The Second Step — People of a Stumbling-Block Faith

1He brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, waters flowed out from under the threshold of the house eastward, for the front of the house faced toward the east. The waters came down from underneath, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar. 2Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me around by the way outside to the outer gate, by the way of the gate that looks toward the east. Behold, waters ran out on the right side. 3When the man went out eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles. 4Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through waters that were to the waist. 5Afterward he measured one thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters had risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be walked through.

In flower-garden faith, unable to let go of the habits of the world, we often shut the door of faith that stands open toward God. If we never grow out of that childlike faith, we will in the end be cut off from God and have no choice but to walk a road of emptiness and confusion.

The second of the ‘steps of faith’ is the faith that must sort out, by faith, everything that becomes a stumbling block in the Christian life. While I was looking into what such stumbling blocks might be, I came across a piece of writing—I could not find out who wrote it—on the bad habits that people who fail have in common. The first is self-deception: the person who deceives themselves, who either does things against their conscience without realizing it, or presses ahead even while feeling the pangs of conscience. To press ahead knowing that something is sin is to defy God and deceive ourselves, and because of that we have to turn back. Those of us who must walk the narrow way need to clear away the stumbling blocks Satan sets down the moment we see them; if we are too lazy to do the work, we will never escape the world.

The second habit common to those who fail is repeating unproductive behavior. In other words, such people waste a life too precious to waste, since this shows that they are not living by the word.

Proverbs 24:33-34

33a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; 34so your poverty will come as a robber, and your want as an armed man.

Knowing the good and not doing it is sin. Only if we turn back as soon as we see we are wrong will we keep from wasting the rest of our lives, and only if we are diligent will poverty not come on us like a robber, nor want like an armed man. The reason we must keep far from lewd and immoral conduct is that sexual immorality is a sin against one’s own body, and so it cannot bear the fruit of the Spirit. Such people cannot experience the working of the Holy Spirit. The law prescribed that those who committed sexual immorality be stoned to death; that alone shows how greatly it hinders the work of God.

Because Christians are mirrors that reflect the light of Christ, their lives are plainly visible in a dark world. It is like the way people watched the disciples who were with Jesus, sometimes rebuking them and sometimes respecting them. That is why the people of the world, though they themselves do not live upright lives, say that believers, since they believe in God, ought to be good. They urge them to drink yet hope they will refuse; they mock God yet want believers alone to keep a clean conscience. They behave this way because there is a conscience within them that God has given.

Because we have been given the task of preaching the gospel, if we have bad habits that become stumbling blocks, we must cast them off for God’s sake. In the life of faith, too, it is the diligent who do well; the lazy know things in their heads but do not put them into action, so their faith does not grow. The diligent succeed, because they make good use of the time they are given and keep building themselves up through constant self-discipline. It is hard to set a goal and run toward it, but tireless, unceasing effort is what brings a person to it. How much less, then, can God’s people fulfill their calling if they are lazy! If we clear away stumbling blocks for the sake of the truth and live humbly and wisely, we will be able to climb the steps of faith with great strides.

The third is the person who behaves without courtesy, insists on their own ideas, and is negative and critical about everything. In any relationship, however close, there are lines that must not be crossed. People who lack manners are nearly always negative in their thinking and critical in their attitude. Because stubbornness and self-will hold a person back, we must listen to what others say. Good manners depend on good character formed in childhood. If you see your child behaving rudely and think that they are still young and you will teach them a little later, you will miss the right time. Children grow up watching their parents’ actions, judgments, and decisions, so parents must be careful, and only when husband and wife think alike and speak with one voice will the child not be confused.

God always shows us the unchanging word of truth and his holiness. Think about it: wherever we call on him, he answers with the same steadfast love and leads us in good ways. So we, too, must fully take up the task God has given us.

