The Reason Why

Purpose and motive are all important in the Christian life. It's often not what we do that really matters the most, but why we do what we do. We are to do right simply because it is right. Not for recognition, reward, fame or fortune, nor for personal or material gain. When we all get to heaven we will ultimately and intricately come to know the answers to all life's problems and perplexities and then, with the mind of Christ, come to fully understand the real purpose of it all. Until then, we must by obedient faith accept God's assertion that we are part of His eternal purpose to redeem unto Himself eternal sons and daughters.

In the meantime, we should love Him, because He first loved us. We should serve Him, because He first served us. It is reasonable we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice in His service, because in His mercy He first gave Himself for us. We should lose our life in His service because He gave His life for us. We should crown Him King of our lives, because He has made us priests and princes. We should glorify Him in our body because He some day will give us a glorified body. We should give Him glory in our church because He has given us His glorious church.

I still clearly remember a beautiful Spring day many years ago. We were planting a new church in a new suburb and I had been out all day knocking on door after door. It was one of those days that, in spite of prayer without ceasing, sometimes makes you wonder if you are really in the right place doing the right thing. Hour after exhausting hour had passed and nothing really worthy of spiritual note had occurred. As I walked up the footpath to our home late that afternoon, if I had felt any lower I would have needed an elevator to get out the basement of discouragement and despair.

Just as I approached the front steps, my little daughter, who had been watching for me for an hour through the window, threw open the front door, ran down the steps, and, throwing her arms wide, jumped into my arms. As she did, her little hand, clutching a small crushed bunch of wild flowers, came from behind her back and she cried, " Daddy, I love you!"

After recovering, I placed her on my shoulders and galloped her around the lawn; playing her favourite game. Later, I asked her why she had given me the flowers. I thought she may have expected me to bring her some candy or a toy. Or perhaps there was some special gift she wanted. She just looked at me with her big eyes and a big childish grin; threw her arms around me again and said, "I love you. You're the best Daddy in the whole wide world!"

Our love for our Father should flow from the same fountain of childlike faith, love and gratitude. We should love, honour, worship and serve Him simply because He is!

The Mystery Of Immortality

In Paul’s resurrection chapter he brings us face to face with the shocking common denominator of all men, death. He speaks to those who have seen all earthly hope collapse and lie in shattered fragments at their feet. He encourages those who in one moment of time have had their world turned upside down to come crashing down around them.

He speaks to those who have realised that eyes that once smiled have closed, lips that once spoke have fallen into cold silence and the warm loving grasp of a vibrant hand has forever relaxed. He addresses all men who, no matter how lightly they may treat the matter or how desperately they may try to circumvent or delay the issue, must someday stand on common ground as their hearts ponder the same age-old question of the mystery of immortality.

The stark reality of man’s mortality is made evident in the life of even the most sceptical. He cannot avert his eyes from the spectre of death that overshadows his every step. He cannot silence the voice that shatters his self-imposed naivete.

The timeless question of Job of old breaks loudly into the false sanctity of his consciousness with all the force of a wailing siren:

"If a man dies,  shall he live again?"  Job 14:14

Paul and Job urge man to break out of the shell of self-deception and face the issue squarely. He implores man to come to grips with the implications of man’s mortal existence, no matter how painful the encounter with reality might be. He insists man admit the hopelessness of his dilemma, unless an answer comes from a higher source and authority.

Theirs is not a question flung as a scornful cry into the face of an unyielding fate. But rather, it is framed as an intelligent appeal, from the heart of a man of spiritual wisdom. A man who recognizes that the answer to life’s central question can only come from the one from whom life issued.

Are we, as Paul, justified in holding that in spite of death, we have a valid hope of immortality? Some scoff at such a proposition as a ridiculous paradox. Some shudder at it as a dreadful possibility. Some, not as wise as Paul, turn to history outside God’s Word and are led only to the grave and left there. Because secular history is merely mute about the matter. It neither confirms nor denies the prospect of an afterlife.

