Letters From Grandpa #591

• LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
• 591

Dearest grandchild,

Todays letter will be about “believing in vain.” This Scripture is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-2: “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”

1 Corinthians 15 is called the “Resurrection Chapter” of the Bible. This chapter has 58 verses and every verse deals with the resurrection. First Paul presents evidence to prove that Jesus was raised from the dead. The resurrected Jesus not only appeared to His apostles, but also to a great number of other witnesses. In fact, Jesus appeared to more than 500 brethren at the same time (1 Corinthians 15:6). This letter was written less than 30 years after His resurrection so virtually all of these witnesses were still alive. Many of them later died as martyrs. The word “martyr,” as you know, comes from the Greek word “martur” which means “witness.” The fact that these “witnesses” to the resurrection, made them “martyrs” in spite of torture and death is powerful evidence that their “witness” was true!

Second, this chapter also presents the promise that we too will someday be raised from the dead. The possibility is a powerful reason to prepare for that event. Paul reasoned that just as a buried seed seems to die but comes out of the ground with new life, we too will do the same. “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)

So, what does it mean to “believe in vain”? Apparently it means to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, and that we will also be raised from the dead, and then do nothing about it!

The late Dr. Wayne Bigelow was a friend of our family for many years. When he spoke as a doctor to the students or the Ozark Christian College, he urged them to choose a life style that they would never regret. He then told of the first three patients he treated as a young intern. In spite of his best efforts they all died. This made a profound impression on him! One was a chain smoker who died of lung cancer. The second was an alcoholic who died of cirrhosis of the liver. The third was sexually permissive and died of an STD. All three of these patients died of a life style they came to regret!

While I did not know those three individuals, permit me to tell you three others that I did know. The first was my Aunt Sally who lived in Neosho, Mo. She was a chain smoker who would light up a cigarette, laugh, and say - “Well, here is another nail in my coffin.” As the end grew near, however, her addiction to smoking was not a laughing matter. The second was an alcoholic man in San Jose, California who attended our church. Before dying he was institutionalized with ARBD (alcohol related brain damage). Before his brain gave out he had been in a near fatal accident while driving under the influence. Later, at the urging of his wife, Harold Lass and I took the rotor out of his distributer while he was drunk on the sofa. She feared that when he woke up from his drunken stupor he would climb in his car and drive to get another drink and perhaps kill someone. He knew better than to drink, but seemed powerless to control his habit. The third was a healthy looking 21 year old man in ICU at Freeman’s Hospital in Joplin. His grandmother asked me to visit him in the ICU which I was happy to do. He had pneumonia. Before leaving I laid my hands on him and prayed thinking that with the help of God and powerful antibiotics he would soon be well. When he died I discovered that his pneumonia was a result of AIDS. In each instance these people were victims of their own life styles. They knew

better! Each “knew” that their life style was dangerous! Each “believed” that they needed to change! Sadly, however, they “believed in vain!” What they claimed to “believe” did not change the way they lived!

We have told you before of Blaise Pascal (1623–1662). He was a French mathematician and philosopher who discovered the probability theory in gambling. This genius also invented the roulette wheel and provided gambling casinos with ways to establish mathematical certainty that the “house” would always make a profit. Pascal even invented the “Pascaline” which was a precursor to our modern computers. One of his most famous quotes was “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Apparently he believed we were too busy to think!

One day when Pascal “sat quietly alone and thought” he came to “believe” that someday he was going to die. He was right! He died August 19, 1662 at the age of 39. Pascal, however, did not “believe in in vain”! He did something about what he believed! To him, accepting Jesus was an obvious rational choice. After a near death experience on November 23, 1654 he gave up worldly ambitions and devoted himself to serving God! He acted on what he “believed”! No gambler ever risked so little to gain so much. While no one can “prove” the existence of God with mathematical certainty, the evidence for God is still overwhelming! The gamble of betting “temporal pleasure” for “eternal reward” is known as “Pascal’s wager”.

You didn’t ask to be born, but you were! You may not want to die, but you will! Please don’t believe in vain! “The fool says in his heart there is no God! (Psalms 14:1) PLEASE DON’T BE A FOOL!

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce