The Persistent Window
By Mac April 2002
“I could have been the house. It was old, and over the years had settled quite a bit. It was one of those warm and balmy evenings in the suburbs of Atlanta, and John was trying to study his Bible. The wind was coming from the southeast and he thought if he opened the window, some of that cooler air would help him concentrate. When he slid the window up he could really feel that refreshing breeze enter his room. But, when he let go of the sash, the window slid down and closed. He tried pushing it a little farther; and then not quite so far. Same results. He ended up placing Sam Lang’s “Awesome Man of God”, standing on end, to hold it open.”
(I bet you thought I had misspelled ‘Widow’ in the title, didn’t you? Anyone who is familiar with the Bible probably would think the same thing.). But what I want to talk about in this lesson, is not necessarily the ‘wiNdow, or the ‘widow’; rather, I want to concentrate on the adjective, ‘Persistent’. All who have read the story of the persistent WIDOW in Jesus’ parable in the beginning of Luke 18, know that continual praying to God works! But there is far more I would like to discuss about persistence in this lesson.
Turn to Hebrews 10, and read the following excerpt, starting in verse 19, and going through 25:
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter
the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way opened for us through the
curtain, that is, his body,
and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty
conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he
who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward
love and good deeds.
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
The Hebrew writer starts with the word, ‘therefore’. Whenever you see ‘therefore’ at the beginning of a section, it is wise to back up a little bit and see why he SAID ‘therefore’, to begin with. In this case, if you go to the beginning of Chapter 10, and read the first 24 verses, you will see that the writer was discussing the tremendous and awesome sacrifice Christ made for all of us. In summary, he says that the repetitive sacrifices (animal blood and burnt offerings) that were required by God BEFORE Jesus came to earth and died, were done away with once and for all by his death, burial and resurrection. Christ took away the sins of the world. Your sins. My sins. Hence, the word ‘therefore’. Also hence, we need to be appreciative of His sacrifice, and show persistence in our love for God.
Most of us disciples DO have confidence that we will “enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus”. Therefore, (see how that works?), “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart….”. (excerpt from verse 22). Jesus has provided for us, a ‘persistent window’ through which we can see and enter the glorious place called heaven.
My first point in this lesson about the “window of opportunity” that He has given us is: “Don’t Sin”.
If you want the ‘persistent window’ to remain open, you DON’T just let it close on you. You DO something about it. John put a copy of Sam Lang’s tome to ‘hold the physical window open’ in the beginning of this study. How do we keep the ‘spiritual’ window open? In Galatians 5, Paul teaches that the window CAN close. In verse 20, and 21, he writes “I warn you as I did before, those of you who live like this will NOT inherit the kingdom of God.” And he was speaking to disciples for whom Jesus had already opened the window. Don’t Sin. THAT is what Paul was preaching. But if you DO sin, (after all, we ARE flawed humans) REPENT of that sin and ask God for forgiveness.
In Hebrews 10, read verses 26 through 31:
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received
the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging
fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be
punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an
unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has
insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I
will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
If you do sin over and over, and seem unable to stop doing that particular sin, where do you turn? James 5:16 says you are to confess you sins to one another for healing. This healing process may take more time for some, less time for others.
My
second point is “Don’t Stop”!!
If you count the number of times one of the writers in the New Testament says specifically, “Do not”, you will find 365. The same query in the Old Testament yields a value of 810. Over a thousand times the Bible tells us “Don’t”!!!!! DON’T leave the Word once you have found it. Keep your place in Hebrews 10 and turn to 2nd John 1:9 and read what it says: “Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” Sure we get discouraged when the window seems to slam shut on us. We think God doesn’t listen, or doesn’t care. But discouragement is not a reason to leave God. Don’t stop reading and studying the Bible just because of discouragement. Is YOUR window seem to be closed right now? Do you feel your prayers are not being answered by God? If so, you need to take the guidance of the Hebrew writer. Turn back to Hebrews 10 and read verses 35 through 39:
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly
rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will
of God, you will receive what he has promised.
For in just a very little while, "He who is coming
will come and will not delay.
But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he
shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.”
