BETTER EXPECTATIONS

Heb. 6:9 ... "Beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation."

      Although we do not know specifically who the recipients of this epistle were, nor the exact place of their residence, we are assured they were of Jewish background and had been Christians for many years. There is considerable evidence that they had cooled in their affection and zeal for the faith and were in danger of losing their identity in Christ. Perhaps they had become disappointed because Christianity had brought them no visible earthly kingdom and had itself been decisively rejected by the great majority of other Jews. The writer states several instances in which they were failing in the commitment they had made to the Lord when they pledged their lives to Him. -1- They had become lazy, (5:11; 6:12). -2- They had grown despondent, (12:3, 12). -3- They had lost their initial enthusiasm for the faith, (3:6, 14; 4:14; 10:23, 25). -4- They had failed to develop spiritual discernment, (5:12-14). -5- They had fallen into the habit of not attending worship services, (10:25). -6- They were not being loyal to their Christian overseers, (13:17). -7- They had ceased to imitate the faith of Christians who had gone before, (13:7). -8- They were easily influenced by new and strange doctrines, (13:9). -9- They had entered the danger zone of falling short of God's promises, (4:1). -10- They were drifting away from the doctrine which had converted them, (2:1). -11- They were coming perilously close to leaving the faith in deliberate and persistent apostasy, (3:12; 10:26).

      When the growing weaknesses and failures of the Hebrew Christians are noticed and considered, the writer's exhortation, "Beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you," evince their poignancy. It reminds me of something I witnessed in my youth. While waiting for a ride to high school one morning, a friend and I were approached by our Second Grade teacher. She gave my friend a letter to deliver to her son at our high school. A few minutes later she saw him from her window open the letter and read its private contents. Hurrying out and retrieving the letter, she spoke almost the same words as in Heb. 6:9, "J----, I expected something far better of you!" She trusted him to deliver the message inviolate and was both disappointed and distressed that he had betrayed her trust. Similarly, those who first carried the gospel to the Hebrews had entrusted it to them to preserve in their lives all its provisions by their fidelity. At the time of this epistle these disciples had not yet gone so far as to betray the divine trust, but they were drawing very close to doing so.

      Only here in the 303 verses of the letter does the writer call them "beloved," (agapêtoi), a term of affection that indicates he had not given up hope for them. Though they had already strayed afar and become quite a disappointment, he nevertheless believed they were capable of turning around and coming back to the salvation which always awaits those who will repent. There is a point beyond which such repentance is impossible, and in that condition the apostate has no prospect other than "a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume," (Heb. 10:27). There are those who abandon their faith in the Lord for one reason or another, but so long as they breathe the air God gives and enjoy the divinely bestowed energy that keeps their heart beating, they may always return to their allegiance to the Lord. And God, who does not want to destroy anyone in judgment, but who "desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth," (I Tim. 2:4), will welcome them back into His grace and reinstate them in His own family of saints. It is wonderful that God is so patient and self-restrained that he waits for a considerable time while those who once served Him wander afield in faithlessness until they at last discover ultimate truth and turn their lives back toward Him. May God grant such souls the time and opportunity to allow them to have this experience that will mean their eternal salvation.

THE SOURCE OF ETERNAL SALVATION

Heb. 5:9 ... "Having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation."

      The life of Jesus was the unique experience among all human lives in many ways. His birth was the miraculous result of a woman conceiving a child, not by carnal union with a man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, (Luke 1:34-35). He was physically a human, (Php. 2:7-8), but spiritually God, (John 16:28). Indeed, he was God incarnate, i.e., "God-in-the-flesh," (John 1:14). He spoke and acted as no man ever has, (John 8:46 and 3:2). Although there were many men in Biblical times who were visited by the Spirit, who empowered them to perform supernatural deeds, Jesus possessed the Spirit in His infinite fulness rather than "by measure," (John 3:34). 

      Nevertheless, Jesus' earthly life was developmental, a necessity He accepted willingly as a result of descending from His pre-incarnation Godness wherein He "emptied Himself," (Php. 2:6-7), and took on Himself the humble status of a human being. He entered the world by the normal means of childbirth as an infant, unable to speak or care for Himself, and was totally dependent upon His mother Mary to feed, clothe, and comfort Him. He grew to manhood and maturity by natural processes summarized in this important note: "And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man," (Luke 2:52). To phrase this in present terms, it says that He grew mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially, thus covering every dimension of the human constitution. From whatever low level He accepted when He descended into human existence, (but "yet without sin," (Heb. 4:15), Jesus moved upward to full maturity, indicated by the phrase in the lead text above, "having been made perfect." He thus obtained the full satisfaction and approval of His Father, (Mat. 3:17 and 17:5; Heb. 1:4-5, 9).

      This process of development into full maturity as a human involved a great ordeal of struggle and pain for Jesus, (Heb. 5:7-8). We must come to realize and appreciate this, for it emphasizes how our Lord experienced our human condition in the fullest way and enables Him even now to sympathize with all the varied trials of life here. It is of the greatest significance and comfort to us that we read, "We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin," (Heb. 4:15). He therefore serves as the entirely valid and effective Model for mankind, because throughout His struggle with all the harsh challenges of life here, He never once faltered and committed sin. He accomplished the perfect, untarnished life because of His total submission to His Father's will, both in deed and in spirit. Here is where the lesson of Heb. 5:9 begins to emerge and reveal its application for us. Through the victory Jesus won by submission in spirit and obedience in deed, "He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation." As He reached perfection by obedience to His Father, He will conduct us unto perfection as we obey Him promptly, willingly, and gladly. This is not to say that anyone attains perfection by his own power, for nothing is further from the context here. Our perfection comes only through the instrumentality of Jesus' attained perfection, i.e., Christians are made perfect through faith in Christ and obedience to His will. Having attained perfection in Him, we shall be granted by Him the incomparable gift of salvation.

      Some people attribute human salvation to grace without consideration for personal deeds, while others attribute it to one's faith in and of itself. But this statement of Heb. 5:9 specifically connects our salvation to obedience to the teachings of Jesus. Of course, this does not dismiss the superiority and priority of divine grace, (Eph. 2:8); nor does it remove the essential necessity of faith, (Heb. 11:6). What it does do is establish irrefutably human obedience to the divine will as the necessary response to God's grace.

BE DILIGENT TO ENTER GOD'S REST

Heb. 4:11 ... "Let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience."

      Looking backward into the Old Testament scriptures with their record of God's activity among Israel and the people's response thereunto, Paul wrote in I Cor. 10:11, "These things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction." One of the most decisive and memorable of those occasions involved the experience of the Hebrews led by Moses out of Egypt and across the desolate wastes of Sinai to the threshhold of Canaan.  God had promised to give that land to them as a rest from their bondage in an alien land, but the fulfillment of that promise was contingent upon their faith to follow God's directions. When the time came to exercise their faith by invading Canaan from the south, attacking fortified cities, and battling trained soldiers who were of greater stature than they, the hearts of the people melted within them. In the fear generated by a very weak faith, they rebelled and turned back into the relative safety of the desert. God's response was to abandon them to that desert until it swallowed every one of them except Joshua and Caleb, the two spies who had encouraged the people to follow God's lead in attacking Canaan. Out of the hundreds of thousands in that generation only those two men were finally allowed to enter Canaan as decisive conquerors, to take possession of it and enjoy the rest there that God had intended for all of them.

