The Harvest is Ripe

John 4:31-38 

 ³¹ Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

 ³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

 ³³ Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

   ³⁴ “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶ Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷ Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. ³⁸ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

     Let’s imagine that you actually are aware of the work of the gospel.  Let’s take it even one step further and imagine that you are more than aware, you are supporting ministries that are working in less than ideal, perhaps extreme conditions with regard to their welfare.  You give a few dollars and as a result things like medicine or tracts or foods are distributed that open a door for the sharing of the gospel and people come to salvation.  In a way, you have reaped the benefits of others labor.

     This harvest is always ripe, 365 days a year, but with the unfortunate consequence that daily the workers are not enough for the harvest and some of the yield is lost.  Ministries fail or limp along due to inadequate resources, it might have been an airline ticket, a tank of gas, some expense money, I don’t know, but the possibilities are as numerous as those lost, those that were not harvested.

     Meanwhile, in your very church, new chairs are purchased, new books for the latest, greatest curriculum are ordered and the first renditions from the architect for the new addition are reviewed.

     If you haven’t read my work before, you may not realize that I am blunt.  There is a place for saintly discourse and then there is a place for candor that raises ire, rankles consciences and inflames sensitivities.  I really don’t care because God has put it upon my heart to share these declarations with you to get your attention.  Unfortunately, in the big scheme of things, few care or few find the words and react in a manner that matters.

     I really can understand how the situation developed.  Persecuted Christians survived, grew in their ability to worship publicly and solidified that blessing by building infrastructure.  An infrastructure that required that they know where there next sermon was going to be and who would be delivering it and so it grew.

     Men were put in charge that took up the responsibility to make sure that just as their normal families were taken care of with a hearth, bed and food, so would the members of the church be taken care of.  Unfortunately, it came to be more of an institution that was preserved then the people who made it up.  The programs of the institution grew instead of the direct providing for of the people.  If someone that was a member had more to give, they gave it to the church and the church invested it in itself instead of in its people.

     The churches that we see in the New Testament met in homes, gave to each other as each needed and then took their surplus to support the spreading of the gospel and to the care of the churches that had less than they did.  If you read in places like 1 Corinthians you could see an almost competitiveness was encouraged by Paul so that they could see who might give to the next church in need more abundantly.

     When I think back upon that day, I think of that simple beginning and then consider pictures of the pope with ermine, gold and jewels and though I am not picking on the Catholics, it is just the perfect image to bring up.  The idea is one of opulence and whether it is paying quarterly for an educational curriculum when you could just use the Bible or $50,000 for a pipe organ’s maintenance it is all the same.  When there are Native Americans dying unsaved decades earlier than the national norm or orphans in India or widows in Africa, or limping ministries anywhere in the world that could and should be receiving attention, it is all just as glaringly wrong.

John 4:39-42 

 ³⁹ Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹ And because of his words many more became believers.

 ⁴² They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

     Because of a woman’s testimony many from her town came to believe in Jesus.  Because of dollars that you have given, that your church has given, many from other towns have come to believe in Jesus, but many more should have but didn’t because they weren’t harvested.  The workers were too few because instead of giving to the church across town that had flagging attendance but strong biblical values that closed, your church installed playground equipment.  A missionary came home because he couldn’t feed his family because your church remodeled the kitchen.  The orphanage was never built and children entered lives of unspeakable depravity because your church hired a youth pastor who the kids can relate to better then the head pastor.

     I know that if you read this you most likely will keep on doing what you have always done and so will your church but I have fulfilled my duty of pointing it out to you.

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

To Share the Gospel Start At Home!

Sometimes we look out into the vastness of this world and we think, “How can I make a difference for the Kingdom?”  We peer across the oceans or cyberspace and we want to make an impact by sharing the Gospel and we should and I encourage you as often as I can via this blog to do just that.

Today, though I was reminded that sometimes the way to reach across the sea and the internet might be to start right here at home.

Imagine if you created something online that reached, I don’t know, one thousand people.  That would be a nice start for sure, but what if instead of this effort you reached twenty people that you personally know and they then each reached one thousand people!

Sometimes, we truly cannot see the forest for the trees or the opportunities that are right in front of us.  What reminded me of this came from a visit that I had today with an associate pastor friend of mine who had just started teaching a new class on how to study the Bible.