Some turn to science, but find no laboratory, apparatus or technique for analysing life or death or discovering the fate of a soul. Some rely upon philosophy and find themselves free to speculate, postulate, formulate and posit theories, but in the end find their hypotheses unreliable, for philosophy has no reliable means of testing its conclusions.

Some of us turn to the only true and reliable source, the Word of God, to find there the only authoritative and satisfying answer to man’s perpetual quest for immortality. We cherish this hope as the established answer. Our hearts vibrate within us as we contemplate Paul’s climatic cry, "O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be unto God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" 

Our Blessed Hope

There rests within the breast,

Of those who wait for Him,

A fervent, burning hope for rest,

From sin in every limb.

Longing ever to be free,

From the prison of the flesh,

Through faith’s eye the empty tomb we see,

And our hearts are filled with bliss.

And echoing as we pause and listen,

The angel’s cry - "He is risen!" - John White

A Farewell Message (From Principal John White in the 1988 Yearbook of Sherwood Hills Christian School)

I placed the following message in the 1988 Year Book of Sherwood Hills Christian School (Addressed to the faculty and students as Founder and Principal for ten years and after resigning my 18 year pastorate of SHBC in order to go to Queensland to plant Hinterland Baptist Church)  The  message still has application today.  -  John White

A Farewell Message

(From Principal John White in the 1988 Yearbook of Sherwood Hills Christian School)

I am sure most Pastors have thought about the subject and content of their "last message.' Since preachers rarely retire and most "die in the harness" anyway, those worth their salt always preach as "dying men to dying people." As far as my future plans are concerned this could well be my "last message" to the staff, students, and parents of Sherwood Hills Christian School.

As we look back over the last ten years and try to draw that fine line that defines and divides success from failure, progress from regression, and tragedy from triumph, we can but praise the Lord for the privilege of serving Him together in such a God blessed ministry as our Christian School. God can and has turned our apparent failures into successes and tragedies into triumphs. We can only say humbly from hearts of gladness and gratitude, "To God Be The Glory, Great Things He Has Done!"

As I think of my last message to you, I am made to think of some of history's famous last words and am made to wonder just what I might add to such a store house of witty sayings? Do I have any particular pearls of wisdom that might give meaning and make more memorable my melancholy moment of departure? Would I be presumptuous to turn to the mighty men of moment recorded in the memoirs of God's men, the Bible, for example and guidance?

Could anyone improve upon the stirring yet comforting last words of Moses to Israel as they stood on the very banks of the Jordan when he said, "Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God He it is that doth go with thee, He will not fail thee nor forsake thee." Could anyone gainsay the mighty words of Joshua on the eve of his heavenly departure at the age of 110 when he said to a new generation of victorious Israelites, "Choose ye this day whom ye shall serve.. .but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Or is there in history or literature any famous last words that would surpass the pathos and poignancy of those of Paul’s as he paused with his head upon the chopping block and poised beneath the awful executioner's axe and cried, "Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season.. .the time of my departure is at hand, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.."

If I were seriously saying a final and fond farewell or penning last words, I could choose no better than these. But I'd rather focus on the fantastic future I am sure God has for His people in Sherwood Hills Baptist Church and Christian School, as well as for me and Mrs. White. A future that can only be diminished by the self-imposed limitations of little faith. A future that is in God's hands. A future that can be as great as our great God. I pray for such a future for you all as you serve Him according to the good pleasure of His will.

As for me, pray for me that my last years might be my best years in God's service. Did you know that Michelangelo painted his famous work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel lying on his back on a scaffold at the age of 90? When he was 88 John Wesley was preaching every day? Titian painted his historic, "Battle of Lepanto", at 98? Booth Tarkington wrote sixteen novels after 60 and when he was totally blind? According to these and many more examples, my years of fruitful service may have just begun. So instead of saying, "Good bye," I will say, "God's Speed," with these words from two of my favourite poets:

Grow old with me! The best is yet to be, 

The last of life, for which the first is made:

Our times are in His hand who saith, "A whole I planned, 

Youth shows but half; trust God; see all; nor be afraid!"

-Browning

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.    

-Frost