      God's promise of a rest for His people was not abrogated by the abysmal failure of the Israelites.  The generation that followed was led triumphantly into Canaan by Joshua and given to them for their possession. In vs. 8-9 it states that "if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God." God has promised another rest to His people of the Christian Age, only this rest is heavenly rather than earthly, spiritual rather than material, and eternal rather than temporal. Just as it was in the case of the Israelites, it is contingent upon our faith to yield our lives to His direction and to perform the works of spiritual service for which He has created us in His Son, (Eph. 2:10). If we ignore His will, revealed to us in the New Testament, then we will, like that faithless generation so long ago, "fall, through following the same example of disobedience."  We can then be sure we will not "enter that rest."

      Christians always face the danger of becoming complacent, taking the grace of God for granted, and participating less and less in the "good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them," (Eph. 2:10). If we do not wear ourselves out in God's service, we have no need for any rest in the life beyond. It is the one who has worked through the day, endured the heat of the sun, and produced fruit by the sweat of his brow, who needs and deserves the bliss of sweet rest at the end of the day.  Through the apostle John the Lord wrote to the Christians at Ephesus, "Remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place --- unless you repent," (Rev. 2:5). These people were obviously on the verge of missing "that rest" because they had ceased to "be diligent to enter" it. Perhaps their attention had been diverted by other activities in which they were engaging, or perhaps they were resting on the laurels of past achievements, or perhaps they had settled into the practice of just "keeping house for the Lord," the fault of many modern congregations. Whatever their situation, they were not busily and zealously involved in the works required by the gospel. It is sobering to consider Jesus' description of the Final Judgment in Mat. 25:31-46, where those who were assembled on His left hand were excluded from the rest of heaven because they had not been active in evangelism, edification, and benevolence for Jesus' sake while they yet lived on earth. 

ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER DAILY

Heb. 3:13 ... "Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."

     Although this statement contains only 25 words, it presents seven ideas in delivering a message of great significance to Christians. 

      First, Christians are to be constantly occupied in the effort to encourage. The object is to motivate other Christians to continue steadfastly in faith, love, hope, good works, and all the other components of the Christian Way. Every follower of Christ must learn to encourage within the scope of his ability and opportunity.  This could involve public speaking (preaching and teaching), but for the most part it can be accomplished on an informal, interpersonal plane in one's daily private life.

      Second, Christians are to encourage "one another." The circle of each person's life intersects those of many other people. No one must withdraw into his own circle of isolation. Within the community of the church, the life of each Christian touches, overlaps, and engages the lives of many fellow Christians. Because of these unavoidable, interpersonal relationships, and because of the divine persuasion to love one another, care for each other, and support each other, we are motivated to encourage "one another."

      Third, this encouragement is to be given "daily." Day by day, and not just on Sundays, Christians are to encourage each other to "fight the good fight of faith" (I Tim. 6:12) and never "lose heart in doing good" (Gal. 6:9). The force of evil never grows weary or slackens in its activity (II Ths. 2:7; I Pet. 5:8), and it is always ready to take quick advantage of any Christian who lays aside his vigilance and ceases to take the presence, the power, and the pervasiveness of evil seriously (Mat. 26:41). It is, therefore, an urgent, unending, and utterly essential task for Christians to encourage one another "daily."

      Fourth, each Christian must consider the time for his duty to encourage to be "Today." That is, he must take advantage of present opportunities to offer assistance to fellow disciples (II Cor. 6:2). It is too late to encourage effectively someone who has already sold out his life to the pleasures of sin. The opportunity to turn a brother or sister away from the face of evil will not always continue, and the degree of success in the attempt is progressively reduced with the passage of time as the evil warps, distorts, and destroys the mind and conscience.

      Fifth, sin is the great adversary of the children of God. It is the powerful tool of Satan "which so easily entangles us" (Heb. 12:1). Sin separates Christians from God (Isa. 59:2) and leads those who surrender to its power into the grip of death (Rom. 6:23). It has become accepted by a large part of our society that the concept of sin is meaningless, irrelevant, and in fact false. This is the most dangerous response that can be made to sin's presence and activity. To deny the reality of something does not destroy its reality, but it places the one who denies it at great risk.

      Sixth, sin operates extremely successfully because of its power of "deceitfulness." If sin presented itself to us in its horrible reality, it would be so abhorrent and repulsive that all but the most foolish would flee immediately from it. To avoid this reaction and also to ensnare its victims, sin rather masks itself behind a veneer of pleasure, success, power, and fame. The undiscerning person who is seduced by this bait finds out only too late how shallow and unsatisfying it really is. Christians must exhort one another continually so that no one will be swallowed by the "deceitfulness of sin."

      Seventh, sin hardens the conscience and soul until they are insensitive to the distinction between right and wrong. Sin also erodes any appreciation for what is good and lowers one's sight from the eternal things of heaven to the temporal things of earth that perish with the using and still do not bring enduring fulfilment. Unless Christian encouragement is persuasive enough before this hardening effect progresses too far, the soul of the victim might reach a state where it can no longer be motivated to repent.

      

NEGLECT THAT PREVENTS SALVATION

Heb. 2:3a ... "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"

      There are three truths of the most fundamental importance and ultimately of eternal consequence, which confront every person who passes through this world. The first of them is revealed in Rom. 3:23, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The second is proclaimed in II Cor. 5:10, "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." And the third is presented in Rom. 5:8-9, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." Very simply put, (1) every person is a sinner, (2) God will at last judge and punish the sinner, and (3) God offers salvation from sin and its terrible penalty through His Son Jesus.

      The only reasonable response that a person can make when he learns these truths is to accept the salvation God offers him. To learn that you are a sinner and hence doomed for destruction, and turn away from the one avenue of escape God has provided, is foolish. If a wildfire is raging across the countryside, as sometimes happens in the western states during a drought, those who live in its path are immediately alerted and warned to vacate their homes. As the flames draw dangerously near, orders to flee are issued in a stronger, more urgent way. If anyone refuses to leave and perishes in the holocaust, we feel great pity for their fate. And yet, we cannot but consider them foolish to have been warned and then neglected to save themselves. This is analogous to the action of sin in the world, which rages like wildfire through human experience. Christians, speaking from the inspired revelation of God's word, sound the warning of impending destruction to all. In Jude 23 we are thus instructed, "Save others, snatching them out of the fire." There is no one whose life is not in the path of the racing, consuming path of sin. To be warned by fervent, urgent appeals to accept God's route of escape through Christ, and then disregard it, is just as foolish as to stay at home until wildfire engulfs your house with you inside. In fact, it is more foolish, because physical fire ends a human life quickly, after which the anesthesia of death obliterates all pain. But the spiritual fire consequent upon sin is never extinguished, and no relief will ever come to the soul writhing within it, (see Mark 9:47-48).

