Never Give Up

 

When we learn the truth of the gospel message, come to believe it, and then sincerely obey it we sometimes expect more of ourselves than is humanly possible for us to deliver.  When we first come out of the water of our baptism we are determined that we will not sin, we are going to live sin free.  This attitude is to be highly commended but is also unrealistic. 

 

Many who obey the gospel do so when young and thus their own expectations about life are not in accord with reality.  They have little idea of what it will be like to live as an adult in the real world with the pressures that daily face people.  When they are confronted with them, are no longer sheltered but must face them head on, they begin to stumble here and there on occasion.  Discouragement settles in for the one who was sincere in his or her gospel obedience.

 

The thinking becomes I have sinned, and then I did it again either in the same way or another way, and then again, and the first thing you know it seems like you are trapped in a body that not only insists on sinning but has power over one’s own will.  We become discouraged and cease feeling good about ourselves.  We think I am not good enough;   I cannot live the Christian life; I am just not a strong enough person. 

 

The truth is that almost all of us at one point in time or another have felt that way, often over extended periods of time.  What do we do when that happens?  Too many just gradually give in to those kinds of feelings and give up.  But, is the situation hopeless?  Does it have to be that way?  I would like to take a look into the lives of some of God’s people who seemingly had the same problems I speak of here and see what they did that was sinful, what led them to do it, and how they handled it in the hope that it will help all of us.

 

There is no doubt that Moses was a great man of God.  He spoke with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration prior to Christ’s suffering.  The Hebrew writer says of Moses, “And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant.” (Heb. 3:5 NKJV)  Yet, we know God would not allow Moses to enter the promised land because of his own sin.  What was that sin?

 

While the children of Israel were traveling through the wilderness after having come out of the land of Egypt they came to a place later called Massah and Meribah, a place where there was no water and a place in which the people grew thirsty and began to complain to Moses.  Moses went to God concerning the matter and God directed him to go to the rock there and speak to the rock and strike it with his rod and water would come forth.  Moses did this but failed to give God the glory instead saying before striking the rock “must we bring water for you out of this rock?”  We infer from this that he was speaking of himself and his brother Aaron who was with him.  God was left out of the picture and not given the glory.  For this Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land.  (See the accounts of this in Exodus 17:1-7, Numbers 20:2-13, Numbers 20:24, Numbers 27:12-14, and Deut. 32:48-52.)

 

Moses was such a great man of God that God spoke to him face to face.  “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend,” is what the Bible says in Exodus 33:11 (NKJV) (see also Num. 12:8 and Deut. 34:10).  Please note that this is said of Moses 16 chapters after the events concerning the water at the rock, after Moses’ sin.  So, what was it that would cause such a great man of God to sin in this way?

 

The answer is the very same thing that gets to us as Christians today – pressure on the job, stress in our life.  Moses in Exodus 17:2 says to the people who were complaining, “Why do you contend with me?”  The very next verse, verse 3, says, “the people complained against Moses”, and it gets so bad that in verse 4 Moses says to God, “What shall I do with this people?  They are almost ready to stone me!”  That is pressure on the job.  When Moses says they are almost ready to stone me we should not think that he is speaking figuratively but stoning was a real possibility if things did not soon get better. 

 

The Psalmist says with regards to this event, (Psalms 106:32-33 ESV), “They angered him (God – DS) at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account, for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips.”  Moses grew angry and bitter at the people and spoke rashly out of passion rather than calmly with forethought and failed to give God the glory.  When we speak in the heat of passion there is seldom any good that can come out of it.

 

I have used Moses as an example for us today for how often it is that Christians find themselves in very high stress situations, under all kinds of pressure, and the result is that we too end up like Moses and sin under the stress.  What kinds of sin?  A whole host of sins could be mentioned, here are a few.  We begin to put God on the back burner and give him second place in our lives feeling that there is just not enough time to do everything.  Attendance at worship services begin to lag, Bible reading ceases, prayer time diminishes, there is no time for good works, we begin doing whatever it is that is required of us to stay in good standing in our job even if it means sacrificing our Christian life.  It is easy to eventually end up as a Christian drop out.

