The Saddest Words in the Bible

Have you ever thought about that? - the saddest words in all of the Bible? 

One of my favorite preachers, Don Wilton of First Baptist Spartanburg, SC, was preaching recently about “The Roaring Lion”.  It was a message that has really resonated in my heart.  Don talked about how Cain devised evil in his heart and tried to please God with vegetables (literally AND figuratively).  God wasn’t having it.  He was not interested in Cain’s vegetables (again, in his literal vegetables OR in Cain’s desperate attempts to live by the Law).  God was interested in a blood sacrifice - but really he wanted Cain’s heart. 

What’s most amazing about that section of Genesis dealing with Cain is this:  when questioned by the most High God himself, Cain lied in the face of God.  Isn’t that amazing?  After all, doesn’t anyone who knows anything about God’s nature know that God is omniscient? - that he can see easily through ANY lie? 

Dr. Wilton reckoned that the “saddest verse” in all of the Bible is Genesis 4:16(a) -

“And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.” 

Understand that and let it sink in:  he went out from the presence of the Lord.

That got me to thinking about some of the other very sad passages of the Bible - and I want to share a few with you - and then share the commonality in these instances. 

Shortly after Pentecost and the coming of God’s Holy Spirit, Paul was imprisoned by Antonius Felix (commonly known as “Felix”), Roman procurator - much like a secretary of the treasury.  He was in charge of financial affairs and answered to the Emperor (presumably to both Emperors Claudius and Nero).  Felix called for Paul on more than one occasion “and heard him concerning the faith in Christ” (Acts 25:24b) 
 
Felix hadn’t any genuine interest in the Gospel, but rather he asked to hear him thinking that Paul might pay for his own release (Acts 25:26).  Furthermore, it is commonly held that Felix thought he would glean some entertainment from Paul’s testimony (as if a circus clown were performing).  What Felix didn’t know is that God can use anything and anyone to prick a person’s heart concerning the Gospel.  And it’s clear the Holy Spirit was working on Felix.  The scripture says: 

“And as he (Paul) reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”  (Acts 24:25)

When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee..  In today’s parlance, “Go for now, let me get back to you on that..”  And the Bible says he trembled. 

Friends, he trembled.  That’s what happens when people hear the Gospel and understand that they are sinners.  He heard the truth and he trembled in fear.  And then he made a fatal mistake.  He said “no”.  And you might be thinking “no, he didn’t..  he just said ‘not now’!” 

Incorrect.  As I have written before, a vote of neutrality is the same as saying “no” in God's economy.

And his intentions may well have been pure - that he would deal with it (just not now)..  Don’t we put things off?  How many people have heard this gospel in their teen years and said to themselves “I’m having fun.  I don’t feel like being bothered with stuff that serious.  I’ll deal with it when I get older.” 

And then they get into their early adult years and get married and reason that life is just too busy for “church stuff”.  And then along comes mid-life.  Kids are growing up and life is still too busy!  By the time one becomes a senior citizen, wouldn’t it be easy to say “well, I’ve gotten by this long without such childish things as religion, why do I need it now!?”

Go for now, I’ll think about it again when it’s convenient for me..

What a sad, sad statement. 

And then lastly, I want to share with  you from just two chapters later.  Paul, once again under constant ridicule and persecution for evangelizing to people, was imprisoned.  This time, he was summoned to answer to King Agrippa (this encounter is documented in Acts 26, and I encourage you to read it).  At the end of Paul’s testimony, Agrippa uttered these sad words:  “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” (Acts 26:28)   

Almost...  

To be "almost persuaded" is to be totally lost.
 