      Perhaps many who refuse to respond to the gospel of Christ reject its necessity on the basis that, having denied the Biblical concept of sin, they are not sinners. Others who decline to respond to God's offer of salvation have denied the reality of a judgment, as well as the idea that God is an avenger of sin. Such rejections, denials, and refusals indicate a severe lack of faith in the truth of Holy Scripture, which affirms these things as realities. The denial of what exists does not remove its reality, though it may indeed remove one's anxiety over its impact upon his own existence. However, the reality of God and His will for man has been sufficiently confirmed by "signs and wonders and various miracles," (Heb. 2:4), which were recorded by competent observers and preserved for the benefit of all posterity. God does not repeat these verifying phenomena to each generation, but rather accounts this testimony as enough to convince anyone whose mind is open. Therefore, if a person rejects the merciful invitation of God to be saved, how can he escape the wrath of God? Our featured text, Heb. 2:3, does not bother to answer that question, apparently because the answer is so obvious. But the answer is clearly and emphatically given in many places in the Bible. For example, "To those who are selfishly ambitious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness ... (God will will execute) wrath and indignation ... (upon) every soul of man who does evil," (Rom. 2:8-9).

      

OUR RELATION TO GOD'S CREATION

Heb. 1:10 ... "You, Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your Hands."

      The Bible opens in Gen. 1:1 with the proclamation that God created the universe, ("the heavens and the earth") and spoke into existence the laws by which all the countless systems and parts would be governed. To study the universe, therefore, or any subsystem of it, is to study the handiwork of God. This is the view that was always present in my mind as I taught physics and marvelled at how the laws which operate in nature can be expressed in precise mathematical formulae. The psalmist said, "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands," (Psa. 19:1). When a scientist discovers a law, he is, in reality, finally uncovering to the enlightenment of man what was set in place by God eons ago. Again we read, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. ... For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast," (Psa. 33:6,9). Science, when it is true to its name, brings the human mind closer to the conviction that the universe was created and that the God of the Bible was its Creator. Sir William Herschel (1738-1822) was a German-born astronomer who did his work in England. He discovered the planet Uranus in 1781, proved that our solar system rotates about a center within our galaxy, and began the great task of methodically cataloging the location and identity of the myriads of stars observable in space. At the height of his illustrious career he wrote: "All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truth contained in the Sacred Scriptures."

      Hebrews 1:10 is one of many statements in the Bible which remind us that God is the Creator of the universe, usually with an exhortation that we respond to His creative act with praise, thanksgiving, and concession to His ownership of what He has made. To be thus reminded should also have an humbling, sobering effect upon us, inducing us to bring our view of reality back into the proper perspective. It should also influence us to re-order our priorities and values. Although God submitted the world to man to occupy and use it, (Gen. 1:28-30), so that it is proper for us to exercise the claim of ownership to local portions of it, we should always be reminded that, in reality, we are never more than caretakers, or stewards, of what belongs to God. In no absolute or immutable sense do we actually "own" anything! Nor do we have any ultimate, superior, or inalienable right to lay such a claim to any portion of this world or its goods. Psalm 24:1 declares that "the earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it."

      When we entered the world, none of us brought anything into it to add to what was already here; and when we leave it, none of us will be able to carry out with us one atom of its matter. "For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either," (I Tim. 6:7). The universe was created by God as a closed cosmological system, and no man can either increase or decrease the sum total of its matter and energy. Therefore, no one has any ultimate personal claim to anything in it.

      The clarification of this world view should serve to decrease our lust for material things and the concomitant concepts of ownership and selfish gratification with whatever has come into our hands. Realizing that we are but stewards of what belongs in toto to God, we should find it much easier to use it according to the principles He has revealed to us in the Bible. These principles urge us to allow our relations with material things to be governed by such ideas as non-dependence upon them, the readiness to share our excess with those who have a deficiency, our glad willingness to commit a generous part of them to God's service in His church, and a deep appreciation for these things as manifestations of God's love and concern for us in entrusting them to our continuing use and good management.

THE PROFITABLE SERVANT

Philemon 11 ... "(Onesimus) formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me."

      Onesimus was a slave who belonged to Philemon, a Christian in the church at Colossae in Asia Minor. Deserting his master, he escaped and made his way the considerable distance to Rome. There, in some way, he became acquainted with the apostle Paul who taught him the gospel and converted him to Christ. It then became Paul's duty to return the runaway slave to his owner, even as it also became the duty of Onesimus, now that he had committed himself to the way of righteousness, to return willingly to Philemon. Only now he would return not just as a slave, inferior according to the human institution of servitude, but rather much more as a "beloved brother ... in the Lord," (v.16). 

      The name Onesimus came from the Greek word meaning profitable. Paul picks up on this and uses it to persuade the master not to deal harshly with his returning slave. Before this he had failed to live up to his name, having fled his owner after perhaps being rebellious, resentful, and irresponsible. But now he is returning as a Christian, ready to serve Philemon according to the letter and spirit of Col. 3:22-25, a passage which Philemon had doubtless read.

      This story of conversion and reconciliation shows us that the gospel is able to turn anyone from a worthless sinner into a profitable worker in the kingdom of God. In another passage that Philemon had surely read or heard, Col. 1:21-22, Paul emphasized this transforming power of the gospel: "Although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He (Christ) has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him (God) holy and blameless and beyond reproach." In the beginning, the Colossians had been living "engaged in evil deeds," the common state of unregenerate human activity, which is unprofitable to God and also ultimately unprofitable to the people themselves. But having been exposed to the teaching of the gospel, which they had believed and obeyed, they were reconciled to God by virtue of Jesus' death for their sins, and they also were regenerated to become God's own possession. In this new condition of Christian sanctity they were profitable to God as members of His holy family. This conversion from the useless and unprofitable to the useful and worthy is the great benefit of the Christian gospel that comes to all who will accept it in faith and subject themselves to its instruction.

      Peter expressed it in his First Epistle in these words: "You have tasted the kindness of the Lord. And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ," (2:3-5). During His earthly experience Jesus was rejected by men as worthless and cast aside, but God then made Him to be the chief cornerstone in His eternal spiritual house. The same God can take men and women who are indeed worthless in their sins and make them to be "living stones" in the further erection of this great "spiritual house" when they respond to His call to them through the gospel. Those who formerly were of no use to Him are then not only vital parts of His house, but also even priests who "offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God." It is a very encouraging and exciting revelation that God has given us this wonderful opportunity to be changed from worthless parasites, who feed by our sin upon the vitality of society, into profitable workers whose lives uplift, support, and nurture the general community of mankind.

READY FOR EVERY GOOD DEED

Tit. 3:1 ... "Remind them ... to be ready for every good deed."

      An opportunity combines three basic factors: an act to be done, a person to perform that act, and a time that is favorable for the act to be done. Within the context of Christian service there is so much to be done that continually awaits those who are able and will seize any available time to do it. Jesus once called attention to the great amount of work to be done and the urgency of doing it with the statement, "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest," (John 4:35). The opportunity is always present for any Christian to perform some valuable service for the Lord, but too often it is wasted because of inattention, lack of preparation, and weak motivation. Using Jesus' analogy, the grain is allowed to remain in the field until it falls ungathered to the ground to be eaten by birds and rodents. Paul's words to Titus in 3:1 urged him to exhort the disciples in Crete to watch for any opportunity to serve, to prepare for the moment, and be ready when the time arrived. This exhortation is as applicable to Christians now as it was to those so long ago.

