And verse 11.
We are continuing in the Milk to Meat series. I know half of us have not heard all of the previous messages, or have heard different ones, so I want to begin by reading a little about this milk-to-meat concept. Then we will get into the last set of the elementary teachings.
In Hebrews 5:11, concerning Melchizedek, it says:
Concerning whom we have much to say,
And hard of interpretation, seeing ye have become dull of hearing.
For when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God;
And are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food.
For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.
But solid food is for full-grown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
And then Hebrews 6:1-2 says:
Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on unto perfection;
Not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Today we are going to look into resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment, this last phrase in the elementary teachings. Let us pray together.
Lord, we continue to worship You so freely within the veil by the precious blood of Jesus. Lord, we thank You that our anchor is solid there, and our hope is the solid rock of Christ. Lord, we look away to You and fix our eyes on Jesus, the Leader and Completer of our faith.
Lord, we worship You. In this time, we pray that You would bless Your word, really feed us, meet with us, and speak to us so personally and directly. Lord, we pray that You would give us revelation in the word, and that Your word would be like light shining in all the areas of our hearts. In Jesus’ name, amen.
I bring up these other verses because, although we want to focus today on resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment, the concept of looking into these things is that we ought to be teachers.
That does not mean that we ought all to have the gift of teaching or be especially gifted in teaching. It means that we ought to be able to help someone at the beginning of their walk with Christ in the elementary, foundational principles of Christ. We ought to know the beginnings and how to help someone right from the beginning.
Unfortunately, this is a difficult spot for most Christians. For much of our lives, we struggle with the elementary principles of the word of Christ. The very basic teachings are confusing to us. Because of that, when we are helping someone grow in the Lord, maybe we help them a little lopsided.
Although we should be able to handle certain exhortations, warnings, and teachings of righteousness, sometimes we have a false reaction because our foundation is not solid. Sometimes we reject exhortation—a word of righteousness, something that calls us to do something—because we have caught hold of salvation by grace but have also picked up some wrong ideas.
This has been attacked since the early days of the church. Even in this letter to the Hebrews, the writer was struggling to get into the word of righteousness. Hebrews 6 later became a confusing chapter for many Christians. Yet at that time, he could refer to the elementary teachings and the believers understood what he meant. Then he could go on to speak about Melchizedek, Christ living through us, and Jesus as Lord—not merely Jesus as Savior.
He could speak about things having to do with the meat of spiritual life, even the meat of teachings—harder things. But in the light of grace and milk, the easier things, the Lord urges us onward. The desire of God is for us to grow. He brings us through the growth process from milk to meat, always wooing us into greater maturity.
He brings us further along by reminding us of that foundational word of grace: the milk that is so easy to consume. Christ is our Savior. All that we have is in Christ; all that He has given us is in Christ. Then, as He shows us all that we have in Christ, He shows us that Christ is in us. Now go.
As Jesus says, “I forgive you of your sins,” He also says, “Now go, and sin no more.” In the light of, “Oh, my sins are forgiven,” you can take a step in the direction of righteousness. You can handle these things.
This is constantly happening back and forth as we go on. In the dark ages of the church, these things seemed to have been lost. You could not simply refer to the elementary teachings and have everybody remember the foundation that had been taught to them from the beginning.
But this has been recovered. In the recovery work of God during the time of Martin Luther and other believers, they recovered the beginning of these elementary teachings: repentance from dead works and faith in God. As they renewed their love for the word of God, they recovered this great truth: dead works are dead works, and they will not save us. All that saves us is faith alone.
As that was recovered, more and more teachings were opened up. Gradually, the doctrine of baptisms, the laying on of hands, union with Christ, the union of the church, the Lord’s return, eternity to come, heaven, and the kingdom were recovered among God’s people.
These things are ours to stand on, ours to have, and ours to learn and share with one another.
At the very beginning of a Christian’s life, if we throw at them everything we have ever seen, it can be overwhelming. I am assuming I am speaking mainly to those who are already believers, although there may be someone here who is not yet saved or has just been saved.
For the majority in the room, we would probably hear this word: “You ought to be teachers.” We ought to be able to help a new believer, even a little bit. Even if you have only been saved a little while, you can help them a little.