The country music artist Josh Turner popularized a song written in 1890 by Philip Bliss.  I hope you’ll take two minutes to listen to “Almost Persuaded”, performed by Turner, who played the role of George Beverly Shea in the recent movie “Billy:  The Early Years”.  Here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frKneDcUVtU

My friends, you might be able to think of other sad, sad verses in the Bible.  I wonder if the ones that come to your mind would match the theme of the three I’ve shared.  All three of these verses have one thing in common:  they all deal with people who rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

When Jesus preached and ministered to crowds and individuals, he always exhorted them to repent NOW.  That’s in the present continuing tense. The hour of salvation is now.  No man can come to Christ of his own choosing in his own time, because the Lord Jesus chooses such times as his grace dictates.  Say “Yes” to Christ today.  

As always, I welcome your questions and comments.  May God bless you richly.

- Rudy

Generational Sin

I have a friend in Memphis, Tennessee who is one of the dearest men I’ve ever known - a Christian man with a fine wife and family.  Unfortunately, life hasn’t always been “easy” for him.. For the purpose of the story - and to protect his confidentiality, I’ll call him “Steve”.  Steve’s father was a professing believer with an addiction problem.  

As you probably know, this is not altogether uncommon. 
Christians are subject to the same temptations as non-believers and Satan loves nothing more than ruining the life and testimony of God’s children.  

We would be shocked to know how many of our Christian brothers and sisters are in bondage to one type of sin pattern or another - whether chemical addiction, pornography or some other type of sexual sin, or something altogether different like fits of anger or something else. 
 
For Steve’s father, the problem was alcohol.  He was deeply trapped in the grip of alcohol.  His life was tragically cut short in a bar room argument that turned violent.  He got into an argument with another man and was the victim of homicide right there in that bar.  Steve, a teenager who had given his heart to Jesus, made a decision that the sin of alcohol would die with his beloved father. 
 
The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 5:8-10:
 
"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."
 
Here are the key words:  “visiting the iniquity (or sin) of the fathers on the children, and on the third and fourth generations”..
 
Many people wrongly believe that their sin is just their sin..  It won’t affect anybody else.  Wrong.  Wrong.  A thousand times wrong.  What we often fail to think about is that others are watching us.  Friend, there are people who admire you and watch how you live and you don’t even know about it.  This is especially true of your children.  They observe you every single day and listen to what comes out of your mouth.  They see and imitate your actions.  We wonder why children can use the most obscene, horrific language..  Do you think for a minute that they learn that foulness out of thin air?  Of course not.  They repeat it from what comes out of our mouths, or what we allow them to hear through the media they watch, listen to and read. 
 
And many children have parents who use drugs or alcohol.  And perhaps most dangerous of all is the situation created by parents who are so-called “social drinkers”.  These are people who have one or two alcoholic beverages with dinner and control this with ease.  How many children have been led down the path of abuse because their parents introduced them to this powerful drug? 
 
The Apostle Paul warns us in Romans 14 vv 13-20:
 
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.  19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
 
God tells us it is wrong for a believer to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.  Sure, you can have a drink and control it.  But what about your friends and acquaintances?  And what about your children? 
 
Do you think Steve’s dad ever considered the dangers he was imposing upon his children?
 
Thankfully, God was good to Steve.  God, through His Holy Spirit, impressed upon Steve this truth:  GET IT STOPPED.  So Steve made this commitment to God:  The sin of alcohol will stop with my dad’s generation.  And my friend has never consumed alcohol.  God is good, my friends. 
 
Examine yourself.  If your parents lived in a way that didn’t always honor God, I implore you to forgive them as God would.  Be that as it may, realize that you and I will be accountable to the Living God for being a stumbling block to anyone.  Get the cycle stopped so that the previous generation would be the last and that God would be honored by it.
 
God Bless You, my friend. 

"Judgment Day"

You have surely heard the expression:  Judgment Day..  What is it?  Is it real?  Will it really happen?  We’ve heard a bit about it in popular culture.. Hollywood has even had its proverbial crack at the matter in “Judgment Day” (1999) starring Ice-T and “Terminator 2:  Judgment Day” (1991) starring that great theologian, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But what does the Bible have to say about Judgment Day?  There are really two different judgments spoken of in the Bible:  The Great White Throne judgment (for people who have not trusted Christ) and “The Judgment Seat of Christ” for people who stood with Christ in this life. 

