JURONG OUTREACH - September 07

WHEN "DOING GOOD" IS BAD
2nd Sept 07

Thesis: There is a time for serving others in material tasks, and a time when we shouldn’t. 

Once Martha became aggravated at Mary and said to the Lord, “. . . dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?” (Luke 10:40). Jesus reprimanded her for serving! He said, “. . . Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (10:41-42). It was good to fix a meal for the Lord; it was better to listen to him teach. This applies today to someone who misses the Bible class to fix a dish for the noon fellowship meal or to someone who forsakes worshipping the Lord to mow a widow’s lawn. It’s good to fix a dish or mow a lawn, but it should be done at a different time. Families who have to sit with the sick should schedule the shifts during church services to family members who do not attend (if you can’t get them to go) so all God’s saints can join in worship. It is also overkill for a whole family to stay home with one sick person. Let all those who can, go. (Incidentally, on another occasion Martha’s service was appropriate, John 12:2.)  

The elder brother shows that reward for service can be cancelled out by a bad attitude. He answered his father, “Lo, these many years do I serve thee . . .” (Luke 15:29), but his father insisted that he needed to forgive his prodigal brother and enter the feast (15:32). 

The son, representing the Pharisees, reminds us that we do not put God in our debt by our service. Rather, to use Jesus’ words: “. . . when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10). We are saved to serve; but we cannot serve to be saved. We might be great “church workers” and still miss heaven if we harbour ill-will toward a brother or sister. If we manifest a sour “wish-I-were-somewhere-else” attitude, we’ve given unacceptable service (cf., 1 Chronicles 29:9; Psalms 2:11; 2 Corinthians 9:7; Philippians 4:4).  

The apostles practiced “time management” by appointing others to “wait on tables” while they prayed and taught (Acts 6:1-7). It might be poor judgment for us to serve others if something more important needs attention. Elders, Bible teachers, prayer leaders and preachers should always be willing to roll up their sleeves and take out the garbage, clean the baptistery or answer benevolence calls, but they should not forsake more important things to do so.  

There are only so many hours in the day, days in the year and years in a lifetime. They can burn themselves out trying to do everything. Since everybody needs to work, and since some are uncomfortable teaching, preaching, leading prayers and visiting the lost/wayward, it makes sense to let deacons and other members “wait tables” to free time for more important soul-saving tasks that might not get done otherwise.  

It’s all about priorities and attitudes. Always do the best thing at the time for the right reason.

Sonlight

By Curtis Dowdy

[Via Shield of Faith, Marion, IL, submitted by Mark McWhorter] 

I love the story of the boy who was on the sidewalk with a mirror, trying to reflect sunlight on a window of the house. When asked what he was doing the boy said, “My brother is sick and that’s his room. The doctor said he needs to have a lot of sunlight in his room, but the sun hardly ever shines in his window. I’m trying to reflect a little light there with this mirror.”  

Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12) and we all need his light reflected into rooms where we live.  

Jesus also says to his people, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  

We are to “shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of truth” (Philippians 2:15-16). As the children of God we should be like that boy, bringing light into his brother’s room. The divine light of Jesus is always shining, but God uses human reflectors to get that light into the rooms of the sick. What kind of job are we doing as God’s reflectors?

DON'T SETTLE FOR AVERAGE!
9th Sept 07

William Cunningham tells the story of a man walking alone in the desert one night when he was startled by a voice. The voice said to him, "Stop and pick up some pebbles at your feet and place them in your pocket. In the morning you will be both sorry and glad." The man obeyed. He stooped down and picked up a handful of pebbles and put them in his pocket. At morning's light he reached into his pocket and pulled out diamonds, rubies, and emeralds worth phenomenal wealth. And at the moment of his discovery the prophecy of the voice was fulfilled. He was happy that he obeyed the voice and taken some and very sad that he had not taken more. And so it is with life.  

"Average" is the top of the bottom, the best of the worst, the bottom of the top, and the worst of the best.

"Average" means run-of-the-mill, mediocre, a non-entity, or insignificant.

Being "average" is to take up space for no purpose; to take the trip through life, but never pay the fare; to return to interest for God's investment in you.  

