"Convert or Die"

Polycarp was a contemporary of the apostle John and, evidently, one of his friends.  Polycarp was born about 52 A.D. and was martyred around 156 A.D.  He served as an elder in the church at Smyrna for many years and was noted for his deep devotion and commitment to Christ.  When he was brought into the stadium where he was burned alive at the stake, efforts were made by his executioners to get him to recant Christianity.  They said to him, “Have respect to thine age.  Swear by the genius of Caesar; repent and say, Away with the atheists.”  With solemn countenance, Polycarp looked upon the stadium filled with the lawless heathen and waved his hand toward them and said, “Away with the atheists.”  When pressed further to deny Christ, Polycarp said, “Fourscore and six years have I been his servant, and he hath done me no wrong.  How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”  Then, threats were made to execute Polycarp unless he denied Christ.  He responded by saying, “You threatenest that fire which burneth for a season and after a little while is quenched: for thou art ignorant of the fire of the future judgment and eternal punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly.”  Shortly after speaking these words, Polycarp was burned alive at the stake.

Muslim extremists today who say to people professing Christianity, “Convert to Islam or die,” are carrying out dreadful actions.  People are being beheaded, crucified, or executed in some other manner.  Many have fled Iraq to escape death.  While such extreme measures are not being used in the USA today, there is intimidation and mockery of those who are disciples of the Lord.  Those who oppose Christians, the Bible, and God are becoming more open and brazen.  Eventually, at some point in the future, this may lead to violent opposition.  It would be wise for us to prepare ourselves for survival by spending more time in prayer and Bible study.  Now is a good time for us to ask ourselves, “Am I willing to die for Christ?”  Even more significantly, are you living for him now?

Why?

When our daughters were small children and we were taking a trip, they would ask the proverbial question, “Are we there, yet?”  Most of the time we were a long way from our destination, but they were either inquisitive or impatient.  I don’t know which.  Naturally, we would give them an estimated time of arrival, but, since they had no concept of time, it didn’t mean much to them because they would ask the same question a few minutes later.  When children are small I guess it is a part of their learning process to ask questions.  One of the most repeated questions asked by children is, “Why?”  They will even prolong an explanation by repeatedly asking why to every response.  Sometimes a matter can be easily explained and at other times it cannot.  But, it is a good question.  It seeks for a reason or motivation behind an action.

The word “why” occurs at least 284 times in the Bible.  Here are some examples.  “Why are you timid, you men of little faith” (Mt. 8:26)?  “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say” (Lk. 6:46)?  “And now why do you delay” (Acts 22:16)?  “Why do you regard your brother with contempt” (Rom. 14:10)?  These are just some samplings of this important question from the Bible.

I have a few “why” questions of my own.  Why do people who wear the name Christian choose not to worship God on Sunday evening or study his word on Wednesday night?  Why do people ruin their lives through needless worry when God has promised never to forsake his children (Heb. 13:5)?  Why do people work so hard to get ahead materially when possessions do not really satisfy (Lk. 12:15)?  Why do people think they’re going to heaven even though they live ungodly lives (Rev. 21:27)?  Why do people who know the truth not obey it?  Why do people redeemed by Christ’s blood choose not to serve him?  Why do people bring children into this world and, yet, have no intention of properly caring for them or spending much time with them?  Instead, they farm them out to day care centers or nannies while they continue to pursue their professional careers.  Why do some people spend a lot of money to sit in snow, rain, or heat to watch a ball game, but will not attend worship services where they sit on padded pews in a weather-controlled environment?  Why do people make plans for their retirement, but give little or no thought to their eternal destiny?  Perhaps we need to pause and give some honest and sincere reflection to these questions.

