“In the gift of His Son, the revelation of His Word, the mission of His Spirit, and the institution of the Church, God has made abundant provision for the salvation of the world. That the Church has been so remiss in making known the gospel is her guilt. We must not charge the ignorance and consequent perdition of the heathen upon God. The guilt rests on us. We have kept to ourselves the bread of life and allowed the nations to perish.” Charles Hodge (Systematic Theology vol.1 ) 1878
Of course, I agree here with our Chinese brothers. Please understand that I really do trust the gospel and abhor legalism. But emphasizing the commands of Jesus regarding bearing fruit does not necessarily lead to self-righteousness. My friend, Roy Moran, reminds us, “Legalism is holding people accountable to human laws. Jesus was not asking us to obey any rules or guidelines laid down by humans…. Obeying Jesus leads to freedom not legalism.” These Chinese Brothers and old missionary Dibble well portray truly free followers of Jesus. Holy Spirit remind us of just how good the Good News is! And help us become free from fear and self-consciousness so we can speak to others daily about Christ! Help us to be privileged to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant” when we stand before the Master of the Universe, Jesus Christ! Why It Really Matters Questions for Reflection (R) and ACTION (A) 1. Does Charles Luther’s hymn strike you as dealing with a good question or as unnecessary concerns? (R) 2. What is your plan to ensure that you will be greeted with, “Well done!” from Christ? (R) 3. In the Parable of the 10 Minas (Luke 19:11-27), the nobleman commanded his servants to “occupy until I come” (19:13-NKJV). The ESV reads, “Engage in business until I come.” If this represents the orders of Jesus to us, what is our business until He comes? What do you think should occupy your time? (R) 4. Do something sacrificial or costly to you this week that will advance Christs’s Kingdom (A) 5. Journal the result of that and share the praise with another (A) “There is a fatal defect in the life of Christ’s church in the 20th century: a lack of true discipleship. Discipleship means forsaking everything to follow Christ. But for many of today’s supposed Christians—perhaps the majority—it is the case that while there is much talk about Christ and even furious activity, there is actually very little following Christ Himself. And that
means in some circles there is very little genuine Christianity. Many who fervently call him ‘Lord, Lord’ are not Christians.” Dr James M. Boice (Christ’s Call to Discipleship) 1986 “Very likely your religion costs you nothing. Very probably it neither costs you trouble, nor time, nor thought, nor care, nor pains, nor reading, nor praying, nor self-denial, nor conflict, nor working, nor labor of any kind….Such a religion as this will never save your soul...A religion which costs nothing is worth nothing.” Bishop J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) Chapter 5 – Who is on God’s Side? Usually great things are accomplished over a long time. But when we read the four Gospels, the vast amount of the material deals with only 3.5 years of Jesus’ young adult life. The experiences and truth that flowed from those relatively few months in His life have had a greater impact on the world than all the writings of all philosophers of all ages! Today we marvel at the endless lessons and grace we derive from these few years of the life of Christ. Those who followed Him found in Him much more than they had ever dreamed. But it was not all thrills and chills. There were frequent times of testing and tears, too. The context
“Go, labor on; spend, and be spent; Thy joy to do the Father’s will; It is the way the Master went; Should not the servant tread it still? “Go, labor on: ’tis not for naught;