THE TRENTON BULLETIN

THE TRENTON BULLETIN

Trenton Church of Christ, Trenton, Florida

In Acts 5, we learn that two Christians, Ananias and his wife Sapphira, were intending to copy the example of Barnabas and other saints by selling a plot of land and bringing the proceeds to benefit the needy of the Jerusalem church. However, unlike Barnabas, this couple covets the notoriety of such a gift but does not want the pain of charity to afflict them so severely. Ananias and Sapphira conspire to pretend they are giving all when they are really only giving part of the proceeds. Truly, it was their option to give as they chose, but they endeavored to deceive their brethren into thinking they had done more.

The apostle Peter accuses the husband of his sin, claiming he had “not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:4). Maybe that was news to Ananias. Maybe he thought he could gild the lily and look like a big man and no one would every know. Had Peter not possessed a prescient gift from the Holy Spirit, he might have gotten away with it. But honestly, God would have always known the truth anyway.

Ananias was struck dead and his unwitting wife soon joined him in eternity. They perished simply because they pretended to have piety when in fact, they were just going through the motions.

Our offering to God must be more than financial, of course. Money is only a part of the Lord’s work and what he demands and deserves from his children. The Hebrew writer tells us that he also should receive from us “the sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of our lips” (Hebrews 13:15). Is God listening to our songs? As surely as he beheld the sacrifice of bulls and goats in Moses’ day, he is beholding the notes and words of our songs today. Paul describes our song service as “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16). Our songs are directed toward heaven and they are received there.

For our songs to be a pleasing aroma to God, they must be sincere. The most avowed atheist could sing ‘Amazing Grace’ on stage for money, but God would not be worshipped because the grace was not in his heart. We must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23,24); that is, our songs must be authorized by God and sincere from the heart. If you don’t mean it, don’t sing it. If you don’t mean it, God won’t accept it.

What if God calls our songs as evidence in the great day of reckoning? Will they have reflected the thoughts and purpose of the heart and body? Or will they be evidence of hypocrisy and vain worship? We have promised God over and over that we will ‘Take Time To Be Holy’ [118] by speaking often with Him and feeding on His word. We must ask how regular our prayer and study habit is. Or will the Judge convict us of singing insincerely?

When we sing ‘This World Is Not My Home’ [230], do the words emit from a heart secretly bowing at the altar of covetousness and the evil things of this world? Should God believe we are just passing through when we are busy heaping up treasure on earth and accruing nothing where we are supposedly headed for eternity (Matthew 6:19-21)?

We love to sing ‘Blest Be The Tie’ [302] that binds our hearts in Christian love. Do we mean it? Do we live it? Or do we not even consider one another and forsake the encouragement of the assembling together (Hebrews 10:24,25). Do we live to gossip and backbite? Do we count the tie that binds a noose around our libertine necks.

‘In Our Hands’ [616] the gospel is given, we sing. “Haste, let us carry God’s precious message; Guiding the erring back to the right.” But how can we say we mean it if we never utter the name of Jesus outside the security of the meeting house? Why should God accept that song from us if we horde the gospel like it might somehow be used up?

“Every time I sin on earth; I feel that I’m the one,” we pronounce in ‘I’m The One’ [604]. How can we even utter the words if we sin like we are sure of tomorrow? Unless we truly hate sin and intend to rid it from our lives, we had better not sing this song – we don’t meant it yet!

“Would you be free from your burden of sin? ‘There’s Power In The Blood’ [276]. Why then do we lust after the premiums offered by denominations like amusements, banquet halls and dramatic sketches? If we truly believe there is power in the blood, why flirt with anything else?

‘Tell Me The Story Of Jesus’ [156]. How dare we attempt to sing that in God’s presence when we never pick up a Bible to find the story in the first place? How dare we sing such words when we neglect Bible class?

We pledge allegiance to God beneath ‘The Banner Of The Cross’ [133]. “Marching on and on! Marching on and on!” Where are we going? Are we marching into our communities, families and workplaces like Christian soldiers or have we declared neutrality in the world war with the devil? If your faith never leaves the pew – you leave it there on Sunday afternoon and pick it up next Sunday morning – don’t sing like you plan to march under the Christian standard all week.

‘Make Me As Clay In The Potter’s Hand’ [111]. Singing this means you intend to truly be a disciple of Jesus, a person who is sincerely like Christ. That requires that your life be molded and shaped by the word and will of God. Will you read it? Will you apply what you read to your own life?

Then there’s the best one of all: ‘Are You Sowing The Seed Of The Kingdom Brother’ [85]. You had better be broadcasting the seed of faith yourself before you start asking about your brother’s habits (Matthew 7:1-5).

Conclusion: Christians must start listening to their songs and learning from them. God is listening. And if we are giving him a blemished sacrifice or keeping back part in pretense, we will be held accountable for it. What part of that offering might we be withholding? Is it the “spirit” or the “truth?” Could it be both?

The Bible is filled with stories of the faithful of God overcoming impossible odds over hardship and trial. Great men like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua and Gideon fill the mind with faith and victory. The courage of Esther and devotion of Ruth touch a responsive chord in the heart. David excels in his valor before Goliath and humbly admits his fault before Nathan the prophet. The prophets are filled with men of spirit like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea. In the New Testament we learn so well from the failings of Peter and stand in awe at his courage at other times. John the Baptist, Luke, Barnabas, Stephen and a host of disciples show their devotion to the cause of Jesus Christ. How can one not be humbled if not impressed with the remarkable character and persuasive will of the apostle Paul?

Throughout the unveiling of God’s stories of His faithful there is a list of quiet unknowns who shared the same faith as those we are so familiar with. Noah was a man of great faith who obeyed the will of God to build an ark for the saving of his household (Hebrews 11:7). But what of Mrs. Noah who faced the same challenges as her husband? She walked in the same shoes as her husband. From her viewpoint she fought the ever constant battle of teaching her three sons to remain unspotted from the world. She had three daughter-in-laws who need her guidance and spiritual help. Mrs. Noah is one of those quiet ones who stood beside her husband and helped mold the lives of their family.

The Hebrew writer mentions in passing the parents of Moses (Amram and Jochebed – Numbers 26:59). “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment” (Hebrews 11:23). The influence of godly parents shaped and molded the life of the most humble man on earth (Numbers 12:3). Students of the Bible desire a whole book devoted to the story of Amram and Jochebed and their faith but Moses’ parents went about their lives quietly serving the God of Abraham.

What a joy it must have been to share in the life of Jesus. Joseph and Mary were “highly favored” to be the earthly parents of God’s Son (talk about pressure). They quietly went about their life of raising and training the Son of God along with his brothers and sisters. He learned from them how to walk, talk, eat, clothe himself, pray, sing, laugh and in Joseph’s death the pain of mourning. What a wonderful time that must have been.

There are many today who quietly go about their work for the Lord. They will never have their names recognized by others nor stand in the light of men’s accolades. Yet their heavenly Father knows who they are. He knows their love, their kindness, their acts of mercy and their devoted love for Him (Matthew 25:34-40). They are the “others” of Hebrews 11; the unnamed saints of Romans 16; the three-thousand of Acts 2 and the host of God’s people throughout the centuries that have struggled in their own little space of time to preserve the truth of God’s word. “And a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.’ Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns’” (Revelation 19:5-6).

After pointing out that "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth", Jesus relates the parable of the rich and foolish farmer (Luke 12:16-21). He tells how the farmer "reasoned within himself" about such things as bigger barns, much goods, and many years of taking it easy. But, as Jesus shows, the farmer's meditations are interrupted by the voice of God with the last words he would ever hear: "Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?"

Such big-barn thinking is not confined to the affluent, much less to wealthy farmers. To this day it continues as a prevalent hindrance to man's right standing with God — and is no less foolish now than when Jesus spoke this parable. It is foolish because it leaves God out of one's life. Maybe the foolish farmer of the parable had good intentions about serving God later — as do many of his modern counterparts. But "maybes", "good intentions", and "later" are poor substitutes for present personal involvement for the Lord. Many, like Felix, seek a more convenient season in which to serve God (Acts 24:25). But for now, God and His work are made subservient to "goods" and "barns" and merry-making. How foolish! — especially for those claiming to be seeking God and His kingdom first, as per Matthew 6:33. And right here is the crux of the matter — priorities. Barns, goods, and harmless pleasures are not wrong in themselves, but only as they come to dominate our thinking, time, and interests to the neglect of God.

Another reason why big-barn thinking is foolish is because it places the material above the spiritual; the transient and temporary above the eternal. As Jesus teaches, a man's life is more than material possessions. There is another and more important dimension to man's life and it is the spiritual. Thus, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). To live by God's word is just that — a way of life that is governed and directed by His truth. It is walking by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7); it is living the here-and-now in consideration of the hereafter; it is living God's way! But, as the foolish farmer, many live as if this life is all there is. His chief concern was "my fruits", "my barns", "my grain" and "my goods". We bow before the same idol of materialism when preoccupied with such things as my comfort, my pleasure, my possessions, and my money — and all at the expense of my soul!

This big-barn thinking is also foolish because it assumes future time. In making provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14), the farmer thought in terms of "many years". Had he been more spiritual minded he would have realized that "this night" of death is never far from any mortal. James reminds those making elaborate plans for the future that, "ye know not what shall be on the morrow" (4:14). The farmer wasted the present in preparing for an uncertain future on the earth; he planned to live but not to die. We must not repeat his mistakes. To do so makes us even more foolish than he.

During a thunderstorm that contained high winds, a giant oak tree was blown down. The tree was thought to be in perfect health; that is, from outward appearance it seemed to be in good health since it was almost perfectly shaped and full of green leaves. However, the massive tree could not withstand the stress of the high wind because of deterioration on the inside. What started as a tiny corruption at the center of the tree had spread until that tremendous tree was so weakened that it was toppled by the wind.

One may reach a point where he forsakes God altogether. It is because he (like the tree) has decayed on the inside. Perhaps the deterioration started with a little lie or one small drink of beer or forsaking the assembly to go fishing or camping. Long before our feet carry us where we ought not go, and our hands do what they ought not do, the desire is in our hearts. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You” (Psalms 119:9-11). With pure hearts we will be able to stand the stress of temptation and the stress of everyday living.

> Christ did not love humanity. He never said that He loved humanity; He loved men. (G. K. Chesterton)

> When has any man of prayer told us that prayers has failed him? (Georges Bernanos)