The Great White Throne Judgment

Revelation 20:11-15 says “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Let’s take a look at that:

The books were opened.  We know that God is omniscient.  That is to say, He knows everything.  He always has and he always does (present tense intentional).  He knows eternity past and eternity future.  He knows the inner-most feelings of your heart.  And he certainly knows all of your words and deeds for the entirety of your life.  The books will be opened and we don’t know exactly how God will do it, but he will expose or “lay open” all of it.. whether it be good... or whether it be bad.

Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.  My friends, if that isn’t a sobering thought, I don’t know what is.

The Judgement Seat of Christ

II Corinthians 5:10 reads “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
Now Paul tells us that all will appear before the judgment seat of Christ.  He was writing to Christians at the Church of Corinth.  All Christians will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ.  People who accepted Christ’s offer of salvation and repented of their sins will know about the bad they did in this life.  And they will receive Heavenly rewards according to the good they did - according to the “kingdom investments” they made. 

Matthew 6:20 says “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal…”

Friends, there’s no doubt about it:  there will be great reward in Heaven for those who made kingdom investments.  And what is kingdom investment?  When you are undertaking for people, when you’re obedient to God’s commandments, you’re laying up treasure in Heaven. 

Matthew 25:34-47 speaks of the sheep and the goats; the goats will be to the left, and the sheep to the right.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. ”

When you called on widows, when you gave a drink to a thirsty person, when you made an anonymous gift to a person in need, when you visited a prisoner, when you stopped to help a stranger, God was aware.  And you will receive rewards as if you had done these things for Christ Himself. 
At the end of a day, it is worthwhile to consider how you spent that day God gave you.  Today, I made a couple of kingdom investments.  I witnessed to a person without Christ.  I prayed with a couple of sisters in Christ who just needed a word of encouragement.  (and I certainly am not sharing this to elevate myself or give myself some kind of a pat on the back.  To the contrary, I give God the glory that He spoke into my heart that I should do these things.) 

Those are things for which God will reward me.  But today, there were also a lot of careless words spoken.  There were unpure thoughts.  There were purchases made that probably could have gone without.  Those things will not stand the test of time.  The only things that really matter in God’s economy are the kingdom investments - and frequently that involves people.

The Christian need not fear judgment.  If we have confessed with our mouths the Lord Jesus, and if we believe indeed that God hath raised Him (Jesus) from the dead, we are saved!  Hallelujah!  We have nothing to fear. 

But we have every reason to follow Jesus’ commandments:  Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  These are the things which we should “be about” in this life - not only because we wish to receive good rewards, but we should seek to live out these fruits of the spirit out of love for the one who took our just reward (death) upon Himself on our behalf. 

I wouldn’t be telling the whole story, though, if I didn’t say this.  The person who has not repented of sin and placed trust in Christ has every reason to be concerned.  This is one of the saddest word pictures in the Bible found in Luke 16:19-31:

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 

20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Even now, the rich man spoken of here in the Bible is suffering in the torments of Hell:  still in darkness, still alone, still begging for a drop of water to cool his tongue.  And if someone could tell him that he would be freed from that awful place in a million years, he would rejoice.  But the sad truth is that Hell is his all time future.  There will be no mercy once the Sinner has breathed his last, crossed over that great divide and found that his name was not in God’s book in Heaven.  Only regret, only heartache and perhaps worst of all, permanent separation from the One who paid his sin debt.  But it’s too late.  He’s there now and he’ll be there ten million years from now, with no possibility of parole or pardon.

I encourage you, my friend, if you’ve not turned from your sin and trusted Christ as your savior, do it while His spirt is speaking into your heart.  If God is speaking to your heart, don’t turn away.  The Bible tells us in a very sobering way that “My spirit shall not always strive with man...” (Genesis 6:3a)  That is to say that you don’t have control over God’s spirit, which is the only way you’ll ever be convicted of your sin - the only way you’ll ever realize you need God.  Once God takes His hand off of you after you’ve rejected him over and over, your heart will harden to the Gospel.  So many women and men are suffering in Hell because they committed the unpardonable sin which, contrary to popular theological opinion is this:  rejection of Christ. 

Don’t reject Christ.  Realize what He did for you on Calvary and receive Him unto yourself.  If you’d like to give your heart to Christ, click here for more information from a source I deeply trust:

http://www.theencouragingword.org/discover-jesus

Praying this writing meets you with happiness and peace of heart,

Rudy

What is the City Upon a Hill?

In his farewell address to the nation on January 11, 1989, Ronald Reagan uttered these now famous words:

“I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it.  But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.  That’s how I saw it and see it still…”

In this political season, I could not help but reflect on the saying as many candidates have mentioned it in days recent.  But with due respect to the late President, the phrase did not originate with him (nor did he claim it did).  Nor does it belong to the pilgrim John Winthrop who wrote about the city Upon a Hill in 1630, stating:

“the Lord make it like that of New England:  for we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world, we shall open the mouthes of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God and all professors for God’s sake; we shall shame the faces of many of God’s worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into Curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whether we are going…”

Winthrop was speaking concerning Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus said “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  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.”

Although the origin of the phrase comes from the lips of our Saviour himself (Matthew 5:14-16), there is some good wisdom in the sayings of both President Reagan and John Winthrop. 

President Reagan said that the City would be one “built on rocks”, and that it would be God-blessed.  He went on to say that if it had walls, the walls would have doors so that anyone with the will to get there could.  When we place our trust in Christ, we really are building our mortal and spiritual home on a solid rock.  And if the City of the Gospel does have walls – indeed it does and it must – there is a door.  And anyone who comes into the City must come by way of the cross at the door’s entrance. 

When Christ spoke these words, he was talking to believers.  When push comes to shove, we are all here for one very specific reason:  to worship God, which is what Jesus says in the last verse:  “Let your light so shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

As much as I love America – and as much as I believe in American exceptionalism – America is certainly not the City Upon a Hill.  YOU are the light Christ is referring to if you’re trusting in Him today – and I am.  WE, the Church, the bride of Christ, are the City Upon a Hill.  We are his pride and his crowning creation achievement. 

And as Winthrop rightly points out, “the eyes of all people are upon us”.  They are watching to see what we do and what we say.  Christ instructs us to do good works.  Winthrop warns us not to “deal falsely with our God”, lest he withdraw his help from us.  One needn’t look through the Bible very far to see that there is precedence for God doing this.  When God’s people turn their backs upon him, when they look to idols, when they defiantly dive headlong into deliberate sin, God will not be mocked. 

Especially as we enter this new year, I cannot help but think of this verse (to my mind, one of the greatest calls to repentance in the scriptures):  “If MY (Christ- emphasis mine) people, which are called by MY name (CHRISTian), shall humble themselves (you – and me), and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I (God) hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  II Chronicles 7:16

That, to me, seems like a great way to approach this new year.  Not with resolutions, but with an honest commitment to obey from the heart that form of doctrine which has been taught us.

1.    Humble Myself (only when we search our own hearts can we tell what causes pride to well up within us – I think it can be different for different people)

2.    Pray (even when we don’t know what to pray, spending time with God)

3.    Seek His Face (this comes not only through prayer, but through absorbing God’s Word)

4.    Turn from Sin (God gives help to do this – I Corinthians 10:13).  Whatever it takes to turn from sin is worth it, even if it calls for drastic action.

It seems like a great recipe for 2012.  I hope 2012 is the best year of your life – and mine.  And I earnestly hope that people of America – and across the World – will consider what they would do with Christ.  Neutrality equates to denial in God’s economy.