And They Rose Up to Play…

I Corinthians 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

This Sunday morning, referred to as the Lord’s day in Revelation 1:10, will unfortunately be a time when many who call Him ‘Lord, Lord’ forsake His altar and instead, like the children of Israel at the base of Sinai, will rise up to worship the golden calf gods of this world ie. the beach, the lake, the ball field. They will, like Paul says here, rise up to play.

Would to God they showed as much devotion to the one they have been known to call ‘Lord’.  Many Christians have supposed in this day and age, possibly due to the humanistic style of gospel preaching and teaching, that their happiness is paramount in God’s eyes and that, as long as they ‘love’ the Lord, they can do what makes them happy.  Faithfulness in their intentions rather than actions is considered sufficient.  They suppose that being faithful to God’s house is not as important as being faithful to tell others they love the Lord and His church.  Many have supposed that being a faithful servant or bearing the disciple’s cross is archaic and no longer required of the modern American Christian.  Why is this?  Why, my friends, would you suppose that when we have scriptural evidence to the contrary?  Take Luke’s gospel for instance:

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Have You Died Yet?

Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

The modern social gospel being promoted across the land in many churches today speaks of a religion that has no costs, brings no change, and seems to give all glory to the wrong party… us.  In fact, to hear most Christians discuss styles of worship, contemporary or traditional, you would think that worship itself was for the sole benefit of man.  The humanism that has crept into the contemporary sermons, has led many a lost soul to believe that they need only to believe and they have their ticket punched for glory.  Most then fall well short of what the apostle Paul called the ‘new creature in Christ Jesus’.

Why is this so?  It goes all the way back to the Old Testament.  Many of our gospel songs speak of crossing the Jordan River as though it was the passage from life on earth to life in eternity in heaven.  This is flawed because unlike Canaan, Heaven doesn’t have enemies to be destroyed.  Rather, the crossing of the Jordan River in the book of Joshua more aptly typifies our passage from the death of sin to the newness of life in Christ Jesus.

 

Those Old Sunday School Lessons

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Introduction

Recently I concluded a series of classes entitled “Old Sunday School Lessons”.  I rolled out those old time favorites like David and Goliath, Joseph & the Coat of Many Colors, Moses and the Red Sea and quite a few others.  My overall theme was faith with each lesson focusing on faith in God or having faith in His promises.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with a quote… “Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.” In context this was given in reference to those who stop learning and or growing as an individual.  Isn’t it a sad thought to consider that many can remember those old Sunday School lessons but have lost their passion for God’s word as they entered adulthood.  They might be young adults, middle aged or even senior adults but their spiritual awareness is the equivalent of an elementary education.