Life Was Good
Frequently, you see an SUV or a Jeep with a spare tire cover emblazoned with the “Life is good”® message. Recently, a vehicle passed with this optimistic message on the tire cover. Most would agree that optimism is better than pessimism. However, the danger about being optimistic is that you might fail to see the reality of sin in your life and fail to repent of sin and believe the gospel of the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin. The vehicle sporting the “Life is good”® message showed signs of wear from heavy use. It made me wonder if the owner would rather change the message to read, “Life was good”. Generally, people upgrade their “toys” after the new wears off. This reveals the basic discontent of many in our day. Thankfully, everyone is not that way. Likely, most poor people would trade places with a wealthy person in an instant.
Someone captured a photo of an emaciated hand in the hand of a well-fed person with the following caption, “You hate your life, while some people dream of having your life.” American journalist, novelist, essayist, Christopher D. Morley (1890-1957) states, "There is only one success: to be able to live your life in your own way."
Mr. Dorsey L. Mustoe (1907-1994) of Chattanooga, Tennessee, shared a clipping with this prayer attributed to a C.S.A. soldier near the end of the Civil War in America:
”I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life;
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men most richly blessed.”
We read in Luke 16:19-31, where Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ‘Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ ‘Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”
Allow me to pose some very personal questions.
I. What about your situation of life on earth? (Luke 16:19-21)
We read in Luke 16:19-21, “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”
Dr. Luke writes, “Abraham said, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things” (Luke 16:25a). This speaks of our lot in life. From all indications, Horatio Gates Spafford (1828-1888) enjoyed “the good life” as a lawyer and businessman. Suddenly, he lost his wealth in the Chicago Fire (1871) and in a short time, lost his daughters at sea. After these tragic events he wrote, “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, / When sorrows like sea billows roll; / Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, / It is well, it is well, with my soul.”[1]
As we read in traditional wedding vows the bride and groom covenant before God and witnesses to remain faithful to each until death. At this happy time, polar possibilities are presented to include, “For richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health.” Too many say, when there is poverty and sickness, “I’m outta here.” They display a similar attitude toward God. Inspirationally, the book of Job illustrates a man’s commitment to God when everything falls around him. Unexpectedly, Dr. John Arthur Gossip (1873-1954) lost his dear wife. The following Sunday he preached a sermon based on Jeremiah 12:5, titled, “When Life Tumbles In, What Then?”
This beggar named Lazarus did not allow his situation or station in life to keep him down or to keep him away from God. Rev. Jeremiah Burroughs (1600-1646) shares in his classic title The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, "There is a saying of Ambrose [Aurelius Ambrosius, Bishop of Milan (between 337 and 340 – 4 April 397)], ‘Even poverty itself is riches to holy men.' Godly men make their poverty turn to riches; they get more riches out of their poverty than ever they get out of their revenues. Out of all their trading in this world they never had such incomes as they have had out of their poverty. This a carnal heart will think strange, that a man shall make poverty the most gainful trade that ever he had in the world. I am persuaded that many Christians have found it so, that they have got more good by their poverty, than ever they got by all their riches. You find it in Scripture. Therefore think not this strange that I am speaking of. You do not find one godly man who came out of an affliction worse than when he went into it; though for a while he was shaken, yet at last he was better for an affliction. But a great many godly men, you find, have been worse for prosperity (except Daniel and Nehemiah--I do not read of any hurt they got by their prosperity); scarcely, I think, is there one example of a godly man who was not worse for his prosperity than better. So rather you see it no strange thing to one who is gracious that they shall get good by their affliction."[2]
Dr. Luke writes in Luke 18:18-30, “Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ And he said, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth.’ So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, ‘How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ And those who heard it said, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But He said, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.’ Then Peter said, ‘See, we have left all and followed You.’ So He said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.’”
II. What about your destination after life on earth? (Luke 16:22-24)
We read in Luke 16:22-24, “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ‘Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’”
Reading this passage calls to mind the following line, “Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief / Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief” used a few years ago in a popular song.
We read in Luke 23:39-43, “Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’”
Paul the apostle writes in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, “It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” Paul also writes about Jesus in Ephesians 4:8, “When He ascended on high, / He led captivity captive, / And gave gifts to men.” Paul confesses in Philippians 1:21-23, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” Here, Paul reiterates the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:1-8, “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” From Revelation 14:13b we read, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
Everyone will either go to heaven or hell. There is no other destination.