I'm Tired...But I'm Not Tired

      I’m tired of hearing the gutter language that is spoken by some who lack the vocabulary skills to communicate sensibly.  I’m tired of having the homosexual agenda, sometimes in subtle ways and sometimes in ways that are not so subtle, being pushed off on society.  I’m tired of immodesty being so openly and approvingly displayed.  I’m tired of hearing the conflict and wars that are constantly being fought in various parts of the world.  It seems that greedy and power-hungry people are always being disruptive and won’t allow the common person to live in peace.  I’m tired of hearing the reports of innocent people being slaughtered.  I’m tired of reading about rapes, drug abuse, child abuse, spouse abuse, and many other acts of cruelty.  I’m tired of the dishonesty, shady dealings, and duplicity that are often involved in politics.  It’s almost to the point of not being able to trust or have confidence in anyone who is a politician.  We live in a great country, but in my opinion we have almost reached the point where we govern by the polls rather than by what is right or best for the country.  I’m tired of the entertainment industry spewing their ungodliness on the movie screen for all to see, especially the impressionable minds of children.  I enjoy sports as much as anyone, but I’m tired of the fanaticism that some people have toward athletics to the point of ridiculous behavior and blind loyalty.  I’m tired of false religions spreading their deceptive messages that result in the eternal condemnation of people who think they are faithfully serving God.  I’m so tired of these and many other things that I feel much like the apostle Paul who said, “Come, Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 16:22).  There will be no relief from these and many other problems on this side of eternity.  That’s true because “…the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19, NASV).

      While I’m tired of many things, some of which I have mentioned in the preceding paragraph, there are many things of which I am not tired.  After more than 50 years of preaching the gospel, I am not tired of doing it.  It is just as invigorating as it was when I began.  I have never grown tired of the gospel message or the presentation of it.  I have never grown tired of studying the Bible with people in a private setting.  I enjoy listening to good, sound preaching and teaching of God’s word.  I have never grown tired of seeing people change their lives from serving Satan to serving God by obeying the gospel.  I have not grown tired of seeing people develop and mature spiritually.  I have never grown tired of reading and studying the Bible.  It is like a refreshing drink of water to the soul and never becomes commonplace.  I don’t know how many times I have partaken of the Lord’s Supper in the 56 years I have been a Christian, but it has never become old to me.  Singing praises to God with my brethren in the worship services stirs me to this day.  Some of the greatest people I have ever known are my brethren.  They may not be in the headlines or make the evening news, but they are the salt of the earth and I enjoy being in their company.  They make me happy and stimulate me.  I’m never bored being around them.  I have never grown tired of reading and hearing about heaven.  It gives me hope and motivates me to live for God that someday I may be in a place where there are no wars, murders, rapes, abuse, or dishonest people.  God has his own timetable, but I am “…looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Pet. 3:12).

Jesus and the Use of Miracles

      Near the end of his Gospel the apostle John said that Jesus performed “many other signs.” (Jn. 20:30-31).  Around forty are recorded in the four Gospels, but how many others he performed is undetermined.  The purpose of the miracles was to convince people that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God.

      The word “miracle” is used in a variety of ways today.  It is used to refer to the birth of a child, or some remarkable event, or in describing an answer to prayer.  The biblical use of the term “miracle” does not fit this description.  A miracle is the intervention of God outside the laws of nature which he has established.  For instance, man obtains his daily bread through planting of seed and gathering the harvest.  It was a miracle when Jesus did not go through this process, but fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes (Mt. 6:1-14).  One may seek the safety of a shelter during a tempestuous storm, but Jesus “rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm” (Mt. 8:26).  A person may have an eye problem corrected through surgery, but Jesus healed the blind (Jn. 9:1-7).  Through proper diagnosis and treatment an ill person may avoid death, but Jesus raised people from the dead (Lk. 7:11-17).

      Jesus performed many different kinds of miracles.  He walked on water (Mt. 14:25-26), cast out demons (Mt. 8:16), and raised the dead (Jn. 11:39-44).  He performed so many miracles that even the world would not be able to contain the books that should be written (Jn. 21:25).  They were not slight of hand tricks or freaks of nature.  They were genuine miracles in which the laws of nature were overridden.