      The works we must do come not upon us as something expansive, vague, or categorical, but rather as distinct, specific things. We don't just "teach"; we teach individuals! And we don't just "comfort"; we go to specific individuals at definite places and personally help them carry their burdens. The Lord appointed His disciples to be those who perform these deeds of Christian service. This assignment is emphasized in the statement of Eph. 2:10, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." These works, it should be noticed, are not divinely imposed upon "the church" or "the brotherhood" as such. "The church" cannot teach a class of Third Graders the lesson conveyed in the account of Jesus' visit to Jerusalem when He was 12 years old. And "the brotherhood" cannot visit the home of a widowed mother to console her and offer her assistance as she faces the great task of rearing her children alone. But the individual Christian can and must do these things and innumerable other such deeds like them.

      An act of Christian service can only be performed by a disciple within the framework of a suitable time. You cannot comfort a cancer patient in his physical and mental anguish after he has died. It is quite too late to try to instill convictions of purity, chastity, and respect for motherhood to a young woman after she has already conceived a child out of wedlock. That effort should have been underway before she ever reached puberty. To return to Jesus' analogy in John 4:35, these illustrations represent grain we try to gather after it has fallen to the ground and been damaged or destroyed.

      To be able to perform a good deed at the right time to the glory of the Lord, some preparation is necessary. First, you must be able to recognize the opportunity when it occurs. This requires keen perception and mental alertness, both of which are developed by diligent study of  God's word and prayer. Second, you must train yourself to have the strength, motivation, and skill to perform the deed. The maxim that "one learns by doing" certainly applies here. No matter how informed someone might be about an activity, only experience can translate this knowledge into an effective skill, and that experience comes only through sustained effort. Third, you must have the sense of urgency to arouse yourself to perform the deed during the time span in which it can be done. If Christians would truly "be ready for every good deed," we would make an astounding impression for the Lord upon our decadent and infidel society.

      

AN EXAMPLE OF GOOD DEEDS

Tit. 2:7 ... "In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds."

      Unless a person withdraws himself into a deserted place, he lives in contact with other people who are observers of his conduct. Day by day through his manner of life he communicates to them what he values, what he believes, and what he expects from his efforts. All of this elicits some kind of response from others, who may affirm or deny his beliefs, accept or reject his values, and support or oppose his expectations. This response constitutes some degree of intervention in the lives of others. Beginning in the third century there was a movement in the church that reflected great concern over a Christian's interaction with people about him. There were certain individuals who withdrew from society to live in isolated communes with those of like convictions or in solitary exclusiveness. Their effort was to free themselves from being objects of evil influence and abandoned the hope of improving their world through the good effect they might have upon it. For example, in ca. 285 BC an Egyptian Christian named Antony withdrew into the desert where he practiced an extremely austere life, living on a single meal per day of bread and water for the rest of his life. He slept as little as possible and devoted his time to prayer and to mental combat with the myriad demons he conceived to be about him. During the following century there were hundreds of Christians who followed in Anthony's footsteps in the same quest for isolation from society and freedom from the effects of human influence.

      One person's impact upon the life of another may indeed be either for good or evil, thus imposing the responsibility upon each person for his style of conduct which the early hermits and monastics sought to evade. A Christian must of course be very sensitive about the nature of his intervention in the lives of others since he has the spiritual obligation of causing it to be for good, for the Lord wills that we remain in contact with people. In isolated withdrawal we cannot exert the beneficial force upon them that might lead some of them toward God. It is the mission of each Christian in the projection of his ideas, attitudes, and opinions to produce responses of faith in God, good will toward men, peace, humility, and purity. By his speech he should encourage others to speak truthfully, peaceably, kindly, purely, and reverently. And by his conduct he must desire to influence others to behave righteously, cooperatively, decently, and justly.

      To have this kind of impact upon the minds, speech, and conduct of others, a Christian must totally surrender his own mind, speech, and behavior to the guiding power of God's word. He himself must be led by the Spirit so that his life continually exhibits "purity in doctrine," a pattern that is "dignified (and) sound in speech which is beyond reproach," (vs. 7b-8a). A life that is conducted under spiritual guidance will be an excellent example for others to behold and respond to positively, as the Lord expects. It will then produce in them the effects which Jesus anticipates in Mat. 5:16 when He says, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." We must never underestimate the power such influence can have, as the following illustration indicates. In a French boys' school a particularly rebellious lad stabbed another student, inflicting a minor wound. He was punished with confinement in a dark room with a diet of only bread and water. Being terrified of the dark, he was in great distress. When the wounded boy, who was a Christian, heard of it, he persuaded the headmaster to let him take the offender's place. This plea was granted, but with a stipulation, the guilty boy had to bring the bread and water to his substitute each day. On the sixth day, the offender broke down and begged to take the punishment himself. When the three weeks of confinement concluded, he became a convert to Christ. The attitude and example of the Christian he had injured had been the power that persuaded him to yield his life to Christ.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MORAL PURITY

Tit. 1:15 ... "To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled."

      On the afternoon of August 4, 1971 in Cairo, Egypt, I visited the fortress of Saladin, a Moslem conqueror who lived about eight hundred years ago. In the fortress, or citadel, there is a very large and ornate mosque built by Muhammad Ali, the governor of Egypt in the early nineteenth century. Within this building and suspended by a chain about forty feet long is a gigantic chandelier about thirty feet across containing hundreds of lamps. But what impressed me most was the windows, constructed of intricate patterns of stained glass. Since the mosque faced west, these windows were illuminated by the brilliant rays of the sun beaming across the Sahara Desert. The light coming in through the stained glass turned everything inside the building the same colors as the glass. All around there were patterns of red, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, and gold. Even though a bench was brown in natural light, it took on instead the shades of the variegated colors of the windows.

      It is impossible for me to picture in words the beautiful scene I witnessed that afternoon so long ago. You just had to be there and experience it in order to appreciate it. A thought occurred to me then that related what I saw to the words of Jesus in Mat. 6:22-23, "The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" In this simple illustration Jesus compares our eyes to the windows in a building which admit light. The nature of the glass in the window determines the quality of light that radiates into the room. If the window is colored, the interior of the room will be colored with the same shades and hues as the glass. If the window is distorted, objects within the room will be distorted because of the tricks played by the multiple refractions of light upon it. If the window is obscured or dirty, then a great deal less light will be admitted, and the room will be dim or dark.

      In Tit. 1:15 the writer is drawing from Jesus' imagery in Mat. 6:22-23.  The mind and conscience is like a window between one's inner life and the external world. If a person is greedy, he interprets others likewise and feels himself in competition with them for desirable things. If someone is a thief, he thinks others are fair game with respect to their possessions, neither considering nor caring that they labored for what they have. The fornicator thinks of people as sexual objects with the same lascivious urge as himself. If a person is deceitful and suspicious, he considers others to be like himself -- untrustworthy and potentially harmful.

      When people with a lust for power read the Bible, they are most attracted to the passages where men came to power and exercised it with a will. When carnal minded people open God's word, they are most fascinated with its statements and accounts about sexual activity. But when a person's mind has been purified and his conscience cleansed by submitting to the power of God's Spirit, he is enabled to see the beauty, goodness, and worth that are always present in others and in the situations of life. Even when the beauty, goodness, and apparent worth are minimal, the pure-minded person will nevertheless seek them out to the degree they exist and then be interested in how they can be increased to transform the individual.

