THE POUND
PROCLAIMER
Volume II
January 2007
Number 3
Sing
to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day
to day. Psalms 96:2
EMPTY HANDED
Two best friends
from their school days had not seen each other in ten years. One day they
happened to meet and had a long talk trying to fill in the gap of the years
spent away from each other. Finally, one invited the other to visit him in his
new apartment.
“I have a wife
and three kids who I would love to have you meet.”
“Wonderful! I
would love to meet them. Where do you live?”
“Here is my
address. There is plenty of parking behind the apartment. When you park, come
to the front door, kick it open with your foot, go to the elevator, and press
the button with your left elbow! Go to the sixth floor. Then go down the hall
until you see my name on the door. Press the doorbell with your right elbow and
I will let you in.”
“OK. But tell me
... what is all this business of kicking the front door open, then pressing
buttons with my right, then my left elbow?”
“Surely, you are
not coming empty handed!”
For centuries,
religious theologians have debated man’s part in the scheme of redemption.
Arguments are made that range from the absurd to the feasible. The most popular
theology among Protestantism is that found in Calvin’s Institutes.
Foundational to
this theology is a particular way of viewing the sovereignty of God. No one who
believes in God denies that He is sovereign. The disagreement is centered upon
whether or not God’s sovereignty is forfeited if man is required to perform
certain actions to obtain salvation. Hence the question: Is man required to
bring works in his hands as a sacrifice to placate God’s wrath and obtain
salvation?
The Calvinist
doctrine says that man can do nothing. He cannot, and should not even try to do
a work of obedience to obtain salvation. The second stanza of the hymn Rock Of Ages is a reflection of this belief. “Could my tears forever flow, Could my zeal no
languor know, These for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone; In
my hand no price I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling.”
It is undeniable
that Christ’s sacrifice was a gift. Christ did for man what he could not do for
himself. This, however, does not argue that man does nothing to obtain
salvation. Coming to God with empty hands will most certainly ensure that one
will be rejected by Him.
Christ affirms
the need to come with hands full of works in the parable of the kingdom of
heaven found in MATTHEW 25:14-30.
Christ depicts three servants who received talents from their master. One
received five, another received two, and the third received one. All of the
servants put their talents to work, except one. Consider what he was told when
the master came back. “You
wicked and slothful servant!
You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no
seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my
coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent
from him and give it to him who has the ten talents” [MATTHEW 25:26-28 ESV].
Furthermore, the
master commands the talent to be taken away from the servant and given to
another. He then has the servant cast out where there is weeping and gnashing
of teeth.
Knowing these
things, surely, you are not coming to God empty handed!
The Editor’s
Page
The mall was
crowded for a weekday. You couldn’t help but notice the number of children. Two
young mothers, each with two children in tow, were sitting on a bench. The
children were wriggling, tugging, climbing, and generally harassing their
mothers. As the mothers talked, one informed the other about her desire for the
next life.
In my next life,
I want to be a bear.
If you’re a
bear, you get to hibernate. You sleep for six months. I could deal with that.
Before you
hibernate, you eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that, too.
A bear gives
birth while they sleep and awake to partially grown, cute cuddly cubs. I could
deal with that in a big way.
A mama bear
means business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of
line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.
As a bear, your
mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs
and excess body fat.
Yep! Gonna be a
bear in my next life!
With every
hardship we face, God is there to bring us through. We must guard against our
perspective being so shortsighted that we suppose the bad outweighs the good.
Job allowed his hardships to cause him to wish he had never been born (JOB 3:1-26).
It is easy to
fantasize over how your life might be different. Many fall prey to the ‘what
if’ scenario. ‘What if’ I had been born rich instead of ‘beautiful’ my life
would have been so much better. This kind of daydreaming destroys life's
happiness.
The Scriptures
teach that God is the Creator and Sustainer of life. God is said to ‘uphold’
all things (that includes you and me) by His power (HEBREWS 1:3). Paul affirmed his confidence in God’s presence in the
lives of men by reminding the Athenians that it is in Him we “live and move and have our being” (ACTS 17:28).
Without the
presence of God, we would have no pleasure in this thing we call ‘life.’ The
feeling one gets from a child’s “I wuv ou” and those silly little giggles that
sends rays of sunshine to deepest darkest recesses of our souls. The
overwhelming awe of viewing a young man standing where once stood a boy. The
joyous humility at seeing a beautiful bundle of wrinkles dressed in pink and
realizing that this is my daughter’s daughter. None of these things would bring
happiness if not for God.