Just as in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul says, in effect, “You ought to be spiritual, but you are still carnal.” There he is emphasizing a hindrance in their spiritual life. They had a stoppage in their growth, which was carnality. They continued doing the works of man instead of the works of God.
With the Hebrews, however, the thing blocking the way was misunderstanding and confusion concerning the teachings. So that is how we have been approaching this series: not only seeking to regain the basic form of these teachings, but seeing that each one is the beginning of something more. Each is a foundation for growth.
It is like a corner of a sheet, or the beginning of a pillar. As we look at this third area, it has to do with the whole growth process of hope. Everything has to do with what is hoped for at the very end.
To look at this at the beginning stage, I want to read a verse that catches the heart of this elementary teaching concerning resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment. It is found in John 5:24.
A couple of times today, I want us simply to read the Scriptures slowly together. When we are trying to make sure we have something solid, it helps not merely to hear a verse referenced. If we pause and read it together, it helps our hearts know, “I have read that. I have seen that in the word of God.” The light shines and breaks dark thoughts.
Here is John 5:24. This is Jesus speaking:
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath eternal life,
And cometh not into judgment,
But hath passed out of death into life.
This one who has heard the word and believed has eternal life. Here is the new birth. Here is the baby Christian, right at the start, and that person actually has eternal life. The Holy Spirit brings to us the life of Christ and dwells within us for eternity, never to be removed.
Then Jesus says, “Cometh not into judgment.” Here we have eternal judgment in the elementary teachings. He also says, “Hath passed out of death into life.” This is resurrection from the dead. Resurrection, by definition, is life from death. If you have passed out of death into life, that is resurrection life.
I will refer to this verse throughout the message because, to me, it catches the whole matter.
At the beginning of our Christian walk, when someone is born again and receives eternal life, something very helpful to know is what we call assurance of salvation.
Spiritually, we know this, though mentally we do not always know it. Teaching-wise, we do not always know it. If you remember when you were saved, when you met the Lord and were forgiven of your sins, the Spirit within you, the rejoicing, and the response of love to the Lord all gave you the spiritual feeling: “I am saved.”
You have the spiritual experience of knowing, “I am saved forever.” That does not always mean you have the mental understanding, “I know I am safe forever.” Depending on our backgrounds, we may have all kinds of understandings.
When I was saved, my understanding was that I might lose my salvation if I did not watch out or was not careful. That is what was taught to me right after I was baptized: “You are doing good. Watch out.”
But when they said that, I just thought, “I am going to be okay.” Not that I thought I was going to do so well, but I somehow knew deep within—I can barely remember it, but I knew—“I know I am saved. I know I am not going to miss out. I know I am not going to go to hell.” It just did not seem right.
The people around me taught the best they knew. They taught that if you keep messing up and failing, there are Scriptures that say you will miss out. It looked as though you might miss out on heaven if you walked away from the Lord. But I did not feel that was for me. I did not feel that was what was happening.
Spiritually speaking, whatever your understanding is, there is hope put within you at the foundation. This is part of the solid rock in a new believer that can never be removed. We have received Christ, and we know, “I have Christ.” Somehow, you know that with Christ, you have it.
At the beginning of Christian life, maintaining that spiritual assurance of salvation means maintaining a clean conscience, basically keeping near to the Lord. The new believer responds in consecration, gives his life to the Lord, gets baptized, and walks with the Lord.
Because he knows that he is right with the Lord, he knows that he is saved because he is with Him, in His presence. But if a new believer quickly goes into the love of the world or back into sin, that spiritual assurance—the hope within—can be covered over with a lot of dirt and sins.
Many new believers have their beginning crowded out by weeds or confused by many things. Sin creeps in, and they are not helped by the people of God to get things right with the Lord. Then all kinds of doubts cloud their minds, and they become confused about their salvation and even about the Lord.
But if you clear up some of that ground, things change. A believer may have doubts and questions, but you can skip all the reasonings at that moment. If they are born again, the main thing that helps them return to the hope and reality of assurance is to help them come clean concerning their sins and give their lives back to the Lord.
