LET US GO ON
By George W. Sinquefield
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HomewithGod.com
By George W. Sinquefield
Hebrews 6:1 (KJV)
1Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
"Let us stop going over the same old ground again and again, always teaching those first lessons about Christ. Let us go on instead to other things, and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be." (The Living Bible)
It is an exciting, exhilarating experience to stand on the threshold of a new year and begin the journey across the hills of time into new experiences, new challenges, new opportunities. One thing is sure, we do not know what this year holds for us. It will be a year of uncertainties. As Paul said in his farewell address to the elders of the church at Ephesus, "And now, behold I go not knowing the things that shall befall me" (Acts 20:22). We are told in James 4:13-14 that we are not to "boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."
A friend asked John Hunt, the mountain climber, as he began his ascent of Mr. Everest, what the summit is like. He replied, "That is difficult to say. It is usually obscured by clouds and squalls and the road ahead is cloaked in mystery and uncertainty."
Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, speaking at Columbia University said, "On New Years day, we live at the edge of mystery and face a year of uncertainty." Axton Clark characterizes the days of the new year by the expression, "the unopened tomorrows."
I'm reminded of the time the Israelites were about to cross Jordan into the Promised Land. By following the ark of the covenant, borne by the priests, they would know the way to go. And that was of tremendous importance to them because, as they were told: "You have not passed this way before" (Joshua 3:4). We do not know what lies ahead because we "Have not passed this way before."
I'm thinking of Moses' address to the Israelites shortly before his death and their entrance into Canaan. With the awesome inhabitants of that land in mind, he told the people, "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear no be afraid of them for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6). Claiming that promise for ourselves, we will not be afraid of the future. We will face the untraveled pathway before us with confidence, trusting the Lord to be with us in every situation.
God could have kept Daniel out of the lion's den, Paul and Silas out of jail, the three Hebrew children out of the fiery furnace; but God has never promised to keep us out of hard places. What He has promised is to go with us through every hard place and to bring us through victoriously!
Augustine said, "God will not suffer man to have knowledge of things to come; for if he had fore knowledge of his prosperity, he would be careless and if understanding of his adversity, he would be despairing and senseless." As the song puts it -- We do not know what the future holds but we know Him who holds the future and as one has said, "The veil of which covers the face of futurity is woven by the hand of mercy." God speaks to His people as they were about to enter the promised land and He says the same to us today.
Dueteronomy 11:9-12 -- "If you obey the commandments, you will have a long and good life in the land the Lord promised to your ancestors and to you, their ancestors -- a wonderful land flowing with milk and honey. For the land you are about to enter and possess is not like the land of Egypt where you have come from, where irrigation is necessary. It is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain -- a land that the Lord your God personally cares for. His eyes are always upon it, day after day throughout the year" (The Living Bible).
The month of January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings. He was symbolized as a man with two faces, one looking back and the other looking ahead.
I. It Is Good To Look Back Over The Past.
From some unknown, ancient record there has been translated, "The people of the world are in three classes; of these, the first group learn from their own experiences and are wise men; and the second group are able to learn from the experiences of others and in this they find a happiness; but the third group never learn -- either from their own experiences or those of others -- and these are the fools of the earth."
Ronald G. Ray says, "Looking back in envy at the so called 'Good Old Days' is burying one's head in the sands of time. But looking back into history can be beneficial -- if the purpose for doing so is to find a basis for today's actions and tomorrow's decisions."
George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
The prudent business man takes an inventory once a year. It is important to have a physical checkup once a year. Christians need an annual spiritual checkup. A well known slogan is "Fight cancer with a checkup and a check." A spiritual checkup will enable us to fight the cancer of spiritual deterioration.