What could
possibly be better than being a bear? A life where there is no pain and no
heartache. It will be a family reunion where people who love God and possess a
humble heart surround you. It will be a place where you do not live in fear and
suspicion. It will be a place where every need is satisfied. It will be a place
where time has no meaning. It will be an eternity in the arms of the heavenly
Father (REVELATION 21:1-5).
Being a bear in
my next life does not appeal to me. However, being one of the redeemed of God
does. How about you?
INVENTORYING OURSELVES
At the end of a
business cycle, a company will take inventory to assess its abilities to
continue operating. A discerning management will weigh the quantity of goods
and materials on hand with an evaluation of abilities, assets, or resources
before planning for the year ahead.
Some may ask
why? Why not just continue to produce the same as in the past? The answers are
simple. If a company over produces, it spends capital it will not recover. If a
company under produces, it may loose business it will not recover. Whether in
manufacturing or marketing, if a business is to survive it must make the best
use of its resources.
In the
scripture, it is called being good stewards. The Christian does well to
inventory his service to God. The beginning of a year is a good time to
evaluate or survey our abilities, assets, or resources.
In LUKE 12:42-48, Jesus described the
faithful and wise steward. He identified the faithful steward as the one who
does the master’s will. All will agree with this assessment of faithfulness.
However, not all have the same abilities, assets, or resources. How does this
affect each individual Christian?
Jesus answers
this in verse forty-eight. He says that those who have been given much in the
way of abilities, assets, or resources will have much required of them
accordingly. Those who have committed to them the greater abilities, assets, or
resources are required to produce more. When we stop and think about it, it
makes perfect sense, the greater the abilities, the greater the assets, the
greater the resources when used properly, the greater will be the
accomplishment. Therefore, taking inventory of our abilities, assets, or
resources is of the utmost consequence.
The first step
in inventorying our Christian stewardship is to look back to the past year by
asking some pertinent questions. Did I grow in the grace and knowledge of the
Lord (2 PETER 3:18)? Did I present
my body a living sacrifice to the Lord (ROMANS
12:1-3)? Did I take advantage of every opportunity provided me to do good
to all men (GALATIANS 6:10)? Did I
teach others the gospel by word and by deed (ACTS 8:4)? If the answer is no to these questions, you are an unfaithful
steward. As an unfaithful steward, you need to repent and pray for forgiveness.
However, if you answered yes to the questions, then proceed to the next step.
The second step
in inventory is to assess future potential. As each skill level is reached, one
has obtained the potential for obtaining a higher skill level. Remember, Jesus
said to whom much is given much is required. There is never a moment that the
Christian is not reaching out and growing. We all understand that when the
physical body ceases to grow, it dies. The physical body either grows
continually, or it dies. The same is true of the Christian’s spiritual life.
The Christian who thinks he or she can remain at a stagnant level of growth is
deceived. Stagnant water is good for nothing but to breed mosquitoes and filth.
A stagnant spiritual life breeds discontent, jealousy, strife, and the like.
The third step
is to set reasonable goals, and then be determined to accomplish those goals.
When the time came for His death, Jesus was determined to see it through to the
end. He would not let anything stand in His way. Hear Luke’s account of Jesus’
determination. “When the days drew near
for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to
The coming year
will be a success or a failure, dependent upon the Christian’s resolve. As
Jesus set His face to go to
A note of
warning should be sounded to the Christian when he takes inventory. Do not fall
into the trap of glorying over past accomplishments. It is easy to think that
one has done their part and can now take it easy. One does not retire from
their Christian stewardship. It remains with us as long as we live. Remember,
Jesus said to whom much is given much is required. He did not place an age
limit on stewardship. And besides all this, we look for the eternal rest in
Heaven. There is no rest here, for the fields are white unto harvest.
####################
WHAT MUST
I DO
Hear: Rom
Believe: Heb 11:6
Repent: Lk 13:5; Ac
17:30
Confess: Matt
Be Baptized: Ac
TO BE
SAVED?
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FAMILY
MATTERS
RADIO PROGRAM:
A reminder about
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you can download an MP3 file of the program at http://www.savefile.com/projects/1021069.
Each file is approximately 7mg in size.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The Pound Proclaimer is published monthly by the Pound
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Editor: Glen Young
Phone: 276-796-5767=Office
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