Being "average" is to pass one's life away with time, rather than to pass one's time away with life. It's to kill time, rather than to work it to death.  

To be "average" is to be forgotten once you pass from this life. The successful are remembered because they tried; but the "average," the silent majority, is forgotten because they "didn't want to."  

To be "average" is to commit a great crime against yourself and against humanity.  

If you are "average," you may want to copy the following for you epitaph:  Here lies Mr. and/or Mrs. Average, the remains of what might have been except for their desire to be just AVERAGE."  

Jesus wants us to "launch out into the deep" (Lk. 5:4) “Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” 

He also said, "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:16).  

There is one thing good about being "average" and "alive." We still have time to repent.  

Adapted from Ferman Carpenter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought.

- Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi 

Sailing the Seven "C's" of Success

·    We need a clear conception of what we want, a vivid vision, a goal or set of goals powerfully imagined.

·    We need a strong confidence that we can attain our goals.

·    We need a focused concentration on what it takes to reach our goal.

·    We need a stubborn consistency in pursuing our vision, a determined persistence in thought and action.

·    We need an emotional commitment to the importance of what we're doing, and to the people with whom we're doing it.

·    We need a good character to guide us and to keep us on a proper course.

·    We need a capacity to enjoy the process along the way.

A HOPELESS, HELPLESS, HAPLESS MAN PT 1
16th Sept 2007

There is nothing we can do.” Those blood-chilling words have been gently uttered in many a hospital conference room to many a stone-quiet family by many a disheartened physician (cf. Mark 5:26; Luke 8:43). Perhaps the two saddest words in human language are: “No hope.”

In their wake, our emotions run the gamet—disbelief, denial, frustration, anger, infuriation, helplessness, depression—as we try to make our peace with it. Still, we are not without comforters. We likely have some time to enjoy the relationship and say what we might not otherwise have gotten around to saying. We have friends. We have family members to love and be loved by. We can pray. We can hope for a heavenly reunion. 

Jesus told of a truly hopeless, helpless, hapless man. The Rich Man in Hades desperately needed relief but couldn’t get it. His situation was hopeless because requests from hell are never answered. Cell phone users have become accustomed to “dead spots” and “Can-you-hear-me-nows.” There are some places where you just can’t get reception. You might be in a life and death situation, but a phone is useless if a message can’t get out. The rich man had hit the ultimate dead spot. His meter didn’t register a single bar. As far as I can tell this rich man has been waiting nineteen hundred eighty-three years, and has not received that trickle of moisture.

Why was the rich man’s prayer not answered?

It was not because it was an unscriptural prayer. Both of his prayers were scriptural. He first prayed a supplication prayer for himself. He asked Abraham to have mercy on him and allow Lazarus to bring him some comfort (16:23-26). There was nothing wrong with making such a request. The Bible instructs us to make “supplication” to God (1 Timothy 2:1) for such things as “our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). A needy person can continue “in supplications and prayers night and day” (1 Timothy 5:5). 

The rich man’s second prayer was an intercessory petition for his brothers. He asked that Lazarus go back and talk to them about the salvation of their souls (16:27-28). Intercessory prayers for sinners usually meet with God’s favour. Abraham prayed for Lot’s family when they too were heading toward a fiery end (Genesis 18:23-32). Samuel “cried unto the LORD all night” for a sinner named Saul (1 Samuel 15:11). Jeremiah “stood before God” to turn away His wrath from sinners (Jeremiah 18:20). Paul’s “. . . prayer to God for Israel” was “that they might be saved” (Romans 10:1). We are to use “all means” to save the lost, which would certainly include praying for them (1 Corinthians 9:22).  

It was not because it was an impossible request. On earth, many people have had similar prayers answered. They’ve been granted relief to pain—sometimes by the hand of someone like Lazarus (a doctor, friend, family member). God’s promise to reward one who gives a “cup of cold water” to one in need (Matthew 10:42) is the perfect parallel to this story. Others have seen those they loved dearly go through circumstances or meet with people that turned their hearts toward heaven (sometimes the timely crossing of paths with a “Lazarus,” cf. Acts 8:31; Philemon 15. 