One year when the first of January happened to come on Sunday, a businessman approached the preacher and said to him, "Pastor, please don't be offended if I snooze during your sermon this morning. I was up almost all night taking inventory. Don't misunderstand my inability to stay awake as disinterest in what you will be saying. The trouble was that in taking inventory I found much merchandise that had not sold during the year. I miscalculated. I bought too much stock of some things and too little of other things. I found shelves packed full of unsold merchandise and shelves which were empty." However, the businessman went on to say, "I believe," he said, "that everyone of us at the end of the year ought to take a spiritual inventory of his life. We should review all that we did and also consider what we missed doing which we should have done. We should honestly evaluate how our actions influenced others and how different things would have been had we done what we missed doing."
Regardless of what we did or did not do for the Lord this past year, we are compelled to say with Pilate, "What I have written, I have written." No doubt we feel like the old painter who stood back and looked at his canvass for a while and turned away saying, "May God forgive me that I did not do better."
II. It Is A Good Time To Look Forward.
On this first day of January, some people have trouble looking ahead with hope because they keep looking back and moping over the mistakes of the past. Their outlook for the future is dimmed, and their enthusiasm is dampened. But there is no use "crying over spilled milk." History is likely to repeat itself if they keep on brooding over failures of the old year or continue complaining about the injustices they suffered in the last 12 months. Nothing is gained by continually grieving over the past.
Philippians 3:13 (KJV)
Several men in New York spend their time painting the George Washington bridge. I once asked one of them what else he did and he said, "That's all we do. We never get through."
Cecil Rhodes said, "So much to do, so little done"
13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
So much there is to do:
The harvest fields are white,
We must thrust in our sickles keen
And work from morn to night,
Lest this should be our cry
When working days are past
"So much to do, so little done"
To bring results that last.
Some centuries ago the motto upon the Spanish coat of arms was "Ne Plus Ultra." "Nothing beyond." The Spanish had stood upon the coast line and viewed the mighty ocean -- limitless in mystery, terrible in distance, lying beyond. They had sailed its three-mile borders in their frail crafts, and were convinced that their shore line was the world's limit. But there came a man with faith. Columbus launched out in the deep with his three tiny ships. He sailed on with brave and courageous heart until he discovered another world beyond. When he came back and told his story, the Spaniards because they believed him, knocked one word out of their motto and it now reads, "Plus Ultra." "More beyond."
This year can be one of the best years for this church. Thor Waldson was asked, "Which is your greatest statue?" He replied, "The next one."
How can the next year be our greatest one?
1.) By entering the year with a great faith in a great God.
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV)
Henry Ward Beecher once said, "Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith."
Rufus M. Jones reminds us, "There is no great future for any people whose faith has burned out or congealed. History records the ominous fact that national degeneration takes place where faith or vision fail or wane as surely as it does when economic assets shrink or when there is a dearth of sound money currency."
The late John Foster Dulles said, "We are establishing an all time world record in the production of material things. What we lack is a righteous and dynamic faith. Without it, all else avails us little. The lack cannot be compensated for by politicians, however, able; or by diplomats, however astute; or by scientists, however inventive; or by bombs, however powerful."
Martin Luther was a man subject to moods of depression. One day, during such an experience, his wife, Cathy, dressed in black entered his study and said, "God is dead." Luther rebuked her and she replied, "It is no worse for me to dress as if God were dead than for you to live as though Her were. That is exactly what your are doing. If you believe God is living, then live like it."
One of America's most useful ministers tells this story about an early experience as pastor. One day he dressed his congregation down with cutting words. "This church," he said, "can never amount to anything. I see no hope whatever for it." That night the church asked him to resign. Its leaders explained that they wanted to find themselves a pastor who at least had a little hope for them.
Faith is dead to doubt, dumb to discouragement, blind to impossibilities, knows nothing but success in God.
Matthew 13:54 through Matthew 13:58 (KJV)
In these verses it is stated that Jesus "could do no might works there because of their unbelief."
Hebrews 11 is the great faith chapter and many times it states that "by faith" great things were done.
2.) This can be our best year if we'll give God our best.
