Editorial - January 2000

Anticipation of the return of Christ is running very high, for the year 2,000 has received much publicity as the possible end of the age. We are no doubt affected ourselves, although our hearts should be ready at any time to be called to meet the Lord.

When we think of that certain call, our emotions range from great joy at finally seeing our beloved Lord face to face, to concern, perhaps deep concern, that we have failed of his grace.

Concern regarding our eternal end is entirely appropriate: "Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..." (II Cor. 5:9-11 NKJV). Those who fail of God’s grace will indeed feel terror as they suffer indignation, wrath, tribulation and anguish.

Each one of us wants to avoid such a fate -- and the Lord wants us to avoid it. God did not send His son to condemn the world but that we might be saved through him. Because he wants us to be saved, the Lord has given us clear information as to why people fail of his grace, that we might learn the reasons for failure and avoid them.

Reasons for Failure -- all from Matthew’s gospel
5:20	Hypocrisy. Pretending to be religious while serving oneself.
5:22	Contempt for brethren in Christ.
6:23	An evil eye in context of coveting wealth of this world.
7:21-22	Failing to walk the talk.
10:33	Denying Jesus before men.
10:37	Loving others more than Jesus.
10:38-39	Keeping our lives for ourselves instead of giving them to God.
11:20	Refusing to repent and respond to God’s word.
12:31	Blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
12:48	Returning to wicked ways after conversion.
13:21	Failing to endure trouble or persecution for the Truth’s sake.
13:22	Being consumed with cares of the world and deceit of riches.
13:41	Causing sin and working iniquity.
15:6-9	Teaching human tradition as if God’s commands.
16:24-25	Keeping our lives for ourselves instead of giving them to God.
18:6	Causing a believer to sin.
18:8-9	Catering to one’s favorite sin.
18:35	Failing to forgive our brethren.
19:22-23	Having too great a love for our possessions.
21:41	Rejecting and murdering the Son of God.
22:7	Violently rejecting God’s message and messengers.
22:13	Failing to put on the new way of life in Christ.
23:14-33	Hypocrisy. Pretending to be religious while serving oneself.
23:37-38	Rejecting God’s message and messengers.
24:13	Not enduring to the end.
24:49	Abusing Christ’s servants.
25:11-13	Not enduring to the end.
25:25-27	Not using our abilities for Christ.
25:45	Neglecting the brethren.

Of the 29 passages, we’re personally concerned with 20 of them. Your reaction may be different, but here are the ones we find most applicable.

Walking the talk
Five of the warnings reference not doing the will of the Lord (Matt. 7:21-22; 12:48; 13:41; 24:13; 25:11-13. In the above list, the five references are in italic type).

We all would call Jesus our Lord but how many of us are habitually guilty of: "evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly" (Mk. 7:21-22 NIV)?

Looking at the list, our eye may catch "theft" and "murder" so we relax, feeling we’re OK by this standard. But note the things only the Lord can see -- evil thoughts, greed, malice, arrogance -- and remember he considers harboring lust as immorality and hatred as murder. Most of these sins we often experience vicariously if we are regular movie watchers. In moments of quiet reflection, we sometimes worry about the scene: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Mt. 7:21).

Neglecting Christ’s brethren
Another five of the passages refer to neglecting or being contemptuous of brethren in Christ (Mt. 5:22; 18:6, 35; 24:29; 25:45 verses are underlined in the above list).

In evaluating our own behavior, we tend to remember all the brethren we treat with consideration and love. We remember the hospitality we have shown, the services given, the visits we have made and the loving care we have provided. But what about those whom we ignore because of personal dislike or doctrinal disagreement? Does our Lord consider them part of his family and therefore consider our neglect of them as neglect of him? What about the times we have simply ignored needs because we haven’t wanted to invest the time, money or emotional concern? Does the Lord consider that neglect of him?

We do not draw attention to these negative points to discourage us from trying. That’s not the reason the Lord made the warnings. He made them because he wants us to be saved; he wants us to examine ourselves lest we be overcome by the deceitfulness of sin and fail of his grace by not enduring to the end.

Materialism, covetousness
Of the 29 passages, 10 of them allude to giving temporal, material issues higher priority than eternal, spiritual ones (Mt. 6:23; 10:37-39; 13:22; 16:24-25; 18:8-9; 19:22-23; 22:13; 23:14-33; 25:25-27).

We are cautioned that faith can be choked by "the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches" (13:22). Within the context of being double-minded by trying to serve God and mammon, we are warned a covetous ("evil") eye grasping for earthly treasure can contaminate our entire life (6:23). Twice we are exhorted not to save our lives for ourselves but to take up the cross of self-denial and follow Christ (10:38-39; 16:24-25). We are shown the picture of the servant termed "wicked" because he took his talents and did nothing with them for Christ (25:25-27). And, most poignantly of all, we see the lovely young man, who really wanted to serve, but loved his possessions too much (19:22-23).

We live in a society which defines the "good" life in material terms of houses, cars, vacations, possessions and bank accounts. While the pressure on ourselves to adopt this attitude toward life is constant and intense, the Lord has left clear warning that if we cave in to it, we will fail of his grace. While we may not like the warning, we can be thankful for it; surely we don’t want to fail Christ’s grace because we let the deceitfulness of riches choke out our love for him.

The Lord came as a savior, not a condemner, and will come as a deliverer, not a destroyer. But he was forced to condemn because of the extraordinary rejection of God’s word in him.

As we anticipate his return, let’s heed his warnings so that, for us, he truly will be able to deliver us from this bondage of corruption and will not have to reject us from his grace.

He has warned us of the reasons for failure that we might not fail, but might be received by him with the joyous commendation, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord, for ever."