But
of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are
in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking
a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants,
and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye
therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even,
or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming
suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all,
Watch. (Mark 13:32-37)
We have just begun a new year. Hopefully many people
have begun the year l989 with a time of review and contemplation
concerning the year just past. We do well to look back at times to
periods of our past to see what our present spiritual state may be. A careful
examination and comparison of Bible teachings and illustrations
of what a true Christian should be, and what spiritual life and conduct
is to accompany that person who is God's child, soon tells us that something
is indeed, in today's world, wrong. There seems to be something wrong
in attitudes and practices among the great mass of people lumped together
under the term 'Christian'. There appears to be a great lack of joy and
zeal among many called Christians concerning the churches, church life,
and the truths of God's word, which is the Bible. The lack
of revival, or even a desire for it seems to be evident. Greater and greater
ignorance of God's word seems to grow from month to month, and year to
year. Coldness, lack of enthusiasm, and indifference to attendance of God's
house on Sundays, let alone any other time, is shameful and appalling.
God's word says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish:" Proverbs
29:18. That is one of the things that touches you and I today.
MANY ARE ASLEEP OR ARE PREOCCUPIED WITH THINGS OTHER THAN WHAT GOD HAS
TOLD US TO BE DOING. Even as God spake to ancient Israel in Jeremiah
7:8-11, He speaks today to a religious people and their ungodly
practices. "Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye
steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense
unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand
before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered
to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my name,
become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith
the LORD.
His words are as true and relevant today as if He had just this minute
spoken them. It is my prayer that God will grant us the ability to
see the condition of spiritual sleep that surrounds us today,
that touches us and robs us of the great spiritual blessings of God.
May He awaken many and move them to put Him and His church back in
proper perspective. Many are asleep spiritually in so many areas their
lives. I want to point out three of those areas in this article.
I. MANY ARE ASLEEP AS TO PERSONAL LIFE AND CONDUCT
Two things seem to be happening to Bible teaching concerning Christian
living and its duties.There are those who simply ignore most of what God
teaches as His children's proper conduct and service to Him. Most of the
time just enough is practiced so that one may say,"I'm doing as much as
anyone else". Still others would change the plain teachings about spiritual
conduct being reflected in a changed life so that they fit better into
the human selfish desires accepted in the world. Sinful personal habits,
the toleration of sin, and the neglect of holy duties seem to be the standard
of many rather than the exception. It seems that the personal habits of
many religious people are characterized by the thinking of, longing for
and the pursuit of the things of the world in contradistinction to the
things of God. The Lord and His churches in this respect, often take second
place, or worse. Jesus warns us in Luke 12:15 of a truth about totally
material things and often times the power that accompanies them. "And
He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for
a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which
he possesseth."
Beloved, many material things are not what make up a happy and contented
life. Jesus tells us again in Luke 21:34-35 to watch and not
become involved to the exclusion of the vital and important. "And take
heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting,
and drunkenness and cares of this life, so that day come up on you unawares.
For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the
whole earth." The toleration of sin is evident in the lives and situations
of many, as well as within many of the churches. God tells us that we are
to hate sin, to resist it and to put it away. We do not have to look far,
however to see that some of the worst sins, such as adultery and fornication,
are often tolerated and exceptions made; things that ought not even
to be mentioned among us. God told the corrupted Corinthian church, and
us as well, "Awake to righteousness and sin not; for some have not
the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame." I Corinthians
15:34. Beloved we must not watch sin, listen to sin, or tolerate sin,
but that can only be done through the power of God's grace. The flesh always
seeks only those things sinful. Instead of being asleep to the temptations
and sin around us, we should heed the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew
26:41, "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit
indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." In all things, God and
the things of God must have the first priority.
The neglect of holy duties is evident among the majority of the mass called
Christian. If each one were reading the word, praying, and attending God's
house as they should be, their profiting would be visible to all, even
as their neglect is visible to God at this moment. I say to
all who are Christians, do not neglect God, His word and ways or His house
no matter what others may do or say. Heed the admonition of Romans 13:11-12,
"And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out
of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night
is far spent the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of
darkness and let us put on the armour of light."
AWAKE! CORRECT!
WATCH!
II.
MANY
ARE ASLEEP AS TO RESPONSIBILITY AND DUTY TO CHRIST'S CHURCH
Conduct and negligence in this area is shameful and surely must sadden
Him Who loved the church and gave Himself for it.There is negligence
in performing three specific duties in regards to the church;
that of finances, attendance, and propagation.
Neglect of financing the work of God through His church by tithes and offerings
is in direct opposition to the proper way of finance laid down by God Himself.
The tithe is often dismissed as something from the past, not relevant for
today. It has not only been relevant since its first mention of practice
in Genesis 14:20, but has ever been the way of God. Some 1500 +
years later in Malachi 3:8-10 God tells His people, "Will
a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed
thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have
robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in my house, and prove me herewith saith the
Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you
out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
'No one
can afford to do that', is the usual response. Beloved, no one can
afford not to do that. Great blessings are not realized because of
this sin of not giving God that which He asks for, for indeed it is His
to begin with. When it comes to supporting God's house and work, as He
ordained it, it is not that many cannot, it is that many will not.
