This is the final post of a sermon from the book No Little People by Francis Schaeffer published in 1974. The heart of this message is about learning to depend not on ourselves, but on God’s Spirit to do his work in his way. Schaeffer is showing us that the greatest danger for Christians is not to do the devil’s work, but to do the Lord’s work in our way, using our methods, for our glory, not in his way, using his methods, for his glory. He continues:
The real battle is not fought by Christians just against forces in this world, whether theological, cultural or moral. The real battle is in the heavenlies. The Scripture, therefore, insists that we cannot win our portion of the engagement with earthly weapons. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians contains the classic expression:
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. (Eph. 6:10-18)
There is nothing in this list that the world accepts as a way of working, but there are no other ways to fight the spiritual battle. Imagine the Devil or a demon entering your room right now. You have a sword by your side; so when you see him you rush at him and stab him. But the sword passes straight through and doesn’t faze him! The most awesome modern weapon you could think of could not destroy him. Whenever we do the Lord’s work in the flesh, our strokes “pass right through” because we do not battle earthly forces; the battle is spiritual and requires spiritual weapons.
Besides, if we fight the world with copies of its own weapons, we will fail, because the Devil will honor these with his own, but our Lord will not honor these with us, for that does not give Him the glory. They may bring some results—activism does have its results—but they will not be the ones the Lord wants. Our hands will be empty of honor from God because He will not be getting the glory. We must not try to serve the Lord with our own kind of humanism and egoism.
In this war if Christians win a battle by using worldly means, they have really lost. On the other hand, when we seem to lose a battle while waiting on God, in reality we have won. The world may mistakenly say, “They have lost.” But if God’s people seem to be beaten in a specific battle, not because of sin or lack of commitment or lack of prayer or lack of paying a price, but because they have waited on God and refused to resort to the flesh, then they have won.
GETTING THINGS DONE
Let us not think that waiting on the Lord will mean getting less done. The truth is that by doing the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way we will accomplish more, not less. You need not fear that if you wait for God’s Spirit you will not get as much done as if you charge ahead in the flesh. After all, who can do the most, you or the God of Heaven and earth?
Nor should we think that our role will be passive. The moving of the Holy Spirit should not be contrasted with either proper self-fulfillment or tiredness. To the contrary, both the Scriptures and the history of the church teach that if the Holy Spirit is working, the whole man will be involved and there will be much cost to the Christian. The more the Holy Spirit works, the more Christians will be used in battle, and the more they are used, the more there will be personal cost and tiredness. It is quite the opposite of what we might first think. People often cry out for the work of the Holy Spirit and yet forget that when the Holy Spirit works, there is always tremendous cost to the people of God—weariness and tears and battles.
The Lord brings the real contrast into focus in Galatians: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. . . . If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another” (Gal. 5:16, 25, 26). In these verses, walking in the Spirit (that is, doing the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way) is not contrasted with tiredness and cost but with vainglory. We cannot have God’s power and deliberately place the Me in the center of our lives. We cannot know much about walking in the Spirit until we realize and implement the washing of feet and the humility of the cross. As long as vainglory exists, it will have destructive results, such as “provoking one another, envying one another.”
If we do not want to waste our lives after we have become Christians, then we must understand the importance of having a humble, quiet heart and the power of the Holy Spirit.
While we were working in Champery, one of the people who accepted Christ as Savior was an elderly woman of the German aristocracy. She was a dear woman whom we came to love very much. After she had accepted the Lord, she said that her one regret was that most of her life had been completely wasted. The high social life of Egypt, in which she had lived for many years, and similar circles in which she had traveled in various parts of the world had been without meaning. It is not only non-Christians, however, who can lose years. Christians must also be careful not to throw away large portions of their lives.
PRACTICING THE BIBLICAL POSITION
Humanism presses in upon us, constantly challenging our very life-style. So we must not fail to practice its opposite—the biblical position—presenting a real, practical contrast in our day-to-day living. Is not the central problem of our generation that the world looks upon the church and sees it trying to do the Lord’s work in the flesh? Let us ask ourselves the hard questions: do we really believe God exists, and do we really believe God?
Often men have acted as though one has to choose between reformation and revival. Some call for reformation, others for revival, and they tend to look at each other with suspicion. But reformation and revival do not stand in contrast to one another; in fact, both words are related to the concept of restoration. Reformation speaks of a restoration to pure doctrine, revival of a restoration in the Christian’s life. Reformation speaks of a return to the teachings of Scripture, revival of a life brought into proper relationship to the Holy Spirit. The great moments in church history have come when these two restorations have occurred simultaneously. There cannot be true revival unless there has been reformation, and reformation is not complete without revival. May we be those who know the reality of both reformation and revival, so that this poor dark world in which we live may have an exhibition of a portion of the church returned to both pure doctrine and a Spirit-filled life.
As I see it, the Christian life must be comprised of three concentric circles, each of which must be kept in its proper place. In the outer circle must be the correct theological position, true biblical orthodoxy and the purity of the visible church. This is first, but if that is all there is, it is just one more seedbed for spiritual pride. In the second circle must be good intellectual training and comprehension of our own generation. But having only this leads to intellectualism and again provides a seedbed for pride. In the inner circle must be the humble heart—the love of God, the devotional attitude toward God. There must be the daily practice of the reality of the God whom we know is there. These three circles must be properly established, emphasized and related to each other. At the center must be kept a living relationship to the God we know exists. When each of these three circles is established in its proper place, there will be tongues of fire and the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, at the end of my life, when I look back over my work since I have been a Christian, I will see that I have not wasted my life. The Lord’s work will be done in the Lord’s way.
The last verse of “Give Tongues of Fire” summarizes it so well:
O Son of man, O Son of God! Whose love bought all men by his blood, Give us thy mind, thy soul’s desire, Thy heart of love, Thy tongue of fire That we thy gospel may proclaim To every man in thy great name! O crucified and risen Lord, Give tongues of fire to preach thy Word.
This should be the desire of our hearts. But if we are going to know it rather than just sing it and talk it, we must not do the Lord’s work in the flesh. We must do the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way.