February 2005 chaplain's corner
The Chaplain's Corner is a monthly message for chaplains.
Chaplain's Corner - February 25, 2005
Rev. Rich Hines
Remember, Evangelism Is Ultimately For God's Worship
This message is prepared especially for those in the United States who call
upon the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve
as a chaplain in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue
mission.
All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV),
copyright 1979,1980,1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by
permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any
deviation from the NKJV text is within parenthesis signs ( ). These
usually occur as direct translations from the original languages,
or as notes from the original setting, to help apply the text to today's
culture. ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize a text, or a comment
about the text.
Dear chaplains, as things have got under way in your ministries in 2005, I want
to remind you of something that is very important. It is something I fear is
being lost, or forgotten in many presentations of what is presumed to be the biblical
gospel. That is THE CENTRALITY AND GLORY OF GOD, TO PROVIDE HIM WITH ACCEPTABLE
WORSHIPERS. Evangelism and the salvation of the lost is
all about the glory of God rather than simply just about the need of man!
God doesn't save sinners just so that they can escape hell and get into heaven.
Certainly, without a true salvation from sin found only in Jesus Christ, men
and women are doomed to hell, and with it they are bound for heaven. But why
does God initiate salvation in the first place? GOD SAVES LOST, SINFUL HUMAN
BEINGS TO MAKE THEM HIS ETERNAL WORSHIPERS! Even though He loves sinners, God
is not man-centered, and He doesn't want His servants to be man-centered in
their gospel presentations, either.
Allow me to give you an example of what I'm getting at. In the last six months
I have attended three funerals. These services were in the meeting places of
three different, supposedly strong evangelical local churches. The Senior
Pastor of each church officiated and preached to hundreds of attendees in each
of the three services. Some of those that attended each funeral service never
usually darken the door of a Christian meeting place. With that in mind, each
Pastor gave what he thought was a salvation message.
The gospel presentation each Pastor gave at those funerals was man-centered.
Sin was very lightly touched upon and in the most recent one, not even
mentioned. Rather, that Pastor simply said, "we all have failures and
problems, and Jesus came to fix all that for us." Repentance and the need
of a powerful God-wrought change in a person, wasn't ever mentioned. In each
case it was simply as if they were saying, "say this little prayer"
and "poof, you're in the club."
According to the New Testament, although not complicated, it's never easy to
really become a Christian.
Jesus taught that in order to be His true follower, which is the same as being
a "believer" who will be included in His Kingdom, one has to deny
self and be willing to die ("take up his cross") for Him daily. See
Mark 8:34 and Luke 9:23 - check the next verses in each reference for context.
Jesus was talking about being eternally lost, or saved. It's never easy to die.
It's never easy to give up our own way for God's way.
At the second of the three funerals, the granddaughter of the deceased told me
she had never seen evidence in her grandfather's life that Christ was His Lord
and Master, yet the pastor assured all in attendance that he was in heaven with
his Savior. There were some in that crowd who didn't even claim to know Christ.
They may have been wondering about what happens after death. Many unsaved
relatives did know the deceased man and his lifestyle well. From what this
Christian Pastor told them, they could have thought, "if I just start
attending church regularly like he did, I'll also go to heaven, but my
lifestyle doesn't really need drastic rearranging!"
I don't want you to make the same mistake that sadly, many others are making.
Always stress in your evangelism - the centrality of the true God and the
reason He should be eternally worshiped rather than simply used to think one
will get into heaven. Start with how HOLY GOD IS AND WHAT THAT MEANS. That
ought to lead to an explanation of how bad sin really is in His eyes and of the
need for a God-wrought repentance!
Look now at two passages from Ephesians Chapter 1 with me -
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-14
3 BLESSED BE the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He
chose us ("us" according to verse 1 in this same chapter is the
"saints" or holy and "faithful" ones who are "in
Christ Jesus") in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to
adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of
His will, 6 TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE, by which He made us
accepted in the Beloved.
It's obvious even from a cursory reading of these verses that God, not man, is
central here. He's done things for those He's made His saints because IT WAS
HIS WILL to do them and because it's to the praise of the glory of His grace.