      These miracles were performed in the synagogue (Mt. 12:9-14), at public pools (Jn. 5:2-8), and at wedding feasts (Jn. 2:1-11).  Even unbelievers were witnesses of them (Mk. 2:1-12).  These miracles were performed in the presence of those who were very much aware of the situation.  His enemies could not successfully refute their validity (Jn. 9:15-17, 24, 29-34).  With Jesus’ healings there were no preliminary investigations to weed out hard cases.  He did not try to heal and fail at it, and then insult the intelligence of the people by suggesting that the reason why healing did not occur was because they did not have faith.  The miracles he performed did not require a special “atmosphere.”  People who were healed did not have to get well “on the installment plan.”

      The miracles of Jesus provided infallible proof of his deity (Jn. 3:2).  They produced faith in the heart of men (Jn. 2:23).  Thomas Jefferson edited a condensed volume of the Gospels in which he eliminated all the miracles of Jesus.  All that remained were the ethics Jesus taught.  The result was to leave Jesus merely as a wise human philosopher.  The tragedy of this is that even though the ethics of Jesus are the highest the world has ever known, yet when Jesus is stripped of his divinity and power, his ethics are likewise stripped of all authority and power.

      The miracles of Christ occupy a most important place in the array of proofs for the certainty of the things we believe.  If they were absent from sacred history, our loss would be irreparable.  The miracles of Jesus should not be severed from the whole complex of Christ’s life and doctrine.  Their relation is one of mutual interdependence.  The miracles strongly attest to his compassion.  They illustrate his authority to forgive and save man from his sins.  They underscore his power to give eternal life and declare him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

"The Lord Does Not See Us"

The above statement was made by seventy men who were supposed to be spiritual leaders in Israel.  Ezekiel was a prophet of God whose work was focused on those who had been brought to Babylon around 606 B.C. during the time of the exile.  Ezekiel was just a young man, twenty-five years old, when he was taken to Babylon.  At the age of thirty he was commissioned by God to convey God’s message to those who were in captivity.  He had the privilege of being a contemporary of Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and Daniel.

It wasn’t very long after Ezekiel began his ministry that he had a very unusual experience.  In a vision, God allowed him to see the horrible spiritual conditions that prevailed in his hometown of Jerusalem (Ezek. 8).  What he saw was that the leaders of Israel, in their private chambers, were worshiping creeping things, abominable beasts, and other forms of idolatry (Ezek. 8:9-10).  They even had the images of these gods portrayed on the walls of their chambers.  Their leader was Jaazaniah, the son of the scribe who earlier read the book of the Law to Josiah when he initiated needed reforms in Israel (2 Kgs. 22).  His name means “Yahweh hears,” but he was offering worship to gods who could not hear.

These seventy elders were not engaging in these practices publicly, but doing them in the privacy of their chambers.  Their argument was that “The Lord does not see us” (Ezekiel 8:12).  However, we learn that “…all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13).

Some engage in homosexuality, fornication, pornography, dishonesty, and a host of other sins thinking that if done in private, or under the cover of darkness, or at a place where one is unknown, that God does not see the sin.  Like these Israelites, they are sadly mistaken.  There is a day coming when “God shall judge the secrets of man by Jesus Christ” (Rom. 2:16).  “Nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest” (Lk. 8:17).

The Love of God

God spared the life of Isaac when Abraham was about to plunge the knife into his body, but did not spare the life of His own Son when He was crucified.  Had He done so, man would be hopelessly lost for there is no other adequate sacrifice to atone for the sins of man (Heb. 10:1-4).  The death of Jesus on Calvary’s tree reveals different dimensions of God’s love.

God’s love is indescribable.  How can you describe a Beethoven symphony to one who is deaf?  How can you describe a Rembrandt portrait to one who is blind?  Even so, human language is incapable of adequately describing the love of God.  F.M. Lehman once wrote:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made; were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade; to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry; nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.

When love flowed forth it was so deep, so wide, so strong, that even inspiration did not compute its measure, but gave us that great little word “SO” (Jn. 3:16) and left us to attempt the measurement.

God’s love is unquenchable.  You can’t run beyond the limits of God’s love because you can’t outrun God.  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).  Good people don’t go to heaven because they are good, but because God loves them.  All of us are sinners, deserving eternal condemnation, but God sent His Son to be “…the propitiation for our sins…” (1 Jn. 2:2).

