You can speed or hasten Christ's return!

You can speed or hasten Christ’s return!!

Work of the Gospel

By

Jed Greenough

Has anyone told you before that you, the Christian reading this, can speed Christ’s return?

What reason could you possibly have for not wanting that to happen?  Do you feel like you are having too much fun living in the world to stop just now?

If you think about Christ returning as soon as you get done reading this do you think you would feel excitement or guilt and fear?

I don’t want for you to feel anything but excitement at the thought of His returning in glory, so please try and harness that feeling of guilt as a motivator to change that dread to joy!

I hesitated to share an entire chapter of scripture for fear that I would lose some, but the Spirit seems to say to me that “those that who do not count the scriptures worthy enough for their attention are not to whom this is meant.”

2 Peter 3

The Day of the Lord

 ¹ Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. ² I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

 ³ Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. ⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. ⁷ By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

 ⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

 ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

 ¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

 ¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

 ¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Did you catch verse 12?  It said, “as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming…”

Depending on your Bible version you may have words instead like “hastening” or “hurrying along” or the words of the Worldwide English version which save me more explaining by its version “do everything you can to make it come quickly.”

You, dear fellow Christian, are responsible in part for how quickly we shall see Jesus!

But how can you accomplish this?

In the scripture that follows where do you see yourself?

Matthew 25:14-28 

The Parable of the Talents

    ¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

   ¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

   ²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

   ²² “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

   ²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

   ²⁴ “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

   ²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

   ²⁸ “‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.

I cannot imagine anyone on seeing Christ wanting to hear the words, “You wicked, lazy servant!”

Make today the day that you start earning a return for Him! 

Part of that return is your “effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him,” but the other part is what you do for others----the work of the gospel!

As we read in 2 Peter 3 God is being patient, but at some point the last person that God has predestined to be saved by the good news will be saved. 

I believe the world is evil enough, I believe that enough of the falling away is near enough, but I don’t for a moment think that all have been saved obviously as that is why I do what I do.  But you can help speed the completion of His number by thinking of the ways that you can use what He has given you to share the gospel.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

------------------30 Days!!-----------------

 

When Christ returns, even those of us who are anticipating it will be caught off guard.  The scriptures are clear that no man will know as we are about to read in the scripture below and some might think, “Well if we cannot know, then we should relax.”  But I say to you, because you do not know, that is why you should be all the more vigilant!

The scriptures we will be reading are some that Jesus himself gave to us.  This wasn’t a prophet from centuries past who spoke vaguely about the times of the end, but rather this was Christ telling you what you need to know in order to be prepared.

Would it help you if I told you that Christ came to me in a vision and said, “I will return in 30 days.”? 

He didn’t, but if I could convince you that I had, wouldn’t you fill those 30 days differently than you would have otherwise?

Who among us has heard a sermon or read a story about someone who had foreknowledge that they only had 30 days left to live?  All thoughts and priorities were different, the focus and purpose sharp and clear.  Whatever their capacities, mental or physical, financial or spiritual they utilized them to the fullest. 

As we read the scriptures for today, please imagine you have foreknowledge of His return by 30 days.

Matthew 24:42-44 

   ⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Matthew 24:45-51 

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25:1-13 

 ¹ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

   ⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

   ⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

   ⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

   ¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

   ¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

   ¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

   ¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

If you had 30 days notice because of some revelation from Christ how would you go back and read those same scriptures instead of the way you always have?

In the first passage in Matthew 24 you were told to keep watch.  The example was of a thief of all things.  If you knew someone was going to break into your home sometime this week and steal from you, I would bet you wouldn’t be accepting any dinner dates across town!  No, instead you would stay home; you would test the doors, the outside lights, the locks.  You would alert your neighbors all around you and the local law enforcement.  You might even install an alarm or arm yourself.  And most certainly you wouldn’t keep the information from your family you might even have them go to a place of safety.

So let’s see, your defenses are up, you are on high alert, you are armed and your loved ones are informed.

Our next example in Matthew 24 was of a servant in charge.  One of the duties this servant was given was to feed the other servants but because the master was gone for quite a long time the servant grew lax in his duties and failed to take care of his fellow servants and denigrated himself by living in worldly ways.

Despite what many preachers spew today that consists of an easy believism type of faith, you have responsibilities for which Christ is holding you accountable. 

You as a Christian have been appointed to a position of authority to feed your fellow servants.  What do you think you are supposed to be feeding them?

Finally we looked at Matthew 25’s parable where we saw 10 virgins who were aware that the bridegroom would be coming back for them.  Some were wise and some were foolish.

The foolish were not so “out of it” that they didn’t know that they were in a relationship with the bridegroom.  They also weren’t so foolish that they didn’t know they were to be equipped in some fashion, which is why they all had lamps.  The difference between the two groups was that the wise were fully prepared and the unwise were only superficially so.

Again, the church of today, the Christians of today, are aware of their relationship with Christ.  They are not so foolish despite the weakness of today’s teaching that they don’t know they should be equipped in some fashion, so they go to church, maybe attend a life group, but they are only superficially equipped.  There is no fuel in their lamps either and though there are some things we can do for each other there are some things we have to do for ourselves.  Just as the wise could not provide fuel for the foolish so to are we responsible for our own fuel.

