Eat, drink and be merry?
This call to follow Christ isn’t a question of, “What are you missing without God?” It’s a question of, “What are you withholding from Him?”
Without warning, the end will come, and yet in this life, from time to time, we are graciously presented with glimpses of this end.
Throughout history, the response to these glimpses has been, for the most part, one of three. We start with the first two:
Let us eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die!
Fear. I’m not ready to die. I don’t want to go to hell.
First - Let us eat, drink and be merry
This first response suffers from a rejection of the idea of life after death and thus embraces a whole-hearted acceptance that the best we can do is to get as much out of this life as we can.
If this life is all we have, then truly, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (Isaiah 22)
Paul, when writing to the Corinthians, confirmed the wisdom of these words, “If the dead do not rise (in other words, if this life is all we have), ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!’” (15:32)
He went so far as to say that if this life is all we have, then even our most noble efforts are foolish at best:
our preaching is empty v.14
your faith is empty v.14
we are false witnesses v.15
your faith is futile v.17
we are of all men the most pitiable v.19
Our faith hinges on the resurrection of the dead, starting with the risen Christ. And for those who reject this resurrection in favor of a “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” mindset, the Lord declares, “Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, even to your death.” Isaiah 22:14
[Pause, for these are sobering words]
Second - Fear. I’m not ready to die. I don’t want to go to hell.
This response is, at its core, quite simple and straight forward. We are seeking to save ourselves.
We don’t want to die. We don’t want to suffer. We want happiness, long life, pleasure.
And so when presented with the option to live or die, we choose life. When presented with happiness or sadness, we choose happiness. Peace or turmoil, we choose peace. Wealth or poverty, we choose wealth. Health or sickness, we choose health.
It is in this moment of the presentation of the options that the bargaining begins - what do we have to do to live? Just tell us what to do, we’ll do anything.
Repeat these words? Absolutely! And you’re telling me that if I just do that this one time then I’m good? I don’t go to hell? I get happiness, peace, and the entire list of benefits? Great, easy, I’m in!
[Pause, for these are sobering words]
What’s wrong with this appeal? Could it be that it is in direct contrast to the call of Christ?
A call which is not to save ourselves, but to lay this life down.
A call which is not for what we get out of it, but for what He deserves.
“The worst thing you can ever ask an unbeliever is, ‘Do you want to go to heaven?’ The end is not in seeking self-preservation. The end is I want Him!” Paul Washer
This call to follow Christ isn’t a question of, “What are you missing without God?” It’s a question of, “What are you withholding from Him?”
Paris Reidhead from his sermon, Ten Shekels and a Shirt:
"Accept Jesus so you can go to heaven! You don't want to go to that old, filthy, nasty, burning hell when there is a beautiful heaven up there! Now come to Jesus so you can go to heaven!"
And the appeal could be as much to selfishness as a couple of men sitting in a coffee shop deciding they are going to rob a bank to get something for nothing! There's a way that you can give an invitation to sinners, that just sounds for all the world like a plot to take up a filling station proprietor's Saturday night earnings without working for them.
Humanism is, I believe, the most deadly and disastrous of all the philosophical stenches that's crept up through the grating over the pit of Hell. It has penetrated so much of our religion. AND IT IS IN UTTER AND TOTAL CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY!”
What is the third response then when presented with a glimpse of the end? Peace.
This is a true statement, those who are found in Christ do not fear death, for ‘Perfect love has cast out all fear.’
Instead of a focus on getting all we can out of this life, we, “store up for ourselves treasures in heaven.” We seek not an abundance of possessions, we seek to be “rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21)
Rather than living with a, “a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries,” we live in light of a longing to see our heavenly Father face to face. We seek not to save ourselves, but rather we seek to see Him.
How is this kind of peace possible?
“For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:21-22
So then, we see two sides - those who remain dead in Adam and those who are made alive in Christ. As Leonard Ravenhill put it, “There are two kinds of people in this world - only two kinds. Not black or white, rich or poor, there are those who are dead in sin and those are dead to sin.”
Friends, which side do you find yourself on?
“But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope.” Ecclesiastes 9:4
Examine yourselves today.
Have you been joined to all the living through His death, burial and resurrection? Have you found this living hope which is only accessible through the narrow gate of your own death to self? Do not take this question lightly, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
I compel you, be reconciled to God. Not for what you will get out of it but simply because He is worthy. He deserves and demands our complete and total love and obedience. He is worthy!
Remember, the call to follow Christ isn’t a question of, “What are you missing without God?” It’s a question of, “What are you withholding from Him?”
In love,
Derek