      When Jesus came into First Century society, He was sometimes accused of being a gluttonous man, winebibber, and friend of the hated publicans and sinners, (Mat. 11:19). It is revealing that they saw Him like this, for there is evidence that these very sins prevailed in their own lives. Jesus, however, though He saw the evil in their lives and exposed it, also saw the good and tried to stimulate its growth, (Mat. 13:15; 23:37).

CHOOSE THE BEST COURSE

 II Tim. 4:7 ... "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."

      Today's experiences are tomorrow's memories. The comfort, satisfaction, and fulfillment that future reminiscences will convey therefore depend upon what you do in life day after day. A life that is spent in the quest for pleasure and the gratification of sensual appetites will produce an end that is devoid of the same. The writer of Ecclesiastes experienced such a course in life and wrote: "I said to myself, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.' And behold, it was futility," (2:1). His judgment after he had drunk long and deep of the spring of pleasure was "futility," meaning that in the end it yielded nothing of value. Likewise, a life that is consumed in the drive to become rich in worldly goods might end indeed in such coveted opulence, but there is abundant indication that the soul is left in a dissatisfied and wretched condition. In I Tim. 6:7-10 the inspired writer tells us: "We have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang." Also, a life that is devoted to the goals of power, fame, and public praise usually peak somewhere in the process and then decline into weakness, obscurity, and perhaps even ridicule by the new generation so that one reaches the end burdened with sadness and bitterness. The writer of Ecclesiastes traversed this course and then wrote: "There is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind, " (2:16-17).

      But a life that is lived in Christ and in the service of God is one which knows no regret, no sorrow, and no failure in its earthly conclusion. It might involve more physical suffering than pleasure; it might involve more material deprivation than abundance, and it might evoke more public scorn than praise. A Christian enjoys the amenities of life as much as anyone else, but he also sees something far greater and more desirable in sacrificial devotion to his Lord, and he is quite willing to forego what unbelievers covet and struggle for in order to achieve what he perceives as better. His conviction is that of Rom. 8:18, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

      Rather than consume his life in the effort to enjoy worldly pleasures and rewards, a Christian will devote his life to the tasks of waging a good fight against evil and promoting righteousness.  Each day he will commit himself to run indefatigably the course that eventually leads to the finish line of success and the "crown of righteousness" for all who cross it. With every stride of the long race he will adhere persistently to a faith in Christ that is never shaken by doubt, weakened by temptation, or drained by carelessness or worldly distractions.

      Such a life does not usually attract public attention, win the acclaim of society or increase in wealth and power during its progress. And it does not produce the sensual pleasure that is so pursued as the essential factor in the so-called "good life." But as the course of worldly life concludes in a mood of dissatisfaction, emptiness, and regret, the Christian way ends in an aura of fulfillment, victory, and joy. And it alone can look beyond the portal of death to an eternal reward of unabated joy, peace, security, and rest.

CONTINUE IN KNOWLEDGE

II Tim. 3:14 ... "Continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of."

      A seafarer spies on the horizon a green speck that indicates a tropical island. As he sails closer, he can distinguish only the dense green of the jungle foliage, but upon landing and penetrating the mass of trees, all kinds of exotic wonders come into view:  beautiful birds, gorgeous flowers, and crystal clear pools streaked with multi-colored fish that flash in the sunlight. The visitor is glad that he stopped and entered this tropical paradise.

      The text above is analogous to the picture just drawn. A casual reading of it conveys a blur about continuing in something that you have learned and been assured of. But if you pause to penetrate the sentence and really see what it contains, you will find a wealth of great ideas with rich and important meaning.

      First, we recognize the gospel of Christ as the focus of attention, appreciation, and duty. It is that body of spiritual truth which must be learned, accepted, and continually applied to one's life because (1) it generates faith, (2) it offers salvation, (3) it comes from God, (4) it teaches the way of life, (5) it reproves, (6) it corrects, and (7) it instructs in righteousness, (vs. 15-16). These benefits of the gospel, when you accept it into your life, are invaluable, for they will identify you as a "man of God," that is, one who belongs to God. No more is needed in the education and regulation of the Christian life, since the gospel will make you "adequate" and "equipped for every good work." (v. 17)

      Second, you must exercise yourself to learn the gospel. This implies the motivation and willingness to learn that enables you to be diligent in regular, inquiring study. Two things are needed for the growth and good health of your body, wholesome food and proper exercise. The same is true for your soul, and the gospel provides both opportunitites. By assimilating it in your mind, it nurtures your soul; and by struggling to regulate your life by its precepts, it strengthens your soul. This combination develops the person who avails himself of it into a full grown, strong disciple of Christ. In Paul's address to the Ephesians in Acts 20:32, he said, "I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up." 

      Third, you must be persistent and loyal in applying the gospel to your life, yielding your thinking, speech, and conduct to the formative action of its doctrine. In I Cor. 9:27 the apostle declared, "I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified." Paul had just spoken of athletes who trained for the Greek games. Their exercise had to be regular and intensive if they hoped to win any honor. Likewise, the Christian must be regular and intensive in exercising his life in the application of the gospel in order to obtain the crown of eternal life, (I Cor. 9:24-25).

      Fourth, the lead text above infers that someone will function as a teacher of the gospel, for someone (probably his mother Lois and grandmother Eunice) had taught the gospel to Timothy and convinced him of its truth. If someone is a learner, then someone else is a teacher. Those who have made sufficient progress in learning the gospel and experiencing it in their life situations are expected by its Author to devote themselves with interest and joy to sharing their knowledge and insight with those who are trying to learn, (Mat.28:19-20; Heb. 5:12).

      Fifth, the teacher is to do more than just present the gospel as a body of knowledge to the learner. He must also labor to convince the learner of its truth, its power, and its eternal relevance.  This is only possible when the teacher himself has already been thoroughly convinced of these things to the point where he trusts their reality with all his heart and mind. No one can build confidence in another of the truth of a declaration unless he himself has no doubts about it. The gospel has been fully confirmed by the power of the Holy Spirit, (Heb.2:1-4).

IF YOU TAKE THE NAME OF CHRIST

II Tim. 2:19 ... "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness." 

      In Rom. 6:3-7 we are told that when a penitent believer is baptized into Christ his entire past record of sin is deleted from God's account and he enters into a new life where sin no longer is his master. This spiritual liberation is not achieved by virtue of what he himself has done. It is rather a blessing from God, an act of grace that brings His love into that person's soul.  God reserves that blessing, however, for those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ (Mrk. 16:16), repent of their sins (Acts 2:38), orally confess their faith (Rom. 10:9-10), and submit to be baptized into Christ (I Pet. 3:21). The response to these requirements is equivalent to the phrase "names the name of the Lord" in the text above. That is, Christ claims possession of the soul of anyone who calls upon His name in this divinely charted way, (Rom. 14:8), and then confers His name upon them as a seal.