The fourth is the person who lacks the ability to set priorities and therefore creates pointless arguments and problems; such a person is likely to fail. Someone who does not know what comes first in their work lacks the ability to judge rightly whenever a problem arises, and ends up as a tiresome person who stirs up arguments. Because the wise know the order of things, they handle problems quickly and accurately, however high they pile up. But the foolish fail to understand even what others have handled wisely, and end up creating the problem all over again. Folly and laziness let the chances to grow slip by and waste time, and for that reason such people in the end cannot help but fail. If even in ordinary life those with such harmful traits fail, how much more will a Christian who has them fall short of a mature faith!

In the life of faith, the stumbling block is refusing to give up human righteousness. It is trusting our own judgment and doing as we please instead of obeying the word. Those who do so throw away the grace of God through emotion and temper and stop growing, and in the end they will live a life of failure. When we do not know what comes first, simply following the faith of those who have gone before us, or simply obeying, can bring us to a similar step. If we lay aside pride, stubbornness, and human righteousness and listen to the word, it will greatly help us cast off our stumbling blocks, so we must open our hearts.

Only when we stand before God can we see our own sin and weakness. Only when we see through his eyes how vain, utterly vain, life is can we have a humble faith. That is why we need the wisdom of the word, by which we can steer around stumbling blocks. Scripture says that even if you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with the grain, the foolishness will not leave them; so I hope you will have the wisdom to examine yourselves in the light of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 19:25-26

25He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. 26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

The best-known example of someone who died because she could not let go of the world in her heart is Lot’s wife. She heard from the angels the word of salvation—that Sodom was about to be destroyed and they must get out quickly—and she was blessed to be led by the angels out of the place of judgment. In the same way, God has told us beforehand that the world will surely suffer the wrath of Christ and be judged; so we who live knowing the future must not make the choice Lot’s wife made. The angels were hurrying her by force onto the road of salvation, but her heart had not yet left Sodom. Because of the wealth, jewels, and relationships she had left behind in the doomed city, she tripped over the stumbling block of possessiveness, even though she knew God’s judgment was coming. She knew that to live she had to put judgment behind her and run ahead, yet in the end she committed the sin of looking back and became a pillar of salt.

The judgment that came on Lot’s wife shows that faith does not grow because someone drags us along; it grows only when we ourselves believe and follow. On the day Jesus Christ returns, those whose faith is honest will meet the Lord in the air, but a faith that is not genuine will be left behind on this earth under judgment.

God prizes genuine faith above outward show. Because Thomas was not there when Jesus rose on the third day, he said he could not believe what the disciples told him. Yet Jesus had spoken to Thomas about his plan again and again for three years; had Thomas truly listened, he would have believed his brothers. When the disciples and many others say they have met the risen Jesus and he still does not trust them, it shows that he had not been listening to Jesus’ words all along. Thomas, always negative and self-centered, said he would believe only if he saw the print of the nails in Jesus’ hands, and that unless he put his finger into the print of the nails he could not believe. From a human point of view he may seem a very precise and rational man. But God is not someone we come to believe in through human certainty.

John 20:29

29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.”

It must have been because Thomas could not trust Jesus with his whole heart that he did not believe. Seeing him so, Jesus told him that he had believed because he had seen, and that those who have not seen and yet believe are blessed; and he made it known that God’s plan and its fulfillment cannot be understood through human common sense and knowledge. Faith does not come through human common sense, knowledge, and understanding. When the existence of God becomes real to us in the spirit, we can discover his providence in everything that happens around us.

Do you believe because you have seen the risen Lord with your own eyes? You believe because it is written in the Bible, because the Holy Spirit made you believe, and most likely because you heard the gospel from someone who shared it and came to faith. To believe in Christ seated on the throne is a faith we can never have unless we utterly abandon our own righteousness. Trusting Jesus Christ is the only way to obey, and those who trust the word will not waver in their faith in any situation. Those who strive to clear away every stumbling block in order to obey Jesus’ words will grow into the faith God desires.

