Complaining About God And His People Series

“It was also about these [false teachers, scoffers, and ungodly people] that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’ These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.” [1]

During my holidays this past year, I received a request to, on short notice, “say a prayer” for a family as they laid the remains of a young man to rest. I agreed to be present, thus assisting the family in their time of need. At the appointed time, I arrived at the cemetery. There were a surprising number of family members present when I arrived. I had never met any of these family members, so I introduced myself and took my place near where the grave had been opened.

Present that day was the young son of the man who was to be interred. The lad looked to be perhaps nine or ten years of age. He was loud and energetic. An older woman, obviously uncomfortable with the boy’s energy, explained that the boy was autistic, adding that there were no boundaries on his inquisitive abruptness.

Sure enough, the lad asked me, “Who are you?” I responded that I was a pastor. “Oh,” the boy said, as if my answer satisfied his curiosity for a moment. Soon, however, he again looked at me and asked, “Why are you here?” It was a very perceptive question, and perhaps one that some of those present were wondering. I must believe that the Spirit of God prompted me to give the answer to the young man’s prescient query, “I represent God. I remind people that He is God, and they are not. I remind people that He is eternal, and that they are finite. I remind people that life is short, and eternity is long. I remind people that God is good and His salvation is real.” That answer satisfied the lad’s curiosity, but others listening to our conversation were obviously and instantly sobered.

When the brother of the man who was to be interred had phoned me, he asked if I was a priest. He seemed confused when I told him I was not a priest, but I was a pastor. I hastened to inform him that I pastored a church filled with priests, and that any one of those I served could pray at the grave of his brother. The man was obviously confused, but in that telling encounter I was reminded that the world cannot understand the Faith of Christ the Lord. And I remembered that we can no longer live as we once did when we were in the world.

The world and the Faith are not identical; in fact, we are diametrically opposed to one another. Our Master emphasised this truth when He warned, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” [JOHN 15:18-19]. Child of God, you are not like those of this world. The people of this world can be “nice,” but they can never be godly.

The Apostle of Love reveals why we who follow the Saviour must not allow ourselves to be at ease with the world when he writes, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” [1 JOHN 2:15-17]. The world is passing away, and the desires we have reflecting the world’s views will pass into oblivion even as the world passes away.

Years ago, we would hear the saints encourage one another, saying,

Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

This is evident when we consider the future for the redeemed of God. We know, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:10].

This Judgement Seat before which the redeemed shall stand is not to determine whether they are saved or lost, (that is already settled at the Cross), this is a judgement to determine rewards, as becomes evident when Paul writes, “If anyone builds on the foundation [of Jesus Christ] with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” [1 CORINTHIANS 3:12-15].