Verse 35 starts with the word “So”. I think ‘So’ and ‘Therefore’ are brother and sister. They are definitely related, if words can be related! As with ‘brother Therefore’, ‘sister So’ invokes a question why does this word start this section. In this case, we need to see what is said in previous verses, so we can understand better why the writer used the word ‘So’. Read verses 32 through 34:
“Remember those earlier days after you had received the
light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.
Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and
persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so
treated.
You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”
Here, we learn that the ‘Christians’ to whom this book was written were persecuted yet they were still joyful because the KNEW they would enter ‘the Most Holy Place’ someday. These people stood their ground in face of adversity. Do YOU? Do you maintain your joy when things ‘don’t’ go so well for you’? These folks did, and that is why verse 35 started with ‘So’. ‘Rich rewards’, it says, awaits those that do not lose confidence. If you can keep that window open, then you too, “will receive what he has promised.”
Don’t stop doing what you need to do. Don’t stop caring for, and loving others. Don’t let the window close. YOU be persistent in your fight for righteousness. When we read 2nd John earlier, we learned that we are to “continue in the teaching” of Jesus Christ. How do we do that? Simple, really. EVERY DAY, continue to seek God. Read your Bible. Pray. Teach others. Romans 2:17 through 23 even explains it a little better:
“Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the
law and brag about your relationship to God;
if you know his will and approve of what is superior
because you are instructed by the law;
if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind,
a light for those who are in the dark,
an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants,
because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth--
you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?
You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
You who say that people should not commit adultery, do
you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by
breaking the law?”
Not only must you teach yourself through reading, hearing, studying, and DOING, but you also must teach others. Ezekiel talks about us being ‘watchmen’. Guarding the flock, so to speak. If you stop guarding, if you stop leading, if you stop teaching, if you stop doing what you are supposed to be teaching, what happens? The window closes. Satan is persistent in his efforts to close your window. Are you just as persistent in keeping it open?
Turn to Hebrews 12, and read verses 22 through 27:
“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,
to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written
in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of
righteous men made perfect,
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they
did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less
will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has
promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the
heavens."
The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain.”
Oh oh, ‘cousin ‘But’ starts this section. Like his relatives, Therefore and So, this word also hints at its use at the beginning of a sentence. In this case, may I suggest you read verses 14 through 21 in chapter 12 to better understand. In summary, however, the writer is telling us that we HAVE become Christians and that we should not miss the Grace of God. (Even here, there is clear indication that the window can close on us.). ‘BUT’, we HAVE come to Mount Zion, to God, to Jesus. Now that we are ‘here’, then, we need to say ‘YES’ to His commands. Don’t say ‘NO’!
“Anyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like the foolish man who built a house on sand……” Well, you know the rest. The ‘foolish man’ in this parable of Jesus is one that said ‘No’. The ‘wise man’ is the one who said ‘Yes’. When you are asked to help others, do YOU say ‘No’? When asked to give just 1/10th of your salary to God, do YOU say ‘No’? (Malachi warns of us being CURSED if we say ‘No’.) When asked to get with your discipling partner at least once a week, do YOU say ‘No’? Is YOUR spiritual house built on sand, or rock?
In verse 25 above, we read that you are to “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks” Are you disobeying God? Are you refusing what he is commanding us? Are you letting the window close on YOU?
This parable in Matthew 19:16 through 22 summarizes, in my opinion, what happens to people who let the window close; those that refuse to do EVERYTHING God commands:
“Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher,
what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus
replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey
the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied,
"`Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false
testimony,
honor your father and mother,' and `love your neighbor as
yourself.' "
"All these I have kept," the young man said.
"What do I still lack?"
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell
your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.”
We ALL have great wealth….even if it feels that way or not. Don’t say ‘No’ to God. Don’t go away sad because of any one particular sin you want to keep hold of.
In life, as in everything you do, you must be persistent. Satan is definitely persistent in his efforts to dissuade us from our relationship with God. He is always trying to close that window. You TOO, must be persistent to keep the window open. Turn to, and read verses 28 and 29 in Hebrews 12, and we will close out there.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,
for our "God is a consuming fire."”
Let’s worship our God as we should: Don’t Sin, Don’t Stop, and Don’t Say No.
To God be the glory. Amen.