      But having been thus released from a life of sin at baptism (Acts 22:16) and sealed with the name of Christ as a child of God does not make you immune to the unrelenting action of sin, which still pounds upon your soul like the waves of the sea upon the shore. This reality is the situation to which I Cor. 10:12 calls attention: "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." When sin is defeated, it does not withdraw from its intended victim for long. Instead, it immediately regroups, changes the strategy, and renews the assault in a different way. Therefore, the Christian who wins a victory over sin cannot relax his vigilance to relax and exult. Having been separated from sin by God's grace, he is required to exert the most diligent effort to keep separate from it by resisting its incessant attacks. This is the intent of the phrase, to "abstain from wickedness," in the above text. In John 8:3-11, the Jews brought to Jesus a woman whom they had just caught in the act of adultery. (Wonder why they did not bring the man as well!) They reminded Jesus that the Mosaic Law required that she be stoned to death and asked Him what He thought ought to be done. Jesus did not oppose the law, but rather reminded them that every provision of it must also be applied.  And one of  those requirements was that the one who threw the first stone had to be free of sin. (The implication is not all sin, but the specific sin under consideration, adultery!) Within minutes all of the woman's accusers were gone, evidently because each of the men was also guilty of adultery. Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go your way; from now on sin no more."

      We all are like that sinful woman, although our sins may be other than adultery. Jesus is as willing to forgive us as He was that woman, because "God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him," (John 3:17). In fact, He is ready and willing to forgive everyone who feels the burden of sin and wants to have it removed. Jesus proclaimed in John 6:37 that "the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." But when He forgives our sins, He also demands that we sever all connections with them and never resume practicing them. His order to us is the same as that to the woman, "Go your way; from now on sin no more." As we continue on the road of life day after day, we cannot avoid coming into the presence of people, things, situations, ideas and activities that are evil. But because we must approach them does not mean we must pause and get involved with them until their sin invades our lives. With our attention and affection fixed upon higher and better things, (Col. 3:2), we must pass these pitfalls of iniquity right by and leave them behind us empty and victimless. The words of Psa. 1:1 & 6 express the course of the Christian path as it must proceed: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! ... For the Lord knows the way of the righteous."

BE NOT ASHAMED

II Tim. 1:8 ... "Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord."

      By the time a person has reached the age of forty or fifty he is usually able to look back far enough to see that the thinking of society does not remain static. The mood of the mass gradually shifts from one complexity to another. This is apparent by what is printed in newspapers, magazines, and books; by what is presented on the radio, television, and movie screen; by the way people talk and the language they use; and by the way people dress, groom, and behave themselves. Today's youth think the music their parents loved when they were young sounds rather ridiculous. The games that little children once played are being forgotten because now electronic games seem far more exciting. Cliches and speech idioms which were known to all a half-century ago have been replaced by new ones our grandparents wouldn't understand. To catalogue such changes in our culture would be an encyclopedic enterprise.

      Some of the fashion of society remains consistent with Christian principles, mostly because it has been our cultural heritage from the past. More of the societal character is tolerant of Christian values, moving along with them in practice if not in spirit.  This is probably due to the impetus of Christian emphasis which is not yet spent, but is nevertheless dying. Still more, indeed a growing area, of the complexion of society is contrary to Christian faith and behavior, having abandoned any connection with it. And in some cases our society is militantly opposed to any attempt by Christian advocates to act as its conscience.

      It becomes an ever-increasing challenge to Christians to continue to practice and advocate the "testimony of our Lord" in the current of a world that merely tolerates it at best and openly rejects and opposes it at worst. If the life of a disciple of Jesus were allegorized as a ship at sea, then it could well be represented as navigating into the face of a storm that is raging with sin, contempt of God, profanity, and licentiousness. It is so easy to get tired of the effort, or be overcome by the shame of differing from the majority, and in desparation cease struggling any further. Many disciples turn the ship of their lives over to the force of the wind and waves of ungodliness and allow themselves to be "tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, (and) by craftiness in deceitful scheming," (Eph. 4:14). But we must be careful not to let this happen. As our text counsels, we must never let the pressure of a degenerating world force us to become "ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." We must continue to struggle against all odds for that holy faith, and it shall both sustain and deliver us in the course of time. We are encouraged in I Cor. 15:58 to "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."

      What we should be ashamed of is the sin in our lives, for that shame can lead to self-condemnation, repentance, confession, and finally to purification from the sin. But we should never be ashamed of "the testimony of our Lord," for its origin is not in the fallible, finite, contradictory wisdom of men but rather in the infallible, infinite, utterly consistent wisdom of God. Jesus declared in John 12:49 that "I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak." Rather than feel ashamed of God's word in the face of an antagonistic society, the Christian should feel great pride in it. There are two basic reasons for such pride, both of which are given in First Peter chapter one. First, it states that we are "born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable through the living and abiding word of God, (v. 23). And second, "the word of the Lord endures forever," (v. 25). This divine word is, therefore, both permanent and the source of eternal life for all who accept it. It is of far greater value than all that can ever be given to us by the world, which is destined to pass away, (I John 2:17).

WHICH WAY FROM HERE?

I Tim. 6:11 ... "Flee from these things, you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness."

      As we make our way through life, we are traveling through a region on a journey that we make only once. We have never been this way before and shall never come this way again. We are informed in Heb. 11:13 that we are "strangers and exiles on the earth."  We are therefore unable to rely on previous experience at any particular point since we have never before been there to acquire the experience of it. But we are much in need of experience in choosing the best course among several alternatives that lead ahead from any given situation.

      A little assistance might be found in looking backward into one's life to similar situations and using the experience gained from the decision then made and the consequences that followed. We are pointed in this direction by the proverb that "experience is the best teacher." Perhaps, but what do we do when we face a situation for the first time? J.A. Froude, the English historian, answers, "Experience teaches slowly, and at the cost of mistakes." The lesson that experience has taught many can never be applied, because their mistakes resulted in death. More help might come from tapping into the experience of other people who have already passed through approximately the same life context we are now facing. The accumulated experience of people from ages past is one definition of history, and the German philosopher Goethe warned that "those who ignore the lessons of history are bound to repeat the calamities that taught them." Nevertheless, this source of help is valuable only up to a point and must not be trusted without reservation. The best of human wisdom can be wrong when the basic issues of the cause of our existence, the meaning of life, and future destiny are concerned. We are advised in Jer. 10:23 that "a man's way is not in himself; nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps." There is always a risk in relying on one's own past experience, or that of other people, in choosing the best path ahead from a current situation. Life has so many variables that almost never do they occur in the same patterns of relation and emphasis. In other words, no two contexts of life are ever quite the same.

      This is where the Bible becomes so important in our lives, for God has given it to us out of His own perfect wisdom to guide us in making the best decisions. Psa. 119:105 announces that "Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path." It will show us the best course from any point in life, if we will hold it up in faith to let it illuminate the way before us. The One who gave us the Bible is supreme in wisdom, has the vision to see clearly as far into the future as He wishes, and possesses the power to manipulate world forces to accomplish His will. If we will yield the course of our lives to His holy guidebook, God has promised to apply His infinite abilities to our welfare. The lead text above has its application in this frame of thought. As we stand at any crossroads in life and survey the many ways that radiate out into the future, where they are immediately shrouded in the mists of the unknown, the revealed divine wisdom warns us that there are some which we must avoid. The words, "O man of God, flee from these things," refer to the avenues to trouble. The context of this statement warns us against roads that pass through resentment of others, pride, envy, strife, vain speculation, and the lust for wealth. Only one road is pointed to as the best for us travel, the one that leads through "righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness." This is, of course, the only safe way that traverses the turmoil of the world safely to end in eternal happiness. It is the road of life that sometimes in the New Testament is called The Christian Way, (Acts 24:14).

KEEP FREE FROM SIN

I Tim. 5:22 ... "Do not ... share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin."

