What Then?
When the bugle's call sinks into silence
And the long marching columns stand still
When the captain repeats his last orders,
And they've captured the last fort and hill,
And the flag has been hauled from the mast head,
And the wounded afield checked in,
And a world that rejected its Saviour,
Is asked for a reason--WHAT THEN?
When the great plants of our cities
Have turned out their last finished work;
When our merchants have sold their last yard of silk
And dismissed the last tired clerk,
When our banks have raked in their last dollar
And paid the last dividend;
When the Judge of the earth says, "Close for the night,"
And asks for a balance--WHAT THEN?
When the choir has sung its last anthem,
And the preacher has made his last prayer;
When the people have heard their last sermon
And the sound has died out on the air;
When the Bible lies closed on the altar
And the pews are all empty of men
And each one stands facing his record-
And the great Book is opened--WHAT THEN?
When the actors have played their last drama
And the mimic has made his last fun,
When the film has flashed its last picture
And the billboard has displayed its last run;
When the crowds seeking pleasure have vanished
And gone out in the darkness again-
When the trumpet of ages has sounded,
And we stand before Him--WHAT THEN?
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27
SHARING
Insight For Living
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every good work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
To know the conclusion, i.e., how it will end and work out, removes the mystery and doubt. This knowledge enables one to make good decisions so as to be on the good side of how things turn out.
In view of the fact God will bring all, with their every deed into judgment, the conclusion of the whole matter of life then is to: “Fear God, and keep his commandments.” To fail to do so, is to destine self to loss and penalties at the judgment.
Just as rewards for faithfulness lie beyond what the eye has seen, the ear heard, or ever has entered into the heart of man, likewise the eternal consequences for unbelief and disobedience are beyond human comprehension. We are told there shall be weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Isaiah 28:19 tells us it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
In these last days, the trend of sinful decision is to strengthen oneself in the spirit of disobedience, rather than to yield to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. It is to choose spiritual darkness rather than spiritual light. It is to believe any and every lie rather than receive the love of the truth. It is to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, rather than respect the recompense of the reward for serving God. It is a determination bent on conforming to the world’s sensuality, rather than proving God’s will to be good, acceptable, and perfect. It is denying God, unto self serving.
The problem with this trend will be found out in the final conclusion. “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12.
Be not weary in well doing! “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
SHARINGThe Power Of Human Sentiments
“Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 19:2
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26
God is the author of all good graces. Therefore, we must let Him tell us how to use them. To not do so, will result in our being confused about what it is to be on the Lord’s side.
The account of Absalom demonstrates this well. In Absalom’s thinking, he was justified in being a law unto himself.
For two years, he concealed his hatred of Amnon by saying nothing. (2 Samuel 13:22-23) Then Absalom ordered his servants to kill Amnon, v28; then Absalom fled, v34. He was gone three years, v38. Absalom never did repent of his wrong doing, nor even admit it.
After three years, David’s sentiments changed from mourning for his murdered son, unto “longing” to go forth unto Absalom, v39. Joab perceived this change of sentiments and arranged for the king to be persuaded that it was alright to bring Absalom home, even using references of how God restores His erring, 2 Samuel 14:14. So with David’s sentiments and the thoughts of God’s forgiveness, David ordered Absalom to be brought home, v21. Absalom, a murderer, was brought home without admitting any wrong doing.
Because of Absalom’s beauty, he garnered the sentiments of the people, v25. By now, Absalom has become acutely aware of the power that having the sentiments of others has afforded him. Without ever admitting wrong doing for having murdered Amnon, he gets by with boldly demanding to be fully restored to his princely status with the king, v32-33. “Either kill me, or restore me”, played directly to his father’s sentiments.
Absalom is now the favored prince in Israel (2 Samuel 15), openly making claims that he would be the people’s judge if put in power. His motives were never questioned, because he has favorable sentiments from both the king and the people, AND he knows how to take advantage of them.
With this power (in the hearts and minds of others favoring him), he conspires to overthrow, kill, and take the kingdom away from David. However, this led to his own destruction.