When Lot’s wife entered Sodom, as beautiful as Eden, she would have given thanks that they had received the blessings of the world because her husband’s faith was good. A faith like hers, thankful only when life is comfortable, has no strength to overcome when the hardships of life come, and it falls easily. When Lot’s wife heard the angels say that Sodom would be judged, she simply could not believe that a city as great as Babylon could vanish. Had she obeyed God’s word until then, she would have believed without doubt when the angels told her. But grieving over the loss of all she owned, she looked back.

If I tell you to put away greed and stop living for the world, you will have a great deal to think about. Those who have lived for the world will find it hard to believe that Jesus will return and the world will be destroyed. But because Lot’s wife doubted to the end, she was not saved, even though she heard Sodom being destroyed with her own ears and saw everything she owned burn with her own eyes. That you are hearing a sermon about Lot’s wife now may well be an opportunity for you. For to wait until you have seen it with your own eyes before you turn back is to be left, like Lot’s wife, without a chance.

Because many churches preach a prosperity gospel that says living well is God’s blessing, church members hold their faith as a tool for living well. But such faith is not true faith, and it must be put out of our hearts altogether. The very thought that our children succeeded and rose in the world because we believed in God well is itself an idolatrous heart, the same faith as Lot’s wife’s. Of course, wealth is better than poverty and success better than failure. But success without God at the center of life is failure, so we must know what comes first as we live by faith. Lot’s wife looking back at Sodom, where she had left her wealth, and church members today wanting worldly success as the reward for believing in God are one and the same. Let us take to heart that if, like Lot’s wife, we cannot let go of the world and trip over the stumbling block that leads to destruction, there will be no second chance.

Those who are caught up into the air on the last day, hearing the trumpet that praises Jesus Christ, are the ones who received Jesus Christ with a pure heart. Being caught up into the air and living as citizens of heaven is the very reason we live by faith, so if we do not live with honest faith there is neither resurrection nor eternal life. To hold the most basic, genuine truth is the very way of salvation.

Church members give zealously in order to be blessed, because they have heard over and over that if they give generously God will pour out a blessing so great there will not be room enough to store it. But such giving springs from a desire for reward, and when hardship comes they complain as though it were God’s fault and leave the church. This is because they took up faith not out of gratitude for the sacrifice of Jesus, who rescued them from death, but for the sake of what they would gain. We must obey Jesus Christ in every situation and never haggle with our faith for worldly success. God is not like an idol that exists to bless people. He does not bless people because they have made offerings with devotion. Those who cannot tell God from the gods of the world and strive to get what they want must know that in the end they hold a faith that has nothing to do with God.

Joshua 6:18

18But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.

Because the spiritual world and the will of God are not hidden away in the depths, we need not do evil as Achan did; if we ask, knock, and seek, we will receive an answer. Because Israel was one community, if even one person sinned by taking the devoted things that belonged to God, all Israel was counted guilty and suffered for it. This is the same principle by which all humanity became sinners through the sin of one man, Adam. When Israel conquered Jericho, God commanded them not to take the spoils as they pleased, to teach them that this battle was one in which God himself had intervened.

Yet even though Achan had heard God’s word, he could not overcome his human greed and hid a robe, along with silver and gold, in his tent. It was not that he had not heard the command; he could not get over the stumbling block of greed. The thought that came to Achan was a human one: though God had won the battle, it was because he had marched around Jericho that they could win, and because he had fought with all his might that he deserved to have all these things.

Because such pride goes before destruction, it knows no fear of God. Achan could not shake off Satan’s whisper that God cannot be seen and that he need only deceive Joshua, and down he went. If he could fool Joshua, the things were his; why give them up? But there was one thing Achan did not know: Joshua was a man of faith who had heard God’s voice directly and lived by his word. Achan overlooked the fact that, though he might deceive Joshua, a mere man, he could never deceive the God who walked with Joshua.