As consecration happens again, assurance comes back. Consecration is deeply connected with hope. As they give their lives to the Lord, they remember everything, and that assurance comes back afresh.
This is a spiritual, foundational rock experience. Alongside it, we should help a new believer understand the elementary teachings that go with it. In the realm of hope is this elementary teaching package: resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment.
With resurrection from the dead, someone knows, “I have eternal life, and I will be raised from the dead into life. I am going to be raised from the dead into life.”
With eternal judgment, there is something to know about the judgment to come. Hebrews 9:27 says that it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment. There is physical death, and then comes judgment.
Everybody, believers and unbelievers alike, has some knowledge of this. They know, “I die, and there is judgment.” Across cultures, places, and teachings, people know that after death comes judgment. Even an atheist or agnostic on a deathbed may feel, “I need to be really good right at the end, because I feel like judgment is coming.”
This is the fear of death that has been upon mankind since the beginning, as Hebrews 2 speaks of it. But when I am born again, the teaching I receive is this: “You have passed out of death into life. You will not come into judgment.”
The believer has received eternal life, has passed out of the judgment to come, and will not come into the second death. He has passed out of death into life and will never come into that judgment.
What is this eternal judgment? It is the judgment that deals with eternity. Revelation 20 calls it the great white throne judgment. I want to read it together because it is helpful for us to see and would be helpful to read with a new believer.
We want to see two things in this judgment: resurrection and judgment. Both are found here. Revelation 20:11-15 says:
And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened:
And another book was opened, which is the book of life:
And the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them:
And they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.
And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
The One sitting on the throne is the Lord Jesus. The books that are opened are the books of each person’s deeds. The dead are judged according to the things written in those books.
Technically speaking, hell is the lake of fire. Christians, and people generally, use the term hell for a number of things, and I do not think that is evil or wrong. But if we are being precise in studying the word of God, this is hell: the lake of fire. It is the final hell.
You may call Hades or other experiences a taste of hell or a forerunner of hell, but the ultimate of all hells is the lake of fire, also called the second death. Here we have death in its finality, the second death, and we have the final judgment for all mankind.
Someone recently asked, “Why is it called the second death? Is there a third death?” The answer is found in the next chapter. Revelation 21 says death is no more. When eternity comes in, with the new Jerusalem, the new heavens, and the new earth, death exists no more.
The passage also says that death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire. Hades is the place of the dead. It is emptied of all the dead, and then those dead are judged at the great white throne. Even the place where the dead waited for judgment is cast into the lake of fire, never to be used again, because no one will ever die again.
It is called the second death because the first death is physical death. The second death is eternal death, spiritual death, the finality of all death.
For a brand-new believer, we need to hear the words of the Lord Jesus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you have eternal life. You will never be at that judgment. You will not come into that judgment.”
When we read Revelation 20, we see the books opened and all deeds written in those books. All our actions are written there. But remember that another book is opened: the book of life, the Lamb’s book of life.
The passage says that everyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Reversing that statement, we can say by simple logic: if your name is found written in the book of life, you will never be cast into the lake of fire.
When we are born again and receive eternal life, our name is written in the book of life. By receiving His life, we are in the book of life. By that experience, we cannot go into the lake of fire. Everyone whose name is in the book of life will not be cast into the lake of fire.
This assurance should be understood in the depths of our hearts. The lake of fire, the second death, is not ours. We will never come into that judgment, because that judgment deals with the books and deeds of those who are not in the book of life.
Our books were opened another time. They are not only opened at the great white throne judgment. There was another judgment where all the writings in every person’s book—all the dark black ink of the sins of mankind—were opened: the judgment of God upon Jesus at the cross.
For three hours, the darkness that came upon Christ was the darkness of the deeds of our sins being placed upon Him. The book of life was opened, and the words of our deeds were written upon Him. He became sin for us.
In that eternal moment, the past and future were connected. He touched the future of all mankind, even our day and the shameful deeds written in our books this very week. He opened Himself and became sin for us.
He, the Word of God and the book of life, received upon Himself all the black stains of the sins of mankind. One by one, as they were written there, His blood—being shed and poured out—blotted out every word.
