It is reported that the Hurricane Dean has made a huge landfall in Mexico creating havoc and destruction. I was reading sometime ago that on May 18, 1902 a storm with devastating tornadoes ripped through Goliad, Texas taking 114 lives, 40 as they sat in a church service. Many other storms followed in the first half the last century.
Things are better now, because by the 1950’s, Air Force meteorologists began to understand how tornadoes were formed. Within a few years, warning systems were set up. Storm chasers, Doppler radar, television and radio crews warn us of approaching danger. Sirens blast. People have time to take cover.
(Blown Away by William Hauptman, July 1996, p.67).
Warnings are only good if they are responded too appropriately. Since the 1950’s there have been several killer tornadoes but with ample warning times but many people have still died because they have chosen ignore these warnings and continue life as usual, with tragic results.
These are amazing and exciting times in which to live as a Christian. We have been privileged in our lifetimes to witness things that those who lived before us could not even imagine. The world is changing in extra-ordinary ways; we watched as Communism fell in our lifetimes, we look on as every day our world gets closer to acceptance of a one world currency, and eventually a one world leader. Perhaps as no other time in history, people of faith are called to understand the times in which we live. This requires not only awareness of our world situation but of an under-standing of Scripture. How tragic that today men can predict the movement of the stars and even put men on the moon, but they are blind to what God is doing in the world. They know how to get to the stars but so many of them do not know how to get to heaven.
Jesus our Lord is talking about the coming events in Luke 12 (vv. 54-56)
“Then He also said to the multitudes, ‘Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is, (55) And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; And there is (56) Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?”
The people who lived in Palestine in the days of Jesus’ ministry did not have the modern weather observation equipment of today, but they did have the ability to observe the conditions in the sky. Jesus asked why were they so good at reading the earth’s winds , but so poor at reading the spiritual winds? They could read earthly weather, but they neglected the signs of the moral and spiritual climate all around them. Why were they were so shrewd in earthly matters and such dunces in spiritual matters? Jesus calls it hypocrisy, because it was all a pretense though they did not know what was happening.
I am amazed at the energy, time, and money spent in modern society to bring us the very latest weather reports from around the globe. Yet the people of today pay far more attention to tomorrow’s weather forecast than they do to their eternal destiny. The apostle Peter (2 Peter 3:3-7) spoke of the coming judgment when he said, “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, (4) and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation (5) For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water (7) But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
Jesus never called people hypocrites without good reason. When Jesus called these people hypocrites it's not because they were confused about who Christ was, or because they had never heard. His anger was directed against those who were in a position to know the truth and who deliberately rejected that truth.
Paul said in his letter to the Romans (1:16) that the wrath of God will be poured out on those “who suppress (KJV hold down) the truth in unrighteousness.“ It is not that these individuals do not know, it is that they refuse to acknowledge God.
The signs are there for those who are willing to observe them, and they warn of an inferno of judgment against an ungodly world, a fact which most people prefer to ignore or deny. Because of this we have a world culture which, in spite of the witness and testimony of the church, continues to reject the good news of Jesus Christ. Moreover, it calls good evil and evil good, worships money, glorifies sex, makes heroes of villains, kills unwanted babies in the name of convenience, and worships self as the god of all things.
As with storm warnings we do not usually pay attention or prepare until we realize the severity of the storm and accept the reality that it is going to hit where we live. In the same way people often ignore the warnings about God’s judgment until they recognize the reality and the severity of it.
In A. D. 79 the Roman city of Pompeii suffered swift and complete destruction with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Most of us have seen pictures of the archeological exploration of that city. The explosion of Mt. Vesuvius was so sudden that the residents were killed in the midst of their daily routine. What you may not realize is that the citizens of Pompeii did not have to die. Roman writers of the period recorded that for weeks prior to the eruption, there were sounds of rumbling and shaking of the earth. There was even an ominous plume of smoke clearly visible for days before the eruption. The citizens of Pompeii died because they ignored the warnings. Warnings are only good if they are responded to appropriately.
