THE TRENTON BULLETIN

THE TRENTON BULLETIN

Trenton Church of Christ, Trenton, Florida

Confucius made the observation that those who have no children know so much about child rearing. It is very difficult to imagine someone without children presenting themselves as an expert about children. All the books in the world will not prepare one for the reality of child rearing. This is true in many walks of life. A person who has never been married does not make the most reliable marriage counselor. The doctor who has never been in the operating room is very limited in the science of surgery. When a General commands his troops in war it is best suited when their leader has battlefield experience.

If you ask the common man on the street his opinion of the Bible you will receive a wide range of analysis, commentary and factual conclusions based upon a limited (if any) knowledge of the true content of scripture. Many of those who criticize the Bible have never spent any time examining the book itself. Round table discussions of the word of God include “facts” such as Jesus was really the father of John the Baptist; Mary Magdalene was a prostitute; Paul was a frustrated gay man; Lazarus really was not dead but just happen to come out of the tomb when Jesus called him; Jonah was never swallowed by a fish; the flood of Genesis 6 never happened; Jesus was married and had children whose offspring now live in Spain; and a myriad of other things that people candidly pass off as informative conclusions about the Bible.

What is clearly evident in discussions such as this is that usually the conclusions are being drawn by those who are not opening the Bible up and pointing the proof of their argument – but you can do that with the Bible. “But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John” (Luke 1:13). How can a person decide that Jesus was the father of John the Baptist when it plainly says that Zacharias was his father? Jesus and John were cousins (Luke 1:5,13,26,27,36) and that is about all.

The lesson is found in the importance of being honest with the Bible. There is more evidence (1000 fold) of the accuracy of the Bible than the writings of William Shakespeare. The reason that people approach the Bible with a kind of mythical view is because it allows them to dismiss the Bible as a fairy-story book of fables. The Bible demands faith and faith is based upon truth (Romans 10:17). To deny the accuracy of the Bible is to allow the reader to dismiss the necessity of faith. Through this action accountability is removed and the individual can live as he chooses; not under the servitude of the Creator.

This attitude toward the word of God is how the Jewish leaders killed Jesus. Two false witnesses swore to the Sanhedrin that Jesus said, "I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days” (Matthew 26:61). Read John 2:13-22 to see how they twisted the words of Jesus. The Bible is twisted so many ways today that few can recognize the truth when they see it. The Psalmist declared the truth of God’s word: “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89).

The apostle Peter wrote, “If anyone speaks, let him speaks as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11). In other words, if you are going to say something about the Bible do it as one who is speaking the utterances of God – what is written on the page. Then you will not look as a fool before God. “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God,’ they are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; there is no one who does good” (Psalms 53:1). “The wise of heart will receive commands, but a babbling fool will be ruined” (Proverbs 10:8). “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel” (Proverbs 12:15). “Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool displays folly” (Proverbs 13:16). “Leave the presence of a fool, or you will not discern words of knowledge” (Proverbs 14:7). “A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own mind” (Proverbs 18:2).

Virtually every Christian realizes that vulgar speech, curse words, swear words, using the Lord's name in vain, etc., are condemned in the Bible; yet how many saints have unknowingly been guilty of such by using today's euphemisms?

First of all, what is a euphemism? Is it bad or is it good? Actually, it depends on what word it is standing for that would make it either one we could use or one we should not. It has been defined as "the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt." For instance, to say one has "passed away" or "is at rest" is euphemistic of simply saying one has "died." This is so because the former phrases are milder to sensitivities. In this example, the expressions "passed away" or "is at rest" are not standing for something bad and would, unquestionably, not be wrong for one to use.

Also, in the advertising world, it surely sounds much better for the salesperson to refer to one who is a little on the heavy side as being "full-figured" rather than "fat," or for the car dealer to refer to his cars as being "economical" rather than "cheap." Or if I were a garbage man, I might refer to myself as a "sanitary engineer." In all these examples the euphemistic renderings would be all right to use because they are not signifying anything which would be improper, but let us consider some words in which their counterparts are terms that the Christian should not use -- for to do so would be wrong; the following is a list of such:

Sometimes these words are used in combinations, such as in the phrase "gosh darn it." By looking at what these words are really standing for in the above section, it is easy to figure out what this wording actually means. Is it something that a Christian should be saying? Undoubtedly, it is not.

Terms such as "Jesus," "God," "hell," and "damn" are found in numerous passages throughout the Bible, but never are these words used loosely or irreverently. Since the Christian would not want to say the Lord's name in vain then surely he should not want to use any of the euphemisms that would pertain to His name.

Let us not be careless in our words, but careful. Just as a tree is known by its fruit, a person is also known by the "fruit of his lips." In Matthew 12:36, Jesus warns, "And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment."

If I have put my confidence in gold, and called fine gold my trust, if I have gloated because my wealth was great, and because my hand had secured so much; if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon going in splendor, and my heart became secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, that too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, for I would have denied God above." (Job 31:24-28).