The red ink in the book of life washed clean all the dark stains from our books. As our names were written there, the stains placed upon Him were removed. At that judgment, we find that we are forgiven—completely forgiven, washed clean.
We will never come into the other judgment because our judgment has already happened at the cross of Christ.
There are two judgments that deal with eternity. There are many other judgments—perhaps seven, or at least four larger ones—but two deal with eternity. One already happened at the cross.
When we believe on the Lord, we are placed into that judgment that deals with eternity. The books are opened there, but our names are found in the book of life. At the great white throne judgment, however, the books are opened, and if someone has not believed in the Lord, they are judged according to their deeds and cast into the lake of fire.
The main issue, it seems, is that they did not believe in the Lord Jesus, just as John 3 says.
We have passed out of death into life. This is our foundation: “I will never come into judgment.”
When we say that we have passed out of death into life, we often rightly think of resurrection life now and overcoming death in our present experience. But for a new believer, we need first to take the teaching literally: resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment.
To pass out of death into life means that we have passed out of the second death. It does not mean, of course, that we will not physically die. Some will not fall asleep, because they will be raptured when the Lord returns. Others may fall asleep and experience the first death, physical death.
But even in paradise, waiting for the Lord’s return, we know that we have already passed out of the second death. We will never experience the lake of fire. We already know while we are alive that the second death will never consume us.
And to be brought into life is to enter eternity: the new Jerusalem, what we commonly call heaven. The eternal life we receive now assures us of ultimate hope. No matter what, eternity is secured.
The moment at which mankind enters eternity—the moment of the great white throne judgment, when the lake of fire and the second death are experienced—has already been removed from us. We have passed from the second death into life.
Someone who has believed on the Lord and possesses eternal life is in the book of life. Because of that, they will not receive the second death. They will not have eternal death or death forever. Instead, they have life forever.
I know this may sound like common knowledge, but it is not common knowledge. We ought to be teachers. Even if we know these things, or hear them here and there, we must own them so that when a new believer is born again, we can help them be sure of salvation.
Not every believer understands this. It is something the Lord has recovered, but it is still confusing. We might say, “Let us go into maturity and talk about mature things,” but often we cannot, because we are stuck at this point.
Someone says, “But what about this? What about that?” There are many verses that seem to contradict John 5:24 or Revelation 20. They seem to contradict because we are missing key principles.
Recently, I was sharing with some youth. The majority were probably not saved yet. We had a call for response, and some came and believed in the Lord. I could tell that some were really saved and born again.
Some parents and church leaders came to me and asked, “Is this okay to do? You are telling them that they can be born again and be saved—is that okay?” They brought up many Scriptures: “What about this? What about that?”
As I went through the Scriptures with them, and as they saw how their teenagers acted that evening and the next day, they were filled with joy. All they needed was a little elementary teaching, a little principle: “You shall not come into judgment, but you have passed out of death into life.”
I saw these adults with a type of hallelujah in the depths of their hearts. That is the feeling we should have when we hear the elementary teaching and know how solid this hope is.
This hope carries you through difficult times. If you were in the place now where you had a new body that could never die again, and you were in the time when there was no more death, what would that be like? That is hope realized. That is when hope shows up, and you are amazed.
But we have this assurance already in Christ. We who have believed in the Lord will never come into that judgment. We have already passed out of the second death into life. This is solid, immovable hope. It is firm, it is in the future, and we see it ahead of us as we walk with the Lord.
The opposite is that a Christian begins with a spiritual feeling of assurance but receives the teaching, “Watch out.” Then, as they begin walking with the Lord, their steps become shaky, and their heart misses some of the joy of the Lord.
Instead of simply knowing, “I am saved,” there can be unnecessary trembling and fear of hell. Then someone tries to do good and avoid bad. This also damages the other foundational principles of repentance from dead works and faith in God. A person almost loses the realization that their deeds are not going to help them. It hinders growth.
There are principles that help unlock confusing Scriptures. When we come across Scriptures, we can take them to the Lord in prayer, meditation, and comparison with other Scriptures.
With repentance from dead works and faith in God, there is a principle that unlocks many Scriptures. The difference between life and death is what is important to the Lord. It is the tree of life versus the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Basically, it is Christ and the cross.
