THE TRENTON BULLETIN

THE TRENTON BULLETIN

Trenton Church of Christ, Trenton, Florida

As Jesus prepared His disciples for His death, He wanted to give them the assurance that while He was “going away” they would not be left alone. In this discourse of John 14, Thomas says to Jesus, “’Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to Him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also’” (John 14:5-7a). It would not have seemed as important then as this passage has become through the revealing of God’s will to man in the preceding generations.

The groundwork for the kingdom of God was clearly laid by the Son of God. Entrance into the blessings of God was limited; so much so that entrance into salvation was exclusive. When we think of something as being “exclusive”, we realize there is a sense of preventing participation in a certain thing. An exclusive club is one that allows certain people to be a part of the club; an exclusive interview is allowing only a finite opportunity to question an individual. Jesus made salvation exclusive.

If men are to seek the way to God, to understand the truth of God and find life in the blessings of God; Jesus is the only way – exclusive. Jesus said He was the way and offered no other avenues to the Father. "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). He affirmed that truth would only come through Him. “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21). Life eternal would only be granted through His life. “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11).

The exclusive nature of Jesus statement is that no one can come to the Father except through Him. Jesus is the only one who can call Jehovah God – “Father” – in the manner he did. “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him … And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form” (John 1:18; 5:37). No man has seen the Father. The exclusive nature of salvation is that only through the Son of God can man find salvation in God. Jesus alone has seen the Father.

Gamaliel spoke of men who rose up to draw men to themselves but came to no avail (Acts 5:34-39). His admonition was to let the apostles alone for if their work was of God it cannot be overthrown. Many men have risen up in the generations since time began to declare they have the path to God but only one – exclusive – only one is the avenue to God: JESUS CHRIST. There is only one avenue to the Father and that excludes Buddha, Mohammed, Luther, Joseph Smith, the Pope, you and me and any other man that thinks himself to be something.

There is only one way to Heaven and that is through the avenues laid down by Jesus Christ. There is only one truth and that truth is found in the Bible alone (excluding the Koran and Book of Mormon, etc). There is only one life that can be received in eternity and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ (John 6:53,54). Is God exclusive? He always has been (Exodus 20:1-6; Matthew 22:37; 1 John 5:1-5). His Son is exclusive (Matthew 7:21-23). There is only one way (Ephesians 4:1-6).

“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17,18).

Concepts have consequences in our lives, and concepts of God are the most consequential of all. False information about God will "mislead" us, whereas truthful information about Him is a "lamp" to our feet and a "light" to our path (Psalm 119:105). Christianity is a powerfully transforming force because it involves a deep renewal in our thinking (Romans 12:1,2), especially our thinking about God Himself (John 17:3). Yet long after the time when many of us should have experienced quantum improvements in the quality of our lives, we still struggle to maintain a minimum level of purity and holiness. We stumble as if we were walking in the dark. Could it be that our outward actions are being produced by inner thinking that is unworthy of God? Are we still being hindered by careless thinking about our Creator?

In Romans 6:17,18, Paul expressed gratitude that his readers had been "set free from sin." This, he said, had followed from their having "obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered." Most people think of "doctrine" as nothing more than religious theory, and they spend little time with it because they feel it is not very practical. Doctrine, or "instruction," is eminently practical, however. There simply can be no right practice without right thinking, at least none that will stand the test of time. The entire work of the devil is based on falsehood (John 8:44; Revelation 12:9), so it should come as no surprise that truth is the means by which God undoes that work (John 18:37; Acts 26:18). To know God as He truly is, and to base our "practical" decisions on that truth, is to be "set free from sin." There is no other way to make progress. Jesus said it with utter simplicity: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

To be careful, we should set ourselves the goal of improving our thinking about God a little bit each day. There is no question that our lives will be governed by some sort of thinking about God. The only question is what the quality of that thinking will be.

(I was recently asked for the meaning of 2 Corinthians 12:9 which states: “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” I was happy to respond, as it is a Bible principle dear to my heart.) You asked a good question. Keeping the passage in its context (2 Corinthians 12:1-10), Paul had just been given a wonderful revelation that had the potential to make him overly proud by thinking that God had singled him out as special. Such pride would hinder his effectiveness as a servant of the Lord. So, a limitation (not known exactly what it was) was given to him to remind him to be humble. Paul obviously chafed under the thorn and asked the Lord to remove it; perhaps he believed he would be more effective for the Lord without it. However, Jesus was clearly of a different opinion.

Paul himself had written that he understood his role for the Lord when he said, “we have this treasure in jars of clay” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7). He was talking about the gospel (treasure) entrusted to him and his fellow evangelists (jars of clay). When you put a treasure in a clay jar, the glory of the treasure stands out even more by virtue of the plain commonness of the simple pottery container. The clay jar does not distract attention away from the treasure; instead, it enhances the treasure by itself receding into the background unnoticed. The focus of the observer is drawn to the treasure and not the container.

