A Dangerous Silence

Four realities the Christ follower must accept.

Proverbs 24:11-12 Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.

If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?

---

Did you ever read a part of scripture and think to yourself "where did that come from" or "I didn't know that was in there?" That happened to me this past Sunday morning.

We had a guest speaker at Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church,  Tom Eliff, president of the International Mission Board as our guest speaker and this scripture from Proverbs came as a surprise to me.

Here is the outline of his sermon with my notes filled in for each point:

There is a compelling reality you must face

Hell is real and lost people are being led away in mass. We don't like to think about it is a reality that thousands are headed to an eternity of dark, loneliness in agony.

There are critical responsibilities you must accept

We should be on a rescue mission, if we really understand what we have been saved from then how can we be so laid back about telling others.

There are calloused reactions you must avoid

You can't fool God and say that you didn't know about the situation, we should not neglect our responsibility by being indifferent.

There is a certain reckoning you must anticipate

We will be held responsible for the work that we did here for God's kingdom.

The passage in Proverbs sounds like it should be in the New Testament, it reminds me of this passage from Paul that he wrote to the church in Corinth:

2 Corinthians 5:10-11  For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.  Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.

Jesus commissioned us to go tell the world, it's not a suggestion, it's a command and like most commands there is an accountability for our actions. We will be judged on what we did with what we know, it is very clear in this passage in Corinthians that we have a duty to our God and to the people around us. Some of them do not know about the dangers and there are others that have heard about the danger but they have decided to ignore the warning and they need to be told again and again so that maybe they will change their mind.

I need to be true to my mission and be willing to tell others more often than I do about the dangers that are waiting for them.

Help me Lord to be on fire about working for you.

You Better Like This King

Maybe not this king.

Scripture

---

Luke 19:11-27   While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. 'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.'

14 "But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.' 15 "He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

16 "The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' 17 "'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.' 18 "The second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.' 19 "His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.'

20 "Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.' 22 "His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'

24 "Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.' 25 "'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!' 26 "He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"

Observation

---

No greater or nobler person will walk on this planet and yet he had his enemies, those that rebelled and refused to acknowledge him as king. He was sent away but before he left he gave us gifts and resources to be used for his kingdom and he told us to use these gifts until he returns. Before he left he also gave us the Holy Spirit to give us power to use our gifts (Acts 1:8).

He did go away and he has been crowned king despite the opposition and the fact that some people don’t acknowledge him as king of their lives. The Pharisees didn’t want this man to be their king after all he didn’t think highly of their goodness and "holiness." They wanted a king that wouldn’t make them change their mode of operation, they would say “we are good, why should we change, those bad sinners they are the ones that need to change.”

Well some of those bad sinners did change and they were using their gifts for the kingdom while the king was gone. The king returned and was pleased with their use of the gifts that he gave them, they were interested in the kingdom and helping it to prosper.

The last servant didn’t care about the kingdom he rebelled against the king’s orders to 'Put this money to work, until I come back.' He missed out on the blessings of being fruitful for the kingdom and he suffered the loss of his original gifts. But it gets even worse for this servant because he rejected the king, he is the king’s enemy and the king’s enemies will be killed.

Application

---

I have accepted the gift of salvation by acknowledging Jesus as king. I must use my talents and abilities that he has given to me. My focus should be on his kingdom.

Prayer

---

Father I pray that you will be pleased with my use of the abilities and resources that you have given me. I will rely on the Holy Spirit for the power to use them.