My Aunt Marguerite was a strange combination of a person who shunned God, and a person who exhibited all the best qualities of Christianity, especially later in life, which is when Pam and I got to know her.
We had been living in the Boston area when we decided it was time to move. We only needed to decide where we wanted to live, ruling out nowhere, considering anywhere in the country. There were two things that drew us to Western Massachusetts, Bethany Assembly Church, and Marguerite.
Marguerite had been married twice and divorced twice when we moved to Feeding Hills. Being good Christians, we felt it our duty to share the gospel with her, and she would politely listen, but adamantly warned us to not pressure her into a commitment. We respected that. I was always searching for the thing to share with her that would interest her, but not pressure her.
Near the end of her life, she went to the hospital with what was initially diagnosed as pneumonia, but turned out to be lung cancer. That week, RightNowMedia posted a series by Andy Stanley called Aftermath. I wanted to share this video with her; I thought this could provide another attempt at sharing the gospel, something she might not have heard before. In the hospital, I got to share with her one statement from the first sermon in the series: the Bible is not the foundation of our faith. Her mouth dropped open, What?
I had never understood her unwavering stance against God. She had been brought up in aaa Baptist household, going to church every week, my grandmother was the organist, the family, pillars of the church. Being Baptist, there were things not talked about, sex being one of them. At the age of 15, Marguerite found herself pregnant, the facts of life had never been explained to her. She was sent away, never to return to her home. The Bible had been the basis for her being rejected from the family, from everyone she knew. The Bible, being the word of God, was the cause of her inconsolable pain, and she vowed to herself to reject both God and his Bible.
Sharing with her what I had shared, that the Bible is not the foundation of our faith, swung open the door to her heart. She could reject the Bible without rejecting God. At this time in her life, she was open to the concept that she could keep her vow of rejecting the Bible without rejecting God.
When she was released from the hospital she cam to spend her last few days with us. One morning at 2:00AM, she pressed her buzzer. I came down to her to hear her say that she was dying. She saw herself in what she described as a white pocket. I asked her if she wanted to give her heart to Jesus. To that, she responded to get Pam. That night, she gave her heart to the Lord.
Romans 14:12So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
For those of us who are saved, our account contains the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of the Spirit, the work done by the Holy Spirit in us as we yield our resources to him. These are recorded in our account that we surrender to God on judgment day. For those who gave their hearts to the Lord with no time to yield our resources, what will be found in their account on that day? She never even got to leave the house.
Philippians 1:6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:
The good news for them is that their account is not closed until the day of Jesus Christ. The work that was begun in Marguerite, he will continue to perform until the day of Jesus Christ. Even though Marguerite is dead, her story lives on.
Romans 2:5But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Concerning the thief on the cross, he had even less time to produce fruit than my Aunt Marguerite. What would we expect to be found in his account on the day of Jesus Christ? What will be his reward? His testimony on the cross has been read by countless people. Every time someone reads his testimony, the Spirit continues his work, adding that fruit to the thief’s account. Even though he only lent his resources to the Spirit for a few moments, his reward will be great.
You may have been hurt by someone associated with God that has caused you to reject him. The way the Bible was presented to you may be a real stumbling block in your life. Don’t wait until the last moment to reverse course.
You may be at the end of your life. Even though you have not been bearing fruit, you have been wasting the Master’s good, so to speak, leave a legacy that will continue to bear fruit, even after your death. In the parable of the unjust steward, Jesus’ advice to the children of light who have likewise wasted the Master’s goods, is to use the remaining goods to make friends that would welcome them into eternal dwellings, since one would not have an eternal dwelling of their own. No one would want to be homeless in heaven.
The Evangelical approach is to present the Bible as being wholly true, and wholly applicable. But the Bible contains details about the Old Covenant which paint an ugly picture. The Evangelical approach holds up the Great Commandment as the epitome of Christianity, but that commandment is from the Old Covenant, upon which hang the whole law and the prophets. This is not the gospel; this is not the good news. The story that needs telling is the story of the New Covenant.
Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
We are no longer under a schoolmaster; we are no longer under the law, not even the great commandment. Evern though Jesus recognized it as a great commandment, it was the Great Commandment of the law. It is still the works of the flesh.
New Wine 