 

This can happen and it does happen all of the time.  The more professional your job, the more responsibility you have, the more of an executive position you hold the tougher it becomes.  Expectations are so great and the kinds of people we often work with are far from having Christian character, just the opposite, and it makes it very difficult to survive as a Christian.  With all the attempts to get the most out of the least it seems about everyone is under pressure on the job no matter what position they hold – blue collar or white collar.

 

I want to say there are no easy answers to these kinds of situations that we find ourselves in.  I heard one preacher say words to the effect that we can quit.  Yes, and then what?  Will the next job be any better?  This is America 2007 and soon to be 2008.  If there are any stress free jobs in our country today I do not know where or what they are.  We cannot herd sheep.  What can we do then?

 

We can hang in there.  We can fight the battle as best we can.  We can pray to God for help.  We can do our best.  We can trust God’s grace.  We can follow Moses example and not give up.  When God told him of his sin and told him he would not be allowed into the promised land he could have given up.  He could have said I have the toughest job in the world leading these people that are continually giving me a hard time and they are bringing me down with them and I quit, I give up. Despite my best efforts I cannot live faithfully and please God.

 

Had Moses done this what then?  Where would he be today?  Would he have met with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?  Would he have been called a faithful man in the book of Hebrews as is the case?  What did Moses do?

 

He did not quit.  He accepted his sin for what it was and went on with life.  He continued to trust in God as his hope and salvation.  This is exactly what we need to do today.  Remember Moses when things get tough in your life and follow his example.

 

Another man I would like to deal with is David.  You know the story of David, a man the Bible says was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14).  And yet, as great a man of God as David was, his sin with Bathsheba is perhaps the best known case of adultery that ever occurred.  And, one can add murder to his list of sins for having Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, killed.  The account of this affair can be found in 2 Samuel 11 and 12.

 

David was a man who had always done God’s will.  If he had lived in the Christian era we would say there is a man who is so strong in the faith that it is impossible for me to live up to the example he sets.  We might well say of him, if he lived near us, that he is the best Christian man I have ever met.  Of course, David was not a Christian as he lived under the law of Moses but I say this to emphasize what a man of God he truly was, a super role model.

 

Yet, he fell mightily.  He lusted with his eyes and heart after Bathsheba and then had her husband Uriah killed to cover his tracks and hide his sin when he discovered Bathsheba was with child, his child.  All this sin began when because of outside stimulus his heart ceased to be pure.

 

Yet, despite his sin, as horrible as it was, the Bible speaks highly of him.  Here is what it says in comments that are being made about Abijam, a king that came later down the road after David.  1 Kings 15:3-5 (NKJV), “His heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.  Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”  

 

When David’s life on earth ended he was found in God’s favor.  The words I just quoted above were after David’s death. 

 

What can we learn from what happened to David?  I start with this.  Don’t be deceived, there is no one no matter how spiritual they may appear and may even actually be, who is not capable of sin, even grievous sin.  We sometimes tend to think others are strong and not tempted like me.  Don’t be overly sure of that.  No one is struggling like me.  Don’t be sure of that.  No one has to fight temptation like me.  Don’t be sure of that.  It is said that David was around 50 years old at the time of this sin.  It is not just the young who struggle to be faithful.

 

Secondly, David’s sin was to begin with the result of factors external to himself.  He saw, he was tempted, he lusted.  How many of our own sins begin with factors external to ourselves.  We see this or that, we hear this or that, it creates desire within our heart, and we give in to temptation.  We may not see a naked lady bathing but everyday we are exposed to things from the outside that cause lust in our hearts whether it be sexual lust, as was the case with David, or the desire for possessions, or the desire to have position and authority and be praised and honored as we see other men and women being praised and honored, or maybe just the desire to fit in and be accepted as one of the guys.  What we see and hear has an affect upon us all.

