The Eternal Holocaust
1 Corinthians 9:19-22
2-22-04
Intro
This morning at the end of our message we are going to see a brief clip from the Spielberg movie, Schindler’s List. The movie is about a German factory owner in Poland who saved the lives of over 1100 Jews during the holocaust. The holocaust during World War II cost the lives of 6 million Jews and 5 million Gentiles by extermination.[1]
When I read about the holocaust one question stands paramount in my mind. How could such a thing happen? Why didn’t the general population rise up and stop it? In my research of the Holocaust four major reasons stand out:
1. Prevalence of anti-Semitic thinking.
2. Fear of reprisals.
3. People didn’t want to get involved in the problems of others.
4. Some governments did not believe the Holocaust was occurring.
Those are the 4 main reasons that people did not take action to stop the Holocaust.[2]
This morning I want to talk about an even greater holocaust than that. I hope no one would ever get the idea that I would minimize in any way the horror of the merciless, senseless death of those 11 million people. God forbid that we would ever ignore such an atrocity. God forbid that we would fail to learn from the lessons of that history.
But I do submit to you that there is something going on in our world even more horrific than that great tragedy. This year 50 million people will slip into an eternal holocaust.[3]
Their suffering in hell will go on forever and ever. There will be no escape. There will be absolutely no hope of a better day. The sorrow of one lost sinner is a heart-breaking reality. But its not a pleasant thought to realize that 50 million a year, 1/5 of America’s population will experience a personal holocaust worse than death—And I might add, needlessly so. For the price of their escape has already been paid.
It is not my purpose to put us all on a guilt trip. That would be easy enough to do. But my purpose is first to raise our awareness of reality—for some unexplainable reason that reality easily evades us at an emotional level. We may embrace the cold doctrinal truth of heaven, hell, and eternity. But those truths somehow get veiled by the urgencies of daily life.
Could it be that those four reasons (given for why people did not take action to stop the Jewish Holocaust) are the same reasons (in principle) that the church as a whole is relatively passive in its evangelism? Let me restate the reasons using broader terms and concepts.
1. The acceptance either actively or passively of anti-Semitic thinking. We know that kind of racial prejudice is insane. One race is not superior to another race. Our wonderful Creator has granted to individuals, families, and even nations a variety of blessings and abilities. No two individuals are exactly alike. No two nationalities are exactly alike. But one is not better than another.[4] If we are to say anything about the Jewish race, we Gentiles should be saying, “Thank you for receiving the oracles of God and being an instrument of God to pass them on to us.”[5]
What is interesting to me concerning worldview is how susceptible to social pressure the average person is. What mindset, what worldviews prevail in our society that hold down the propagation of the gospel? I would suggest that at least one factor is religious pluralism[6] and humanistic tolerance. As unbiblical as it is, the idea that each person can just choose his own religion and somehow if he’s not a Hitler, if he or she is just a pretty good person, heaven is probable for that person. And it’s not nice to say anything contrary to that. We live in a society that rejects all absolute values except the absolute value of tolerance.
I’m not suggesting for a moment that we should be unkind or even disrespectful to people who hold religious views different than our own. One key to reaching people is to respect them as a fellow human being with the God-given right of free will.[7] But we cannot, we must not, allow the prevailing sentiment of our culture to keep us from speaking the truth in love. I honestly do not see any way to heaven except through faith in God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. There is salvation in no other name.[8] I know that is not a politically correct statement these days. Just as in Germany during World War II it would not have been politically correct to say that the Jewish race is in no way inferior to the Aryan race.
We have to decide whether we will allow the prevailing sentiment to dominate our mindset or whether the revelation of truth in God’s word will shape our thinking.[9]
In Germany a few people were radically committed to the anti-Semitic lie. They boldly spoke their minds on the matter. But how many people just passively accepted that mindset and did not challenge the lie? Behind the atrocity was the lie. Satan is a liar from the beginning. And he always has some kind of deception going on. Too many people in Germany passively accepted anti-Semitic lies. Too many people today are passively accepting humanistic tolerance and lies about religious pluralism. And multitudes are going to hell because of it.