It was not because it lacked fervency. This was no ritualistic-now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep petition, but a desperate-blood-sweat-and-tears-I’m-on-fire-right-now! plea. The “effectual fervent” prayer “availeth much” on earth (James 5:16), but not in hell. Abraham gave two reasons why Lazarus could not bring the requested comfort.

First, the rich man had “had his reward” (Luke 16:25 ; cf. Matthew 6:2, 5, 16). A modern way to express this is that one cannot “have his cake and eat it to.” The rich man had “eaten his cake” by selfishly living for the “good things” of earth. Having chosen a “cheap heaven” here, he could hardly expect to have the real heaven there (cf. Job 20:5; Luke 12:19-20; James 5:5; Revelation 18:7). Those that are “rich” (live only for this world) “have received their consolation” (Luke 6:24). The rich man was like those David described as having “their portion in this life” (Psalm 17:14). Paul described them as having made their “belly” (earthly comforts) their “god” (supreme goal in life). Like the rich man, their “end is destruction” (Philippians 3:19). 

Second, Lazarus could not leave his place of comfort and make even a brief visit to the place of torment. In the beginning of the story, the rich man and Lazarus were separated by a gate, but by the end of the story they are separated by a gulf. Lazarus could have stepped through a gate, but he could not step across a gulf. Nothing would be allowed to intrude on Lazarus’ bliss. C.S. Lewis wrestled with this question in his book The Great Divorce: Will those in heaven be grieved by their awareness of the end of the wicked? He concluded that evil, not good, would be the victor if evil could intrude into heaven’s joys. Once a person gets to Hades, there will be nothing anyone can do to help him/her. 

It is interesting that the rich man learned to pray in hell. We think of people learning to pray as children at a family devotional, or in Vacation Bible School or Bible class, or perhaps an adult learning how to pray by hearing others in a church service, but not in hell! Sinners may scoff at prayer now, but there will come a time when they will pray! There are no atheists in foxholes and, there are no prayer-less sinners in hell. But since hell is God-forsaken, the omnipresent God is not there to listen as one screams, begs, pleads, and sobs for mercy. Oh, the desperation of one whom God “answereth no more” (1 Samuel 28:6, 15; cf. Ezekiel 20:1-3)! 

Part 2 next week.

A HOPELESS, HELPLESS, HAPLESS MAN PT 2
16th Sept 2007

Years ago a ship rammed an S-4 submarine off the coast of Massachusetts. The sub sank immediately and the entire crew was trapped in a prison house of death. Every effort was made to rescue them but all failed. Near the end, a diver placed his ear to the submarine and heard a tapping from inside which he recognized as Morse Code. It was a question, forming slowly: “Is . . . there . . . any . . . hope?” 

Had the rich man tapped this message out from Hades, the answer would have been “n . . . o . . . n . . . e.” 

His situation was hopeless because he was “afar off” from God. Sinners are separated from God while on earth (Isaiah 59:1-2; Proverbs 15:29). Some are even “far off” from God (Ephesians 2:13; cf. Mark 12:34). Like the prodigal son who left his father and went into a “far” country (Luke 15:13), sinners leave God behind when they pursue their worldly pleasures. Still, no sinner has gone so far that he cannot find God if he turns to seek Him (Luke 15:20). James wrote, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. . . . Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up”
(4:8-10). 

Death is a separation of the soul from the body (James 2:26). Hell is spoken of as the “second death” (Revelation 21:8; 20:6, 14). What is this second separation? The final severance of a sinner from God (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Matthew 25:32). 

Who separated them—God? No, the truth is they separated themselves. The chasm between the rich man and Lazarus was made on this side of death. Why was Lazarus carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom? It was not because he was unfortunate, friendless, and attended in his last illness only by dogs. It was because he chose God. The rich man was not lost simply because he was rich. He was ruined because he did not choose God. Man is free to choose, but must pay the consequences. Everything in creation obeys God except man. God tells the rain where to fall, the wind where to blow, and the light where to shine, and they obey Him. God tells man what to do and what not to do, and man must decide whether to obey Him. If he chooses unwisely, he ends up “afar off” from God.

