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Be on
the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong!
-1 Cor.
16:13
In the recent Oscar-winning film, Gladiator, the lead
character, Maximus is a Roman general who is sentenced to die by a
corrupt and jealous Caesar. The attempt to execute him fails, he
escapes, but through a series of tragic circumstances he ends up
as a gladiator forced to fight in the coliseum in Rome for his
very life. It is there, in Rome, that he meets up again with the
controlling, oppressive, wicked Caesar who had sentenced him to
death months earlier. The classic confrontation between the hero
and the villain is now ready to unfold.
There is a scene a few days later
in which Maximus and a group of fellow gladiators are led out into
the Coliseum before thousands of blood-thirsty Romans to meet
certain doom at the hands of whatever enemies the Caesar sends
through the Coliseum gates. As the men are about to face their
deaths, Maximus calls upon his years of military leadership to
offer these words of wisdom:
“Whatever comes out of these
gates, we have got a better chance of survival if we work
together. Do you understand? If we stay together, we survive!”
With that said, the gates of the
Coliseum open up and chariots filled with heavily armed soldiers
circle furiously around the frightened gladiators assaulting them
with arrows, swords, and spears. Many of the men who wander out
from the group to defend themselves are immediately killed. It
would appear the fate of the rest of the men is all but sealed.
It is at this point, however,
that a rallying cry to the remnant echoes forth from Maximus:
“Come together. Stay close.
Lock your shields and stay as one!”
The men hurriedly group
themselves together as one unit. They dig in, hold their ground,
deflect the barrage arrows, and wait for an opening through which
they might inflict damage upon their foes. The enemy soldiers are
noticeably confused and remarkably ineffective with their
onslaught against the now rejuvenated gladiators. The tide begins
to turn and the gladiators, standing together as one, eventually
fight off the soldiers and claim a most improbable victory. It was
a battle that was won through preparedness, unity, strength of
conviction, and brute force. On a physical level, this was what it
meant to act like men!
Brothers in Christ, we too are in
a battle. And while our confrontation is fought in the spiritual
realm rather than the physical, it still calls for us to be
prepared, to hold our ground, and to stand strong together in
defense of the gospel. It calls for us to act like men!
Our foe is the most deceptive,
pervasive, and demonic foe that the saints in Christ have ever
faced throughout all of history. It fought against the body of
Christ in the first century and continues with its barrage here in
the twenty-first.
This opponent is so formidable
and clever that if we are not on our guard, if we are not grounded
in the pillars of the gospel, and if we are not deriving our
courage from the testimony of the Scriptures as to the finished
work of Jesus Christ, we and our families are prime targets for
its knock-out punch. And for too long we have been on the ropes
with our hands over our eyes being slapped around by this
monstrous tyrant. It is time, men, to dig in and defend ourselves
and our families against the bully!
What, you ask, is this hideous,
powerful, and crafty adversary? It is religion. It is the bondage
and the yoke of slavery that even the high-octane performing Jews
wilted beneath. It is the gospel that declares that righteousness
before God is based upon what Jesus has done PLUS
SOMETHING, ANYTHING, OR JUST ONE THING THAT I CAN DO.
It is another gospel. It is a false gospel. It is no gospel
at all. And yet it is the most proclaimed gospel on the face of
the earth today just as it was back in Paul's day. It has claimed
victim after victim and left countless casualties in its
wake…perhaps even you and your precious family.
Brothers, how long will we stand
idly by while those dear to us are crushed under the weight of a
performance-based gospel? Is the faith, the gospel, worth
defending or not? Many of us are more passionate in our defense of
our church or denomination than we are the uncompromising gospel
of the grace of God. You and I are called to act like men,
to act like who we are…defenders of the faith! It flies in the
face of who we are as men in Christ to wilt under the heat of
those who oppose justification by faith alone in Christ alone PLUS
NOTHING. Our marching orders, gentlemen, are not to turn ourselves
into perfect performing husbands, fathers, neighbors, co-workers,
or church goers. It is to stand firm in the faith!
Think of how many
"Christians" are willing to fight like warriors in
defense of the law for righteousness. They stand firm for a lie for
if righteousness comes through
law, then Christ died needlessly (Gal. 2:21). Men, by
the works of law (good works!) no flesh will be justified
in His sight (Rom. 3:20) and therefore any gospel that teaches
that being "right with God" is something we contribute
to, to any degree, is a false gospel and the worst enemy you will
ever face. Why? Because it can come so close to the real thing. A
round piece of pink paper with Mickey Mouse in the middle and a
dollar sign scribbled on the front and back is not going to
deceive me into thinking that I'm being handed a dollar bill. I
don't even consider it as having any value. But put something that
looks just like the real thing in my hand with only a few almost
imperceptible mistakes in it and I'm convinced I'm looking at the
genuine article. Both are counterfeits but only one deceives me
into believing and even arguing that it is of value. And if I
choose to pass along either one, I perpetuate a counterfeit and
the imprisonment to which it always leads.
You and I are in a war! And this
war calls for men of faith, warts and all, to wake up, to stand
together, to dig in, to be strong and courageous, to defend what
is worth defending…the gospel of Jesus Christ! Any man can be
that defender. Any man can be that soldier in the fight. This
isn't a battle reserved for those who can clean up their act or
improve their flesh to make it acceptable and presentable. This is
a war for those who put no confidence in the flesh…in order
that (they) may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not
having a righteousness of (their) own derived from law, but
that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which
comes from God on the basis of faith (Phil. 3:3,8-9).
Gentlemen, our enemy is
relentless. You will face him today and every day. Your family
will face him as well. What will you do? What will your legacy be
to them and to others? Will you be remembered as a man dedicated
to establishing his own righteousness and urging others to do the
same, or will you be known as a true gladiator of the faith who
fought unashamedly and furiously for the gospel that declares that
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who
believes (Rom. 10:4)?
The war, my fellow soldiers,
wages on. Now is the time for you and me to begin acting like men!
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, be strong. Let’s lock
our shields of faith together against the flaming arrows of our
most formidable enemy.
Join me in the fight!
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