[Biblemat] Good News for Norwalk: Volume II, Number 21: May 27, 2007

Sat May 26 19:44:45 CDT 2007

Good News for Norwalk

For I am not ashamed of the good news, for it is the power of God for 
salvation to everyone who believes. (Romans 1:16)

A publication of the church of Christ in Norwalk, Ohio
Volume II, Number 21: May 27, 2007

Get Ready!

It is a scene that has played out in all of our lives at some point. We 
enter the classroom and sit down at our desks and prepare for class. The 
teacher walks in, begins instruction, and announces that there will be a pop 
quiz on the material assigned previously. Panic sets in-- we have not 
prepared! What are we going to do?

In the classroom setting, sometimes being unprepared was not the end of the 
world. The grade could be made up in other ways. Perhaps we did not do so 
well in certain classes; that does not mean that we have failed in life.

On the other hand, what will be our fate if we are not prepared in our 
spiritual lives? God has established through the Scriptures that all people 
are on continual notice-- the end could come at any time, and therefore 
people must live in a prepared state. How is this so? What can we do?

There are many who deny that the end will come quickly-- they believe that 
the end will be observable by various signs and that mankind will have many 
chances to repent before the actual end comes. The Scriptures, however, 
reveal a different story. The time that mankind has been given to repent is 
right now (Acts 17:30-31); in fact, the reason why the end has not yet come 
is so that mankind may have that chance to repent (2 Peter 3:8-9). The end 
will come "like a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2).

How and when the end would come was a concern of Jesus' disciples, and they 
felt compelled to ask Him about it (cf. Matthew 24:3). Jesus does not give 
them a fixed moment in time, nor does He establish a particular set of 
events that would take place that would indicate that the end was coming. 
Instead, He compares that time to the time of Noah and Lot (Matthew 
24:37-38, Luke 17:26-30): just as people were going about their daily lives 
in the times of those men, entirely unconcerned about God, and calamity came 
upon them, so it will be in the end. Jesus then establishes in a series of 
parables His essential message: be ready, for you do not know the day or the 
hour (Matthew 24:42-25:13). In all of these images, we do not see any 
"second chances" given: the door is shut, and there can be no entrance!

Let us consider Matthew 24:45-51:

"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his 
household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant, 
whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, 
that he will set him over all that he hath. But if that evil servant shall 
say in his heart, 'My lord tarrieth'; and shall begin to beat his 
fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that 
servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he 
knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the 
hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."

There is a day of judgment coming; we know not when precisely it will be. 
Nevertheless, we do not have to live in fear of that day-- we can live our 
lives as servants of God daily and therefore have no need to fear, just like 
the faithful and wise servant. When we were in school, if we did well at 
always studying when we ought, we would never have need to be worried about 
the pop quiz. The same is true in our spiritual lives: if we are always 
striving to obey God, we have no need to worry about His return. Are you 
prepared? Consider the fate of evil servant-- do you want to be where there 
is weeping and gnashing of teeth? Repent today, and get ready for the Lord's 
return!

Ethan R. Longhenry
evangelist at norwalkchurch.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Importance of Preparation

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took 
their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were 
foolish, and five were wise. For the foolish, when they took their lamps, 
took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their 
lamps. Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
But at midnight there is a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to 
meet him'.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, 'Give us of your oil; for our lamps are 
going out.'
But the wise answered, saying, 'Peradventure there will not be enough for us 
and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.'
And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were 
ready went in with him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.'
But he answered and said, 'Verily I say unto you, I know you not.'
Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour" (Matthew 25:1-13).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The church of Christ in Norwalk, Ohio

Thank you for reading the electronic version of our bulletin, Good News for 
Norwalk. If you live in Norwalk or happen to be traveling in the Norwalk 
area, we would certainly love to have you visit one of our assemblies!

Our location:

386 North Edgewood Drive (just off US 250 just north of Norwalk's city 
limits)
Norwalk, Ohio 44857

Our assemblies:

Sunday morning assembly: 10:30am
Sunday evening assembly: 6:00pm

Our Bible studies:

Sunday morning Bible study: 9:30am
Wednesday evening Bible study: 7:00pm

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For More Information

If you have any questions or comments about anything you have read here, or 
desire more information, please contact our evangelist, Ethan Longhenry, at 
evangelist at norwalkchurch.org.

Good News for Norwalk is a publication of the church of Christ in Norwalk, 
Ohio, for the promotion of God's truth in our world. For more information 
about the church of Christ in Norwalk, please visit our website at 
norwalkchurch.org.

Ethan R. Longhenry/ disciple_of_iesus at hotmail.com
Evangelist, church of Christ in Norwalk, Ohio
 (http://www.norwalkchurch.org)
Website: http://www.deusvitae.com
AIM: Deus Vitae / ICQ#: 28317056
MSN Messenger ID: deusvitae at hotmail.com
Yahoo! Messenger ID: discipuliiesus

Subscribe to Good News for Norwalk!
goodnewsfornorwalk-subscribe at norwalkchurch.org 