THE TRENTON BULLETIN

THE TRENTON BULLETIN

Trenton Church of Christ, Trenton, Florida

He stood over nine feet tall and probably weighed the equivalent of a small Volkswagen. He wore a bronze helmet and had bronze armor to protect his chest and legs. The chest armor alone weighed about one hundred twenty-five pounds. He carried a bronze sword strapped on his back, and his spear was so big that the iron spearhead alone weighed more than fifteen pounds. A soldier always walked in front of him to carry his shield. He was called Goliath from the town of Gath. (1 Samuel 17:1-7)

Southwest of Jerusalem in the Valley of Elah, the army of Israel stood in battle array against the insurgency of the Philistines. For forty days the behemoth challenger of the Philistines stood between the armies and offered a contest of one-on-one battle with the victor subduing the opposing army. The army of Israel was dismayed and greatly afraid. (1 Samuel 17:8-19)

An unlikely hero appeared to battle the giant Goliath. His name was David. The shepherd boy was dismayed himself; not at the fierce presence of Goliath but the lack of action for someone to stop the blasphemous cursing of Goliath against the God of Israel. Armed only with a sling David ran toward Goliath, striking him with a stone and then killing the champion of Gath with his own sword (1 Samuel 17:48-51).

The story most often will focus on the heroic action of David over Goliath. Yet, a great number of lessons are missed when we see the battle from Goliath’s viewpoint. He was raised a warrior from his youth (1 Samuel 17:33). All he knew in life was to fight. By the time he met David, his height is over nine feet tall. Shaquille O'Neal (7’ 1” / 325lbs) is small compared to Goliath. He became the champion of the Philistines and with little doubt lived an extravagant lifestyle as the bully of his world. No one stood against him. Whatever Goliath wanted in life, he took. But then he met a youth in the valley of Elah and Goliath learned about God.

Goliath learned in death that the accolades of men will only last a short time. When David slew the giant, the army of Philistia fled. He was no longer a hero. The Philistines used Goliath for their own purpose but in death he served no purpose. Goliath had lived for himself but now he met the Almighty God. The giant cursed David and disdained him as but a youth but in death he found his challenger to be right. “Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted’” (1 Samuel 17:45). Goliath ceased his taunting in death.

We learn that evil will not prevail. Those who lived during the reign of Hitler thought the evil would never end; it did! The presence of Goliath gave fear and dread for many years but then it ended. Righteousness always wins over unrighteousness. The souls in Revelation 6 cried out, “How long?” The answer came in chapter 19.

Goliath stood ready for battle and then he felt a terrible pain in his forehead. He fell to the ground in darkness. A sword pierced his body and then his head was removed. The spirit of Goliath returned to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). In death he opened his eyes to see the one of whom David spoke and he knew God. He also knew that he would dwell in an eternal fire for believing in himself and not the true God of Israel. There are many Goliath’s in the world today. Evil will not last and evil men will find their reward in death. Life is not about the now but about eternity. Do you know God?

“A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume” (Ecclesiastes 7:1). Though invisible, it can either help us or hinder us throughout life. It is very precious — so precious; indeed, it only takes a moment of thoughtlessness to harm it to the extent that it will take years and possibly decades for it to be healed. I am referring to one’s reputation.

Again, each of us possesses a reputation. Some of us have a good reputation and some do not. There might be times when we have had a bad reputation because of nothing we have done: maybe we are only guilty by association (i.e. we’ve chosen the wrong kind of people to be friends with – “Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals" (1 Corinthians 15:33). And sometimes we have a good reputation for the same reason: innocence by association (i.e. we’ve chosen the right kind of people to be friends with). So, we should learn to be choosy when it comes to our friends. Any friend of ours who tries to stop us from obeying God is not our friend.

We have a choice in what kind of reputation we are going to have — “Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold” (Proverbs 22:1). When someone comes to us looking for an “ear to bend,” how good are we at keeping things in confidence? Do we keep quiet or do we blurt out everything to everyone? The Bible says, “Don’t betray another person’s secret. Others may accuse you of gossip, and you will never regain your good reputation” (Proverbs 25:9–10).

When approached about the daily distribution of food among the widows, the apostles said to the people, “Select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task” (Acts 6:3). They were not told to just choose anyone, but men of good reputation. The word ambassador comes to mind at this point. An ambassador represents; so, we as Americans would probably not send someone like Mike Tyson to serve as an ambassador to any other nation simply because of his bad reputation based on his actions.

The question we should seriously ask of ourselves is, “Am I a good representative of Christ to others?” If not, then we obviously need to make changes. But be warned, these changes may take a while for others to notice. Be patient with others as they must obviously be patient with our changes. Furthermore, be patient with yourself as you make the necessary improvements. In other words, your reputation may take a while to fix. “A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume” (Ecclesiastes 7:1).