Over in India a missionary saw a woman going toward a heather temple one morning. She had two children with her. One was crippled and blind and the other was a strong, beautiful well formed child. "Where are you going?" he asked. And she said, "I am going to the temple to make sacrifice to my gods." That afternoon he saw her coming back. The crippled child was with her, but the strong and beautiful child was nowhere to be seen. The missionary asked her the question, "Where is your other child?" And she said, "I sacrificed him to my gods today." Then the missionary said, "If you were going to make a human sacrifice why did you not sacrifice the blind and crippled child?" And she answered, "Oh no, we give our best to our gods. This may be too much for you Christians, but it is not too much for us."
In Pilgrim's Progress Christian has seen Christ and has been gloriously saved. How does he feel? We hear him saying, "If I had a thousand gallons of blood in my body, I would want to pour out every drop for him."
Over the entrance of the University of Pennsylvania these words are written: "In the dust of defeat, as well as in the laurel of victory, there is glory to be found, if one has done his best."
An artist pupil had wrought long over his picture and was weary and discouraged, as it seemed to him, he would never work out his ideal. He sank into sleep one day by his easel, and while he slept an angel came and finished the picture in a matchless way. So when we are faithful, striving at our best to learn the lesson of peace and get it into our lives, though seeming to fail, the Master will come and finish it for us.
Dr. Bob Jones Sr. said, "It is no disgrace to fail, it is a disgrace to do less than your best to keep from failing."
Hear ye the Master's call,
3.) This can be our best year if we'll take advantage of every opportunity for service.
The king was tired of everyone leaving to others the things that should be done. So one night he went to a narrow spot in the road leading into town and scooped out a hole in the middle of the cart tracks. He placed a small bundle in the hole in the road. He then loosened a large stone and rolled it so tat it completely covered the hole that he had dug. The next morning a farmer in his cart came to the stone. "The laziness of people around here is terrible," he said. "Here's a stone in the road and nobody has moved it." With that he steered his cart around the stone, and went into town.
A company of soldiers marched down the road. When the leader saw the stone, he halted his soldiers, ordered them to break ranks and come to order on the other side of the stone. Then, he made a little speech to his soldiers about people's carelessness. However, they left the stone, and went on into town.
Several others came by, saw the stone, complained about it, but did nothing to remove it. Finally, the king ordered all of the people to meet him at the stone. He said, "I put this stone here, and for weeks no one has done anything but complain about it." He moved the stone and showed them the hollow place beneath in which he had placed the small bag. It was labeled, "For he who lifts the stone." In the bag were a number of gold coins. What blessing s will we miss because we didn't have the time or the heart to take responsibility? All around us there are opportunities of service.
A friend gave Alexander, the Great, two of the best hunting dogs in the world. He was quite a sportsman and was anxious to try them out. On the first outing they spotted some rabbits. The dogs weren't interested -- they just lay down and went to sleep. On the second outing a deer was seen and the dogs did the same thing, just yawned and went to sleep. Alexander was so angry, he had the dogs put to death right there on the spot. A few days later his friend came to see him and Alexander told him the whole story. His friend said, "Alexander, you showed those dogs some rabbits and some deer and they went to sleep. But if you had shown them a tiger or a lion you would have seen what great dogs they were. Maybe God is saying to us that we have been chasing rabbits and deer too long, it is time for us to face the tigers and the lions -- to challenge ourselves that with God's help we'll attempt great things for Him.
Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879), like David, was confident of her heavenly Father's gracious purpose for her life, and she knew that He would be with her always. These truths moved her to write:
Another year is dawning: Dear Father, let it be,
6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
54And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? 55Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 56And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? 57And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. 58And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Give Me thy best.
For be it great or small
That is His test.
Do then the best you can
Not for reward,
Not for the praise of man,
But for the Lord.
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee;
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.
Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grade,
Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast,
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.
Another year of service, of witness for Thy love;
Another year of training for holier work above.
Another year is dawning: Dear Father, let it be,
On earth or else in heaven, another year for Thee.