Because hell is afar off from God, it is spoken of as:

• A place of darkness, because God is the source of light   (Matthew 25:30; 1 John 1:5).
• A place of death, since God is the source of life (Revelation 21:8; Romans 6:23; John 5:26).
• A place of misery, since God is the source of comfort    (Revelation 20:10; 2 Corinthians 1:3).

Hell is also a place of separation from our loved ones (Matthew 25:31-46). In contrast, heaven is a place where we will be forever with God and our loved ones. 

His situation was hopeless because he was in a place impossible to leave. A man put a bumper sticker on his truck that read, “Hell was full so they sent me back.” He can joke about it, but the truth is that no one ever comes back from hell. Hell is a place of easy access (Matthew 7:13) but no exit (Luke 16:26). Entering hell is easy enough. All that one has to do is sin, which all eventually do (Romans 6:23). The only way to be forgiven of sin is through Christ (John 14:6), so if one never seeks Christ, he will end up in hell.

Hell is permanent. “Gulf” (Luke 16:26) comes from the Greek kasma from which we get “chasm.” This chasm is described as being a (a) “great,” (b) “gulf,” (c) “fixed.” “Fixed” means “cemented.”¹ Hell is a place men want to leave (Luke 16:26), but cannot. Perhaps there was never a prison built on earth that could not be escaped from, but the devil’s prison is absolutely inescapable (cf. 2 Peter 2:4). It is “eternal” and “everlasting.” 

Hell is permanent. “Gulf” (Luke 16:26) comes from the Greek kasma from which we get “chasm.” This chasm is described as being a (a) “great,” (b) “gulf,” (c) “fixed.” “Fixed” means “cemented.”¹ Hell is a place men want to leave (Luke 16:26), but cannot. Perhaps there was never a prison built on earth that could not be escaped from, but the devil’s prison is absolutely inescapable (cf. 2 Peter 2:4). It is “eternal” and “everlasting.” 

Many people do not want to believe that hell is eternal. US Catholic Magazine recently asked its readers what they thought about the afterlife. The article concluded that the old “hellfire-and-brimstone” idea seems on its way out, being replaced by the idea of hell as an absence of God. One result is that people are becoming more concerned about doing good for its own sake—and less about doing good to avoid hell. 

Men have invented doctrines that deny or limit hell. Some believe in (a) eventual restoration (a second chance), (b) purgatory (cf. Hebrews 9:27) and (c) annihilation (Revelation 20:10). Each is false because it denies that hell is “eternal.” Saying it isn’t so or refusing to believe it does not change reality. 

Jesus believed in an everlasting hell. That is why He left the comfort and glory of heaven to live in and die in a world of suffering and shame. He left ivory palaces to be born in a smelly barn (Luke 2:7); He left gates of pearl to pass through the gates of death and Hades (Matthew 16:18); He left streets of gold for dusty byways and dirty feet (John 13); He left the singing of the angels for the cursing of men (Mark 15:29). He left eternal life to be crucified, buried, and raised. 

Jesus taught about an everlasting hell. He said hell is a place with gates (Matthew 16:18) to which He holds the keys (Revelation 1:18). The Parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46) says that those whom the judge rejects go away into kolasis (punishment) aionios (a final state). The phrase is balanced by the reference to zoe aionios (eternal life) which is also a fixed and final state.

Part 3—next week.

A HOPELESS, HELPLESS, HAPLESS MAN PT 3
16th Sept 2007 

French scientists once experimented on a murderer who had been sentenced to death. The condemned man was blindfolded, strapped to a table, and told that an artery in his arm would be severed and that he would bleed to death in a matter of minutes. The scientists made a superficial wound on his skin, not telling him how minor it was. Then they poured warm water over his arm, which he thought was blood. In only a few minutes he died because he was convinced of the hopelessness of his situation. 