2nd Reason people did not speak up during the Holocaust was fear of reprisals. “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love and of power and of a sound mind.”[10] Fear is a major hindrance to evangelism. Sometimes it’s a fear of failure. We just don’t feel adequately equipped to share our faith. That too is usually based on a lie because it is the Holy Spirit Who is our equipping. It is His influence through our words that is far more important than our ability to debate our faith. In fact, debating truth is seldom effective evangelism. If people can know you care and if they discern your sincerity you can go a long way by simply telling them how merciful God has been to you—that He will also help them in their struggles if they will only ask Him.
The fear of rejection is a hindrance. What if my friend rejects the gospel, he or she will then reject me? But what kind of friend am I, if I know an antidote to the poison that is killing my friend and I will not tell him? Jesus said, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels." Mark 8:38 NIV
Paul said in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”
NIV Have you ever felt afraid that the word might not work—that if you invited that person to pray, nothing would happen and the end result would be worse? That is just the kind of lie the devil uses to keep us from inviting people to Christ. When we’re being attacked with those kinds of thoughts it’s good to remember how God has answered some of your prayers. Did you deserve it? Are we any better than them? Is God any more concerned for my soul than theirs?
When it’s time to share our faith many times Satan will use intimidation to try to stop us—the fear that we stand to lose reputation, promotion, friendship or something. Do it with humility and you will probably lose none of those. But I know by experience that those are some of Satan’s suggestions—the fear of reprisals. So I just remain quiet.
3rd reason the Holocaust was not stopped was perhaps most of all that people simply did not want to get involved in other people’s problems. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain asked. Let me share God’s answer to that from Proverbs 24:11-12
“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
12If you say, "But we knew nothing about this, "does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?” NIV
I firmly believe that our struggles that hinder evangelism has more to do with busyness than anything else. I don’t know completely how it happens, but somehow our lives get so busy, we honestly don’t have time to rescue the perishing. I don’t think any of us do that intentionally. But Jesus said something interesting in the Parable of the Sower. Talking about seed being sowed in Mark 4:18-19 Jesus said, “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” NIV
Other things, other demands, other (so called) responsibilities, choke out the fruitfulness that otherwise would be there.
Most of us live our lives with little or no margin for the unexpected. I may be the worst offender here. The solution begins with admitting something like that--and then being very intentional about correcting the problem. Eternal destinies are more important than a whole lot of other things. How will I, how will you, put some margin in my life so that we can respond to the things and people God wants us responding to? What is superfluous? What is unfruitful? How will I prune the tree of my daily activities to leave time for God in my life—to leave time for rescuing the perishing?
I read the story the other day of a Los Angeles police officer. In 1992 he came upon a brown El Dorado Cadillac illegally parked next to the curb on street sweeping day. The officer dutifully wrote out a ticket. He completely ignored the man seated behind the wheel of the car, as he reached in and placed the thirty-dollar ticket on the dashboard.
The man in the car made no excuses. He didn’t argue or try to stop the officer—and for good reason. Unfortunately, the driver was dead. He had been shot in the head 10 or 12 hours earlier, but was sitting up, stiff as a board, slumped slightly forward with blood on his face.
The officer was so preoccupied with ticket writing; he did not notice anything unusual. He got back in his car and drove off to write another ticket.[11]
We are shocked by that kind of story. But is that really any worse than encountering a lost soul and being so occupied with other things that we’re unaware of that person’s condition and need.
A protestant pastor in Berlin during World War II named Martin Niemoller, initially supported Hitler. He quickly saw Hitler for what he was an openly opposed him. As a result in 1937 the Gestapo put him in a concentration camp. He summarized his experience with the following words:
In Germany they came first for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics and I didn’t speak up
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me--and by that time no one was left to speak up![12]
4. Finally, some people didn’t stop the holocaust because they did not believe it was going on.
It is likely that most of us at least doctrinally and intellectually believe that there is an eternal holocaust going on. One of the most breath-taking scenes in the entire Bible is found in Rev 20:11-15
11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne,
and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life.
The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is the second death.
15If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. NIV
Anybody who respects the inspiration of the scripture has to be taken back by the magnitude of what is happening in those verses. We know there are a heaven and a hell. We know that every human being on the face of this earth will spend eternity in one or the other. And we know that there is salvation in no other name but the name of Jesus.
