Is this a battle field or game field? Are these men playing games or fighting for their lives. Anyone can se that this is not just a game being played. These men are in a battle to the death for their lives and the lives of their fellow soldiers. Battlefields are places where life and death is seen. Real weapons and real death are all around. If you want to be uninvolved, you best not join the military. But, in some battles, we have no choice but to be involved. When the battle comes to your front door, you can only refuse to fight to your own peril.
In Ephesians 6:10-20 the Apostle Paul will remind us that we are in a battle. We live on a battlefield. The Christian life is not a play ground where we just sit around and are happy all day. We are constantly surrounded by an enemy that wants our demise. He, and his hosts, want our spiritual ruin. We have no choice of being in the battle. Our choices are wether we will fight with God’s strength and God’s armor.
No good soldier would enter a battle without a knowledge of their enemy. They will be briefed on the strategy and fire power of the opponent. The leaders of the soldiers will do their best to give them the best armament possible. Helmets, bullet proof vests, and good weapons are part of a soldiers preparation. Once trained and outfitted, the soldiers are sent into battle.
How prepared are you? How vigilant are you each day to be sure the enemy doesn’t defeat you? Sunday we will begin a look at the battle, our enemy, his tactics, and our defense against him. If you are unsure of what you need to be doing, come to hear God’s Word and its instruction for this fierce battle.
This week the USA celebrated the 238th anniversary of our independence from Great Britain. We know the long battle and many deaths it took to gain our freedom. Over these years many others have fought and some have died to keep us free. What an appropriate weekend to begin this study. The Bible gives us wisdom to fight.
What’s next in your appointment book? Is it another meeting? Is it a phone call you need to make? Is it an event you will be attending? Is it a journey you will go on? If you were to keep your plans for the next day, what would that look like? I’m sure we all have either very specific plans or maybe just a general idea of what we will be doing tomorrow.
I want you to think about an appointment not many of us like to consider. It is an appointment that won’t be delayed or canceled. It is an appointment that is on every person’s appointment calendar wether they know it or not. It is the appointment mentioned in Hebrews 9:27, “And insomuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes the judgment.” We are talking about our appointment with death.
No appointment is more certain than our appointment with death. No matter how many vitamins you take, no matter how much you exercise, and no matter how well you eat, ALL of us will eventually die. We might be able to postpone it a few years by a good diet and exercise program, but not always. I can recall a number of people who were quite physically fit, athletes who train every day, who suddenly died. Our appointment with death will come in its time frame, not ours.
Recently we have seen three sudden and unexpected deaths rock our dear folks. I’ve often heard, “They always die in threes.” But, I cannot remember a time when this was true of people in our church. In each case the person who passed into eternity had plans for the next day. Each one who died had family members who were not prepared for their loved one to die. Conversations were cut short by their sudden death. No time was given for that final good-bye. No opportunity was afforded these dear family members to say, “I love you.” Death’s appointment came and snatched three loved ones away.
Each one of us who read this are also on a path to meet our appointment with death. No one reading this can ignore the fact that the one profession which will always have business is the undertaker! Someday it will be our turn to die and to have our loved ones grieve our passing away and for them to deal with our death.
The Apostle Paul speaks much to the subject of death, dying and eternity. In fact, he dedicates an entire chapter to the subject of resurrection; 1 Corinthians 15. He speaks about the hope and joy waiting for the believer who dies. His words in 2 Corinthians 5:8, “absent from the body, present with the Lord” have comforted many believers in times of great grief.
Today, look at your appointment calendar. Today, consider what is next on your appointment schedule. Then ask yourself if you are ready for this appointment. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, then you are ready. If you’ve never asked the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, that is the first step to being ready for your appointment.
How many of us while growing up looked forward to Friday? I know I did. I would complete each Friday by saying, “Thank goodness it’s Friday!” I was so glad another week of school was over. The weekend was beckoning me and I was ready for FUN. Mondays were just not as joyful. Fridays; sometimes they were really good for me.
One particular Friday in human history has been called “Good Friday.” If we didn’t know better we might conclude some really exciting event happened on that Friday. We might decide it is so called because a happy event happened. I doubt many of us, if any of us, would call the day a loved one died as a good day. It is, rather, a day of sorrow, mourning and pain. Good? I don’t think so.
Can anyone imagine calling “good” a day on which they were beaten, rejected, and died? Our enemies might call that day “good.” But, if we had a chance I doubt that is what we would call it. Yet, the day on which Jesus Christ died for lost sinners, paying the penalty of death and separation from HIs Father, we call it good. So, for whom is this day good?
To be exchanged for a murdering, thieving, rebel isn’t good. To die for his crimes wouldn’t be good. To be spit upon by a crowd of hecklers wouldn’t be good. To see your friends deny they know you wouldn’t be good. To have one you considered a close friend betray you to killers wouldn’t be good. To be nailed to a wooden cross to die a slow excruciating death would not be good. So, why do we call it good?
It was good because Jesus willingly followed His Father’s will. It is good because He obeyed His Father in the face of death. It is good because His Father had already declared that Jesus was “His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased.” It was good because even though the perpetrators didn’t know it, they were part of God’s plan. It was good because so many prophecies from the Old Testament were fulfilled that Friday. It was good because this one Lamb would provide redemption for so many. It might not have been so good for Jesus, but it was GREAT for us.
Today you need to stop to reflect upon the events of that day. You and I need to contemplate how horrible it must have been, how painful and how humiliating it must have been. Take time to consider the Gospel chapters that tell the story. Meditate upon Hebrews 12:1-3. Think about what the writer means when he says, “..endured…despising…shame…hostility…” Go back to reread the passages that relate Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Ask yourself, where would I be if I was part of the story? Would you do better than they did? Would run and hide or stand up? Would any of us be Judas? Do we secretly posses a heart of stone? What would come out of our mouth? What?
But, as the now famous saying goes, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s comin’.”
Good Friday? Not so much for Jesus, but so much for us. Don’t finish today without taking some time to give thanks to your Saviour for providing you with redemption.