So it is with the gospel given into the hands of ordinary (and sometimes flawed) men. The power of the gospel is clearly seen by the hearer who is not distracted by the appearance, talents, or splendor of the speaker. In fact, when the wonder of the gospel comes from an ordinary man, the hearer is more likely to think, “This man is an average Joe like me. This message is greater than the man; it must be from God.”

It is possible that Jesus is repeating this lesson to Paul by having him keep that limitation (thorn). When people hear Paul preaching the wonderful gospel in spite of the limitation (thorn, disability, etc.), they will know that it is of God and not from this flawed, weak man. In addition, it adds to the glory of the gospel for hearers to see that it has power in spite of the condition of the vessel that brings it. In short, for Paul to preach while bearing with the thorn made him a more effective servant of Christ. Jesus was stronger in the hearts and minds of the hearers because Paul, Jesus' messenger, was weak.

It's like the story of how the marathon began. A messenger sent from one Greek leader to another at a critical moment for the nation ran over 26 miles to carry his message. When he arrived dirty, sweaty, exhausted, he delivered his message and then died. The leader who received the message would not focus on the dirt and sweat and say his message can't be worth much; rather, he would be impressed with the importance of the message that a man would go through so much to deliver it. So it was with Paul. The message must be important for a man so hindered by the thorn to deliver it in spite of the limitations he bore.

Let's make an application of this. Suppose someone who has known of you and your trials over the years listens to you speak with them of the gospel and your hope of heaven, and they are aware of how much energy and will you must expend to do so. They are going to think, “This message must be important for her to make the effort to teach me. I must learn what it is about this gospel that enables her to do this.” Do you see how strong the Lord appears to others when magnified by one who has a thorn in the flesh?

In reality, we all have thorns to one degree or another (some have a whole thorn bush!). But we all work to overcome our thorns, we pray to have the Lord remove them, and when He says to bear with the thorn for now, we find a way to work His will with the thorn still in our flesh. It is one of the paradoxes of the Bible and it seems so counter intuitive to us, but how glorious is a Savior who can take flawed clay vessels and use them to magnify the treasure of the gospel! When I am weak, then He is strong.

It should not surprise us that this is the case. After all, Jesus had to descend into His weakest and most vulnerable condition in order to be an effective offering for our sins and to wrest the power over death away from Satan. He had to be rejected, beaten, die on the cross and enter the realm of death in order to do so. As the cross glorifies Jesus, so our thorns bring glory. We might even call our thorns “splinters from the cross.” I hope this helps. Thank you for asking!

This permissive age has produced a generation which neither knows nor cares about Bible principles of morality. Chastity the sanctity of marriage, and purity of heart almost seem to be relics of another age. Our young people are growing up under constant suggestions from the media and many of their friends that in moral matters “each can do his own thing.” Many people of more mature years are also affected. Here are some plain facts for young and old. Fornication is sin. This means every kind of illicit sexual activity. The Bible is plain: Those who practice fornication cannot go to heaven. (Galatians 5:19-21)

Pornography is a medium for lust and lasciviousness. This applies to suggestiveness, lewdness, nudity, etc., whether in printing, movies, or television. Jesus said, “But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).

Things done in secret are never hidden. Actions too shameful to describe are sometimes done in secret (Ephesians 5:12). Modern situations which provide privacy still do not hide anything from God (Proverbs 15:3). Every secret thing will be brought into judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

Love is not an excuse for sin. A typical defense for illicit sex is, “We love each other.” In the highest sense of love, one will not cause the one he/she loves to do that which will put him/her in danger of the fires of hell. One should be honest enough to calls things by their right name. It's not love. It's called lust (Romans 13:14).

Married love is God's plan for sexual fulfillment (Hebrews 13:14). The duties and privileges of the marriage relationship are clear (1Corinthians 7:3-5). Husbands and wives are required by law (God's law) to love each other (Ephesians 5:25; Colossians 3:18-19). Couples who “fall out of love” are not following God's plan.

Marriage is for life. No teaching of Christ is more plain than this (Matthew 19:3-9). Regardless of what counselors, lawyers, or judges might say, one who causes the break-up of their marriage for any cause except fornication sins against God. If he/she marries another (except when the mate put away was guilty of fornication) it is adultery.

Marriages which are guided by the principles of Christ are happy marriages. Because human beings are involved there are often some stresses and strains. But principles as in Ephesians 5:22-23; 1Peter 3:1-8; Ephesians 4:32; Acts 20:35; and Matthew 6:33 will show the way to overcome problems and to build happiness.

§ The best way for a person to have happy thoughts is to count his blessings and not his cash.