Not all preaching is done in pulpits. In fact, since it is so difficult to get people to come to our assemblies or Bible classes, perhaps the most effective "preaching" takes place when one shares his or her faith with someone else. The "live and let live" philosophy so prevalent in our time makes it more difficult to confront those lost in sin. They do not think it is any of our business to teach them what they need to do to be saved. They do not perceive our concern for them as "doing good" to them.

It is easy for us to see that if their physical lives were in jeopardy, that we would be remiss not to warn them about it, but for some reason we hesitate when it comes to their eternal safety. Whether they realize it, or not, the most good we can do for "all men" is to direct them to the gospel of Christ, which is found only in God's word--the Bible. Jesus said His purpose in coming to earth was to "seek and to save that which is lost" (Luke 19:10). As disciples and followers of Jesus, this also should be our "mission" in life. He told His disciples that He would make them "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19).

Jesus gave what we call the "great commission" to His apostles just before His ascension. He said, "All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:18-19). Lest we think that this commission was given exclusively to the few men who heard it on that occasion, Jesus went on to say, "Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (v.20). That makes this commission applicable to all of us who have been "baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

It is quite clear that the gospel is not always received well by those who hear it. Christians in the first century, when faced with extreme persecution for their faith, "went everywhere preaching the word" (Acts 8:4). I doubt that this aggressive evangelism was viewed by others as "good," but indeed it was.

The apostle Peter describes us as "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people" (1 Peter 2:9). This description is not to inflate our egos, but is our divine calling to "proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light." In order to be effective proclaimers of Christ, Peter goes on to beg us to have honorable conduct so that when those in the world think we are evildoers, they may by our "good works which they observe, glorify God" in the end (vs. 11-12).

This same message was conveyed by the apostle Paul as he urged us to "become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life" (Philippians 2:15-16). In teaching His disciples of the urgency of their mission, Jesus, in the parable of the great supper said: "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled" (Luke 14:23). Though we cannot actually "compel" people to obey the gospel, we must convey the message as compelling as it really is.

We must resist any temptation to make the gospel more attractive to men by appealing to the carnal man. We do people no favor by withholding truth from them, even though it may be unpleasant to them. The Apostle Paul's effort to "become all things to all men" (1 Corinthians 9:19-23) did not include compromise of truth. No matter how "acceptable" sin or false doctrine becomes in the world, we still have an obligation to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).

Who will do good to the lost? Solomon, in his wisdom, wrote, "He who wins souls is wise" (Proverbs 11:30). Think about it! If we do not take the gospel to the lost, who will? Like the prophet Isaiah, our response to this calling should be, "Here am I! Send me" (Isaiah 6:8).

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? (Luke 6:46). The words "Christ is Lord" are easier to say with our lips than to demonstrate with our deeds. But Christ calls us to do more than talk about His lordship. It is not His purpose to attract a host of talkers or even admirers; He desires a people who will love Him with an active, responsive, and obedient love. "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,'" He asked, "and do not do the things which I say?" Contrary to widespread opinion, there is more to Christianity than simply listing that as our religious preference. Whatever we may say, Jesus Christ is not really our Lord if we don't do the things that He says.

Even if we're among those who take the will of Christ most seriously, it's a common occurrence for us to overrate the level of our own obedience. We very likely make the same mistake with Christ that we make with our friends: we expect to be judged solely on the basis of our ability and our intentions. We have high principles, we know what we should do, and we really do intend to get around to it; we just haven't done it yet. So despite the relatively low level of our actual performance, we still wish to be seen as superior persons; we just happen to be running a little behind on our "To Do" list. Christ, however, does not see us in terms of what we "plan" to do (and the truth is, our friends probably don't either). He sees us in terms of our real obedience. "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?"

Complete candor might compel us to admit that we really think some parts of the Lord's will are "insignificant." We may take Him seriously in the areas that seem to be important, but we feel free to dissent from His opinion on other matters. Truly to have Jesus Christ as our Lord, however, means that we honor the significance of all of His will. We may know less than we'd like to know about our Lord's rationale in some cases, but we certainly know enough to trust that He never issues commands carelessly. The real test of whether we've actually accepted His lordship is whether we yield to His will when it comes into conflict with our own. The person whose will we obey, that person is our real lord.

“Never think that Jesus commanded a trifle, nor dare to trifle with anything he has commanded” (Dwight Lyman Moody).

A sheep rancher in the remote mountains of Idaho found that his violin was out of tune, and, try as he would, he was unable to make the instrument sound the way it should. A frequent listener to a radio station in California, he wrote the station concerning his problem, asking these good people at a certain hour and minute on a certain day to strike the right note for him. This they did: stopping everything else, silencing all other sounds for a moment, they struck that note. In his shepherd's hut in the distant mountains, the shepherd heard that sound, and from that single note he put his instrument into tune again.

Thus is the hour of worship, a special time of being in touch with God. Here we listen for the signal-tone He strikes for our lives, for the pitch He gives by which our hearts may be put in tune.

“Worship is a way of living, a way of seeing the world in the light of God. To worship is to rise to a higher level of existence, to see the world from the point of view of God.” (Abraham J. Heschel, Man’s Quest for God, 1954)