You learn that it is not merely about good or bad; it is about life or death. That unlocks many things. You stop reading the Bible merely asking, “Can I do this? Can I not do that? It says I cannot get drunk, but does it say I cannot get high?” You stop looking only at whether something is good or bad.
The principle is: “Is this faith, or is this my dead work? Is this life, or is this death?”
With resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment, the principle is gift and reward. It is the principle of the kingdom: Christ and the kingdom, or Christ and the crown.
A new believer does not need every difficult passage explained immediately. You can show them, “You have passed out of that judgment. Praise the Lord.” Then, as they read Scriptures and encounter warnings and exhortations, they may ask, “What is this?”
At that point, we need to bring in this principle: gift is one thing, and reward is another. You have freely received eternal life. You will not be judged at the eternal judgment. You have passed out of the second death into life. Resurrection from the dead is yours, and eternal judgment is not yours.
But there is more for a Christian. Once you are saved and have that solid, immovable hope, another layer of hope is placed upon it. There is something in the future toward which the Lord is wooing you. There is a call to an inheritance, a call to a crown, and a call to run the course with Him.
There is a reward to discover. Romans 14 says that we Christians will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Second Corinthians 5 calls it the judgment seat of Christ. This is completely different from the great white throne judgment and eternal judgment.
The question at the judgment seat of Christ is: “What have you done with the grace you received?” It is for believers. It is not a question of the new Jerusalem, heaven, or eternity. It is for reward, inheritance, and the millennial kingdom—the time before eternity.
Revelation 20 speaks of a period of one thousand years before the great white throne judgment. As a new believer grows and reads the Scriptures, they discover these things and rightly feel a call from the Lord to grow, walk faithfully with Him, and be bothered by those who do not.
Without this principle, confusion begins. There is a reward, and some may not make it. There is a full assurance of hope—not merely the foundational assurance, but the full assurance of hope spoken of later in Hebrews 6.
As we go on to maturity, there is another layer of hope we pursue: the hope of hearing Him say, “Well done, good and faithful bondservant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
It is the hope of the kingdom age, of seeing Him smile, of pleasing the Lord. In Christ, when you are walking with Him spiritually, it almost feels like a solid, assured hope, though we know it is possible to miss it.
We do not live thinking, “I am going to miss it. I am going to miss it.” The way of the Christian in this reward calling is still built upon, “I will not come into judgment.” The foundational layer remains: “I will not come into the great white throne judgment.”
As we grow in the Lord and run the race, we may have the sense, “I will come into reward and not judgment.” At the judgment seat of Christ there is judgment, but that judgment can be reward. It can be praise and welcome into the kingdom age.
As we go on in maturity, we grow from little children into young men. At this stage, you have received the milk and the solid foundation. You can read the word of God and know that your gift is assured: we are saved.
You also read about the crown, and that brings you into the young man’s stage. You are running, growing, and reading the word of God. Then a couple of things happen.
First, resurrection from the dead becomes your experience as life. Young men become strong in the Lord—not merely strong in the word, but strong in life. They discover, “Christ is my life. Christ Himself is the resurrection.”
It is not merely, “I will be raised and will not enter the second death.” Christ Himself is resurrection life. I have eternal life; that life is within me; Christ is within me; and I can live by resurrection life.
At this stage, the young man discovers overcoming life. Resurrection life overcomes death. When failure is upon him, or external circumstances try to crush him, something rises up within him that goes beyond death.
Whether it is the death of our own soul and carnality or the death that comes through a difficult environment and makes us want to run and hide, something inside rises up. We come through death into life and begin to overcome in the circumstances.
This is hope upon hope. It is not merely, “I can endure hard circumstances because someday He will wipe away all my tears and death will be no more.” There is another endurance that comes into the believer’s heart.
The believer endures because he sees the joy of the Lord at the end. He sees the Lord waiting for him. As he goes through breaking circumstances, difficult circumstances, and endurance in following the Lord, he sees the crown ahead.
He sees reward. He sees hope that makes it worth going through difficult times, just as the Lord went through the cross. Resurrection life comes through, death is overcome, and death is swallowed up in victory by the very life of that believer.
