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).