The things that he shared with me didn’t shock me since I had encountered identical issues in my own experience, but it did serve to remind me of how much need there is at home.

The people that are in this class to learn the Bible are in fact Biblically illiterate.  The wonderful news is that these people are showing up to do something about that fact.  The bad news is that these people for the most part are not new to the church and they are not alone.

Visit many churches today and randomly choose people and do a little digging and you would find that they would have a difficult time finding even the more famous books within the Bible without looking them up.

These people would have a difficult time telling you any kind of chronological history of the Bible.  They would have a hard time differentiating between an Old Testament prophet and a New Testament Apostle.

Ask them to give you a rundown of the requirements of an elder and you would be likely to get a blank stare.  Ask them to explain the Gospel and expect them to start looking for a way to escape.

Yet as I was reminded this morning, these same people have been convicted of their sins at some point and believe that Christ died for these sins.  These people have demonstrated a love for their fellow man and church member but through their illiteracy have this mistaken belief that this is sufficient. 

Now I daresay that most of you that are going to read this blog know your Bible pretty well and you are the ones that care to read things such as this.  It therefore falls to you to do something about this situation.

Does your church have sufficient educational classes in place that people can grow in their knowledge of the Bible or are the classes more along the lines of how to do better financially?

If you do have a class like, “How to study the Bible”, can you reach the people that need to attend?

There has to be a fair amount of thought given to the promotion of this class so that not just those that would jump at the opportunity will attend but also the many people who feel ashamed about their lack of knowledge.  Many of those assume that everyone around them knows the Bible inside and out and they don’t want to betray what might be a false image that others have about them.

Start the class by not assuming anything yourselves.  Don’t assume that just newcomers to the church will need or want to attend a “How to study the Bible” class.  Don’t assume even the smallest things about what people know about the Bible.  Nor is it a good idea to think that everyone has a Bible and if they are looking to buy one, what to look for when they purchase.  A class such as this can answer questions that people always wanted to ask but were afraid to ask or did not even think about asking.

From personal experience I think that it is also a good idea to post it everywhere you can from the weekly bulletin to the monthly newsletter, put it on the wall and put it on Facebook, send out emails and invite people face to face.  I cannot stress enough how just as we can’t just think that someone is knowledgeable about the Bible we also shouldn’t think that everyone is as comfortable within the confines of the church.  Sometimes people need to be led by the hand into a class and then watch as they become a dynamo with regard to their involvement.

Once you have had success with this class I would suggest you open it up to your community by advertising an upcoming class.  I am confident that there will be people who have not been attending a church who will respond as well as those who are but are not having their needs met.

Once educated in the Bible and actually aware of the Gospel you will have given people a priceless gift that they cannot help but pass on.  The end results you may never know until our Father tells you!

Remember the Gospel

To use the words of 1 Corinthians 15, the purpose of this blog is to remind you of the gospel, the gospel that was preached to you and on which you took a stand.

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word that was preached to you.

Paul in this chapter goes on to say that he was passing on what he had received: that Christ died for your sins, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day and then appeared too many.

He finishes the chapter by stating that you are to stand firm, let nothing move you and that you should always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.

Some versions of the Bible will say abounding in the work of the Lord, throw yourself into the work of the Master, excelling in the work, doing more than enough.

This chapter did not apply to Corinthians only.  Nor did it apply for only a certain period of time, so why is it that most Christians who have heard the gospel and believed, do not do this?

One has to assume that some do not really have faith, that they became Christians because it was the thing to do.

Others heard and believed but for reasons as unique as they are individuals, they have not held firmly.

Now if you aren’t really into something whether it is because of a lack of faith or a lack of involvement, knowledge, experience etc., it is really going to be hard to do the work, or if it is done, to do it well, to abound in it.

Imagine trying to sell a product you truly, truly believe in versus one you know to be an abject failure.

Do you think the gospel is a failure?

You know, actually the odds are that those reading this do take the gospel seriously and I am preaching to the choir and I am probably not being too effective in reaching those that need to be.

How about you, are you having any luck?

I really think that Paul is showing us that part of the work of the gospel goes beyond sharing it with those that have never heard the good news to include those of us who have.  Those among us that need to be reminded of that which was preached to them and in which they once took a stand: that Christ died for their sins, that they are to stand firm in this and that they are to be excelling in the work of the Lord.

