No Time for Apathy

By Greg Neely

"No Time for Apathy" is a collection of the writings of the late Greg Neely.  As well as being a gifted preacher, Greg was also able to communicate his passion for, and knowledge of, God and His Word on the written page.  This collection comprises 27 pieces of writing, encompassing practical advice, Bible character studies and themed biblical exposition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hayes Press
• Release date: Jun 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533764997

Book preview

NO TIME FOR APATHY!

BY GREG NEELY

Copyright © 2016 HAYES PRESS. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, without the written permission of Hayes Press.

Published by:

HAYES PRESS

The Barn, Flaxlands

Royal Wootton Bassett

Swindon, SN4 8DY

United Kingdom

WWW.HAYESPRESS.ORG

First Edition June 2016

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB®), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission (www.Lockman.org).

Scriptures marked RV are from the Revised Version Bible, 1885 (Public Domain). Scriptures marked KJV are from the King James Version, 1611 (Public Domain).  Scriptures marked NKJV are from the HOLY BIBLE, the New King James Version® (NKJV®). Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked NIV are from the New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: NO TIME FOR APATHY!

CHAPTER TWO: NOT RULES, BUT A RELATIONSHIP

CHAPTER THREE: TRADITIONS THAT HAVE VALUE

CHAPTER FOUR: A MAN WORTH IMITATING

CHAPTER FIVE: THE VALUE OF THE BURNT OFFERING

CHAPTER SIX: RAISED TO SERVE!

CHAPTER SEVEN: JOSEPH THE SERVANT

CHAPTER EIGHT: MEN OF OUTSTANDING CAPABILITY

CHAPTER NINE: LESSONS FROM BETRAYAL

CHAPTER TEN: CALLED TO JESUS

CHAPTER ELEVEN: PRAYER – A DIVINE RESPONSE TO PERSONAL NEED

CHAPTER TWELVE: TEACHING OF THE WORD

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: FELLOWSHIP WITH EACH OTHER

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: SIMON PETER – REVELATION AND REBUKE

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE LORD ON EARTH

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: GOD’S CHOSEN REJECTED

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: MAKING A MARRIAGE WORK

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: TEACHING CHILDREN BY EXAMPLE

CHAPTER NINETEEN: GOING AWAY FROM HOME TO STUDY

CHAPTER TWENTY: RAISED, SEATED, EXALTED – THE HEAVENLIES IN EPHESIANS

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: DAVID – LOVER OF GOD

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: CHRIST IN JOHN’S GOSPEL

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: COVENANT RENEWAL

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: GOD’S GLORY REVEALED

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: SERVING AS DEACONS

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: THE LEVITES AND THE PSALM OF ASAPH

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: THE WORD OF THE CROSS

MORE TITLES FROM HAYES PRESS

CHAPTER ONE: NO TIME FOR APATHY!

The captivity in Babylon is over. The remnant of God’s people have returned to Jerusalem and have begun to rebuild the temple. Having put in the foundation, the people stop working because of opposition (Ezra 4:4,24).

In the second year of king Darius, some fifteen years later, the word of the Lord comes through Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua, the high priest. The problem now is not opposition, but apathy, and hearts that are set, not on the things of God, but on personal affairs. Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, Consider your ways (Hag.1:5). The word for consider is literally set the heart. Adjust your priorities! Put God in the proper place in your affections. Stop spending so much time in your own pursuits and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified, says the LORD. You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts, Because of my house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house (Hag.1:8,9). The running of the people to their own houses shows their zeal, but for the wrong things. They made no movement to the house of God. The prophecy about the Lord in Psalms 69:9 and 119:139, as remembered by the disciples in John 2:17: Zeal for Thy house will consume Me, was lacking in this apathetic group of people. As a result, their efforts were getting poor results.

