Lesson 25: Our Primary Task

QUESTIONS 1. What was the crime of the lighthouse keeper? He did not do his job ie He didn't keep the light shining throughout the night. 2. Did the judge do the right thing in punishing him? If so, why? Yes. Despite his good reputation and good deeds, he failed to do his primary task and many lives were lost as a result. 3. What is the primary responsibility of the Church? The church can so often get caught up in legitimate acts of kindness —standing for political righteousness, feeding the hungry, etc.—but our primary task is to warn sinners of danger. We are to keep the light of the gospel shining so that sinners can avoid the jagged-edged rocks of wrath and escape being eternally damned. 4. What did Oswald J. Smith say about our wrong priorities? Oswald J. Smith said, “Oh my friends, we are loaded down with countless church activities, while the real work of the Church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost, is almost entirely neglected.” 5. What tasks is your own church involved in, while it neglects evangelism? Everything but evangelism. 6. What does it indicate if we have no concern for the lost? We have polished the engines of worship, prayer, and praise and neglected the sober task given to us by God. A firefighter who ignores his responsibilities and allows people to perish in the flames is not a firefighter; he is an impostor. How could we ignore our responsibility and allow the world to walk blindly into the fires of hell? If God’s love dwells within us, we must warn the lost. The Bible tells us to “have compassion...save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 22,23). If we don’t have love and compassion, then we don’t know God—we are impostors (see 1 John 4:8). Charles Spurgeon said, “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that.” Memory Verse “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 TIMOTHY 4:2