In the Arena of Faith A Call to a Consecrated Life by Erich Sauer This selection sponsored by: www.book-ministry.com TABLE OF CONTENTS In the Arena of Faith A Call to a Consecrated Life TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I "Looking Unto Jesus" CHAPTER II Christ - The Example in the Race 1. As the steadfast Hero with an unflinching will to attain unto victory 2. As Leader and perfect Exponent of the faith. 3. As triumphal Victor in unwavering hope. 4. As the Example that should encourage and empower His followers. CHAPTER III The Ancient Greek Racecourse and the Spiritual Warfare I. Greek and Roman Sport Life in General II. The Religious Character of Pagan Sport and Athletics III. The Chief Different Kinds of Games IV. The Rules of the Games V. The Prize CHAPTER IV The Race that is Set Before Us I. The "Appointment" of the Race II. The Attitude which is Necessary to Reach the Goal CHAPTER V The Christian Race as an Obstacle Race The Christian and Suffering CHAPTER VI Pressing On to the Mark! I. Paralyzing Powers II. Quickening Powers CHAPTER VII Wasted Privileges I. The Rights of the Firstborn in Israel II. The Birthright of the Church III. The Serious Danger IV. The Grave Error V. The Hour Of Decision VI. The Birthright and the Heavenly Prize CHAPTER VIII Listen! God Speaks! I. The Heavenly Riches of the Church of God II. The Holy Obligation of those Called to Heavenly Glory PREFACE WHAT we need is revival, a spiritual awakening of God's people, a powerful testimony to the world, a new vision and a fresh experience of the saving and keeping power of Christ through His word and the Holy Spirit. This experience is possible, for Christ is living today! He is the eternal Victor, the Exalted One, the spring of all life and strength for everyone who puts his trust in Him. Christ never disappoints. But God grants His free gifts only to faith. Only where there is trust and devotion, will God's fountains be opened. Only upon a life, fully surrendered, will He pour out His abundant blessings. Where there was failure, He can give restoration. All weakness can be overcome. New joy and hope can fill our hearts. That is the message of this book. It is at the same time my personal testimony. It differs from my previous books, The Dawn of World Redemption, The Triumph of the Crucified and From Eternity to Eternity in that those dealt with the general lines of development of God's plan of redemption, but this bears testimony chiefly to our personal experience of salvation. For the deeds of God are not only around and above us, they should be in us at the same time. The general plan of salvation must center in a personal experience of salvation in the individual. I am indebted very much to my friends Dr. and Mrs. A. E. Wilder Smith for their very great and most valuable share in the work of translation. Without their keen interest and united efforts this English edition would not have come to pass. The book was published first in German in 1952. In this English edition there is added a special treatise on "The ancient Greek and Roman Racecourses and the Spiritual Warfare, as compared in the New Testament." We have given this discussion in a more detailed form because the knowledge of these Greek and Roman customs illuminates greatly the figurative language of many New Testament Scriptures which refer to them. At the same time it gives us a clearer understanding of the surroundings and some most important features of the outward conditions of the early Christian church. By elaborating the description of this special side of ancient culture in its relationship to the New Testament, we also hope to render a certain service to such students of Scripture who might want to make use of this book for the preparation of messages in their ministry, and therefore might be glad to have a more detailed view of these ancient customs and their history. Such readers may also value the Greek terms of these institutions as well as the references to certain Greek expressions in the Biblical text that are occasionally given in the book when this seemed helpful for a more exact understanding. The chapter on the Races has been translated by Mr. G. H. Lang, the translator of my three previous books. To him I wish also to express my sincere thanks. The book is written in a simple style. It sets out to express its message in a language understandable to all. It is designed as an appeal to heart and mind for new spiritual zeal and devotion, for new confidence and hope. It bases its teachings on the truths of Hebrews 12. Therefore at the head of each chapter is given the relevant quotation from Hebrews 12 so that the word of the Scripture and the meditation thereon may hang closely together, and the reading and understanding of the whole be facilitated. May the Lord bless the testimony of this book. May He lead us all more and more into a real experience of His blessings. His promises are to all those who in holy earnestness reach out towards the prize, those who lift up their eyes to Him, those who do His commandment. In the arena of faith "let us look unto Jesus." ERICH SAUER Wiedenest, Rhineland, Germany. INTRODUCTION God's people have heard God's call. For only by this call has a People of God come into being, since "faith cometh by hearing" (Rom. 10: 17). By means of this call God's miraculous dealings with His church began. We cannot think or speak highly enough of the redeemed of the Lord. They are saved and reconciled, freed and blessed (Col. 1:13, 14; Eph. 1:3). They are "elect of God, holy and beloved" (Col. 3:12). They are vessels of His grace, sons of the mighty Father, royal children, citizens of heaven. Even though many imperfections and weaknesses are indeed still present, we may be of good courage and have firm confidence as to the work of the Holy Spirit in His own. We are able to see Christ's image in His followers, yes, we can see Christ Himself in our brother and with all our heart we can rejoice in Him seen in one another. "The saints that are in the earth, they are the excellent, in whom is all my delight" (Psa. 16:3). And yet----! God's people need a new awakening! It is an alarming fact that, in spite of the mighty voice of God in the momentous happenings of recent years, there has been no really great lasting general revival, not in a single European country! Certainly in not a few towns and districts the Spirit of God has been able to work in local movements. The general public has been spoken to with power by the gospel. Christians have been quickened and non-Christians won, triumphant songs of thanks and salvation have been heard in churches and tents, in halls and homes. For all these works of grace in town and country we cannot sufficiently bless the Lord. And yet, amongst believers, we see so much earthly-mindedness, so much love of the world, so much anxiety, so much narrow egoism, so much exclusive concern for one's own little circle, so much firm holding fast to old forms which have long since been dead and which, not seldom, never had any solid warrant in Scripture, so much over-emphasis on secondary matters, and so much neglect of the true values that really matter. We must seriously ask ourselves the question: Have our ears become so deaf that we are not able to hear the voice of God for the thunder of the battlefields, the roaring of the bombers, the crashing of walls, the collapsing of houses, the dying of millions of men and women, old and young? Without a doubt, sin has been at work here. Not God but the demoniacal powers of world kingdoms separated from Him have caused all this. But in this thunder of catastrophes God has spoken, secretly controlling them and, in the last analysis, mightily ruling by them (cf. Jer. 51:20; Isa. 45:1-7): "Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations He has made in the earth" (Psa. 46:8). How could God speak yet more impressively? First-class world powers have been smashed, towns have been changed to fields of ruins, irreplaceable works of art, centuries old, have been destroyed, millions of men have been killed. Under the judgment of God the estrangement of sinners from Him has worked itself out in a most terrifying manner to their own disaster. How clearly ought God's people to have recognized God's voice in the midst of this Satan- driven whirl of history! To what a large extent should there have been power-filled witness, missionary energy, readiness to sacrifice, zeal to be sanctified, and willingness to show brotherly love, showing forth thus the fact and the fruit of really living for eternity! And yet in general one has seen so very little of all this. How can we expect non-Christians to awake if we ourselves are not awakened? How can "fire" arise if we ourselves do not "burn"? How shall life be begotten if we ourselves are not truly filled with "life"? Things must be altered. God's people must awake. You must awake and I too! We must let ourselves be clothed anew by life-giving power from on high. The living Christ must become again the reality of our souls and take possession of all we are and have. We must forsake all false quietism and reach out into a holy activity. We must learn anew to regard our Christian life as a "race," as a running (I Cor. 9:24), as "combat" in the "arena of faith" (cf. Phil. 3:14; Heb. 12:14). "I therefore so run" (I Cor. 9:26). "Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy" (Acts 20:24; II Tim. 4:7), "that I have not run in vain" (Phil. 2:16). "The prize" is waiting to be won (I Cor. 9: 24). "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14). "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain" (I Cor. 9:24). But he alone has the victory who looks to Christ. For Christ also was a warrior. He was both pioneer and victor. For this reason He is also our example and source of power, our umpire and rewarder. What we need is a renewed vision of the person of the Redeemer, a vision of the cross and a practical obedience to the ways of the cross, a thankful recognition of God's grace abundantly bestowing its blessings upon us. We must be taken hold of and flooded through and through by the power of His Spirit so that we may run in His strength unto the goal of our calling. This implies in detail that we must stand the test in difficulties, in sorrows, we must be able to dismiss the spirit of worrying and overcome all spiritual weariness and symptoms of fatigue, we must be ready to bear witness and must have a missionary spirit. Brotherly love and sanctification, prayerfulness and hearkening to the Word of God, must characterize us. All this will enable us to run steadfastly towards heaven and glory. Such is the purpose of this book. In the main, this is the message of the 12th chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews. And thus the message of God in those bygone days will become a message of admonition and warning for us today, a message of revival from the past for the people of God in the present. It