You are to be prepared.

You are to be alert.

You have a responsibility to others.

Some things only you can do for yourself.

If  the easy time or the escape for Christians that is being taught today were true, than Christ would not have made it so abundantly clear with His own words that you have responsibilities, that yes, you have things He expects you to do.

I have not been given a vision of 30 days, 20 days or 10 days notice, but I have been given the scripture a notice that is much, much more generous.  The scripture tells me that I am to be aware, that I am to keep watch, that I have a responsibility to you and a responsibility for myself and once you are aware of this, you to have this same responsibility.

30 days, live as if that’s all you have. Live as if that is all your brother has, for you both may not even have tomorrow.

Let there be no weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Is Your House Church a Biblical Church? by Jed Greenough

House churches are something that I have had a good deal of interest in for quite some time and I am hoping today that perhaps with the writing of this I will hear from some of you with your opinions and experiences.

We know from the scriptures that the early church met in homes, examples of which we can see generally in some verses like Acts 20:20 and specifically in Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:19, and Colossians 4:15.

There was preaching done in the synagogues and other public areas as well but the general feeling that we come away with, is that the church was in the home.

My thoughts on house churches stem from my own experiences, more specifically frustrations that I have had, things I have read, things I have heard and some things which I have to assume.

The main feeling I come away with, is that people are leaving what we think of as churches for some of these reasons:

They feel that what they are hearing from the pulpit and classroom is false.

They feel that what they are hearing from the pulpit and classroom is incomplete.

They feel uncomfortable with their churches shift to things considered contemporary.

They feel their church is in error with where they stand on homosexuals.

They feel their church is in error with regard to who is filling the offices of the church.

They feel that we are in the times of the end and feel drawn to worship in this manner.

They feel that churches of today bear no or very little resemblance to the early church.

I am sure that there are other reasons but this should cover the lion’s share.

Yes, I purposely put, “They feel” on every one of these because it fits at least some of the time for every one of these.

Feelings, good and bad, often rule our decision making process and so it is some of the time with these.  Let me expound on that a little more.

Someone has gone to a church for a number of years; they have been very involved, they have positions of leadership and are sought out for a multitude of reasons.  Then sometimes suddenly, but often gradually, things start to change.  They no longer feel as if they are appreciated or that their opinion carries the weight that it once did.  They become more sensitive to this fact until finally, the final straw happens and they leave the church.  That final straw might be something as benign as the carpet in the entry or as serious as a false teaching.

I know for many the reason you left is not one of simple emotions or feelings, but the need to flee something that bares little resemblance to Christ’s church.  But for others that should have left earlier for just that reason, they stayed on because of feelings until something finally became that last straw.

What things have been your last straw, how about the following?

Biblical illiteracy

Bibles taken out of the pews

Hymnals replaced by big screens

Suits replaced by jeans

Women in offices of the church

Homosexuals in offices of the church

Contemporary worship

Incomplete or false teaching

Oversized churches

Quarreling

Declining numbers

Declining opportunities

Lack of Sunday School

No young people

No older people

Worship times

Communion

What other things exist out there?  I would like to hear about your final straw.

As I said, I have had interest in house churches for quite a while because I too have experienced some of those things that I have listed.

I visited churches further away from home than would have been logical trying to find a different church home and if there would have been any house churches in my vicinity that I was aware of, I would have visited those as well.

I knew some churches of both types would not be a good fit because they had the same issues as I have listed or because we were to far apart doctrinally speaking but the longing to worship God is a strong one when you couple that with my desire to teach.

I envisioned that I might find a house church that was hungering for someone like me and to be honest, I still do.  I would travel a pretty fair piece from home (further if someone paid the way) to preach in a church of any type.

Ultimately though, when I got really close to that, it was then that I feel God opened my eyes to the situation.

In order to make the commitment to a house church I realized it had to be a Biblical House Church.

Let me explain.  If a group of people were doing more than just having a Bible Study and that their true and noble intent was in fact to have a house church, I could belong to the former but I could not belong to the latter (or teach in one) unless it was a Biblical House Church.

The offices of the church as given to us by the Apostles must be according to what the scripture says.

Individuals who don’t meet the criteria, no matter how passionate they are, cannot or rather should not hold the offices of the church for which they are not qualified.

I realized that a lack of these offices or a filling of them with non Biblical persons would create a church that was just as bad as the reason the people left their other churches.  No matter their passion the end does not justify the means.

The reasons Paul and the others created the criteria were because God is not a god of disorder and to not put the guidelines in place would create churches of error with some as bad as cults and others with mistakes ranging from abuse of power to false teaching to incomplete carrying out of what they were to be about.

For those that are out there honest enough to realize that you have built something that wasn’t quite ready to be built I hope you carry that realization out to act on it in a way that will create what is biblical.

Create a plan whereby you have a strategy to accomplish a Biblical House Church never forgetting that you are there for each other, yes, but even in the most difficult of times, your church should not be just about its members, but about the unsaved and the sharing of the gospel!

I know there are successes out there and I’d like to hear from them, I’d still like to preach and belong in a place like that!