 

It is a battle all of us fight.  Paul said in 1 Cor. 10:13 (NKJV), “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man” which tells us to not kid ourselves.  We are not alone in being tempted by the things of this world.  But, Paul goes on and says, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 

 

But, you may be saying to yourself as you examine your own life that I failed.  I did not take the way of escape.  Well, you have joined vast multitudes of God’s own people that would have to confess the same thing at various points in their lives including David, the great man of God.  The point is that it is not hopeless.

 

We all believe we are going to see David in heaven.  Why?  Because he repented and he did not give up.  It would be easy for a man who has committed adultery and murder to go into the depths of despair so deep as to never come out again.  Imagine the shame, the self loathing, the inability to look at one’s self in the mirror, the eternal regret and sorrow.

 

What is the lesson?  Never give up, there is always good reason for hope.  God will forgive you no matter how atrocious your sins may be.  The bible says he is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  Jesus did not come to earth to die on the cross just so men could die in sin.  I remind the reader that both Moses and David were men of God at the time of their sins.  God forgave them.  He will forgive you and me if we repent and do not give up.  Nothing most people have done will compare with what David did.  You have never murdered have you?  God forgave him.  God will forgive you.

 

The 51st Psalm was written by David the result of this sin he had committed and after Nathan had confronted him and David had repented.  First, he asks for forgiveness and acknowledges his transgressions but then he says in verse 10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  Do you think God was capable of doing that with David?  Do you think he is capable of doing that with you or me when we get caught up in sin?  Remember David is speaking or writing but doing so by inspiration of the Holy Spirit who led him to utter these words.  God is able and willing if we like David will repent.

 

Then note verses 16 and 17 where David says, “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart - These, O God, You will not despise.” (Psalm 51:16-17 NKJV)  When a man or woman truly from the depths of their heart repents God will forgive them and we are talking here about the children of God.  Remember how the father received back the prodigal son in the New Testament?  The message is God wants us back.

 

In closing I want to touch on a few passages in the New Testament.  The church at Corinth was full of sinning Christians.  The book of 1st Corinthians was written for the purpose of getting the brethren to repent.  Just about every sin you can think of was going on in the church there.  This included even a man who had his father’s wife sexually. 

 

Paul wrote the brethren back some what later giving us the book of 2nd Corinthians.  In that book he makes it clear that even this man was forgiven as he had repented.  He says to the brethren, “you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.  Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.” (2 Cor. 2:7-8 NKJV)

 

In 2 Cor. 2:10-11 Paul says concerning this man and this situation, “Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive.  For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devises.”

 

Barnes in his commentary on this passage says, “And the idea is, that they should at once re-admit the penitent offender to their communion, lest if they did not do it, Satan would take advantage of it to do injury to him and them. It is a reason given by Paul why they should lose no time in restoring him to the church.”

 

Concerning the sins of the brethren at Corinth besides this man’s sin Paul says in 2 Cor. 7:9-10 (NKJV), “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance.  For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.  For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

 

Remember we are talking to and about Christians here.  Their repentance led to their salvation.  They suffered loss in nothing for they repented and God received them again.

 

Still there were some at Corinth that had not repented in contrast to those who had.  Paul writes in 2 Cor. 12:21 that he fears when he comes to them again that there will be some that “have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.” (NKJV)  Yes, Christians can become involved in anything as did David but if we will repent God will forgive.  Paul’s lament here is that they have not repented.

 

The very last passage I want to touch on is found in Hebrews 10:35-36.  It seems the brethren were growing weary and about to give up and drift away.  They are admonished, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” (NKJV)

 

The message – don’t give up.  No matter how weak you may be at times, no matter how many sins you may commit as a Christian, no matter how bad they may be don’t give up.  It is never hopeless until we give up.  We are all in the same boat together.  John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 NKJV)  Sin hits us all even as Christians.  The other guy may just do a better job hiding his.  Quitters never win and never can.  Only when we quit is it over.  Jesus came into the world to save us, not condemn us.  Let us do as David did, repent, and then get up and get going again.  You have the road of salvation to travel so get up and get going again.