It is often difficult to get people to come to one service, let alone
two or three. There are times that people are providentially hindered.
The reasons for that are known only to the Sovereign and Eternal God: The
reasons for people not coming who do not wish to come are also known to
the Sovereign and Eternal God. God tells us in Hebrews 10:23-25,
"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He
is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke
unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another:
and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The neglect of propagating the church is an area also sadly lacking
the attention and efforts of God's people. Propagation comes
through love and prayer to the One who gave the church and ultimately
adds to it as it pleases Him. Our attitude as time for a service comes
around should be that of the Psalmist in Psalms 122:1 when
he says, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of
the Lord." Should God reach down today and take some of us, I wonder if
we could again say with the Psalmist in Psalms 26:8,
"Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thy
honour dwelleth."? There is no more important organization on the face
of the earth. The church is the storehouse for God's work. The church is
the pillar and ground of truth. The church is the depository and disseminator
of the truths of God's word. There should be great thanksgiving to God
for His church, as well as faithful attendance to its services, and prayer
for one another and that God would add to it.
AWAKE! CORRECT!
WATCH!
III.
MANY
ARE ASLEEP AS TO FUTURE EVENTS THAT ARE VERY NEAR
Many live as though they think that prophecy is going to happen after they
live their lives, have what they want, and pass on in peace. We are all
part of God's prophetical panorama of continuing prophetical fulfillment.
Prophecy is simply the forth telling of history not yet come to pass.
It progresses daily. Many, however, are asleep as to the coming of
the Lord, His wrath on the ungodly, and the future accounting of every
saint to the Lord at the Bema seat judgment.
To be sure, the exact time of the coming of the Lord is uncertain as far
as we are concerned, but well known and on time as far as He is concerned.
Several people in the past year made the foolish mistake of proclaiming
the exact time of Christ's coming as to the day and time of the year. The
entire point was missed. The point is that God's children are to be so
living and conducting themselves that they are always watching in
the respect of being ready for His coming. The early Christians looked
for Him in their lifetime as I am looking for Him in mine.
It is not a state that we are to become so occupied in that we neglect
every other aspect of life and duty, but we are to live as to be always
expecting His return. Matthew 25:13 says, "Watch therefore, for
ye know neither the day, nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." The
idea of "watch" is to be sober, busy about proper duties, while we
are aware of the times and seasons spiritually. How blessed it will be
for those to be found living properly and watching for the Lord when He
comes. We are told in Luke 12:37-38, "Blessed are
those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily
I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down at
meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in
the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed
are those servants."
In this day of the teaching of the brotherhood of man, a toleration to
the exclusion of a sharp difference to be noted between the saved and lost,
has occurred. Much other "new age" thinking through television and
other media has lulled many into a sleep of forgetfulness as to God's wrath
and its recipients. Many seem to forget and lose their burden for
those without Christ and their coming eternal destruction. The Bible
reminds us that Jesus will come and, "In flaming fire take vengeance on
them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and
from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in
his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe
..." II Thessalonians 1:8-10. Beloved, it is our duty and responsibility
to witness and to warn people as God gives us the opportunity, whether
they accept the gospel, or not. Even as Ezekiel was told to warn
Israel I believe that we must remember the difference between
us and the lost and give them warning.
Many live today as though there will be no accounting to the Master at
a future time, or that it will only be a formality. The Bible describes
that time as a serious time. Romans 14:12 says, "So then everyone
shall give account of himself to God." The time will come when every
Christian shall stand at the Bema seat judgment and give account
of what he, or she has done in the flesh whether good, or bad. Reward,
or loss of reward will be the issue and that will not be a thing
to be passed by lightly. II Corinthians 5:10 and 11a say,
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;
that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that
he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of
the Lord we persuade men; ..." With that in mind beloved,
we should live our lives in such a way that they reflect Him who
has called us. Our works and motives to those works should be pure and
out of a love for the Lord Jesus Christ. The advice
of the Lord to His church at Philadelphia in Revelation 3:11 should
be earnestly heeded all the more in these days prior to His coming,
"Behold I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take
thy crown.
Beloved, let us look again at ourselves, the church and the coming
events that will affect every living soul and the dead as well on
this earth. There must be a turning in the present course
of neglect, or there shall be a great sorrow and loss experienced
by many.
Priorities must be changed and God and the things of God restored to the
place of preeminence.
AWAKE AND WATCH! that
you may have joy, peace and contentment now and before the Lord. I Thessalonians
5:5-6 says "Ye are the children of the light, and the children of the
day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep,
as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
If you are reading this and you are unsaved, you have nothing from
which to draw comfort, not even the hypocritical actions of religious people.
The only future awaiting people without a right relationship to God
through Jesus Christ is eternal separation and suffering. May God
open your eyes and understanding with the gift of rebirth from above and
bring you into a life of service to Him in spite of what others say,
or do.
AWAKE! CORRECT!
WATCH!
(From - The Walnut Creek Messenger
- Spring 1989)
