And I think it's important for us to think through scripture that way. That's what Hebrews 11 was all about. Daniel, lions' den. Let's think that one through again real quick. Daniel could have done what most of us would do because we don't want to be persecuted. We'd say, "You know what, prayer's not all about an open window and getting on our knees, right? Can you pray without all that?"

He could have said, "Well, God knows my heart. I can pray silently and kind of walk around while I'm vacuuming or whatever and I can pray." I don't need to get on my knees and open the window. But that was his custom and he was not going to compromise. And that ended him up one night in a lions' den.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. How many people would say, "Well, it's just food, what does it matter?" It doesn't matter. I know that's the tradition of the Jews and I know that's Levitical rules, but God understands. He wants us alive. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could have said to each other, "He much more cares about us being alive here. He doesn't want us to tell the King of Babylon, 'No, we're not going to eat your food.'" They didn't compromise and they got thrown into a fiery furnace.

Jesus—that's the closest comparison—who endured the cross. There's so many reasons for him not to go to the cross. And then his apostles who stood up. Stephen, did Stephen really have to tell all those leaders they were wrong? Couldn't he just gone to his closet and pray and said, "God, I know they're wrong, just convict them in your own time?"

He stood up and said, "You guys are leading people down the wrong path, you're the blind leading the blind, you're wrong." And they picked up rocks and they killed him. And God in his providence didn't protect him and he died that day. Peter—now we're getting outside of the scope of biblical history—but history tells us that Peter, because of his commitment to Christ, was crucified naked upside down.

And you could do the list of the rest of the 11, right? With the exception of John, they were all killed a brutal death because they would not compromise. And if that's not enough, I want you to be inspired and say, "God, you know what, I need to read about those that are willing to go the extra mile and give of their comfort and some of them their lives for the sake of the gospel, the sake of doing what's right."

I often recommend that you read this book right here, The Foxe's Book of Martyrs. I don't usually bring books up to the platform, but I wanted to show you this. This was on the nightstand of most of our spiritual forefathers in America. Those that turned the world upside down. And the reason we are not yet in massive persecution in the church is because the early Christians in America, under the preaching of Whitefield and Edwards and all these guys that got up there and said we need to stand up for what's right and not cower, they had these two books on their shelf.

They were the two best-selling books of early America. First of all, of course, our Bible, the Word of God. And underneath that on their nightstand sat this book, The Foxe's Book of Martyrs. It was the best-selling book second to the Bible in early America. And what did our spiritual forefathers read?

They read about people that gave their all from the time of the New Testament all the way to the time of the writing of this book. Fox had done it much earlier, it's been added to since, but they were reading about all the things that took place in England and in Europe of people saying, "I'm going to stand up for what's right." And these two books right here inspired our spiritual forefathers in America to stand up and say, "You know what, we're willing to be ridiculed or maligned or whatever they want to do to us, but we're going to stand up for this book, God's Word."

And if you haven't read this, you need to. Get another book on the list and spend some time thinking through people like Perpetua, a 22-year-old who was told by the Roman government that she had to deny Christ and say Caesar was Lord and she wouldn't do it. And she's nursing a child and her father trying to speak reason into your 22-year-old daughter who is cradling your grandchild saying, "Listen, just tell them whatever they want to hear. God will understand. God will understand. Just say what you have to say in your heart, God knows your heart."

And Perpetua said, "No, I will not deny Christ." And Perpetua gets thrown into the arena of the lions and the Romans stand in their revelry and they watch this young girl get stripped and ripped limb by limb by the lions in the Colosseum all because she wouldn't say the words that the pagans in her life wanted her to say.

And I'm telling you, all you got to do is get into stories like that and then ask yourself a question when God's call and conviction is on your life to go the extra mile or deprive yourself of some appetite in your life and you're going to go, "Come on, I'm a lightweight. I think I could do more. I think I could say no with a little more resolve and I think I could say yes to the right thing with a little bit more passion." In your struggle against sin, you've not resisted to the point of shedding blood. How far are you willing to go to do the right thing?

Dave Druey: When we need some motivation, we can look to the example of Christians who have gone before us. This is Focal Point, and you're listening to a message titled reconsidering how hard we're willing to fight. We're in a series called our fight with sin. And remember you can always revisit or share these daily lessons by going online to focalpointradio.org or by downloading the free Focal Point app.

We've got a book this month that we think will stretch you in the best way. It's called Sinners in the Hands of a Good God by David Klotfelter. Some readers come to this book expecting to be scolded and end up surprised instead. Surprised by how much room there is in scripture for both a God who judges and a God who chases after his own.

Klotfelter doesn't rush past the hard parts to get to the comforting ones. He lets them stand together, and the picture that emerges is sturdier than anything a half-truth could give you. Sinners in the Hands of a Good God is our thank you when you give to Focal Point this month. Call our team at 888-320-5885 or give at focalpointradio.org.

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And if you're a new listener, we'd love to send you a free copy of Storing Up Treasures by Pastor Mike Fabarez. Just contact us for the first time at focalpointradio.org. Well I'm Dave Druey. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the next part of our message, reconsidering how hard we're willing to fight, Thursday on Focal Point with Mike Fabarez.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Hi, Pastor Mike here. God's Word promises it'll never return void. So I wonder how is God's Word moving in your heart right now? Drop us a line, let us know. We'd love to hear from you. We'd love to be praying for you here. Just go to focalpointradio.org. And then be sure to join us again tomorrow right here as we continue to explore the depths of scripture. We'll see you then.

Dave Druey: Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.