The Bible calls on us in 1 Corinthians 16:13 to stand up like men should, not to be a butter-toast christian. This exhortation is not directed just to our men, but is used in the general sense of the word for both genders.
There was a time here in Singapore, not too long ago, that when a person wanted to obey the Lord in baptism, they would bring a suitcase with them. This is because they were going against the will of the family, and wanted to be prepared just in case their parents will throw them out of their home.
During those times, the word of God was much desired, the bible is worth sacrificing many meals for and obeying the Lord was more important than anything in this world.
Today, I sense a waning in passion and observe that more are moving towards a comfort zone of our own making. We are easily offended if spoken to too directly. Little things cause some to stop coming or change congregations such as, 'my child cannot get used to Bible class teacher' or 'the congregation does not have youths that are my son's age' to 'not enough parking lots'.
The call today is QYLM - quit ye like men!
The illustration of the body builder, shows a physique that the world would describe as a perfect body of a man. We will attempt to look into the 7 parts of the spiritual body that we want to build up starting from the feet. I will use examples from the Bible, both from the Old and New Testament of both men and women that will inspire us to 'quit ye like men'.
In John 6, we will see how the beautiful feet of Simon Peter which was once washed by our Lord Jesus were
firm and sturdy. The Chinese have a saying that describes this characteristic as one that does not know how to run even when hit by a stick repeatedly!
John 6:65-68: "And he said, For this cause have I said unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it be given unto him of the Father. Upon this many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, Would ye also go away?
Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?
thou hast the words of eternal life."
What a spirit! To stay on and on - during good times and difficult times. Especially when others are leaving by the droves, knowing that a person is no fool to give up what he cannot hold for that which he cannot lose.
I rather be on a losing side that will ultimately win than to be on the winning side that is bound to lose. Moses left the riches of Egypt to take the side of the slaves of Goshen. Today, history has vindicated him as the true victor.
Can we not learn to stay on? Members like sisters Polly, Peggy, Foon Yong, Lillian and others are still with us
- from the very beginning. So are brothers Ong Ann Nam,
Simon, Timmy, Barnabas and more.
The first thing in building a spiritual body is to dig in
and dig in deep with strong, firm, sturdy feet.
Next, we move up from the feet to the legs where we are introduced to a woman who was not a Christian, not even a Jew but heathen. Yet because her legs would not lead her to desert her family by marriage, in times of hardship and famine, our Lord Jesus was born from her lineage.
Ruth 1:16: "And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee,
and to return from following after thee, for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge;
thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God;
where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: Jehovah do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me."
We not only need firm steady feet grounded on the word of God, but we need legs that will follow loyally the true God.
The words of Ruth are not easy to utter and even more difficult to follow. Her sisters-in-law have already packed up and returned to their kampong. In the eyes of the world, that was the prudent thing to do under the circumstances. Alone, Ruth clung to her mother-in-law. I would like to think that it was her good and honest heart that has caused her to embrace the true faith of her mother-in-law that clinched her decision.
Where are our legs taking us today? What are we following and giving our time and energy to? I put it to you that if we do not remember our Creator in the days of our youth, if we follow other gods and pursuits as we enter in National Service, working life or marriage, if we do what is convenient on Sundays instead of devoting it to God, we will find no blessing.
We have not exercised our legs but let them go along to the path of least ressistance, and to do whatever is most beneficial to you, rather than taking the Lord into consideration.
From legs, we move up to the thighs. Here the Bible tells us of a most interesting event that shrunk a person's thigh.
Genesis 32:24-32: "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, said he, I have seen God face to face,
and my life is preserved. And the sun rose upon him
as he passed over Penuel, and he limped upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day:
because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip."
Was it God that Jacob wrestled with or was it an angel or man? Whoever it was, the point is that Jacob saw the heavenly visitor and will not let go at all costs until a spiritual blessing was bestowed. Remember that this was the same man who stole the blessing of the birthright from his brother Esau.
I would to God that all of us be as desirous of a spiritual blessing as Jacob was - if this were so, our upper room would be overflowing every Saturday, and Bible classes every Sunday!
Now to come to the heart of the matter - the heart, these strong blood-pumping arteries that never stops working as long as we are alive.
Matthew 8:5-13: "And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And he saith unto him, I will come and heal him. And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but only say the word,
and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And when Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. ...13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And the servant was healed in that hour."
