Evil Communications

1 Corinthians 15:33 – “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”

William E. Brown, in his Making Sense of Your Faith, tells of a farmer in a Midwestern state who had a strong disdain for "religious" things. As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed by on their way to worship. October came and the farmer had his finest crop ever--the best in the entire county. When the harvest was complete, he placed an advertisement in the local paper which belittled the Christians for their faith in God. Near the end of his diatribe he wrote, "Faith in God must not mean much if someone like me can prosper." The response from the Christians in the community was quiet and polite. In the next edition of the town paper, a small ad appeared. It read simply, "God doesn't always settle His accounts in October."

Such was the plight of the rich farmer in Luke 12 – God let him prosper and he failed to give God the glory – “Look what I’ve done,” he said. He majored on the ME instead of going to his knees and thanking God. Look at the thinks he says to himself – v. 17 “What shall I do?” – v. 18 “This will I do” – “I will pull down my barns, and build greater” – “There will I bestow all … my goods.” Then he revels in his good fortune – v. 19 “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” But God had different plans – the farmer had profaned God with his evil communications – and God said to him in verse 20, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” God always has the last word.

And then there’s Belshazzar in Daniel 5 – he blasphemed God by profaning the temple goldware. He was the king (actually more the crown prince – his father was actually king, but he was away and left Belshazzar in charge.) – he was smug in his greatness. He decided to hold a great feast and show off Babylonian prowess to all his friends. He praised the gods of gold and silver and wood and stone – he drank to them from the vessels his grandfather had taken from the temple of God – he gave undue honor to false gods using vessels that had been anointed and sanctified for the worship of the God of heaven. He reveled in his own greatness and the greatness of his false gods. But God had different plans – Belshazzar had profaned God with his evil communications – and God said to him through Daniel in verse 27, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” And verse 30 tells us, “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.” God always has the last word.

My friend, each of us can share the same fate. We don’t have to shake our fist in God’s face and curse Him to blaspheme God. We can blaspheme God by living a life for self rather than for Him – we can blaspheme God by leaving Him out of our plans – we can blaspheme God by rejecting His Son – we can blaspheme God by denying the clear teachings of His Word. “Evil communications” don’t have to be cursings and railings and blasphemies – they are wrong teaching, wrong thinking, wrong living, wrong beliefs. And as our verse says, they always “corrupt good manners”. The choices you make will affect the whole of your life. Choose well, choose prayerfully, choose to honor God.

Quote – “Live with eternity’s values in view.” – Dr. Harold B. Sightler

Divine Appointments

Hebrews 9:27 – “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment.”

It has been said that the only sure things in this life are death and taxes. That’s a comical way to look at life, and rather cynical. But to be sure, the only thing that’s certain in life is death. All men throughout history have died – 153,000 die around us every day – all men who will ever breathe God’s air will die. The Bible records only two men who did not have to pass through the portals of death. Enoch, who “walked with God: and he was not; for God took him (Ge 5:24),” and the prophet Elijah, who “went up by a whirlwind into heaven (2 Ki 2:11).”

The Bible also records several who tasted of death more than once, not the most desirable thing – to have to go through the experience a second time – but there were some who did. The widow’s son raised by Elijah (1 Ki 17), the Shunammite woman’s son raised by Elisha (2 Ki 4), the man who was being buried and touched Elisha’s bones (2 Ki 13), the young man whose funeral Christ broke up (Lk 7), Jairus’ daughter that Christ raised (Lk 8, Mk 5), Lazarus who was raised by Christ (Jn 11), Dorcas who was raised by Peter (Ac 9), and Paul who was stoned, left dead, and raised by God at Lystra (Ac 14). There were probably others during the ministries of the prophets and of Christ and the apostles. You may say that there is no proof that they died twice, but it’s definite that they are not still walking around today. They all suffered death again.

But you can be sure, we all have two appointments that must be kept, not death and taxes, but death and deity. We are all wont to break our earthly appointments. We skip a dentist appointment – don’t we all hate going to the dentist. We miss a doctor appointment. We miss work appointments. We jilt a blind date. We all miss appointments of all sorts. But those two appointments – death and deity – we will not miss. Those are guaranteed.

Let’s look at the first one – Death – “It is appointed unto man once to die …” We have already seen how every man, woman, boy, and girl will one day face death. I have heard it said that how we face death is every bit as important as how we face life. Humanism teaches us, “You only go ‘round once in life, grab all the gusto you can get.” They say this trying to get us to buy their beer, experience their erotic thrills, smoke their cigarettes and drugs. Man spends his entire life searching for answers because he knows that death is coming and he desperately wants to be in control of his destiny. But no matter how much control he asserts, death still takes him. “Death, that undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveller returns, puzzles the will,” Shakespeare says in his Hamlet. Man has been puzzled by death since the creation. He has to tried to explain it – he has tried to subdue it – he has tried to slow its advance – but death always wins. Rather morbid – rather depressing – rather discouraging – death always wins!

But what comes after death? Man teaches in his humanistic dogma that there is nothing after death – he’s still trying to have some semblance of control – he’s not willing to admit that there is a supreme being that he must answer to. But he’s wrong. There we find our next certain appointment – Deity – “… and after this the judgment.” This is why man fears death so – why he makes for himself alternate endings – why he cringes at the thought of death. Hamlet again muses that it’s “the dread of something after death.” Romans 14:10 tells us, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Sinners will face Him at the Great White Throne judgment. Yes we will stand before God – we will be judged for the things done in this body – we will face deity for our sins. But the only thing that will decide our fate in that afterlife is “What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he (Mt 22:42)?” If you’re trusting in Christ for salvation, then “Death is swallowed up in victory (1 Co 15:54).”

Quote – “A person never gets too busy to attend his own funeral.” - Unknown