Continuing in verses 11-14 note:
11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to
the purpose of Him who works all things ACCORDING TO THE COUNSEL OF HIS WILL,
12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY. 13
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY.
Again, based on these passages alone, God in Christ saves sinners to make them
His eternal worshipers. But who can truly worship the one true Holy God? Said
another way, whose worship does the true God accept? The answer is, ONLY THOSE
CLEANSED FROM THE DEFILEMENT OF SIN. The eternal activity in heaven will be
worship (see for example Rev. chapters 4,5 and 15).
There will be no sin in heaven (Rev. 21:22-27).
There's a worship principal that runs throughout the whole of the Bible, and it
is this - to an all holy God, the ACCEPTABILITY OF THE WORSHIP, DEPENDS ON THE ACCEPTABILITY OF THE WORSHIPER. He looks at
the condition of the giver, not just the gift.
This is why for instance Jesus taught His disciples in what we call the Sermon
on the Mount:
"...if you bring your gift to the altar (an act of worship), and there
remember that your brother has something against you (because you have wronged
him), LEAVE YOUR GIFT THERE BEFORE THE ALTAR, and go your way. FIRST BE
RECONCILED TO YOUR BROTHER, (which is to say, first deal with the sin) and THEN
COME AND OFFER YOUR GIFT (i.e. worship)" (Matthew 5:23,24).
Looking back at the first chapter of Ephesians, note in verses 4 and 6 that the
saved, who will be God's eternal worshipers, have to
be made holy, blameless and acceptable to be in God the Father's presence.
4 ... He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should BE
HOLY and WITHOUT BLAME before Him in love,
6 ...He made us ACCEPTED in the Beloved.
This principle should be often stressed to the inmates or residents when they
come to a service.
I've noticed over the years how Christian worship services within the
correctional facilities often become a showcase of human talent, rather than
expressions of gratitude from hearts that have been miraculously cleansed by
God from sin.
Go back to Ephesians, Chapter 1 to see the proper attitude of worship expressed
by the Apostle for real salvation.
Verses 3 and 4 - "Blessed be" the God the Father
BECAUSE "HE CHOSE US." God, not man initiated the salvation of
the lost He intends to save - so all glory, honor, praise and worship for that
salvation GOES TO HIM!
Verses 5 and 6 - He, not any human, pre-arranged and marked out beforehand, the
"ADOPTION" of those He caused to believe, "ACCORDING TO ...HIS
WILL," not according to the will of any man, so that it would be "TO
THE PRAISE (part of worship) OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE." In verse 6, He,
not any man, least of all the ones He saved, "MADE" them
"ACCEPTABLE" worshipers.
Verse 11 - again GOD'S WILL and no one else's provided His sons and daughters
their eternal "INHERITANCE."
Verses 12 and 13 - Trusting and believing in Christ and His gospel truth for
salvation through His substitutionary death and
resurrection (the key facts of the gospel message), is also "TO THE PRAISE
OF HIS GLORY," because He, not the humans, made those who responded,
believe!
Verses 13 and 14 - The blessed Holy Spirit, the third member
of the Triune Godhead, was given to each believer as a guarantee of
their future "INHERITANCE... TO THE PRAISE OF HIS
GLORY." Again, nothing any of us can do CAUSES the Holy Spirit to
indwell, seal and guarantee our forever salvation in a new body for heaven. God
decided to do that apart from anything we've done - so that ALL PRAISE FOR IT
SHOULD GO BACK TO HIM.
As you read these things dear Chaplain, I know they seem so obvious from the
Scripture, but please be careful that your programs and services LIFT UP GOD,
NOT MAN. He isn't looking, as some would seem to have us think, for new talent
to add to His star-studded show. He's moving in our current history, even in
places of incarceration and on skid row, to draw to Himself,
those He in eternity past determined to save TO MAKE THEM HIS ETERNAL, SINLESS
WORSHIPERS!
Praise the Lord, that somehow in His eternal plan, you
have a role as His servant. Your role is to give the right information, to pray
for those you've given it to, and to rejoice in what He does to honor His word,
to His eternal glory!
Rich Hines - Minister To Chaplains,
Romans 11:36 "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to
whom be glory forever. Amen.