Tabletalk Magazine: Keep On

While I was still a theological student, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones came from London to Glasgow to preach at the great St. Andrews Hall. This auditorium held more than two thousand people. It was packed, and the preaching was wonderful. After the meeting finished, I was waiting at the side of the platform for transport home. A long line of people were waiting to speak to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, and because I was fairly close to them, I heard some of the conversations. Interestingly, I noticed that every encounter ended in the same way: “Keep on!” was the doctor’s final exhortation as he shook hands.

As it happened, on the journey home I was in the same car as the doctor, and he engaged me in conversation. After the generalities, I summoned enough courage to ask him a question. “Doctor,” I began, “forgive me, but I could not help hearing your last words to every person you spoke with. They were ‘Keep on.’ It sounded as if that was particularly important to you.” He was immediately animated: “My dear man,” he said, “there is nothing more important. The Christian life is not a sprint; it is a marathon, and that is why Jesus says, ‘He who endures to the end shall be saved.’” To my delight, he enlarged on the subject until I was reluctant to get out of the car.

Now, in the year of my eightieth birthday, I have become more convinced than ever of the importance of Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ words. One of the great temptations of old age for the Christian is to accept the idea that because physical and intellectual growth may have ceased, spiritual growth will go the same way. The testimony of Scripture is unanimously opposed to that thought. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 4:16: “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” Isaiah says in 40:29–31: “He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak… . Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength… . They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.” The psalmist, speaking about the righteous in Psalm 92:14, writes, “They will still bear fruit in old age.” Read more