While this is happening, the young believer sees the crown ahead and the prize before him. This is the concept of the race for believers who have begun to mature. It does not mean they are fully mature; it means they have come to the stage of some meat, the growth stage of a young man.
In Philippians 3, Paul says, “I want to know Him. I want to know the power of His resurrection.” That is life from the dead, resurrection life. “I want fellowship with Him in His sufferings.” That is the endurance of hope all the way through.
Paul says:
That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death;
If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.
Then Paul says that he is running the race. He says, “I have not already obtained.” There may be a spiritual hint of assurance as you run the race with Christ. When you are right with Him, you feel, “That crown is for me. That crown beckons me. That crown calls me. That reward is for me. My name is on it.”
You may feel that He has a stone with your new name on it, and He is calling you. You almost feel as though you can see it. But we cannot say, “I have it.” Instead, rightly, we know that we could miss it.
So Paul says, “I have not already obtained, but I am after it. I am running for it.” This is the mindset of the mature, the mindset of those beginning to eat meat. A young man develops this mindset in his heart and goes after the prize.
Paul says:
I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
This is what he is after. It helps him set his course toward further growth and toward serving the Lord in a larger measure. When he sees the prize, calls to action are not burdensome; they are part of the prize.
When he sees future ruling and reigning, and he sees the present crown of thorns he must take up, he can endure in the light of Christ before him. He can go on to hope.
Philippians 3 says, “As many as are mature, let us have this mind.” This is the mindset that changes as someone develops from milk to meat. At the beginning of maturity, the mind changes from dwelling mainly on all the blessings received in Christ to pursuing what Christ desires to accomplish through us.
We never lose the foundation. We always keep it. We worship the Lord, break bread, remember the Lord, and take milk with our meat. As we worship Him and take the bread, we sense that the life of Christ in us wants to go forth and serve Him this week. The life of Christ in us has something to do with His kingdom this week. There is a prize ahead.
Every day this begins to be our experience. At the end of the day, in your bed or as you finish your day, you live in the light of the judgment seat of Christ.
At the end of the day, all you want to hear is, “Well done, good and faithful one.” Every day becomes, in a small way, an experience of, “You will not come into judgment. Enter into the joy of the Lord.”
Every day becomes a slight tasting of the judgment seat of Christ. The more you taste it, the more you long for His return instead of fearing it.
The mindset that pursues the prize says, “I want Him to come back. I want that day to happen. I want to be before Him and see Him smile.”
At first, when we hear about gift and reward, we need to major on the gift. We need to discover how assured our salvation is and never be confused about it. We should never think, “I am messing up and messing up. Is everything going to be okay?” We need to know, “He has me. I have passed out of the second death. I will never come into the judgment of hell. I am okay.”
We need to know that and rest. That is our definite need. But joy upon joy is seeing every day that we can finish our day well. Even though we finish by the precious blood of Jesus, we can be right with our Lord, learn from Him, and learn a new way of resurrection life.
We look back over the day, and He may show us, “Here is where you could have overcome by resurrection life. Life from the dead would have done this here.” Then we apologize, repent, and are cleansed. We offer our bodies as living sacrifices anew at the end of the day, ready to begin again.
The next morning, we set our course to pursue the Lord toward the goal and the prize. In a small way, the goal and the prize are to finish the day well, finish it with the Lord, and be ready to meet Him. He gives us one day at a time.
As we grow, we come into threshold experiences that bring us further into maturity and intimacy with the Lord. These bring us into the fatherly stage. The stages of little children, young men, and fathers are mentioned in 1 John 2.
Along this pillar of hope, which begins with resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment, the next stage for someone pursuing the prize is that the Lord begins to work through circumstances.
As we see the hope before us, the Holy Spirit begins to orchestrate circumstances to break us. There is a spiritual threshold called brokenness, the breaking of the outer man, or the breaking of the soul.
As we go on experiencing life from the dead and keep our eyes fixed on the hope of the prize, we get crushed and crushed, broken and broken. This is an experience of the cross different from the inward dividing of soul and spirit. That inward work mainly deals with ourselves and Christ and the difference between the two.