Recently, when I once again came across these words of Job, I was struck by how serious he was about avoiding every form of sin and even the slightest of transgressions. In this text, Job is asserting his integrity before God and trying to argue his absolute faithfulness to God. Job recognized, and bluntly declares here, that any paganism at all--even in the smallest of forms--would constitute an utter denial of God.

When Job speaks in this text of looking at the sun or the moon in their splendor, he's not talking about simply admiring these great heavenly bodies as God created them. All of us, from time to time, stand in awe of God's creation and admire its beauty and rightly so! We should admire what God has made.

But this isn't what Job is talking about in this text. He's talking about looking at the sun or moon with the intent of worshiping these created things. Job is saying that if somehow he felt a desire to worship the sun or the moon by throwing a kiss at them--if he only entertained these thoughts secretly in his own heart--even that would be an outright denial of the true God of heaven.

Job knew, as we do, that the moon and sun are only parts of God's creation; they are not deities to be worshiped. Only God is God; and only He is worthy of our worship. And that means that even the slightest move by man in the direction of paganism would be an iniquity deserving of judgment.

Now, when I think about what Job says in this text, I cannot help but think of at least two lessons we need to learn from it:

1) A person does not have to overtly and openly deny God to be guilty of denying Him. One can deny the Lord secretly in his heart without ever doing anything openly to suggest that he has denied God. When we longingly look at temporal things and begin to secretly think in our hearts that maybe these things can make us happy and give our lives real purpose, we are taking steps in the direction of denying God.

2) Even the slightest move in the direction of putting trust in something else or someone else other than God constitutes paganism and a denial of the true God. Now this may not mean a whole lot to us in a society that traditionally does not literally bow down to images and idols. But when we understand that Job, not only speaks of kissing the sun or moon, but also of putting confidence in wealth and in our ability to secure so much for ourselves (31:24-25), we begin to see the point.

We live in an extremely earthly (worldly) society. Oh, we may not literally bow to idols, but we most certainly devote ourselves to the pursuit of material things and material pleasures. And that makes us just as pagan as the man who throws a kiss to the moon or bows before an idolatrous sun god. And what we need to be acutely aware of is that even though we may consider ourselves to be Christians, and even though we may faithfully worship the true God on a regular basis, when we put (even some of) our confidence in physical pleasure or our material things or our ability to secure wealth, we have in essence denied God. And in denying God in this way, we are just as guilty of "an iniquity calling for judgment" (31:28).

Job's words are sobering, but he knew his own heart--that he'd never been guilty of any of these iniquities. Can you honestly say the same for yourself? Before you answer, you'd better examine yourself--your own heart. You'd better recognize that God knows everything you do even the things you do secretly in your heart.

Christians are told to follow the steps of Jesus (1 Peter 2:21). Our Lord sets the example of spending time with His Father who is in heaven. Jesus encourages us to pray and search the Scriptures to know His will for our lives (Matthew 6:6-15; John 5:39). He wants us to know Him and His Father. We must spend time in prayer, Bible reading and meditation to truly know Jesus and our heavenly Father.

Jesus set us an example as to how to spend time with God when He often went to a desolate place to pray alone (Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:46) and He even prayed all night (Luke 6:12). He taught His disciples how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). He offered certain warnings about our prayers as well: do not pray to be seen of men (Matthew 6:5); do not use vain repetitions thinking God will hear you because of your many words (Matthew 6:7); and do not make long prayers for appearance sake (Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47).

The New Testament reveals some important guidelines for spending time with God through prayer and Bible study.

We have already noticed the guidelines Jesus has given us concerning prayer. There are many other things revealed about prayer in the writings of the apostles. We are told to continue in prayer (Colossians 4:2); take time to fast and pray (1 Corinthians 7:5); pray for all the saints, all men and those in authority over us (Ephesians 6:18; 1 Timothy 2:1-3; pray for your food (1 Timothy 4:4,5); make all requests known to God in prayer (Philippians 4:6); pray for the sick both physically and spiritually (James 5:13-16) and ask for wisdom in faith without doubting (James 1:5-8).

The study of Scriptures is the way we can come to know God’s will and to have God’s approval (2 Timothy 2:15). Knowing the Scriptures will equip us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14-17). Timothy was told to give attention to reading and to meditate on it (1 Timothy 4:13,15).

The following are some suggestions that have helped others to spend more time with the Lord: Set a definite time – morning, noon or night meet with the Lord regularly at a set established time. Keep a notebook or diary – simply write down thoughts, feelings of your prayers and Scripture readings. Don’t give up – keep on trying and starting all over if needed. Surely we can spend one hour with the Lord (Matthew 26:40,41).

Spending time with God has tremendous benefits for our spiritual development in Christ. We find ourselves in constant communication with God and standing approved before Him. Why not start spending time with Him today?

§ Knute Rockne, the famous football coach at Notre Dame, once observed, “The trouble in American life today, in business as well as in sports, is that too many people are afraid of competition. The result is that in some circles people have come to sneer at success if it costs hard work and training and sacrifice.” The same reality is found in the Christian life. There is no victory without sacrifice, no triumph without commitment.