A SAINT IN SIN CITY

MASON MAXWELL

CHAPTER 12

I KNOW THE THOUGHTS THAT I THINK TOWARD YOU, SAYS THE LORD, THOUGHTS OF PEACE AND NOT OF EVIL. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Life is a strange trip. When things were going good in my life, my faith in God was superficial. My belief was like an insurance policy. But looking back now, my policy was fraudulent. I had cleaned up the dirtier aspects of my life, and was led to feel that I was alright. I gave to charities and was considered a solid citizen.

But I rarely cracked open a Bible. My Christian faith was exercised by attending Sunday services and an occasional mid-week Bible study, hosted by the team chaplain. Then my life was turned upside down, seemingly right side up, and then upside down again.

First was the sudden, unexpected death of my wife. Then there was that crazy World Series with me the hero and Saul the goat. And by goat, I don’t mean greatest of all time. I was shown adulation for promoting a false doctrine that credited my deceased wife for helping me pitch a perfect game. On the other hand, Saul, our ace pitcher, was lambasted for not pitching on the Biblical Sabbath.

At the time, I respected him for standing up for his beliefs, while at the same time thinking he was a fanatic. But now I believe the Sabbath is not only a true doctrine, but the one commandment out of the ten that instructs us to remember. Not only remember, but to keep something holy.

Shortly after my heroics in the World Series, my life was capsized in a most humiliating manner. The impregnation of my wife’s sister by me became public knowledge and national gossip. What made this so scandalous, was the fact that she was another man’s wife at the time.

Although I thought I felt bad for Saul when he was ostracized, I didn’t lose any sleep over it. The side of me that had enjoyed being adored to his despised overruled the side of me that had empathy for him. Then I became hated myself. But it was the remorse, the anxiety, and the depression I felt in the aftermath, that led to the foot of the cross. For me, prosperity equaled shallow, and trouble equaled hunger for truth.

One part of me sought Jesus weeping and sorry for my sins. On the other hand, I had major bouts with anger, frustration, confusion, and doubts. But it was through the crucible of struggle that my eyes were opened to Biblical truth. I came to realize that no matter how materialistically successful we are, we have nothing without Christ.

I also came to realize how subtle the devil works. He leaves alone professed Christians who subconsciously think they have arrived. People who say they believe the Bible, but let tradition and human reasoning overrule Biblical truth. I was one of them, so I know how diabolically it works.

It’s been said, don’t despise what brings you to your knees. My personal question on this is, what did the person who coined this phrase go through themselves? It seems to me that personal losses tends to drive more people away from God than bring them to Him. It did me at first. But the Holy Spirit kept driving me to my knees, to my Bible, and to the council of my friend Saul. Maybe that’s it.

The Bible talks repeatedly about Christ in you. But it seems like very few people end up as human mirrors of the Savior. But I saw Christ in Saul. By that, I mean it was evident that Saul was fully surrendered to God. He experienced that death to self the Apostle Paul talks about. What a witness it was to me.

When I experienced my public disgrace, I was beyond rattled. I was constantly nervous, anxious, and dreaded being seen by anyone. A couple days after Saul was supposedly disgraced, he was as calm and filled with joy as ever. By Saul’s disgrace, I mean the appearance of disgrace by “the world”. In reality, I believe he was honored by heaven. ‘Well done good and faithful servant.’

Anyway, it led me to want that peace and joy Saul had. When I hit rock bottom, I realized that God is ultimately the only answer in life. The only way. Jesus even calls Himself that. ‘The way, the truth, and the life.’ (John 14:6) So I did what Saul did to obtain his righteous character with Bible study and prayer. More than once, I heard Saul say that prayer is the better half of study. It was working, too!

But I had one spiritual hang up that came to the forefront of my mind prominently for the first time. Hellfire. How could a God of love sentence even the most wicked to eternal torment? It was the ultimate contradiction. That brought me to my face off with Saul.

“Mace, come in, come in,” Saul greeted me as I stepped through the door of his home. He had warned me that the subject I wanted to talk about might make him mad, but he greeted me with the same joy in his countenance that I had come to expect.

We chatted briefly, and then I got to the heart of the matter. “So, we’re gonna discuss hell, right?”

“You bet,” Saul replied, his usual, affable grin leaving his face. Maybe I would see the anger he was talking about. Or maybe the irony of hell and a loving God troubled him as well.

We prayed, opened our Bibles, and Saul asked, “So, you believe the wicked, the lost, have eternal life?”

“Well, no,”  I blurted, and then felt myself frown. “I mean…”

Saul went on to compare hellfire at the end of the world to the flood in Noah’s day. He said, “I believe people will be punished according to their sins, but ultimately, it will destroy them quickly. It is also mostly reserved for Satan and his angels. Let’s read about it in Revelation chapter twenty.”

“What about where the Bible says the wicked receive everlasting punishment?” I tried.

“Punishment, not punishing,” Saul clarified. “This also another reason why understanding the state of the dead is important. Once again, what’s the point of the resurrection at Christ’s second coming, if you fly right off to heaven as soon as you die? After the final judgement, the wicked are obliterated, not eternally tormented. Let’s look at some scripture on what happens to the lost.”

We looked up: Romans 6:23, “death.” Job 21:30, “doom, or destruction.” Psalm 37:20, “perish.” Malachi 4:1, “burn up.” Psalm 37:38 “destroyed.” Psalm 37:20 “vanish away.” Psalm 37:9 “cut off.” Psalm 62:3 “slain.” Psalm 145:20 “destroy” Psalm 21:9 “devour.” 2 Peter 3:10 “melt with fervent heat, burn up.” Isaiah 47:14 “be as stubble.”  Ezekiel 18:20 “the soul that sins shall die.” Revelation 20:14 “second death.” Revelation 21:4 “no more pain.”

By the time I left Saul’s house, I happily told him, “I’m sold. When can we study prophecy?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Saul grinned.

I was about to find out that the last events of prophecy were being fulfilled right before my eyes. As a matter of fact, what was happening to Saul and the Sabbath, was all part of it. I had believed, like most Christians, Daniel and Revelation was mostly in the future. The truth is, it was mostly in history with the last events coming at us faster than I realized.

(Writer’s note: For a more in depth study of these topics, please look up ‘Amazing Facts’ ministry. They have plenty of books, resources, and study guides. You can also simply check out Amazing Facts main teacher, Doug Batchelor, on YouTube.)