But this aspect of hope is more outward. It is more put upon us. The choice is: “Do I take up this circumstance? Do I take up my cross and go through it? Do I endure through it with my eyes fixed on Christ, the hope, the Leader and Completer of the way, with joy set before me?”
Do I endure unto hope and become broken in the process, or do I complain? Do I strengthen the shell of my soul in the midst of this circumstance? Do I become stronger in myself and run away from the crosses placed upon me?
When the Lord Jesus went to the cross, if He had not gone to the cross, His resurrection life could not have been released. In John 12, He says that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it releases life and bears much fruit.
As He went to the cross and was crushed by every cross circumstance, He went as a lamb led to the slaughter. People said things, but He opened not His mouth. He did not complain. He did not stand up for Himself.
This is our experience of brokenness. Crushing circumstances happen to us. Someone is rude or mean. Something unfair happens. Something happens that we do not deserve, or at least it seems that way.
Then we follow the way of the crown of thorns, which leads to the crown of life. We become like a lamb led to the slaughter. We fellowship in His sufferings, come through, and experience resurrection life.
Resurrection life not only helps us not to sin and overcome the world; when we are broken through circumstances, resurrection life is able to flow through us.
This is why we have to be broken. We are like jars of clay. When the jar is broken, the treasure inside can shine and be given to other people. As Paul said, we are jars of clay.
When we go through brokenness and the Lord brings us through, when we do not open our mouths in self-defense and are led like lambs to the slaughter, the shell of the soul is not as strong as it used to be.
The mouth that used to speak quickly about ourselves and everything else becomes a little broken. We have a few less teeth, but because of that brokenness, the life inside shines through. When we open our mouths, Christ can come through.
Many of us have experienced this frustration. Life is inside, and you wish you could share with someone what the Lord has shared with you. But as you try to share it, it falls flat. You feel that your soul got in the way, that what came out was tainted and came out in death.
But imagine that, during the week before you have fellowship with someone, crushing circumstances happen. Instead of fighting for your rights, you go as a lamb led to the slaughter. You are broken by the hand of God, and He does this on purpose to make you usable for His kingdom.
Then, in a moment of fellowship, He can use you in kingdom work to share His life with another believer. He wants you to open your mouth, not as an unbroken jar of clay, but as a broken vessel through which the treasure can come.
He wants us to fall into the ground and die. As we are broken through the week and remain with the Lord, when we are with another person and share something of Christ, it may not even be about the broken circumstance. It may be something the Lord showed you three weeks ago.
Whether it concerns His mercy, His love, His lordship, or anything else, it comes out as Christ because you are able to do it. You are able to rejoice, weep, and share Christ without the hindrance.
Sometimes our brokenness is opening our mouths and doing something. As we learn brokenness and our shell begins to crack, we experience the joy of the release of the Holy Spirit and the release of life through us.
But there is another aspect: sometimes we have to do something we hate to do. If we step out and do it, it is the breaking of ourselves.
For some, opening their mouths is the very thing through which the Lord breaks their shell. Matthew 18 tells us to go to our brother who has sinned against us. As we learn brokenness, we may say, “Someone sinned against me, but I take it as a lamb led to the slaughter. I experience Christ, hallelujah, and go on.”
But occasionally, the Lord brings you through that process of forgiving, and then He says, “Actually, I want you to help Me recover that person.” That can feel like the worst thing in the world.
To go to someone and say, “What you did was wrong,” must be done in a broken-hearted way. You go as a lamb led to the slaughter. You may be slaughtered by that person, truly.
But if you are slaughtered by that person, Matthew 18 says to take another lamb to get slaughtered with you. You take another brother, perhaps one they like better, and go to them. Perhaps they slaughter both of you. Then it is brought to the church, and so on.
If they remain a slaughtering person, they must be handled in a certain way. But the goal is that you may gain your brother or sister.
If you go as a broken lamb led to the slaughter, perhaps you will gain them. They do not see you in wrath; they see you broken.
The Lamb of God will eventually come in the wrath of the Lamb. But when Jesus was led as a lamb to the slaughter, He often did not open His mouth. At other times, He did speak.
When He was struck after speaking to the high priest, He said:
If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil:
But if well, why smitest thou Me?