      If sin always immediately produced the effects that it invariably does in time -- misery, pain, shame, failure, loss and death -- it's doubtful if many people would choose to engage in it, or if anyone would sin carelessly or very often. But the horrible results of sin are usually deferred, and then take effect gradually. It is characteristic of people to think they can sin with impunity, for each individual tends to think he is the exception to the rule stated in Gal. 6:7-8, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption." The alcoholic, the drug addict,the criminal on death row, and the man dying of aids did not intend to come to such an end, but at the beginning of the road that brought them there they each thought the first drink, the initial "high" of some narcotic, robbing a convenience market and killing the clerk, or a night of being promiscuous, would bring them to harm. But sin cannot be outrun. It usually gives the one who commits it a headstart, so that for a while he thinks he is getting away with the transgression. Then sin begins the pursuit, which is both tireless and persistent. We are strictly warned in Num. 32:23 that we can "be sure your sin will find you out." And when it does, it destroys the one who committed it.

      Sin should therefore be avoided at all costs. Initially, it offers pleasure, delight, exaltation, progress, and what is often called "the good life." It is readily admitted in Heb. 11:25 that one might indeed "enjoy the pleasures of sin," but then adds that they are only "passing," ("for a season," KJV). If sin did not offer pleasure in committing it, few would care to indulge in it. No one deliberately sits down in thorns, walks on glass, or reaches in the fire to take out a red coal with bare fingers. Such acts produce instant pain and tissue damage and are considered by everyone to be foolish. But sin at first feels good, is exciting and fashionable, and that is why it draws us into it so easily and quickly.

      It is often quite tempting to a Christian to watch as people about him revel in the pleasures of sinful activities and feel the urge to experience the thrill of it himself. Not only may the illicit activity itself seem rather appealing to the senses, but the camaraderie of the group practicing it broadens its scope and intensifies its impact. In the face of such magnetic evil persuasion, a Christian needs all the power available to him to resist being overcome. To succeed, he first must look up to God who is offended by sin, who will at last crush it and those who practice it, but who will also empower anyone, who wishes, to share His opposition to it.  Second, the Christian must look back to Jesus for the perfect example of meeting and defeating sin. And third, he must look into God's word which has the power to identify sin, unmask its deceptive facade, and condemn it to eternal destruction.

      Though "the way of the world" is enslaved to the appeal of sin, the undeceived Christian will turn his back upon what is popular, fashionable, and prevalent to walk the uncrowded path of righteousness. His goal is to keep himself pure in body, mind, and spirit in order to be presentable to God. Those who choose to live in sin to enjoy the pleasures it offers, will be excluded from God's home.  We are told in Rev. 21:27 that "nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." The people whom John saw in heaven in Revelation 7 were those who "come out of the great tribulation (i.e., this world of temptation and sin) ... and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." The ultimate in pleasure and social acceptance for a long lifetime on earth is a wretchedly paltry exchange for an eternity of glory in heaven, (see Mat. 16:26). This is why the thoughtful Christian refuses to participate in the sins of those about him.

      

THE GREAT VALUE OF GODLINESS

I Tim. 4:8 ... "Bodily exercise is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."

      The human life is composed of more than just one part, and in its comprehensive application to human beings the Bible brings attention to bear upon every part. In contrast, the effort is often made by science to reduce man's nature to a single component, matter, and then to deal with him only in that dimension. Dismissing the soul as imaginary, the mind is explained as a complex system of interrelated functions that are biochemical and electrochemical. Man and his brain are ranked as the current highest achievement of the materialistic evolutionary phenomenon that characterizes life on this planet. This conclusion of science has won such acceptation that the physical dimension of life claims nearly our entire attention. So we occupy ourselves with the effort to keep our bodies in the best possible condition through proper diet, exercise, rest, and medical care. We pamper our bodies with the best clothing, cosmetics, and new body care products in order to maximize their beauty and strength, prolong their youthful vitality, and derive the greatest pleasure from their sensual gratification.

      Up to a point the Lord approves of our taking the best possible care of our bodies, since they are the temples in which His Holy Spirit dwells. We are told in I Cor. 3:16-17 that "you (Christians) are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you. If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are." (See also I Cor. 6:18-20.) The proper maintenance and care of our material bodies is what the lead text is referring to when it says that "bodily exercise is only of little profit." Such attention preserves the body as God's temple so long as God gives it life. But the Bible insists that the unseen part of man, the soul, the part of us that is created "in the image of God," (Gen. 1:27), is the more important part and must never be neglected.

      Godliness is the careful attention given to the soul's welfare that corresponds to the care and attention one gives his body. This is not an equivalent correspondence, however, for in the grand scheme of things the importance of the soul far outranks that of the body. The body is composed of earthly elements and will eventually disintegrate into them, but the soul is made from a spark of divinity which can never be extinguished. Thus the text says that "godliness ... holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." There are two components of godliness, right attitude toward God and right conduct which proceeds as a result. Right attitude toward God embraces the conviction that He is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, that He is the Author of human life, and that He is Ruler of all men through grace and love in perfect justice. This conviction generates devotion within one's soul toward God, and it is upon this response that "godliness" may be equated with reverence. Until godliness is established within your soul, whatever right conduct you can manage in outward behavior will be stiff and mechanical. But once the godliness is there, right conduct will flow without force in your outward conduct. No one can fully explain the way this works, for there is "the mystery of godliness," (I Tim. 3:16). We do know, however, that there is a power in godliness that drives it along to accomplish great results, (II Tim. 3:5).

      My welcomed reader, unto what do you devote your greatest attention, to your temporal physical body, or to your eternal spiritual soul? If it is to the body, then your major concern is health, exercise, nutrition, and outward appearance. If it is to the soul, your major attention is fixed upon knowing God more intimately and building godliness in your soul.

CONCERNING CHRISTIAN CONDUCT

I Tim. 3:15 ... "I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God."

      When someone visits the home of another, he ought to be conscious that he is entering the context of a private world that functions according to its own peculiar habits, tastes, and policies. These may differ a great deal from those to which the visitor is accustomed in his own home. Certain pieces of furniture there may be objects of appreciation rather than objects of utility. Mealtimes and bedtimes have their distinctive schedules. Smoking may not be allowed in the house, and the television may be played only at certain times. Because of such domestic distinctions, the person who wants to please his host and maintain his welcome will be very alert to learn them and very diligent to adapt his behavior to them.

      When we are admitted into "the household of God," we must realize we are entering a domain that is not our own. We are neither its designer, builder, or sustainer, nor are we the formulator and executor of its policies. The architect and constructor of this great "house" is God, and thus it is called "the household of God." We must accordingly remember that in His house, "which is the church of the living God," we are His guests, and He is the Host. The code of conduct that must prevail in it is that of God. To try to bring your own style of behavior into that sacred precinct is to act presumptuously and rudely and be irreverent and offensive to God. Such an approach is intrusive and begs countermeasures from God, who indeed preserves the sanctity of His realm.

      One who reads the foregoing comments, from both I Tim. 3:15 and this writer, might easily get the idea that the object of interest is human behavior in a church building.  But this would be a wrong conclusion. Neither the inspired writer (Paul) nor this uninspired one, has any reference whatsoever to a material structure. Paul was not instructing Timothy, nor other Christians after him, how to conduct themselves within the walls of church buildings. Historians report that Christians did not have buildings devoted exclusively to worship and Bible study activities for more than two centuries after the time of the apostles. The word "church" in the New Testament does not refer to a building, but rather to the body of people redeemed by the blood of Christ, who rules over them as Lord and King. It is to our disadvantage that the word "church" has been degraded in meaning to refer to a physical building.

