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My life is already being poured away as a libation,
and the time has come for me to be gone.
I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run
the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the
crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have
longed for his Appearing.
2 Timothy 4:6 - 8
There was once a time, in my memory, when anxious discussions on the
rapid growth of secularism were held in our church communities. The anxiety
related to the fear that the values that marked our Christian faith would be
lost. Values related to knowing the person of Jesus, the sacredness of
marriage, to honouring our ancient forms of worship, to respect for life itself
from conception to death. I’m not referring to the clerical church that has so
disappointed us, but to our mums and dads and grandparents and
great-grandparents who built our churches and were our churches.
Suffice to say, that
secularism we so feared has come to pass. The links we had with our past, with
our history tenuously clinging to a perilous present, have left us struggling
with relevance, purpose and meaning. We have become so inured to
media-generated disasters that harangue and plague us through our television
screens and to the pain of the generations of abused, alienated,
disenfranchised fellow human beings, that we are able to disconnect ourselves
from reality.
Paul’s letter to Timothy carries his exacting and powerful message
about what a faithful life looks like and feels like. He challenges that
disconnection. To be faithful is to place all you are and all you have into
God’s hands, in order to be a perfect sacrifice or libation. The life of faith
makes it possible to transform the ordinariness of our daily lives, into lives
that proclaim the life and death of Jesus and helps reorder and reconnect us to
the pain of others, so that we might be compassionate.
Not many I know want a return to the pious and devotional rituals of
our forebears, but in our desire to make meaning of our lives we need to
identify, acknowledge, give expression to, and celebrate new rituals and rediscover what really worked for past generations.
While we must live in the present, we need to keep our eyes on the
horizon to the future and our ears firmly attending to the past. Life is worth
fighting for, it is a race worth winning and for those who remain faithful
there awaits a crown of righteousness.
The transformation can begin today. It begins with acknowledging the
presence of God in your life, uttering words of thanksgiving, praise, seeking
understanding, knowing him, loving him and
living and working each day as if your life was already complete.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.
Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.
Psalm 32:23
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JOHN DOE AND HIS JUDGMENT?
Have men been given the authority to judge John Doe? Is John Doe's eternal destiny the responsibility of man's judgment? Some believe they have that authority.
1. John Doe was a good man, he loved his family, was faithful to his wife, never mistreated his children, and never took the first drink of alcohol. John gave money to the poor and visited the sick. John never confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior. John Doe was an unbeliever. Men have made the judgment that he will go to heaven because he was a good man.
Ephesians 2:8:9 For by grace you have beensaved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
John 8:24 'Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He you will die in yours sins.
Is it right to pass judgment on John Doe and send him to heaven? No it is not!
2. John Doe confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior on his deathbed, however, he did not have time to be baptized in water. Men say, John is in heaven because he ran out of time.
Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Have men been given the power to determine that John Doe will be in heaven even though he failed to meet God's requirements for the forgiveness of his sins? Should men pass judgment on John Doe and send him to heaven? No they should not.
3. John Doe became a Christian forty years ago, however, for the last thirty years John has been an unrepentant fornicator, a drunkard, a homosexual, and a thief. Men say, John died without repenting of those sins and is now in heaven. They say, he is in heaven because he was saved and once saved always saved.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators....nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves....nor drunkards...will inherit the the kingdom of God.
Do men have jurisdiction over the entrance to the kingdom of God? Can men pass judgment on unrepentant sinners, like John Doe, and send them to heaven? No they cannot.
CAN MEN PASS JUDGMENT ON THE JOHN DOES OF THIS WORLD AND SEND THEM TO HEAVEN?
Proverbs 16:25 There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
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