He was still a lamb led to the slaughter. He did not slaughter those men. He meekly let the person know that striking Him was wrong. Perhaps that helped awaken that person’s conscience to realize, “I am the one crucifying Christ.” Maybe that person was saved later; I do not know.
But I think His hope was to gain that person. His hope was to gain all men as He died for them.
As I have meditated on brokenness, the thing that has caught my heart is how many missed opportunities we have to walk in the endurance of hope because we miss those circumstances and do not get broken.
How many brothers and sisters have continued failing because all of us are afraid to get crushed by one another? We are afraid to talk to each other about something that is wrong.
We are learning to forgive, but there is an additional stage of brokenness: talking to one another as lambs led to the slaughter. If we were crushed a little more in the church, there would be more life. It would give hope to the person doing wrong, awaken their conscience, and perhaps become part of their own breaking and coming through to Christ.
When this is all happening, you may feel that it is too much to bear—brokenness upon brokenness. But remember the sight that sustains the endurance of hope: the hope ahead of us, the crown that is calling.
At some point, there comes a revelation to the believer. It is not merely teaching and understanding. It is a high revelation that the Lord gives: a revelation of Christ and His kingdom, or Christ and the crown.
In different measures and ways, some see a little at a time. For others, it is a revelation that knocks them to the ground as though dead. We see Him who holds the keys of death and Hades. We see Him who is alive and was dead.
We see Him as He was on the mount of transfiguration: shining, white, glorious, amazing. Our mouths are shut, and we fall before the sight of Christ.
Brokenness becomes more complete as we see our King. As revelation comes, we look to Him and see the crown. We see His eyes looking at us. We see that the crown before us is embedded in Christ, and everything becomes worth it.
Every kingdom work He has for us to do now, every bit of growth He wants us to go through, becomes acceptable in the light of the eyes of the joy of the Lord set before us.
At some point, we begin to love His appearing. We begin to love the thought that, if He appears, it will be like the sight of the King in all His kingdom glory. Then we pray, “Let Your kingdom come. Let Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.”
The ultimate of that prayer is that He appears and establishes His kingdom.
The Lord will come, judge the earth, and bring in His kingdom. Ultimately, there is a possibility before us that I want to read about. It is in 2 Timothy 4.
This is the longing of the heart. In Philippians 3, Paul said, “I do not have it yet, but I am after it. I am pursuing the prize.” But in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Paul has gone through brokenness, seen the King on the throne, and is still pursuing this hope.
He says:
For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is come.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give to me at that day;
And not to me only, but also to all them that have loved His appearing.
Paul was already being poured out. The time of his release had come. This was the breaking of the outer man to the ultimate degree. He had been poured out again and again, and now he was in prison, about to be killed and martyred—broken to the ultimate degree.
Yet this was his hope stance, the ultimate, amazing stance of hope. The righteous Judge loves to give this crown. He will render it to all who love His appearing.
When we hear the stance of such a believer, we can see the glorious calling set before believers. Paul is at his deathbed, or martyr bed, and says, “I fought the good fight. I ran the race. I finished it. I kept the faith.”
Hope upon hope, built upon his established foundation of ultimate hope, is the hope that he would gain the crown and not come into judgment. The righteous Judge will not condemn him; He will reward him.
Paul says, in effect, “There is a crown for me, and there is a crown for you—all who love His appearing.”
Let us pray together.
Lord, with this hope in view, with the sight of the crown before us, and with the crown of thorns upon Your head, we give ourselves over to You. Lord, we offer ourselves to You. We worship You, and we thank You for this calling—hope upon hope, this calling of the full assurance of hope.
Lord, we look away to You. We worship You. I pray for all of us: whether there is confusion in foundational areas, or something we are holding onto in our own hands, not willing to be broken or willing to live by resurrection life.
Lord, we look away from these things and look to this call to hear You say, “Well done.” In the light of that, we let go of all our other petty things. Lord, we hear Your call, and we hear Your assurance that we will not come into judgment. We have passed out of death into life.
We say hallelujah together. Lord, Your salvation is so amazing, and Your calling to us is so wonderful. In Jesus’ name, amen.