Absalom’s strategy: he was not about to repent or admit wrong doing, for he knew that the sentiments of others would favor him to the extent of accomplishing what he wanted. SAD, BUT TRUE!
David’s sentiments greatly confused him, even when Absalom was seeking to kill him, 2 Samuel 18:5 & 19:5-6.
SHARINGThe Hope Of Knowing Christ As Savior
I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.”
“The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:1,24
Jeremiah knew that a Christian’s life has two sides:
(1) Our afflictions – however many and severe they may be .
(2) Our redemption from our corruptions.
Jeremiah experienced that God permits afflictions to come upon us, yea, he even suffered under that which he knew that God had sent. This can create a great conflict in our way of thinking. We may have difficulty in reasoning these things out.
But we must, as a human being, remember the rock from whence we are all hewn and in what world we live in. God did not invent sin, thus His actions are not responsible for our corruptions and mortality. God’s hand can often be seen in association with our sufferings. Jeremiah suffered as a result of God’s judgment upon his society. Even though God sent judgments that were adversely felt, it was merely a response on God’s part to the spiritual condition of Jeremiah’s countrymen.
Knowing Christ as our Saviour from our sin condition, enables us to recognize what we see happening: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 No matter how tough things are, we are able to recognize that the reason things are not a whole lot worse, is due to Divine mercy.
These two sides of life that a Christian can see in and of ourselves, are also witnessed in the life of Christ. Being the Divine Son of God never exempted Him from sorrow and suffering. But, Christ’s sufferings were due to the spiritual condition of the world into which He came. He had to bear these sufferings. But, God used them for His perfection, as He did for Job and has promised to do for us, as we remain unwavering in our faith towards Him: “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:7 By faith, a Christian can see that our worst trials and tribulations are far better for us than if we had won the biggest Super Lotto! “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Thus we have hope in our experiences, no matter how severe!SHARING
The Wisdom From Above
In the study of any and all scripture, the attainment is to be unto acquiring “Godly wisdom”. With the attainment of a new piece of equipment, the first step is to study the manual to become wise unto how to operate the instrument.
We are challenged to study all scripture, so as to be made wise unto what we are to be and do that is approved of God. God’s Word is to become our own personal wisdom by which we live.
In the study of the Book of Proverbs, we learn that Godly wisdom is what is needed to correctly establish one’s moral constitution, conscience and compass. To personally hearken to God’s Word will afford us good moral instincts, that one must possess to avoid falling into Satan’s steel traps.
The Book of Hebrews challenges us to leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ and go on unto perfection. Just being saved isn’t enough; we are to live Godly lives. Hebrews stresses the excellence of the New Testament Covenant, through the pre-eminence of Christ as our High Priest, to save to the uttermost and to make one perfect in every good work to do God’s will. Those who have sold out their lives to Christ’s Church, in full interaction with the Body, will acquire the sufficiency of Godly wisdom to effectually work in harmony with the church, with the full measure of love and joy.
The Book of James emphasizes living by and doing the Lord’s work by the wisdom that is from above. This book not only recommends wisdom, but also supplies it. It gives us many of the solutions to our Christian experience, and unfolds answers for successful relations and blameless personal conduct. It projects that faith is made perfect through submission and the practice of Christian virtues.
James emphatically affirms that wisdom works where wisdom is being received. It challenges all who profess to be right with God to “shew out of a good conversation (way of life) his works with meekness of wisdom.” It indicts those who have bitter envying and strife in their hearts, as those who are not disciples of heavenly wisdom, but rather students of the wisdom that is earthly, sensual, devilish. It contends that wherever there is the wisdom from above, that it transforms character and conduct unto a fashion that is consistent with Godly behavior.
What man calls incompatibility, God calls the fruits of carnal wisdom. Where man offers excuses instead of compliance, God calls it a “dead faith”. We are responsible to judge ourselves and deal with our problems according to Godly wisdom. We are to seek the mind of Christ that wrote God’s precepts and strive to attain to the objects that the spirit of the law conveys. ARE YOU WISE?SHARING