is these truths that I feel of the greatest importance. In fact, in them lies the fulcrum, the secret of our own intimate heart relationship to the Lord: that is, in personal experience of the crucified and resurrected Christ, in faith in a present full salvation, in the realization of the heavenly standing of the redeemed, in the spirit of joyful gratitude for the richness of blessing which we have received in Christ by the Holy Spirit. On the other hand we must not fail to confess our very great imperfections. We must see our obligation to strive for practical holiness, the necessity for sacrificial readiness in vital missionary testimony, for steadfast standing of the test in all the trials of the present time. There must be intercourse with the Lord through prayer and through His Word, devotion and dedication, freshness in faith and pressing forward to the goal, realization of responsibility, holy earnestness, and, at the same time, joyful expectancy of His glorious coming again. All this is possible only through Him, who is Himself the fountain of all salvation. "From Me is thy fruit found" (Hos. 14:8). "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, yea and for ever" (Heb. 13:8). Only an actual God working in the actual experience of man can help us; there must be faith for a realized experience of His person, a reckoning upon His presence. He is at hand (Phil. 4:5). He is here where I am. His presence is my salvation. He is the ever-ready helper at any moment in my own personal experience and He helps in every situation joyfully, the present living Christ here and now. "Jesus saves me now." CHAPTER I "Looking Unto Jesus" "THE greatest joy in life is to make Jesus Christ known." I read this in large letters on the wall of the Moody Hall in Chicago. This word of that great evangelist expresses the essence of his life and the joy received thereby. These words should also be the motto of the service and the striving of all the truly redeemed. We all live "by" Christ. We all strive "toward" Christ. We all wish to be "in" Him and "for" Him. Our life is only of as much value as Christ is in us. Anything that is superadded besides Jesus is worthless. It is true, the earthly and outward has its value which is not to be underestimated in this present life, if it is kept within bounds. We are far from regarding the wonders of creation as of little import, or giving ourselves over to cynicism or escapism in that we despise everything that is natural. But we must insist that only that will remain for our everlasting existence which is today directed towards Christ in us. Only that has eternal value which has been lived for Him and loved for Him, which we have done in Him, which we have suffered for and gained with Him. Jesus and Jesus alone is the life of our life, the eternity of our time, the value which can never be stolen, ruined or devaluated. For this reason everything depends on a practical attitude of living faith to Jesus Christ. This is the fundamental essence of all New Testament spiritual life. To show forth and practice the truth and the life of Christ is the content and message of the whole New Testament. Jesus Christ is for all the New Testament writers the living and only panacea for all illness, weakness, and distress. Every one of them is perfectly sure of it: Jesus never disappoints: Jesus only wonderfully surprises. He never does less than He promised. On the contrary, He exceeds His own word, so that everyone who really trusts in Him can join in the happy exclamation of the Queen of Sheba: "Not the half had been told me." It is not a rhetorical phrase but my most serious conviction when I state: If anyone were to offer me a ball of gold as big as the sun, that is a ball more than one million two hundred thousand times greater than our whole earth-all pure gold-saying, however, at the same time, "You must exchange your faith in the Lord Jesus for this," I should not have to hesitate for one moment. There can be only one answer: "Away with your golden ball into outer space. I despise it. Jesus is of infinitely greater value to me." And I know that I should not be the only one to give this reply. Every real disciple of Christ would give the same answer. Every true believer would so reply, just as promptly, without any hesitation. All created lights of this world are eclipsed to the man for whom Jesus Christ is risen as the sun of righteousness. "A greater than all is here!" The whole New Testament speaks of this "greater one," of Him who is indeed the greatest of all. For this reason the central message of the whole book is the call: "Let us look unto Jesus!" Three New Testament writings out of a total of 27 books form a special constellation in this sense: the Gospel of John, the Colossian letter and that to the Hebrews. In John's Gospel the glory of Christ is radiated as seen from above. He is the Son who came down from heaven into this world. He was sent from the Father. Thus we see Christ as viewed under the aspect of heaven. This is salvation's basis. In the Colossian letter we view the glory of Jesus from within, i.e., from within Himself, as the living, active Saviour and Redeemer, because of the exceeding greatness of His person (especially in chapter 1), and the all-inclusive sufficiency of His work (especially in ch. 2). Thus we see Christ as viewed under the aspect of His own person and His own work. This is salvation's center. The letter to the Hebrews shows us the glory of Christ compared with earlier times, i.e., the times of the preparation for salvation in Old Testament history. So Christ is here shown as the One Who not only fulfilled God's greatest revelations but also infinitely exceeded them (especially in chapters 1-10). Thus we see Christ as viewed under the aspect of preparation and fulfillment. This is salvation's history. Therefore, while the call, "Let us look unto Jesus!" is the motto of the New Testament in general, how much more is it the motto in this radiant constellation of these three Spirit- given Divine messages! This message, as indeed the message of the whole New Testament, aims at life and reality. "Looking unto Jesus" must justify itself in practice. The message is not concerned with "enthusiasm for Christ" but with being "filled with the Spirit of Christ," not with mere admiration of His greatness, but with practical experience of His all-sufficiency in the trials and tribulations of this everyday life of ours; not only intellectual, spiritual vision, but spiritual action; not only songs of triumph, but a real practical victory; not only worship, but discipleship. Both aspects belong inseparably together: the sanctuary and everyday life, heaven and earth, the exalted Christ and His sanctifying practical life-power to be experienced here below. The twelfth chapter of the letter to the Hebrews is that portion of the New Testament in which this relationship between the vision of Christ and victory in battle is especially emphasized. We shall consider this chapter from the following chief points of view: Let us look unto Jesus! For He is our example in conflict. Verses 1-3. Let us look unto Jesus! For thus we can attain practical victory. Verses 1-3. Let us look unto Jesus! For thus we remain steadfast in suffering. Verses 4-11. Let us look unto Jesus! For thus we shall not become weary in the race. Verses 12-15. Let us look unto Jesus! For thus we can live up to the privileges of our birthright. Verses 16-17. Let us look unto Jesus! For thus we shall attain unto the crown and the heavenly City. Verses 18-29. This looking unto Jesus is at the same time a looking away from everything else. For this reason a word is used for "looking" in Hebrews 12 which includes both these meanings.* *(Greek ap-horan from the Greek apo = from, away from and boron = to look. Cf. Greek apo-blepein, Heb. 11: 26.) It means a purposeful looking away from those objects which automatically catch the eye, to those other objects which have to be concentrated upon. By this means all lack of concentration will be overcome. Our eyes will be directed on one object, Christ, and the heart will thereby be held by His glory. Thus the whole inward man experiences in ever increasing measure the depths and the riches of the Scripture: "They saw no one but Jesus only." All the blessings of God are so devised that they can increase. That is, every fulfillment is at the same time a promise of something greater. God never reaches the end of His possibilities (John 1:16; Eph. 2:7). Thus the best and most glorious is ever before us and to come. All is of glory, in glory, and, according to His own plan, "from glory to glory" (cf. II Cor. 3:18). With the world and sin it is otherwise. It starts with mock joy and ends with disappointment. At the beginning there is a deceptive glitter and at the end night. Many years ago I visited a Press Exhibition in Cologne. In one of the large halls the relationship between the Press and the postal services was shown by various documents and tables. I shall never forget the decoration on one of the main walls. It represented a huge eagle. The exhibition concerned itself with the attainments of the German postal services up to 1928. The effect of this huge eagle was most imposing. But when one came nearer to it and looked at it more closely one discovered that it consisted solely of postage stamps of the inflation period-hundreds of thousands of small inflation postage stamps. I said to my companion immediately: "For estimating things earthly is not this a picture of the values of this world in general? Regarded from a distance, at first sight, they seem to be grand and imposing. But the nearer one comes to them, the more one discovers that they are all inflated values-huge numbers but little worth. Not only inflation of money but inflation of words, inflation of terms, inflation of ideals, inflation of spirit. Behind this mighty façade only very little actual substance. The more one gets to know them the less one values them. From the distance like an eagle, yet in reality only inflation!" How different is Jesus Christ! His worth for us increases the more we get to know Him. He proves Himself true even in the severest testing of everyday practice. He faileth never. For this reason our whole thought and endeavor should be directed towards Him. He leads us "from faith to faith" (Rom. 1:17), "from strength to strength" (Psa. 84:7), "from glory to glory" (II Cor. 3:18). In Him there is opened an inexhaustible fountain of salvation (Isa. 12:3; Zech. 13:1). Yet we experience this increase in heavenly blessings only when our souls strive forward. Only those who are hungry get satisfied, only those who are thirsty are refreshed (Matt. 5:6), only those who take their discipleship to be a "race" attain the "prize" of their calling (Phil. 3:14; II Pet.1:10). Therefore "let us look unto Jesus!" Only so can we be winners and reach in the arena of faith the goal of everlasting glory (Heb.12:1-3).