How Do You Respond? - 2
	
	As  you  consider what the Bible says  about  New  Testament religion and compare this with what you are practicing, you  must have some kind of reaction.
	Last  week  we noted some New Testament examples  of  people rejecting  the Bible in favor of man-made traditions.  We  talked about others who were simply motivated by idle curiosity.
	But what about you?  Are your practices the same as those of first-century Christians?  If not, why not?
	One  of the most common reasons given for not following  New Testament  practices  is that is doesn't  matter.   This  general attitude takes a number of specific forms.
	Some  say it doesn't matter because there is no God.  A  few have  actually researched the existence of God and are  convinced that  He  does not exist, at least in the form presented  in  the Bible.   Most of the people who take this approach, though,  have never really considered any facts.  They don't believe in the God of  the  Bible because they don't want to believe in  Him.   Even many  scientists accept evolution not because of the  facts  supporting the theory but rather because they don't want to  believe in God.  You see, belief in God carries certain responsibilities. If  there is right, then there is wrong.  If there is good,  then there  is 

s good, not even one."
	Others say that our religious practices don't matter because God doesn't care.  This may be a popular thought, but it is  also totally contrary to the Bible.  This is true even when  religious practices are blindly followed out of ignorance.
	"Therefore  having overlooked the times of ignorance,"  Paul notes  in  Acts 17:30-31, "God is now declaring to men  that  all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which  He will  judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He  has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him  from the dead." 
	"For  after  all  it is {only} just for God  to  repay  with affliction those who afflict you," Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8,  "and {to give} relief to you who are afflicted and to  us as  well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from  heaven  with His  mighty  angels in flaming fire, dealing out  retribution  to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus."
	Oh, God cares all right what we do and how we do it. 
	Closely  related  to  this philosophy is the  idea  that  it doesn't matter because God is going to save every body.  If  this were true, then Christ suffered and died needlessly.  Why  bother if God doesn't care and is going to save every one?
	"Be  on  guard for yourselves and for all the  flock,"  Paul urges  the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28, "among which  the  Holy Spirit  has  made you overseers, to shepherd the  church  of  God which He purchased with His own blood."
	"And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according  to  each  man's work," we read  in  1  Peter  1:17-19, "conduct  yourselves in fear during the time of your  stay  {upon earth}; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like  silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited  from your  forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a  lamb  unblemished and spotless, {the blood} of Christ."
	There is a God, and He cares what we do.  So it does  matter whether  or  not our practices are the same as  those  of  first-century Christians.
	Luke  chapter 12 contains three other possible  excuses  for not  patterning our practices after those of the  New  Testament. One  involves our families.  To follow what the Bible says  might cause problems, because it would cause us to reject what we  have done for so long.  Family members might be upset.  Does Jesus buy this reasoning?
	"I have come to cast fire upon the earth," the Master states in Luke 12:49-53; "and how I wish it were already kindled!  But I have  a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until  it  is accomplished!   Do  you  suppose that I came to  grant  peace  on �earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on  five {members}  in one household will be divided, three  against  two, and two against three.  They will be divided, father against son, and  son  against father; mother against daughter,  and  daughter against mother; mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
	Jesus  practices what He preaches.  He follows  God's  will, even when His family is opposed.
	"And when His own people heard {of this,}" Mark 3:21 says of the  relatives of Jesus, "they went out to take custody  of  Him; for they were saying, 'He has lost His senses.'"
	Family reaction doesn't stop Jesus.