In many countries today, we see little outright opposition to the work of the Lord, but apathy is evident. The running to our own houses gets in the way of our movement in and about God’s house and little seems to get done. Each one of us needs to stop and set the heart. Haggai 1:12 makes clear that the leaders and all the followers, upon careful consideration, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people showed reverence for the LORD. On the basis of that obedience came the promise I am with you. Obedience brought divine blessing. It also brought a divine stirring of their hearts to get busy. Notice that first the people stirred themselves to obey the Word of the Lord. Then the Lord stirred their hearts. What a powerful combination! The result was a house for God to dwell in among His people in all His glory, even though such glory might not be visible. In spite of the poorer economic condition of the people (their zeal after their own affairs did not make them wealthy), God promised to fill the temple with His glory if His people realigned their priorities. When men stir themselves to be about the work of the Lord, the Lord will look after their affairs, as well as the size, grandeur and glory of His house. We need to stir ourselves so that God can in turn stir us with divine energy to do His work.

Paul writes to the Philippians and says, So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed ... work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil.2:12,13). Our obedience and God’s working in and through us go hand in hand. We need not expect His stirring without our own first. Paul tells the Romans to be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord (12:11). Fervent means boiling. We get that way by getting close to the source of the heat. God does not do that for us. We have the responsibility to be fervent.

Of Apollos, in Acts 18:25, we read that he was a man who was instructed in the Way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus. How did he get such fervency? Verse 24 indicates he was mighty in the Scriptures. That is the source of the heat! We shall not match his fervency without matching his might in the Scriptures. As we obediently stir ourselves to the task, God in turn adds His blessing and things get done to His glory.

In Haggai’s day, the result was the presence of God in the house. The people considered their ways, obeyed the Word of God, were stirred by the Lord, and then got busy and completed the house of God. The apathy was gone. Fervency had replaced it. And rich blessing resulted. Times may have changed, but the operation of God in and through His people has not: make our priority His house, not our own. He is more than capable of looking after our things and blessing them in any case. And he has entrusted His things to us for care. Apathy should have no place among the people of God in any day. Be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.

CHAPTER TWO: NOT RULES, BUT A RELATIONSHIP!

Under the Old Covenant in Israel, eternal life was secured, not by rigidly adhering to a set of rules called the Law, but by a relationship with God based on faith. Obedience to God in keeping the Law was evidence of the relationship that existed. Thus, when the lawyer responded to his own question in Luke 10 about how to inherit eternal life, his answer was an appropriate summary of the Law.

The Lord Himself said the same thing when in Mark 12 He was asked What commandment is the foremost of all? His answer was that which the lawyer gave: You shall love the Lord your God ... and your neighbor as yourself’. To the lawyer in Matthew 22:40 He said: On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets". Without a relationship with God based on faith in whatever generation, eternal life is not possible. The Law is not a formula for eternal life. It points man to the One who gives eternal life, God Himself. Rigid adherence to a legal system, as taught by the leaders in Israel, never purchased eternal life. The Lord abhorred merely formal observance of tradition and condemned Israel for it.

What is eternal life? The Lord Jesus defined it in John 17:3 where we read: And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. It is not simply a measure of the length of life, but it is a new life with new qualities based on a personal relationship with the eternal God, and given by Him to those who come to Him by faith in His Word (Rom.6:23). Hebrews 11:6 makes it clear that in any generation without faith it is impossible to please Him. The scribe in Mark 12:34 realized that a legal system was of no use without the intended relationship through faith and love. To him the Lord said, You are not far from the kingdom of God. The system that was put in place was of continuous value, but each person had to be united to it by faith (Heb.4:2).

A relationship of love with God demands an application to men. The apostle John later wrote to fellow disciples of the Lord and said, If someone says I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also (1 Jn.4:20,21).

One cannot claim to love those whom God loves, other men and women. It is not only the Law that insists that people show love to one another, but the New Covenant has the same requirement for us. The lawyer, no doubt, believed he knew and loved God as he should. But he obviously did not understand what was involved. The teachers of the day restricted the meaning of neighbor to include very few. So