THE TRENTON BULLETIN

THE TRENTON BULLETIN

Trenton Church of Christ, Trenton, Florida

Before Tiger Woods, there was Bobby Jones. A generation ago, he was the best golfer ever to play the game. Some contend there will never be anyone to match his feats in golf. At the prime of his life and his game, Jones was stricken with a crippling disease that eventually took his life. When he could no longer play the game he had mastered like no other, he was asked how he felt about it. His reply, "I have to play it where it lies."

You have to have some knowledge of the rules of golf to fully appreciate his answer. When you hit a golf ball, where it lands is the spot from which you must hit your next shot. For instance, if you are on the tee and you wind up and with a mighty swing only send it 10 yards down the fairway, that is the spot from which you must hit your second shot. To circumvent this rule, many golfers (aka “hackers”) use a "mulligan" whereby you get to take another shot without counting it. It is kind of a gentleman's agreement to cheat.

If your ball happens to land in the rough (that's the high grass, weeds and trees that line the fairway), you must hit it from the rough. You're not supposed to pick it up and place it neatly in the fairway; you have to "hit it where it lies."

Bobby Jones reminds us that life sometimes hands us some "rough" times. It would be nice if you could, "hit it in the fairway" every time, but that does not happen, even in golf. The best golfers have learned how to hit it well under “rough” conditions and that separates the men from the boys. As we live, we learn that there will be fair weather days and foul. There will be good times and bad, heart joy and heart break. Just about the time you think you're at your peak and nothing can go wrong, the ground can fall out from under you.

How Jones handled his disappointing and disabling disease speaks volumes about his character. I do not know what kind of spiritual background he had, but he sure learned something about how to graciously handle adversity.

Did not Job, that marvelous character from the Bible, teach us the same lesson? Talk about your adversity, Job excels them all! Yet, he did not do, as his wife advised him to "curse God and die" (Job 2:9). Though he struggled with the questions that plague us all when adversity strikes (he did not understand why it was all happening), he ultimately rebounded to even greater faith and prosperity. He chose to praise God and live.

Back to the golf analogy. One of the greatest differences between the professional and amateur is what they can do when they find themselves in adverse conditions. The pro can take a poor shot that has landed in the most terrible lie imaginable and hit a shot that defies description that lands on the green. The amateur just whacks around, takes his 7 on a par 3, or may even pick up his ball and go home. He might get so aggravated as to cuss, wrap a club around a tree, or throw it into the water. He has not learned to deal with adversity.

Too many times, we throw our hands up in despair when the best practice is to raise them in prayer. Paul and Silas teach us that from a Philippian jail. They had been beaten severely and thrown under the jail. Rather than filled with despair the air was filled with "praying and singing hymns unto God" (Acts 16:25). The other prisoners heard them and so must we. The next time you're in the middle of some of the worst "rough" imaginable, let the air be filled with prayers and hymns to God.

Just as the amateur golfer will rarely be able to work himself out of "impossible" lies, we will find ourselves in "impossible" situations in life. In such cases, God is the Professional and we're simply going to have to leave it in His very capable hands. When we are tempted to give up in despair, we must let Him "make the shot." Thing is, in His providence, He may decide to let us "tough it out" a little longer than we desire. That is when faith has to kick in.

God let Abraham take several days to journey to the mountain upon which he was to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22). God didn't let him off the hook until the very last moment. There's no use trying to figure out God's timing on anything, especially how long adversity will last or how many things will pile up at one time. Just about the time you think you have got about all you can possibly handle, another difficulty comes roaring in. Whoever says, “Troubles come in threes,” is wrong. Sometimes they come in sevens and tens.

The golfer who makes his living from the game has to learn to live with adversity. He has to handle it under pressure packed situations. If he does not, he loses not only his composure but also a lot of money. Those of us who "make our living" being a Christian must learn to handle adversity, too. Since our Lord is not going to put a protective bubble around us and keep us from all difficulty, we simply must learn to put our faith and trust in Him. Frequently, we may find ourselves having gone as far as we can go, having done all that we can do, having said all that we can say, and cried all that we can cry. Then we have to "take it to the Lord and leave it there" as the old song urges. Peter put it this way: "casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you" (I Peter 5:7). Just prior to that he said, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time" (v. 6).

When your hand shakes with fear, uncertainty, and weakness, put it in the Hand of Almighty God, who in His own good time and His good way, will lift you up. It's the only way to live, really live. Whatever our reality is, rough or smooth, let us learn to “play it where it lies.”

Fundamentals are a vital concern for whatever the project or enterprise. Without a firm foundation, any endeavor is eventually doomed to failure. Fundamentals are the things that undergird something, the foundation on which that thing rests. The Christian system has certain fundamental things that underlie it. These are necessary fundamentals. Here are some suggestions concerning those essential parts.

Conversion. Conversion indicates a change. Change is what the “new birth” is all about (John 3:3). Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” That conversion is a change of the whole man–a change of his intellect, brought about by faith; a change of his will, brought about by repentance; and a change of his relationship, brought about by baptism. This fundamental change brings one “into” Christ or into a new relationship with Him. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all things are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” Jesus said (Matthew 18:3). Conversion is fundamental to Christianity; it’s what makes one a Christian in the first place.

Conviction. Conviction issues in two different directions: it may be the equivalent of faith, or it may be what is produced by the knowledge of being found guilty. First of all, it’s being convinced, fully persuaded. That’s faith. Conviction is faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him,” we are told in Hebrews 11:6. We must be fully convinced that God is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek after Him. Faith is an essential part of Christianity; it is the bedrock foundation on which the entire system rests.

But conviction can turn in another direction as well. It may mean one who is convicted by the law, one who is guilty of a crime, as charged by a judge or jury. Man has to realize his lost condition before he will turn to God. The people on Pentecost were “pricked in their hearts” (Acts 2:37) before they said, “men and brethren, what shall we do?” One of the purposes of the word of God is to identify sin for what it is, and cause men to repent. “Godly sorrow worketh repentance (2 Corinthians 6:10). Sorrow for sin comes as a result of a realization that one is not approved of God because of that sin. In either case–whether it is understood as faith, or being found guilty– conviction is a fundamental part of Christianity.

Consecration. To consecrate something is to set it apart, to make it sacred. In the case of Christianity, consecration is an indispensable part of service to God. As we have seen already, the Christian must be a new creature, one who has been born again. Once that is accomplished, he then must consecrate himself to God through His Son, Jesus Christ. “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed,” we are told, “by the renewing of your minds” (Romans 12:1-2). Notice that one must renew his mind in order to be consecrated to God. He must have a new focus, new desires, a new attitude toward the world, all of which has to do with his being set apart or consecrated to God. “Set your affection on things above, not on things of the world” (Colossians 3:2), is another way of saying, “be consecrated to God rather than the world.”

Consummation. Consummation is bringing one’s life to a suitable end or conclusion. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” says Paul (Philippians 2:12). You have to work it out yourself; and you have to work it all the way out to the end, or as Peter says,“Give diligence to make your calling and elections sure (2 Peter 1:10). Consummation, for our purposes, means to bring your sanctified life to a good conclusion. “Gird up the loins of your mind, and be sober,” says Peter (1 Peter 1:13), “and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Live your life here in such a way that when it is concluded you will hear the commendation, “well done good and faithful servant...” Life is a miserable failure if it doesn’t, by the grace of God, culminate in a heavenly abode.

Fundamentals. They’re necessary to who and what we are. Let us not become so enamored with where we are that we forget where we’re going.

It’s easy to overlook those three little words. Yet they appear at the front end of some of the most often-quoted passages. The warning in 1 Corinthians 15:33 is not just that “evil companions corrupt good morals,” but that there is a possibility of deceiving ourselves into thinking otherwise. Galatians 6:7 asserts the truth that “whatever a man sows, this he will also reap,” but only after establishing the fact that most men convince themselves of the opposite. So it is that when Paul reminded the Corinthians about the kinds of sins that exclude men from the kingdom of God, he used that same three word admonition: “be not deceived” (1 Corinthians 6:9).

Our society is saturated with sex. Things that used to cause people to blush behind closed doors are now flaunted in the face of God. But just because our world advertises sex as something common or casual does not mean that the Lord sees it the same way. He created these natural desires as pure and holy, to be enjoyed in the boundaries of the marriage relationship. When those barriers are crossed, the result is sin against God who created and sanctified it. Don’t let our culture deceive you otherwise.

Through the account of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11, we find the way to avoid self deception with regard to sexual sin. “That could never happen to me.” David was a man after God’s own heart. He was hand-picked by the Lord Himself to be the next king of Israel. It was David who defeated the giant. It was David who twice spared the life of Saul, the Lord’s anointed. It was David who befriended Jonathan in a most beautiful way. But the story of his life is not just about David and Goliath, or David and Saul, or David and Jonathan. It’s also about David and Bathsheba.

Sexual sin does not just happen. It occurs when people, young or old, single or married, are unwise about the choices they make or careless about the situations they place themselves in. Those who thought they could never be seduced or tempted are suddenly making plans when parents are not home, reserving hotel rooms, or carrying out in the body things they first contemplated in the mind. The moment we think we are immune to the devil’s devices is just when he has us in his grasp. Be not deceived.

“I can stop this before it goes too far.” David had plenty of opportunities to turn back from the affair before it ever got started. “He saw a woman bathing” (11:2). While this was well before the age of remote controls, the king could have quickly changed the channel and looked elsewhere. “The woman was very beautiful in appearance” (11:2). In the Hebrew, that literally reads, “she was of good appearance – exceedingly.” David would never have known that had he turned his head immediately. “So David sent and inquired about the woman” (11:3). Finding out she was married, he could have decided to pursue her no further. “And David sent messengers and took her” (11:4). What possible good thing could have come out of this meeting? One bad decision begat another until finally, “he lay with her” (11:4).

In times of temptation, God has promised that there will always be a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). All too often, we run right past it or look for the exit that’s a little further down the road. Fornication occurs when people think they can get a little closer to the fire without getting burned. Adultery happens when people convince themselves that inappropriate behavior is acceptable since they are “just friends.” Be not deceived. The best way to stop it is to not even let it get started.

“No one else knows about it.” As soon as Bathsheba said, “I am pregnant (11:5), the cover-up began. David ultimately had Uriah, listed as one of his mighty men in 2 Samuel 23, killed in battle so that he could take Bathsheba as his wife and somehow legitimatize their unborn child. All of this had escaped the eyes of Israel, but not the attention of heaven. “The thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord” (11:27).

There is no such thing as a secret sin hidden from Him with whom we have to do. Even if we have been able to cover our tracks to keep from hurting those who love us the most, we are still accountable to the Creator of the body. The Scripture says, “fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Sins carried out in the dark will be brought to light. Be not deceived.

When confronted with his sin, David repented and accepted the consequences for his actions. God forgave him and restored to him the “joy of Thy salvation” (Psalm 51:12). May we likewise see the truth for what it is, and go our way and sin no more.