Place your hand on the left side of your chest where the heart is... and ask 'where is my heart?' Jesus said
that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The centurion's heart was made solid stuff. First, he had a heart for a sick servant. Then, his faith was so strong that he asked for no sign; just affirmation from Jesus that He would heal his servant. That was sufficent.
It time that we all stay in focus, put our trust in God firmly and not falter. And in doing so, we reorder our lives and routine to reflect this faith of ours.
Ever since my wife had trouble with her back, I began to realise how important strong, erect backbones are. A slipped disc, thrown back and lack of calcium can cause much discomfort and pain.
Job lost practically everything he had, all that was important to him. Yet he had the gumption, the backbone to stand up for God in spite of everything.
Job 1:20-22: "Then Job arose, and rent his robe,
and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground,
and worshipped; and he said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither:
Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah. In all this Job sinned not,
nor charged God foolishly."
What a great fortitude of character this man Job had! Will we serve God when we are poor? When we lose our jobs? When we have to live from hand to mouth?
The Lord has been pretty good to alot of us. Will we stand up for Him, continue to serve Him and praise Him
whatever our circumstance?
In 35 years of full time ministry, I have seen people come and go. If I were to keep record of the reasons,
they will be long and make interesting if not humprous reading. The real test of our Christian lives however,
is no how well you started, but how well your persevered.
As we are called to run the Christian race, we need patience (like they say, as patient as Job) to trust God
for good things as well as things those are not so good.
The reason for this is because, finally, our test is not based on how much God blessed us in this life but how we acted when these blessings were taken from us. May we all learn to develop strong backbones!
2 Samuel 24:19-25: "And David went up according to the saying of Gad, as Jehovah commanded. And Araunah looked forth, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and he went out, and bowed himself before the king
with his face to the ground. And he said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said,
To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar unto Jehovah, that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, the oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for the wood: all this, O king, doth Araunah give unto the king.
And the king said Nay; but I will verily buy it of thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto Jehovah my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So Jehovah was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel."
How do we give to the Lord? Is it our best? Does it cost us something? How about our Sunday giving? Do we do it consistently?
When we have a pay cut, an emergency hospital bill or car repairs... does the Lord gets a cut as well?
Look at our hands again. May we have the mindset of David, exercise it in such a way that when it comes to the Lord, we are there with our best efforts, unlike the people at Malachi's time... consistently and ever increasing. The Lord will respond with much more
like He did in answer to David's sacrifice.
Finally, we look at the head, more acurately, the face.
The Bible records an account where Abraham bargained with God. He did such a good job, that I would like to take him shopping with me some time. The Lord was about to destroy Sodom when Abraham started to plead for them.
Genesis 18:23-33: "And Abraham drew near, and said,
Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee
to do after this manner, to slay the righteous
with the wicked, that so the righteous
should be as the wicked; that be far from thee:
shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And Jehovah said, If I find in Sodom
fifty righteous within the city,
then I will spare all the place for their sake. And Abraham answered and said,
Behold now, I have taken upon me
to speak unto the Lord,
who am but dust and ashes: peradventure
there shall lack five of the fifty righteous:
wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five?
And he said, I will not destroy it,
if I find there forty and five.
And he spake unto him yet again, and said,
Peradventure there shall be forty found there.
And he said, I will not do it for the forty's sake.
And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry,
and I will speak: peradventure there shall
thirty be found there. And he said,
I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
And he said, Behold now,
I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord:
peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy
it for the twenty's sake.
And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry,
and I will speak yet but this once:
peradventure ten shall be found there.
And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten's sake. 33 And Jehovah went his way,
as soon as he had left off communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place."
What a shrewd bargainer Abraham was! From 50 to 10. The point is, he was not afraid to lose face for the sake of souls. Why? Because he felt passionately for them that we would say that he had 'thick skin'!
What about us? Could we at least try - open our mouth and
tell others we are Christians and share our story in order to bring them to Christ?
In closing, we have gone all the way from the feet to the head, to the skin that keeps everything intact. Which part in our spiritual body is in need of attention?
Where do we think we are?
Each of us needs to start our spiritual exercises by developing a contrite heart
because Psalm 51:17 tells us that
God will not depise such a heart.
Then let us treat our faith, the church and
all that is holy as a pearl of great prize.
According to Matthew 13:45,
it is worth effort effort and every sacrifice.
May we all stay focused on our faith, not falter, slacken nor ever give up. James 1:8 states that a double-minded
man is unstable in all his ways.
Quit ye like men! Start your spiritual exercises today. Tomorrow may be too late.