It would be truly awful to be truly hopeless. One “rich man” was.His situation was hopeless because he was in a place impossible to leave (continued). Is hell eternal? Does the word aionos mean “forever” or only “of long duration?” Consider:
                                   ~Matthew 25:46 has everlasting punishment and life eternal.
                                   ~Romans 16:26 describes God as the everlasting God.
                                   ~Hebrews 9:14 speaks of the eternal Spirit. 

Consider these four phrases: “everlasting punishment,” “eternal life,” “everlasting God,” and “eternal spirit.” The word translated “everlasting” and “eternal” in these passages is a form of the same Greek word, aionios which means “eternal, everlasting, without end, never to cease, or indeterminate as to duration.” 

The only difference between the words “everlasting’ and “eternal” in the English language is how they are spelled.

There is not a single argument that can be made against the doctrine of an eternal hell which cannot be applied with equal force against the doctrine of an eternal heaven.

• If a man decides that hell’s fires will go out in 1,000 years, then at the end of ten centuries the light in heaven will go out.

• At the moment the wicked cease to be punished in hell, at the same moment God Almighty and the Holy Spirit will go out of existence. Yet the Bible teaches that in the ages behind us there was never a time when God was not, and in the eternity of eternities ahead of us there will never be a time when God will not be. He has been from everlasting; He will be through everlasting (Psalm 90:1-2). When we see a person, what do we consider about that individual? Pretty or unattractive? Rich or poor? Educated or uneducated? Successful or unsuccessful? Friendly or cold? Popular or friendless? We ought to see one made in God’s image for whom Jesus died and who will either forever live with God in heaven or burn in the fires of hell. The only thing in this world that will last is people. Nations rise and fall, cultures come and go, but people live forever. The tragedy of all tragedies and the calamity of all calamities is to die without Christ! The number one issue facing each person right now is neither political, financial, social, economic, nor relational—it is spiritual! The only two things that matter in life are (1) to get right with God and (2) to stay right with God. 

When the infidel Robert Owen visited Alexander Campbell at his house, they toured the farm and eventually came to the family burying ground (“God’s little acre”). Owen said to Campbell, “There is one advantage I have over the Christian—I am not afraid to die.” Campbell responded, “You say you have no fear in death; have you any hope in death?” Owen answered, “No.” Then Campbell said, pointing to an ox standing near, “You are on the level of that brute. He has fed till he is satisfied, and stands in the shade whisking off the flies, and has neither hope nor fear in death.” Owen smiled, unable to deny Campbell’s logic. Men made in God’s image should live above the level of beasts!

God is called “the God of Hope” (Romans 15:13). Paul said, “And now abideth faith, hope, and charity . . .” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Faith looks back to the cross and sees Christ as the object of salvation. Love looks up to Christ in devotion. Hope looks ahead to what has been promised. 

There may come a time when you face a hopeless situation, but that time has not yet arrived. Solomon said “. . . with all the living there is hope” (Ecclesiastes 9:4). If you are still alive, there is hope for you to go to heaven. If you are a sinner, then you need to get rid of your sins as soon as possible. To do so, one must read the Bible to learn about Jesus Christ (pick one of His biographies to get started—Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John). By the time one finishes, he should have become a believer in Jesus as the Son of God (John 20:30-31). The next step is to obey God’s plan of salvation as revealed in the Book of Acts. This includes repentance of sins (Acts 2:38; 3:19), confession of faith in Christ (Acts 8:37), and baptism for remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16). Then one must continue to learn and grow (Acts 2:42; 20:32).  

Then you can lose the fear of death. A few years ago a preacher preached the funeral service for Esther Peal—a God-fearing, Bible-loving, aged saint. Shortly before her death he visited in her home. She happily told him of her son-in-law who had invited her to visit him in Washington. She told him, “I can’t. I have to stay near the cemetery.” Then she added, “I went out this week and bought me a bright, shining casket. I’m so excited!” Sister Esther had the “hope of eternal life” (Titus 1:2). 

Wendell Winkler provides this additional research: “The Greek words for “eternal” and “everlasting” are aion and ainois. They are from the Greek aei “always” and oon “being”; therefore mean “always being”. If the Scriptures do not assert endless punishment for the wicked, neither do they assert endless happiness for the righteous nor the endless glory and existence of the Godhead