Hasten To Be Heroic Series

In the days when there was little freedom of speech in England

Thomas Paine spent sometime in prison for speaking his mind.

Benjamin Franklin urged him to come to America. He did so in

1774. The difference was so great, and he so fell in love with the

value of freedom that he caught a vision of what this country could

be, and he began to set men's souls on fire with the vision. He wrote

a little book called, Common Sense, and it sold 500 thousand copies

in a day when there were only 2,500,000 people in the 13 colonies.

One out of every 5 had a copy, and everyone was thinking and

talking about independence. In 6 months the Declaration of

Independence was signed in Philadelphia.

Then came the war with England. George Washington was being

defeated again and again. He was camped opposite Trenton, New

Jersey in Dec. of 1776. His army was ragged and hungry, and in a

state of despair. It looked as if the vision was about to die and the

cause of freedom perish. Tom Paine was there and saw the

hopelessness and depression of Washington's men. He knew he had

to rekindle the fire of their devotion and reawaken their vision if his

own dream was to be realized. He put a drum between his legs and

wrote the first of his Crisis Papers.

Lewis Dunnington wrote, "His racing pen was inspired by the

very angels of heaven." Washington read it and sent a rider off

immediately to Philadelphia to have copies printed and brought

back with haste. On Christmas night of 1776 they were distributed

and read. Part of it went like this: "These are times that try men's

souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this

crisis, shrink from the service of their country, but he that stands it

now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman....Tyranny,

like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with

us, but the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

The men were filled with new courage and boldness. Washington

took full advantage of it. He crossed the Delaware that night, and on

the cold winter morning of Dec. 26, 1776 he defeated the British and

took a thousand prisoners. From the very jaws of despair and defeat

he snatched a triumphant victory and proved again that the pen is

mightier than the sword. The pen can inspire in ordinary men

extraordinary courage and turn them into heroes.

This is why God inspired men like the Apostle Peter to take up

the pen and record those truths which Christians need to be heroic

in the battle of life. The harder the conflict the more glorious the

triumph said Paine, and this being so, the Christian has the potential

for the greatest of all triumphs. No one faces a greater foe than the

Christian. No one faces stronger opposition an obstacles. No one

fights a harder battle than the one who strives to be truly like

Christ. When a person signs his personal declaration of

independence, and by faith in Christ breaks away from the bondage

of Satan, he faces a battle with his old master. And quite often

Christians are like Washington's soldiers. They are defeated,

discouraged, and depressed. If we read between the lines and

consider the implications of what Peter is writing in this letter, we

see this to be the case with those Christians he is writing to.

It is clear that they are under constant attack by the enemy.

Their faith is being shaken by false prophets, and they are losing

their sense of direction and loyalty. They are ineffective and

unfruitful, and some are so discouraged that they are blind to what

Christ has done for them, and they are in danger of falling away.

Many are borderline Christians who are not sure of their calling

and election, and they lack assurance and power. Peter knows,

however, that they are potential heroes, and that they can still be

victorious soldiers of the cross. The reason for their defeat and

ineffectiveness is their lack of discipline. They have no plan, and no

systematic strategy by which to conquer. Peter knows they must

first recapture their vision and enthusiasm, and so, like Paine, he

arouses them to think of their great heritage and hope. The

exceeding great and precious promise, and all things for life and

godliness which God has given by His grace in Christ, is their

heritage, and their hope for a fruitful life now, and an entrance into

an eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ in the future.

Peter now in verse 5 begins to play the role of the commander of

the troops. Like Paine he inspires them with new vision and hope,