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I was messing around with my mother the other day and I told her that I had talked to the Lord and found out what the entrance requirements were to get into Heaven. I told her that she didn’t have to worry about doing good works because it was going to be a 100 question Bible knowledge test and you had to get them all right and there was no grading on the “curve”.
Mom said… Oh?
I continued that I knew one of the questions… what were the names of Isaiah’s sons? She said she didn’t know and I told her she better start studying for that test.
Bible study is good and profitable but at some point it has to translate into action and providing a light to others through unselfish living.
One of the questions I have is how much Bible do you have to know to be a good Christian? It probably varies from person to person according to their ability.
I know people who have been Christians all their lives and just can’t seem to retain many Bible concepts but they live incredible lives interacting and caring for the needs of others.
I thought about that 100 question test thing because sometimes I think I see an over emphasis (if that’s possible) on Bible study and an under emphasis on daily living as a Christian. We need to have balance in our spiritual lives.
When I was in Veterinary School I was taught a lot of things and took many, many, tests but my real education started when I started applying that knowledge in the practice of Veterinary medicine. Someone told me one time that my greatest teacher was that little dog looking across the exam table from me. Think about that.
Let’s study our Bibles and use that knowledge to interact with others. That’s a combination that will make you wise.
There are two sections of passages in Ephesians that use different pictures to describe spiritual maturity.
The first, Eph. 4:12-16, describes growing spiritually until we look just like Jesus Christ. Like him…we’re engaged in the work of service to others, we’re rock solid on doctrines, we speak truth in a relationship with love and we’re active in a relationship with other Christians, i.e. the church.
The other section is Eph. 6:10-18. This section portrays the spiritually mature Christian as a soldier. The soldier is fully armored and weaponed to wage war against an enemy… the Devil.
The Christian soldier has his loins protected with truth, a breastplate which is righteousness, feet protected with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, a shield of faith, a helmet of salvation and a sword which is the word of God.
The Christian soldier also employs prayer for himself and his fellow soldiers.
God calls for his people to develop spiritually both as individuals and as a collectivity of Christians. We are soldiers and we are an army led by a great general… Jesus Christ.
Rev. 1:13-16 and 5:5 describe Jesus not as a passive lamb waiting to be sacrificed but as a lion prepared to wage war against Christians and churches who are not maturing spiritually like they should be and instead are being led astray by Satan.
Our great general wants great soldiers and a great army to wage war against the dark forces of evil led by Satan. If you aren’t wearing your armor or if you have forgotten your sword you aren’t much help and could be mortally wounded.
Matthew 24-25
This section begins with Jesus prophesying about the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 with undertones of the Day of Judgement. Then we read of two parables before we get to a section that is definitely talking about the final Judgement Day.
In the final Judgement Day Jesus specifically details the requirements for entering the eternal kingdom. Namely… feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, taking in strangers, clothing those who need clothes, visiting the sick and visiting those in prison.
So now let’s look at the parables.
The first one is the parable of the 10 Virgins. They had a job… one job… to carry oil fueled torches to lead the bridegroom into the wedding feast. The problem was that the bridegroom didn’t come when they expected. 5 of the Virgins were prepared for that eventuality… they brought extra oil. They got to go into the marriage feast. The others didn’t.
The bridegroom is Jesus, the Virgins are Christians and the wedding feast is Heaven. You have to be prepared when Jesus comes. You have to have enough oil when Jesus comes. The oil is helping the hungry, thirsty, strangers, unclothed, sick and prisoners. You can’t stop engaging in those activities and rest on your laurels or like with the 5 foolish the door to the wedding feast will be slammed in your face.
The second parable is about the 5, 2 and 1 talent men. Their master trusted them with money based on their ability and then came back for an accounting. The 5 and 2 talent doubled their money and are invited to “enter into the joy” of their Lord. The one talent man is too lazy to work for the master and returns his investment to him. The master cast the 1 talent man into “outer darkness”
Jesus is the master, the servants are Christians. Entering into the masters Joy is Heaven and being condemned to “outer darkness” is Hell. The investment the master makes in them is the investment Jesus makes in us.
The investment is helping the hungry, thirsty, strangers, unclothed, sick and prisoners.
To sum it up Christians need to be continually doing good because they don’t know exactly when Jesus is coming. In addition, God has an investment in us that is guaranteed to produce if we will just try. That’s all he asks is effort.
Heaven and Hell are waiting. Choose where you want to go by your actions. Don’t be lazy.