God’s love is unearned.  Paul declared, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).  Salvation is God’s gift to obedient man (Heb. 5:9).  If salvation cost money, then some would not be able to afford it, for they are poor.  If one had to produce a certain number of good works in order to be saved, then some would have unfair advantage over others, for they have greater ability.  But salvation is offered to man by God through Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb, provided man accepts and obeys the gospel (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

God’s love is inexhaustible.  There is enough love in the very nature of God to take care of the sins of the world.  No one is beyond the reach of God’s love, no matter the immense depths that sin may drag him.  God “…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).

God’s love is inevitable.  His immense love does not come from anything outside of Himself.  He loves because it is His nature to do so (1 Jn. 4:8).

Because of His love salvation is offered through Christ, provided man accepts and obeys the gospel.

Being A Servant

Suppose you were transposed in time and place back to the city of Jerusalem during the first century.  Suppose you were given the opportunity of spending 30 days with the Lord.  Suppose that afterward a reporter from the Jerusalem Gazette conducted an interview with you.  Some of his questions might be, “Where did you go?  What did you do?  What did you see?  What happened during those 30 days?  Of all the things you have done, experienced, or observed, what one fact or idea stands out foremost in your mind concerning Jesus?”  What would you say?  Would you tell how impressed you were with the compassion of Jesus?  Would you relate how wise Jesus was?  Would you share how that Jesus knew what to say and how to say it?  Would you point out how relevant and meaningful the teachings of Jesus were?  All of these and much more would certainly be appropriate perceptions regarding the Lord.

However, there is a quality that makes Jesus unique among men.  He was a servant!  Seven hundred years prior to his virgin birth it was prophesied that Jesus would be the suffering servant (Isa. 53).  He left the riches of heaven for the poverty of earth (Phil. 2:5-7).  Human wisdom would have dictated that he be born in a major metropolis by rich and well-educated parents, but he was born of little known parents in a stable and laid in a feeding trough for animals.  His entire life was lived as a servant.  Near the end Jesus laid aside his garments, took a towel and washed the feet of his disciples (Jn. 13:3-11).  If you had everything in your hands, would you take a towel and wash feet?  James and John typified man when they requested positions of prominence in Jesus’ kingdom (Mk. 10:35-37).  Jesus turned the concept of greatness upside down when he said, “Whoever wishes to become great among you, shall be your servant."  “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matt. 20:28).  Are you a servant?

A true servant of Jesus is not quarrelsome (2 Tim. 2:24).  He seeks to be where Jesus would be and to do what Jesus would do (Jn. 12:26).  It might necessitate a change in reading or viewing habits.  It might require a change in language or the content of one’s conversation, but a true servant is willing to make the changes.  A genuine servant realizes that he owns nothing in this world (1 Tim. 6:7), but is owned by God who paid the purchase price for him (1 Cor. 6:20).  A true servant does not seek a title, but an opportunity.

Edwin Markham tells the story of a cobbler named Conrad.  One night the cobbler dreamed that the next day Christ would visit his shop.  The next morning he decorated his shop with green boughs so it would be an appropriate place to receive such a guest.  He waited all morning and the only thing that happened was that an old man shuffled up asking to rest.  Seeing that his shoes were worn through, Conrad put on the old man the sturdiest pair of shoes he had in the shop before sending him on his way.  He waited through the afternoon but the only thing that happened was that an old woman carrying a heavy load of firewood came by, weary, and out of compassion, Conrad took her in and gave her some food he had prepared for Christ.  As the shades of night began to fall, there came a little lost child crying bitterly.  Conrad was annoyed because it was necessary to leave the shop in order to take the child to her house across town.  When he returned he was convinced he had missed the Lord’s visit while he was gone.  Conrad cried out, “Why is it, Lord that your feet delay?  Have you forgotten that this was the day?”  Then soft in the silence a Voice he heard: “Lift up your heart for I kept my word.  Three times I came to your friendly door; three times my shadow was on your floor.  I was the beggar with bruised feet; I was the woman you gave to eat; I was the child on the homeless street.”  I want to be a servant of the Lord; don’t you?