      The phrase, "the household of God," is equivalent to "God's family," or "the kingdom of God," or "the assembly of Christians." What I Tim. 3:15 speaks of, therefore, is a person's conduct as a Christian in the community of other Christians. Whether it be within the precincts of a building dedicated to the purposes of worship and Bible study, or rather at home, at work, at school, on the playground, on the streets, or wherever, a Christian as a member of "the household of God," must be conducting himself by the standard of behavior imposed by God upon His people. This Scripture may indeed be used to correct those who are misbehaving during a worship service within a church building, but it may just as appropriately be applied to a Christian who is exhibiting bad sportsmanship on a basketball court, or who is telling dirty jokes to co-workers at lunch, or who is resorting to road rage on the highway. One of the great purposes for which the book of First Timothy was written, and the rest of the books of the New Testament for that matter, is to instruct Christians in every generation how to behave anywhere, at anytime, and in any set of circumstances. Every Christian must remember always that he is a member of "the household of God," and as such, that he represents that special family in whatever setting he may happen to be.

PRAY WITHOUT WRATH AND DISSENSION

I Tim. 2:8 ... "I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension."

      One of the great benefits of being a Christian is accessibility to God through prayer. It is a profound thought that a human being -- one of the more than seven billion on the planet, which itself is no more than a speck of matter moving in a limitless universe -- may call upon the Creator with the expectation and assurance that his voice will be heard. It fills our minds with wonder that God, who spans the vast reaches of space at the speed of thought and controls completely every comet, planet, star and galaxy, will yet devote His attention to the mere human who calls upon Him out of a pure mind, with peaceful motives, and with a faithful heart. With the psalmist we are led to exclaim, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You do take thought of him? and the son of man, that You do care for him?" (Psa. 8:3-4)

      In I Kings 18 there is the story of the contest between Elijah, the prophet of Jehovah, and 450 prophets of Baal, the false god of the Phoenicians. He challenged them to arrange wood and a sacrifical bullock upon an altar and then to call upon Baal to send down fire to consume it. As the morning hours passed, Elijah watched as they persistently and fervently prayed, "O Baal, answer us!" The time passed with increasing consternation in these priests, for "There was no voice, and no one answered. ... And it came to pass about at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, 'Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened'," (vs. 26-27). But Jehovah God is no Baal! When Elijah prepared his altar with wood and ox, he also had it soaked with water. Then he prayed to God, "Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." (v.37). The Lord heard the prayer of His faithful servant, and then "the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench," (v. 38). Has  fire ever been known to burn stones, water and dust? It did that day, for it was not common fire. It was "the fire of the Lord that can change ANY element into heat and light. (See II Pet. 3:10)

      Though our prayers will not result in miracles like that requested by Elijah on Mt. Carmel, they can nevertheless still be efficacious, if they are offered by faith with reverence as God requires. Our initial text gives three criteria which must be met in order for our prayers to be acceptable. First, they must be offered by "lifting up holy hands." This does not literally mean that the one who prays must stretch out his open hands toward the sky, though it would be wonderful to respond that literally. The emphasis, however, is upon the word "holy." The word so translated signifies "devoted." That is, the one who prays must yield his life to God and trust God to guide him in the way meant for him to go. After all, prayer is an act of submission by an inferior to the Superior and a confession of inadequacy to One whose capacities are infinite. Second, the one who prays must empty himself of all wrath. To speak to God when you are provoked to anger by one of His policies imposing on your preferences is an act of blasphemy and not a prayer. And for anyone to think that he can acceptably pray to God when he is angry with another person is to betray gross ignorance of the teaching of Jesus. If you come to worship, and remember you are crossed up with someone, you must withhold worship, go to that person and be reconciled with him. Then you may return and worship acceptably. (See Mat. 5:23-24). Wonder how many people in a church service are proceeding in vain because of their heart being ill-disposed toward someone. When you know your congregation, it is not difficult to realize that one individual will not even speak to another, and yet he is attempting to speak to God who knows every sin in his life. (See Jas. 3:9, which is addressed to Christians.) Third, our prayers must be offered from hearts of faith. The prayer that proceeds from doubt is offered in vain and is more of a test of God's reality and power than anything else. We are told in Jas. 1:6-7 that we must "ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord."

THE CHRISTIAN GOAL, LOVE AND FAITH

I Tim. 1:5 ... "The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

      When the Lord revealed His will for us in Holy Scripture, He set before us definite goals to reach by the application of His instruction in our life experience. Through the prophet Isaiah He declared, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." (Isa. 55:10-11). Sometimes we cannot visibly discern the accomplishments of God's word when it has been proclaimed, but we can be assured that it does reach the goals set by God. In I Tim. 1:5, two of these goals are named: one is love, and the other is faith. When these incomparable spiritual entities are formed in one's inner being, they soon manifest themselves outwardly in many wonderful ways.

      As the instruction from the Lord has its impact upon the heart and mind of people, at least upon those who consent to listen, learn, and obey, it generates love within their hearts. This is the "agape" love, love in its highest and purest essence that characterizes the very nature of God, (I Jno. 4:8 ... "for God is love"). It is the kind of love that operates when it's not recognized, appreciated, or returned. Notice that I Tim. 1:5 says this "love is from a pure heart." Such a beautiful spiritual force cannot be conceived in a heart that is polluted by moral filth, excited by evil imaginations, or coerced by unholy desires. We are taught in Pro. 4:23 to "watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." The heart must be purified before love at its truest and best can generate and then grow to maturity there. Nor can a heart that is once pure and conceives love bring it forth into action in one's outer life when that heart is allowed to receive and entertain corruption. In Mat. 13:22, in the Parable of the Sower, Jesus said, "The one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." Our Lord's phrase, "the worry of the world," includes the moral pollutants which defile the heart and choke out the word, the objective of which is to plant and then nurture love within the heart.

      Faith is the other goal of planting God's word in a human life. This purpose is also emphasized in Rom. 10:17, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." But faith, like love, will not flourish where there is a mind of insincerity. The lead text above uses the phrase, "a sincere faith," and indicates that one's faith must be genuine and authentic, not the pretended faith of those who come into Christian fellowship for selfish, unspiritual reasons. Pretense and hypocrisy preclude faith in direct proportion to their activity within the heart. The beauty and value of a true Christian life is apparent to most people, who therefore desire to be identified as Christians. But it requires diligent effort, self-denial, and sacrifice, exertions which do not appeal to most people. Rather, "the pleasures of sin" (Heb. 11:25) are much more appealing and popular because they bring immediate gratification, even if it is only "passing." Consequently, it is easy, and therefore all so common, for people to put on a mask of Christian faith to enjoy the benefits of that identity at the same time they are indulging in the pleasures of sin. The "good conscience" mentioned in the text, however, is offended by this dichotomy within the personality and acts to prevent it. Being open and receptive to the guiding power of God's instruction, it not only eliminates pretense from the heart to let faith grow with complete sincerity, but it also purifies the heart to receive the richness of divine love.