A Reminder from God 20 March 2011 Dr Paul Ferguson

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer the apostle Peter warned in his first epistle. This is a theme that runs throughout all of Scripture.
We were all reminded last week by God of the uncertainty and temporal nature of this present world. As the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan and the Pacific region, we cannot but be impressed at the power of nature and the feebleness of man. Cars and buildings were effortlessly swept away as if they were toys. A British journalist described the scene at the coastal town of Minami Sanriku in Japan as hell on earth. He added, nothing prepared me for the sight of a town reduced to a morass of splintered wood, jagged concrete and twisted metal where 10,000 have died. What we saw in Japan last week was just a foretaste of the destruction God will unleash on this world in judgment. In 2 Peter 3:7 we are reminded, But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Despite the fact that every true Christian believes the truth of every Word of God, yet seemingly we forget this so easily. We tend to become too attached to the things of this world. Our conversation is often filled with excited anticipation as we contemplate the increased price of our properties, our rising stocks and shares, and the increased wealth of Singapore. As you reflect on the events of the past days, did you even think at all about Christs soon return? Did you remind yourself that everything you have comes from God and all of it will burn up in the judgment of this planet? Did it encourage you to resist temptation, as you contemplated the seriousness of what it will be like to stand before Him on that great day? Has it affected your priorities? Did you remember that you will give an account to Him of how you spent your time and money here on earth? The Lord Jesus Christ posed two of the most profound questions in Mark 8:36-37, For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Jesus Christ uses a hyperbole here to demonstrate that even if you were to gain the whole of this world and lose your soul then you have got a bad bargain! You cannot take the things of this world with you nor can you purchase another life here on earth. Our bodies will perish but our souls live on in eternity. Sadly, we spend so much time and money on our human bodies (which we know so soon will corrupt) and so little time on the state of our souls. As CH Spurgeon observed so well, It is a great privilege to hear the gospel. You may smile and think there is nothing very great in it. The damned in hell know. Oh, what would they give if they could hear the gospel now? If they could come back and entertain but the shadow of a hope that they might escape from the wrath to come? Next week is Friends Sunday in Calvary Tengah. The world around us is rushing headlong into a lost eternity. They have no answer to the fundamental problem of man but we have the only answer. We are to be salt and light to them. However, salt and light need to make contact with the lost to be effective. The world is in darkness and needs to see the light of the Gospel. Why do so many believers neglect to interact with the lost reaching out to them for Christ? Let us shine for Him this week and prayerfully invite all our friends. How are we spending our time? One of the most surprising aspects of life is its brevity. We are to be, redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). One pertinent command of the Bible is that we are not to be wasting the Lords Day on the things of this world. Paul told us in the book of Hebrews, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but

exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)
This word forsaking means desertion or abandoning when you should be helping. This is how the Bible views those who carelessly treat attendance in the Church on the Lords Day. It was clear that even in Pauls day there were professing Christians who often were absent from worship in their local assembly as he said as the manner of some is. Too many believers are happy to ignore this command with little or no regret. They will use any frivolous excuse to avoid coming to church such as work, weekend trips, recreational activities, family commitments etc. It shows they regard the worship of God lightly. Yet Paul warns that the signs of Christs return should mean that we take this obligation even more seriously, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. The worship of God should be the single most important thing in this world. When the world observes professing Christians willfully absent from the House of God then they rightfully deduce that their faith is not the most essential thing in their lives. They deduce that Christianity is just another hobby or philosophy that you take up and put down at your convenience. How many are those that, the Name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you..? (Romans 2:24) A true child of God who is walking with God will love to be in Gods House with the saints of God as the psalmist declares, How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. (Psalm 84:1-2) I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. (Psalm 122:1) Tengah member, have you been assembling or have you been disassembling as of late? Is Jesus Christ preeminent in your life and week? Backsliding often begins by forsaking the fellowship of the saints. If your heart is open to sin, the devil will give you all the excuses in the world to miss the Lords House. Remember the old saying, seven days without church makes one weak. How are we spending our resources? God blesses us with everything we have as, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.. (James 1:17). Too often we also forget the Apostle Pauls pointed question to the proud Corinthians, .What hast thou that thou didst not receive?... (1 Corinthians 4:7). We have material possessions not because we are better investors or more intelligent than others, but because God has sovereignly blessed us with them. Thousands of years ago Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived observed about the inverted order seen in humanity, There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. (Ecclesiastes 10:5-7) The normal order is that princes are meant to ride on horses and their servants are meant to walk beside them. However, as Solomon observed often the situation is turned upside down. God gave us money to be our servants in serving Him here on earth. However, instead of being our servant it sadly often becomes our master. Newsweek magazine had an article The Afflictions of Affluence a number of years ago. This carefully researched piece, demonstrated that, more and more of our social problems and complaints stem from our affluence, not our poverty. Obesity, alcohol, and tobacco now cause more deaths than anything else. As we get wealthier, we have less time for our families with loneliness, divorce, and suicide having rapidly risen. Just throwing money at the situation does not help as paradoxically, most of what people really want in life - love, friendship, respect, family, standing, fun....does not

pass through the market. The Newsweek magazine wisely concluded, Still, affluences afflictions endure and remind us of an eternal truth: it matters, as individuals and as a society, not just how much wealth we have but how well we use it.
Singapore is one of the wealthiest nations on the planet. With this increasing wealth come associated dangers. There is always a risk that we forget God in our calculations. Most believers have always shown an amazing inability to handle wealth and success. The nation of Israel testified repeatedly to this fact. The more prosperous they became the more they had the tendency to forget God (Deuteronomy 32:13-18). Conclusion The time is short. Jesus is coming soon. If we have forgotten this, let us heed the wake up call of these last days. Let us remember to emulate the example of Christ, I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. (John 9:4) Let us remind ourselves of the words of Paul, As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10) There are not many things in this world that you can actually count on. Governments come and go. House prices and stock prices can fluctuate wildly. We need to remember that the things of this world will pass away but what we store in heaven can never be destroyed. (Matthew 6:19-21) The apostle Peter reminds us we have, an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1:4). The last recorded promise in Scripture by the Lord Jesus is Surely I come quickly. (Revelation 22:20). This date is fixed in the calendar of God and cannot be changed by governments, armies, tsunamis or the devil. Therefore, let us sing with the hymn writer,

Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things. Give heart and mind and soul and strength To serve the King of kings.