By: Scott Adkins, Sling ‘n Stone Ministry
Carter County Times
The warden in Cool Hand Luke, a 1967 film starring Paul Newman as Luke, admonished Luke: “You gonna get your mind right, and I mean right.” Luke’s mind was not right because Luke lowly esteemed the sovereign over him and its authority. Luke’s so doing led Luke to disobey and defy that sovereign and its authority. Luke’s disobedience and defiance provoked the sovereign’s wrath and led to Luke’s unending suffering – and ultimately, to his death because Luke refused to get his mind right about the sovereign and its authority.
How does Newman’s Luke from 1967 relate to 21st century Christians? Answer: Like Cool Hand Luke in 1967, today’s Christians lowly esteem both their Sovereign and His authority. Their doing so causes them to disobey and defy their Sovereign and His authority. What Sovereign? The only Sovereign that exists: The Lord Jesus Christ, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8). What authority? His Word—the “sword of (His) mouth.” (Revelation 2:16).
How do today’s Christians lowly esteem the Almighty? They do as Israel did in King David’s day: They suppose the Almighty to be like them. (Psalms 50:21). Nothing could be more wrong – and more dangerous. HE is wholly unlike anyone or anything on Earth – that’s what the Book of Revelation reveals. HE is to be feared and obeyed. Yet folks utter drivel like “Jesus gets us,” or “God is love,” to excuse their unholy living; they do so even though HIS Word warns: “(W)ithout holiness no man shall see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14). Why such drivel? Because “(t)here is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18).
How do today’s Christians lowly esteem HIS Word? They disregard it; they obey that which they find convenient and offer excuses to disobey that of HIS Word they find inconvenient. Example: The Lord commanded, not suggested, we “go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” (Mark 16:15). Similarly, HE commanded that we “go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in.” (Luke 14:23), and “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33).
Yet few actually do. Everyone else carelessly ignores our Lord’s warnings about being
found idle and disobedient when He returns. (Matthew 24:50-51) (disobedient servant will be cut asunder); (Luke 12:47) (servant beaten with many stripes when he knew the LORD’s will but disobeyed).
We promote not salvation by works. Rather, we urge those who love the Lord to keep HIS commandments. (John 14:15). That is – a genuine faith in (and love for) the Lord Jesus Christ naturally causes or brings about the reverence for HIM and the obedience to HIS Word that HE and HIS Word demand. (Matthew 7:18). Folks, if we don’t get our minds right – if we don’t highly esteem HIM and HIS Word, we might find ourselves cut asunder and beaten with many stripes, like Cool Hand Luke. To avoid that fate, we must get our minds right about HIM and about HIS Word.