But even knowing that doctrinally, it can still seem so far off that it really doesn’t affect our interaction with people much. In America we tend to compartmentalize our lives.[13] There is the religious me, alive and well on Sunday morning worshipping God. But then when I get on the job I’m employee number 603. And there I have little awareness of eternity. I’m just trying to get the job done and stay out of trouble so I can go home at quitting time. I am exhausted when I get home so I want to just close the garage door, close the blinds and recover, so I can go at it again. Of course, if the kids have a game, I can’t do that. But then even at the game I am as unaware of spiritual death as that parking cop was of physical death. I just do what I came to do and move on.
How do we change all that?
1. Being aware of the dynamics helps us not fall into the trap. If I know there is a tendency for the cares of this world to rob me of the eternal, then at least I can set some boundaries on that. I can be intentional about investing in people’s eternal welfare.
In 1 Corinthians 9:19-22 Paul talked about how he lived his life with the intention of winning others to Christ.
“19Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” NIV
Five times in those four verses Paul talks about winning others to the Lord. He concludes saying “so that by all possible means I might save some.” Paul lived with a vivid awareness of heaven and hell. He lived to “plunder hell and populate heaven.”[14]
How can I nurture sensitivity toward people’s lostness? How can I cultivate awareness of eternity and compassion for those who do not know God?
2. The great evangelist, Charles Finney, used to urge those who desired that kind of compassion and concern to “look as it were through a telescope into hell and hear their groans; then to turn the glass upward and look into heave, and see the saints there in their white robes, and hear them singing the song of redeeming love. And ask yourself, ‘Is it possible that I could prevail with God to elevate the sinner there?”[15]
3. Sometimes I ask myself what it is going to be like to get to the end of my life and look back over it in review.
In 2 Cor 5:9-11 Paul wrote, “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 11Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men...”NIV
In the end most of us will be very glad we served the Lord and sought the salvation of others. But perhaps there would also be a little of what Oskar Schindler felt at the end of World War II.
In the video clip you are about to see, the war is over and Schindler is leaving his factory. He has been instrumental in saving the lives of over 1100 of his workers. With deep gratitude they have made him a ring as a gift of appreciation for all he has done for them. At that moment he realizes the full significance of all that has been going on. He realizes that he could have done more—he could have saved more.
Closing Scene of Schindler’s List[16] (VIDEO CLIP)
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
Table Leader Discussion Questions
I. In the video clip Schindler has done a lot to help the Jewish people during the holocaust. Eleven hundred people were saved from death because of his influence. But in this closing scene he is emotionally broken because he realizes that he could have done more.
1. How would you compare the importance of saving people from physical death to their salvation from eternal death?
Certainly life is precious and to save someone from physical death of great significance. But this life is brief (James 4:14) compared to eternity.
Matthew 10:28, Luke 12:4-5
Rev. 20:12-15
Luke 16:19-31
2. How might this scene depict the feelings a person might have as he or she looks back over his or her life in the light of eternity?
Every act in obedience to Christ will be rewarded and a source of joy (Matt. 10:42).
The Judgment Seat of Christ will be a time of reflection and reward. But opportunities missed will be addressed. (2 Cor. 5:10)(1 Cor. 3:11-15)
3. Looking back from this point in your life:
a. Have there been times when you were able to seize opportunities to help people and influence them toward Christ? How did you feel and what did you learn?
There is no greater feeling than to know you have yielded to the Lord and He has used you in some way to influence others toward Him. When our children were small Jeanie invested a great deal of her time in them putting aside her desire to be an interior decorator. During that time she led all three of our daughters to the Lord—something she will rejoice in forever. And by the way, God let her fulfill her dream to be an interior decorator. That was God’s plan for her and as she walked in obedience it bore good fruit and continues to do so.
b. Have there been opportunities missed? What would you do differently knowing what you know now?
To answer this question with specifics may require more transparency than most of us are comfortable doing. But in general those times in our lives when we were in disobedience to the Lord were times of lost opportunities. Even when we are serving the Lord sometimes an opportunity to witness or do something helpful can slip by before we realize it was there. Knowing all this we might do well to pray daily, “Lord, give me a sensitivity to what your doing so that I don’t miss the opportunities You are bringing my way.” (Gal. 6:10)
II. In the Bible
1. We have been given the assignment to “go into all the world and make disciples”.
a. In what ways does the church of America effectively fulfill that task?
Often churches do provide some support to parents who are seeking to train their children in the way of the Lord.
Making disciples goes beyond simply leading people in the “sinner’s prayer.”
Often churches to help people stay in worship, word, and prayer and to continue in the faith.
b. In what ways is it failing to do so? How can we be more effective in reaching those who need the Lord?
Throughout America there is a cultural wall between the church world and the harvest. Churches as a whole are not penetrating the social world of unbelievers very effectively. In fact, in America the churches are not growing as fast as the population even in areas where there are sound, healthy churches.
2. How do the following factors influence our ability to reach lost people?
a. Busyness, no time margins for people, stressful or complicated lives
Luke 10:30-37 Story of Good Samaritan.
Cares of life choking out fruitfulness (Luke 8:14). Urgent overshadowing the Important.
b. Attitudes concerning the lost and eternity
The enemy will try to convince us that
-unbelievers would not respond to the gospel. If they wanted it they would have already received it.
-its the churches job!( failing to remember that we are the church).
-I don’t know enough—I wouldn’t present it right—I would just make matters worse.
--Nobody would listen to me.
c. Compartmentalizing our lives
--Never talk about politics are religion is the world’s advice. I wonder who came up with that idea? Who would want us to only talk about Christ to Christians?
--Fear of man. It’s easy to just fit in, don’t rock the boat, don’t be pushy. At Church I worship but at work I work.
3. What do you think are some barriers that hinder effective communication of the good news to lost people?
Inconsistent lives of Christians
Fear
Apathy & lack of urgency
4. Paul said he becomes all things to all people that he might by all possible means save some. (I Cor. 9:19-27)
a. In what ways would you apply that principle to the people you work with or know in other social settings?
Try to find something in common that you would both enjoy doing together. There may even be times you do something you don’t particularly like just for the opportunity to build the relationship.
Be sensitive to share your faith in a way that makes sense to them rather than just parroting Christian clichés.
b. In what ways would you not adapt to other people in order to win them?
I would not participate in something that was clearly sinful or contrary to my conscience. (Eph. 5:11)(Romans 14:23)
c. In what ways might we individually or collectively adapt ourselves more in order to reach lost people?
Make time to interact with them. Show hospitality to them and invite them over for a meal. Drop churchy talk and using some of their terminology discuss issues of life that every human being struggles with, i.e. purpose in life, fulfillment and significance, relationships and acceptance, etc.
Go on their turf and find out what really motivates them, what their dreams are, etc. Be a good listener!
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[1] http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/schindler.html and http://remember.org/forgotten/ accessed 2-21-04
[2] Adapted from http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/righteous.html accessed 2-21-04
[3] http://www.biblehelp.org/mortality.htm, 56 million less 6.6% Christian http://search.blossom.com/get?&o=3p&i398&KEY=percentage+christian&URL=http://www.biblehelp.org/alltogether.htm accessed 2-21-04
[4] Acts 17:26
[5] Romans 3:1-2
[6] For an example of the way I am using this terms see http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0074a.html accessed 2-23-04
[7] 1 Peter 2:17
[8] Acts 4:12
[9] Romans 12:2; Col. 2:8
[10] 2 Timothy 1:7
[11] ILL Notebook: Evangelism (when tickets don’t hurt). From Paul Decker sermon entitled “The Road Less Traveled” accessed at www.sermoncentral.com
[12] http://internet.ggu.edu/university_library/if/Niemoller.html accessed 2-21-04
[13] In our second service I illustrated this using a Sienfield eposode in which George’s girlfriend became friends with his friend Elaine. George freeked out because he could not handle merging of this two worlds that he kept as serparate compartments of his life.
[14] A phrase I have heard Reinhard Bonnke use. See http://www.cfan.org/
[15] J. Oswald Sander’s , Effective Evangelism, p. 15
[16] 1993 Universal Pictures