This brings us to the second and final principle. Having issued the warning, Jesus, in verses fifty-seven through fifty-nine, gives the crowd (and us) some advice on how to prepare for judgment. “Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? (58) When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort alone the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. (59) I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the last mite.”
In this mini-parable a man is on his way to the judge with an adversary and it tells us that commonsense would be to settle with this man before we stand before the judge.
Like this man we are on our way into the presence of a Judge. Likewise, since we too are all guilty and heading for judgment, the wisest thing to do is to settle out of court before judgment. This is only common sense. The judge of all the earth is coming one day to judge the earth. Because of our guilt, arrival in court means that only a guilty verdict can be expected and then we will have to pay the ultimate price of our guilt. We all have a debt of sin before God that someone must pay (Romans 3:9-31). Either Jesus does it in our stead by his sacrifice on the cross or we will pay every last cent before God. You had better settle with him before it is too late. People will do almost anything to stay out of jail, but how many people will apply the same kind of diligence to stay out of hell?
Charles Colson illustrates this principle at work in his life, when he tells the story of the night that he came to understand that he was a sinner on his way to judgment. “That night when I … sat alone in my car, my own sin – not just dirty politics, but the hatred and evil so deep within me – was thrust before my eyes, forcefully and painfully. For the first time in my life, I felt unclean, and worst of all, I could not escape. In those moments of clarity, I found myself driven irresistibly into the arms of the living God.” [Charles Colson. Who Speaks for God (Wheaton, Crossway Books, 1985) pp. 136-147] People who have allowed God’s grace to work in their lives mourn their sin, the lost do not acknowledge their guilt.
This Preparation Begins With A Sense of Our Sin And . . . This Preparation Involves Real Change
This Preparation Involves Accepting Christ As Your Personal Savior.
The New Testament repeatedly emphasizes the importance of individual acceptance of Christ and the judgment that awaits those who reject Him. The writer of Hebrews says, “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). J esus calls to all of us to settle things in this life so that our lives will not come to the court of final judgment, where it will be too late to find salvation.
Now is the time to choose! The author of Proverbs warns, "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy" (Prov. 29:1).
Jesus had asked “How is it you do not know how to interpret this critical hour?” Time is reflected in the Greek language in two different words: chronos and kairos. Some see time only as chronos, a stream of moments flying by at incredible speed. Other have a view of kairos, the critical and often favorable moment to do something for God and his kingdom. Now is such a time!
We spent a few days in Vermont last week with our dear friends, Warren and Linda Ayer. We were blessed, refreshed, and totally spoiled during our visit.
Currently, as most of you know, we are on the home stretch before Sunita's wedding. Summer vacation was wonderful, but now we are getting down to the nitty gritty of final preparations. Sunita is expected home on Friday. Janice and Jeremy are to come in on Monday, Laureen and Jessy on Tuesday. It will be Simeon's first visit to our home in Union Center, and, of course, we are looking forward to our Micah coming home too. Some of Laureen's and Sunita's friends will be staying here with us for a few days also. Alice has been baking cookies for the reception and cleaning up a storm (so that the allergies are lessened during the visits).
Last Sunday we worshipped with old friends at Nichols United Methodist Church, our first time back there for Sunday morning worship since our move to Union Center 17 years ago. We enjoyed a great worship there with the new pastor and the faithful congregation.
Our nephew, Arnold, who spent the summer with Youth Works in Colorado, has been hired as youth pastor for the United Methodist Church in Grand Junction, CO. He will be flying out this Thursday to meet with the staff there (but will be back for the wedding).
Also this Thursday, August 23, Alice and I will be celebrating our 32nd wedding anniversary.. We have been blessed beyond measure. Where has all the time gone?
In His Goodness and Mercy,
Brown
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