III. What about your preparation during life on earth? (Luke 16:25-31)
We read in Luke 16:25-31, “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ ‘Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”
Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Jesus emphasizes this in John 14:1-6, where we read, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”
We read in 2 Corinthians 6:2b, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Dr. Billy Graham shares the following in his daily column “My Answer”:
Q: Our brother always told us he was going to wait until he was old to give his life to Jesus. That way (he said) he could have a good time but still end up in heaven. But now he's developed Alzheimer's and it's too late. Please warn people to give their lives to Jesus while they can, or they might end up like our brother has. -- Mrs. J.W.
A: Your brother's situation deeply saddens me, and I know it saddens you -- because it didn't need to be this way. Frankly, your brother believed a lie: that he could live any way he wanted to and put off giving his life to Christ until the very last minute. But apparently that "very last minute" has come and gone -- and now it's too late. The Bible warns us not to delay our decision for Christ, because ‘Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation’ (2 Corinthians 6:2). We never know how much -- or how little -- time we may have.
But your brother believed another lie also: that following Christ is dull and boring, and the only way to be happy and enjoy life is to live for yourself and the pleasures of this world. But it isn't true! Yes, sin may give us temporary pleasure -- but in time it passes, and we're left empty and bored and unfulfilled.
Jesus promises us another way, however -- a way of joy and peace, because it is God's way. Jesus said, ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’ (John 10:10). I pray that every person reading your letter will take it to heart, and not delay making their decision for Christ. Don't gamble with your eternal soul!”[3]
Recently, Rabbi Donald Kunstadt stated in his column in the Religion section of the Press-Register, “There are many roads which will lead us to a particular destination, so there can be many paths to God.”[4] However, a Rabbi named, Jesus Christ, tells about only two roads in Matthew 7:13-14, where we read, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Dr. Luke writes about Jesus and the narrow way in Luke 13:22-32, “And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, ‘Lord, are there few who are saved?’ And He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.’ On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, ‘Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.’ And He said to them, ‘Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’ Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.”
Rabbi Donald Kunstadt also stated, “A world filled with the conviction that God demands only one path for everyone, everywhere, is a world guaranteed to be filled with hatred and violence.”[5] We must remember the Rabbi named Jesus Christ said, “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Luke 12:51-53) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Conclusion
Dr. Michael Guido (1915-2009) shares, “Once, while walking through one of his factories, Henry Ford [1863-1947] stopped to talk with an engineer. ‘Tell me,’ he asked, ‘what is your ambition in life?’ With no hesitation he answered, ‘To make money and become rich!’ A few days later he returned to talk to the engineer. He paused for a moment and then handed him a pair of glasses. In place of the lenses were silver dollars. ‘Put them on,’ he said. ‘Now, what do you see?’ ‘Nothing but money,’ he replied. ‘Maybe,’ said Mr. Ford, ‘you should rethink your ambitions.’”
In old age, the rich man could title his memoirs, “Life is good”, but after death as he entered a Christ-less eternity, he would change one word to make it read, “Life was good.”
[1]Horatio G. Spafford, “It is Well with My Soul”, (1873), Available from: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm Accessed: 10/01/11
[2]Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (London: 1648 / Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1964), p. 16
[3]Billy Graham, “My Answer” Posted 09/06/2011 at 1:00 pm EST (Send your queries to "My Answer," c/o Billy Graham, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C., 28201; call 1-(877) 2-GRAHAM, or visit the Web site for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: www.billygraham.org.) (c) 2011 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC. TMS reprints:: We grant websites, newsletters, books and other publications permission to reprint any of the 150-plus columns, cartoons, magazine articles, photos and graphics found in our catalog. This content also can be used in corporate communications and training materials. Available from: http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/advice/my-answer/My-Answer.html Accessed: 10/01/11
[4]Rabbi Donald Kunstadt, “World needs belief that there are many paths to God” Press-Register, Mobile, Alabama, , Saturday, October 1, 2011, Religion, Section 1-D
[5]Rabbi Donald Kunstadt, “World needs belief that there are many paths to God” Press-Register, Mobile, Alabama, , Saturday, October 1, 2011, Religion, Section 1-D
By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527
Author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice Available on Amazon.com and WORDsearchbible.com
http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Biblical-Preaching-Giving-Bible/dp/1594577684
http://www.wordsearchbible.com/products/Sound_Biblical_Preaching_1476.html
http://www.webspawner.com/users/franklinlkirksey / fkirksey@bellsouth.net / (251) 626-6210
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