	Some don't follow the New Testament pattern for doing things because,  according to them, it doesn't matter.  There is no  God or, if there is, He doesn't care what we do.  Besides, we are all going to heaven.
	Some don't feel motivated to change their religious practices  because  they simply don't care.  They would rather  be  concerned  with the "here-and-now."  All of that  "religious  stuff" doesn't  really  matter when they are having to struggle  to  put food on the table.
	In  Luke chapter twelve Jesus is trying to  share  important religious teaching with those who are following him.  It  appears that,  as soon as He stops long enough to take a breath, one  man interrupts with a question about a family inheritance.  What does this man care about?  Is it spiritual nourishment or is it  material possessions?  It is almost as if he is telling Jesus, "Let's discuss something important."
	"And  someone  in the crowd said to Him, 'Teacher,  tell  my brother to divide the {family} inheritance with me,'" we find  in Luke  12:13-15.   "But He said to him, 'Man, who appointed  Me  a judge or arbiter over you?'  And He said to them, 'Beware, and be on  your guard against every form of greed; for not  {even}  when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.'"
	"For this reason I say to you," the Lord adds in verses  22-34,  "do not be anxious for {your} life, {as to} what  you  shall eat; nor for your body, {as to} what you shall put on.  For  life is  more  than food, and the body than  clothing.   Consider  the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; and they have no storeroom nor  barn; and {yet} God feeds them; how much more  valuable  you are than the birds!  And which of you by being anxious can add  a {single} cubit to his life's span?  If then you cannot do even  a very  little  thing,  why are you anxious  about  other  matters?  Consider  the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor  spin; but  I  tell you, even Solomon in all his glory  did  not clothe himself like one of these.  But if God so arrays the grass in the field,  which  is {alive} today and tomorrow is thrown  into  the furnace,  how  much more {will He clothe} you, O  men  of  little faith!  And  do not seek what you shall eat, and what  you shall drink,  and do not keep worrying.  For all these things  the  nations  of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that  you need  these things.  But seek for His kingdom, and  these  things shall be added to you.  Do not be afraid, little flock, for  your Father  has  chosen gladly to give you the  kingdom.   Sell  your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which  do not  wear  out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where  no  thief comes near, nor moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
	Of  course,  this may not make sense to those who  are  more attached to material things than to spiritual ones.
	Now  the  Pharisees," we find in Luke 16:14-15,  "who  were lovers  of  money, were listening to all these things,  and  they were  scoffing at Him.  And He said to them, 'You are  those  who justify  yourselves  in  the sight of men,  but  God  knows  your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.'"
	"For  we have brought nothing into the world," Paul  reminds us  in  1 Timothy 6:6-10, "so we cannot take anything out  of  it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall  be content.  But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare  and many foolish and harmful desires which  plunge  men into  ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a  root  of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered  away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang."  
	Some  think  they  are making a wise choice  by  being  more concerned with the "here-and-now" than with spiritual matters.
	And  some  don't feel motivated to  change  their  religious practices because they feel that there is still plenty of time.
	Jesus tells a parable in response to the man's  interruption in Luke chapter 12.
	"The  land  of a certain rich man was very  productive,"  He says  in  Luke 12:16-21.  "And he began  reasoning  to  himself, saying,  'What  shall  I do, since I have no place to  store  my crops?'
	"And  he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down  my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my  grain and  my goods.  And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you  have  many goods  laid  up for many years {to come;} take  your  ease,  eat, drink  {and}  be merry."'
	"But God said to him, 'You fool! This {very} night your soul is  required  of you; and {now} who will own what you  have  prepared?'   So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and  is not  rich toward God."
	Of  course, Jesus is always talking to someone  else,  isn't He.  The teaching is never intended for us.
	"And  Peter said, 'Lord, are You addressing this parable  to us,  or to everyone {else} as well?'" we note in  Luke  12:41-46. "And  the Lord said, 'Who then is the faithful and sensible  steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them  their  rations at the proper time?  Blessed is  that  slave whom  his  master finds so doing when he comes.  Truly I  say  to you,  that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.  But if  that slave says in his heart, "My master will be a long  time in coming," and begins to beat the slaves, {both} men and  women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come  on a day when he does not expect {him,} and at an  hour  he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.'"
	"Know this first of all," 2 Peter 3:3-10 foretells, "that in the  last days mockers will come with {their} mocking,  following after  their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of  His coming?  For {ever} since the fathers fell asleep, all  continues just  as it was from the beginning of creation.'  For  when  they maintain  this, it escapes their notice that by the word  of  God {the} heavens existed long ago and {the} earth was formed out  of water  and  by water, through which the world at  that  time  was destroyed, being flooded with water.  But the present heavens and earth  by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the  day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.  But do not let  this one  {fact} escape your notice, beloved, that with the  Lord  one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord  is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness,  but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for  all to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like  a thief,  in which the heavens will pass away with a roar  and  the elements  will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth  and its works will be burned up." 
	There is a God and it does matter to Him what we believe and practice.   We  may have to disagree with  family  members.   The "here-and-now" won't be very important in a hundred years, so  we had  better care more about the "there-and-then."  And  there  is not plenty of time.  We have only the present.
	There is one more possible reason for rejecting what we have presented concerning New Testament Christianity.  It is the  only one which would be valid.  But we have not considered it  because we don't believe it to be true.  If we are mistaken, we encourage you to correct us.  This possibility is that what we have  demonstrated is not what the Bible says.  We don't believe this to  be true,  because  we have not gone to theories or  philosophies  or theological  discourses  for what we have said.  We  have simply gone  to the Bible itself.  We have depended on the  truth.   And only the truth will set us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."