Go do your work!

Hell, ever heard about it?

by

Jed Greenough

The title of this lesson seems a bit odd or simple, but really, I would like you to think about the question.

If you are under a certain age you may only be casually aware of the fact that Hell exists and if you are over a certain age you probably were more familiar with Hell but that awareness has faded with time.

To me the fact that so little is said about Hell from the pulpit is I think unconscionable and why, in part, some of these scriptures apply:

1 Timothy 5:24 

 ²⁴ The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.

2 Timothy 4:3 

³ For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

James 3:1 

 ¹ Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

I have often used the first scripture from 1st Timothy because I think it is a clear example of what can result from a false or incomplete teacher.  Picture in your mind the false teacher and maybe their sins are apparent to you but what is not as apparent are all the sins committed by their students who trail behind these teachers.

Not too many people want to hear bad news and Hell is about as bad as it gets, so 2nd Timothy’s scripture certainly applies.

And finally, not teaching everything that should have been taught will certainly result in much harsh judgment, as mentioned in James 3, descending upon these false and incomplete teachers.

Put yourself in the place of the man standing in the pulpit and think about the heavy burden that they have put upon themselves.

They, like everyone else, have to answer to someone.  Now obviously they have to answer to God, but I am talking about earthly authority here.  These preachers of the word have to keep their congregations and boards happy and that doesn’t seem to include much room for many sermons about Hell.

But if these preachers are aware of the scriptures we started out with, then they must know that they are playing with fire (no pun intended).

What is the answer?  It might be that some that preach will read this and it will bounce around and stick to some grey matter and some change will result.  Or again, it might be that some of you will read this and speak to your preachers.

I am not really sure what responsibility lies directly with the congregation with regard to the action that they must take, but I know that it seems to matter to very few.  Do you think that this means that we are very near the end?

Just to remind you, this blog is called Work of the Gospel and gospel means good news as most know but if there is good news there has to be the bad as well.  It’s this bad news that we aren’t hearing and the good cannot carry the same meaning without it!  How are people really able to make a choice if they aren’t hearing fully about both?  Once, people of all ages in our western world knew both but now they are no different then the so called “heathen” who have never heard of either, so I really have to question what kind of conversions are going on out there anymore.

Just a minute ago I said maybe some of you will speak to your preachers and that kept bringing to my mind that most or all of you will not.  Does that bother you at all?

I think like a lot of things pertaining to our faith, we assume things, we take on things that are taught to us, things dealing with heaven, hell, the resurrection, how we are to live as Christians.  Naturally, I am getting at the fact that we shouldn’t just assume or absorb anything when it is of such staggering importance, as is our salvation, without thorough understanding.

There is a plethora of information about Hell out there and most of it is probably not worth much because we have to wade through the teaching of opinion.  So in order to deal with Hell in our short format, let’s simply look at just some of what Jesus had to say in the synoptic gospel that dealt with it. 

Matthew 25:41-46 

   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, ‘I tell you the truth, 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.”

Mark 9:42-48 

    ⁴² “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. ⁴³ If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. ⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ where “‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’

Luke 3:8-9 

⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

There are many such examples from the scriptures that we can draw from and as usual many will read the same scriptures and draw different conclusions but most will see the terrible destination that is Hell. 

One descriptor that stands out over and over as it replays in my mind is “weeping and gnashing”.  If I do a concordance search of the NIV I will see this in the following scriptures:

Matthew 8:12

But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 13:42

They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 13:50

and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 22:13

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Matthew 24:51

He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25:30

And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Luke 13:28

“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.

To me it is hard to comprehend eternal suffering in the physical sense, but I can imagine the horrors of being set outside, thrown out, away from God and His Christ forever.

Think about the time that Jesus had while He was here and go back and read what He felt was most important to share.  Those that preach the word should go through the scriptures and take notes whether literal or mental to remind them just what His message entailed.  There were certainly things that would lead to happy living that preachers use as patterns for sermons that make us feel good but there were many more that told us also of the consequences of following the patterns of the evil one, things that we should fear because the end result was Hell.

Let’s not oversimplify Christ’s message.  There is much too much that isn’t being heard today that we must hear, that Christ wanted us to hear, and that those who do not have Him as their savior must hear.  We must not over simplify His message and leave out important parts of what need to be taught, both the good news and the bad.

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

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!