The saints are holy beings who come into the world bearing the burden of sin and, through faith, enter heaven as children of God. When God calls us to lay down the body and come home, heaven is a place to which no one, however much they own, can take anything with them, just as Lot’s wife could not. Not only your wealth but even your abilities—none of it is yours. A human being is a frail creature who borrows for a little while a span of time no bigger than a dot in history, then leaves it where it belongs and goes. God sent you into this world and gave you grace because only by receiving Jesus during your life can you enjoy eternal blessing in heaven.

2 Samuel 11:4

4David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house.

The tools Satan uses most against pastors and church members are blocking the wisdom by which they discern spirits, and planting a desire for lust, wealth, and honor. When Satan binds people, even the wise make foolish judgments and lose their fear of God, and so it was with David: because Israel kept winning its wars, he had let his guard down.

In 2 Samuel 10, after David killed the men of seven hundred Aramean chariots and forty thousand horsemen and won a great victory, he no longer went out to battle but stayed in the palace. But seeing David sin through this episode, I found myself thinking that it would have been far better for him to risk his life on the battlefield.

David was a man who did his utmost to rely on God alone and live by faith. But once God drove out his enemies and gave him a comfortable life, he sank into the pleasures of the world and fell into unfaithfulness. David committed his most wicked sin precisely when he was living at ease, free of care. God had given him peace to grant him time to mature further while no stumbling blocks lay in his way, but once the great troubles were gone, he began to look longingly at the world. David was walking on the palace roof when he saw Bathsheba bathing. At the sight of her beauty he lost all discernment and self-control, even though she was a married woman. David, who had always led Israel to victory with wise judgment, let his guard down for a moment and lost the spiritual battle with himself.

The war with Satan is a battle with ourselves. To overcome Satan’s thoughts and lusts, however hard, is to win the victory over him. But after taking Bathsheba, David went on to commit the sin of murdering her husband Uriah, a man loyal to the nation and to the king. David, who had been praised as a man after God’s own heart, failed to clear away the sexual stumbling block Satan had laid and committed adultery. Because he did not stop when he should have stopped, this episode stands recorded as the most wicked sin of David’s life.

God brought terrible discipline on David for the murder and rape he had committed. The son Bathsheba bore died soon after birth because of his father’s sin, and among the children born to his many wives, rape, revenge, and murder broke out again and again. His third son, Absalom, not only rebelled and drove his father out but also committed the outrage of lying with his father’s concubines. David’s sin led to misery for his descendants. May you remember that all this happened after his great victory in the war against Aram.

Even devout people of faith, if like David they grow proud, as though the victory won in battle were their own doing, are bound to fall over the stumbling block Satan has set. What we must learn from David is that defeat and trial are not the only failures; joy, too, can become a crisis, and victory and success can be the beginning of suffering. If we do not clear away the stumbling blocks of sexual temptation, pleasure, bad habits, and pride that come when we are most at ease, we too may fall as David did.

There are probably many stumbling blocks in your heart right now. If you now see stumbling blocks you could not see in flower-garden faith, it is a sign that the word is at last colliding with your human nature, and you have grown that much. So whenever you see a stumbling block, you must remove it before you go on; only then can you grow in the spirit.

As you remove stumbling blocks along the way, you may feel frustrated at times, as though you are falling behind others. But when God shows you the stumbling blocks in your heart—greed for possessions, sexual desire, love of honor, pride, and idolatry—it is his voice telling you that only by clearing them away can you grow.

Stumbling-block faith is the step on which people most easily fall in the life of faith, because it is a time when great patience is needed not to give way to the lure of the splendid flower garden, along with a firm resolve to live by faith. It is a stage at which, failing to clear away stumbling blocks, people easily sin by compromising with the world, and it is when Satan’s temptations come thickest. Of course, every step carries the pain of letting go of desire and of denying and giving up one’s own righteousness.

But if you lay your weakness before God and pray, you will taste the great joy of seeing the stumbling blocks that hinder your growth disappear. Because God always blesses those who strive in this way to live by faith, I hope you will make your decision with courage.