THE TRENTON BULLETIN

THE TRENTON BULLETIN

Trenton Church of Christ, Trenton, Florida

The sacrifices of the Law of Moses were ordained by God as a sign of the covenant between Israel and the Lord (Psalm 50:5). Reading the Law unfolds a myriad of sacrifices that required the people to offer oxen, sheep, goats, grain, drink offerings, peace offerings and so forth. “Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep” (1 Kings 8:63). During the course of the Law governing the sacrifices including the sacrifices of Abraham and the faithful of the Lord, millions of animals were slaughtered.

In David’s mournful Psalm of sorrow over sin the psalmist declares, “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Psalms 51:16-17). Israel lost the message of God’s true intent of sacrifices. It was not about the killing of animals but the destruction of a proud heart. In the midst of his sin with Bathsheba, David recognized that no amount of animal sacrifice could take away the guilt of his sin. He knew that what God required was a spirit broken with the grief of sin and a heart remorseful of the shame he brought to his heavenly Father.

Godly sorrow is the essence of repentance. “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). When one comes before the throne of God in sorrow it can only be from a heart broken by the weight of sin. Isaiah declares, “For thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite’” (Isaiah 57:15).

Sorrow in repentance comes from a heart that has been crushed under the weight of bringing shame to the Heavenly Father, to His Son and to the Holy Spirit. “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). The relationship with the Father is based upon an earnest desire to please Him in everything. When we fail to do that and we follow our own desires, the feelings of sorrow should overwhelm us with untold grief as we realize we have been displeasing to God.

Nathan came to David and told him God knew what he had done. When faced with the realization of his sin, David did not react in pride and arrogance defending his actions. “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD’” (2 Samuel 12:13). David’s heart was broken and contrite. He experienced the grief of his sin within his own heart and when brought before God through the hand of Nathan, his grief increased dramatically. David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) because David understood that no number of animals could bring him closer to God without a heart that was broken down with guilt and overwhelmed with the knowledge of what sin had done.

Our view of sin must be based upon the understanding of its impact upon our lives. Repentance is the willingness to humble the heart in broken tones of deep remorse in the presence of God. “These, Of God, You will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

To dismiss God from our decisions is a most foolish thing to do. The reality of God is the most massive truth we’ll ever encounter, and the most consequential. It is folly to omit this truth from our thinking, as if we expected it to move out of our way.

Some individuals disregard God by adopting the intellectual position that He does not exist. These have thought the matter through and come to the conclusion that there is no God. In their conduct, they may live as if there were a God and may even adhere to a certain spirituality, but their position, at least philosophically, is that a personal God does not exist.

If God does exist, such a denial is obviously unwise. But many of us disregard Him in a way that is no less foolish. We do this when we simply conduct our lives without taking God into serious account. This is a more practical kind of atheism. We pay lip service to a God who “perhaps” exists, but we believe that this God can be safely set aside in the actual conduct of our day-to-day affairs. He has no real impact on our lives. In Psalm 14:1, it is this kind of “fool” who is described. He says “There is no God” not so much by his dubious philosophy, as by his disobedient lifestyle.

There is a sense in which this kind of atheism is more arrogant than any other. In Psalm 10, for example, we are shown how presumptuous it is to disregard God: “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts” (v.4). “He has said in his heart, ‘I shall not be moved; I shall never be in adversity’” (v.6). “He has said in his heart, ‘God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see’” (v.11). “He has said in his heart, ‘You will not require an account’” (v.13).

When we live in this manner, we trivialize God in the most blasphemous way. Unlike the atheist who believes there is no God to be dealt with, we believe that we don’t really have to deal with the God who does exist. We think that, for all practical purposes, He can be ignored. But if God is our Creator, our disregard only shows us to be foolish. It does nothing to diminish Him.

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word darkness on the walls of his cell” (C. S. Lewis).

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:11-13).

The apostle Paul's experiences as an evangelist taught him that his circumstances in life would not remain constant. There would be times when he would have plenty, and there would be lean periods where even the basic needs of life would go wanting. Paul discovered that these vagaries of existence did not prevent him from serving the Savior. Rich or poor, healthy or ill, free or in prison, Paul knew he could trust the Lord to strengthen him to face the task at hand.

But that's what Paul learned. What have I learned? I have learned that I learn so slowly. Sitting down to examine the word of God is like sitting down to a feast at a table one mile long with a thousand varied dishes on it. While eager to partake of all of it, the prospect seems so vast and daunting that it appears that I will never get to taste it all in a lifetime. Each day as I learn another lesson, I find myself wishing I had known it in the distant past, and I regret the good that could have been done had I learned it years earlier. This sentiment propels me to faithfully continue the learning process knowing all the while that it will not be complete until my life ends.

I have learned that I don't know enough. Scarcely does a week pass but what I discover gaps in my knowledge and understanding. Walking through life with such gaps in wisdom is like walking across a wooden bridge with half of the boards missing from the road surface. As I look back on my life with all of its stumbles and errors, I am forced to wonder how I made it this far. At least this perspective should help me to be more alert to the potential for stumbling blocks of ignorance that lie ahead.

I have learned that I haven't done enough. As I look back along the highway of life at life, I see a myriad of gems of opportunity scattered behind me. Omar Al-Halif wrote... "Four things come not back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, time past, and neglected opportunity." "What ifs" and "might have beens" could occupy my waking moments if I let them. This insight should help me to embrace opportunities to be of service to God and others hereafter.

I have learned that I am weak. I find myself saying along with the apostle Paul: "For the good that I would do, I do not; but the evil which I would not do, that I do" (Romans 7:19). I gaze admiringly back at heroes of faith from the past and look in awe at devout saints in the present and wonder "why can't I be that disciplined?” Rather than quitting, I must press the supremacy of the mind and will over the flesh. However this will fail unless I admit that I cannot succeed without help the Lord; I alone am not enough to utterly defeat sin and its strength-robbing consequences. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 7:24-25).

I have learned that I make mistakes. Some days it seems the only task I fully accomplish is that of making a fool out of myself. I have a smorgasbord of choices as to what to do with these mistakes. I could pretend that they never happened, only to repeat them another day. I could waste a lot of effort in trying to explain them away, blaming circumstances and persons instead of taking personal responsibility. Perhaps I could pine away the hours regretting my mistakes and become useless to myself and others in the interim. Or just maybe, I could look upon my errors as stern educators who can teach me better judgment, greater patience, and proper repentance.

But perhaps the greatest lesson of all I am learning is to trust God. In His mercy, He made the gospel simple enough for even me to understand. In His wisdom, He made His word to be full of wonders and treasures that move me to joyfully take a lifetime to uncover. In His kindness, He continues to supply me with opportunities to grow and do good even though I've squandered them in the past. In His Providence, He gives His great strength through His powerful word and in answer to prayers. And in His love, He sent His Son to forgive me of my sins. God has provided for and protected me thus far in life, even though I've meandered and stumbled along the pathway of life. I trust Him to continue to take care of me as I endeavor to learn more of Him and strive to be like Him.

"Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault" (Mark 7:2). Let us suppose I am looking for a field of corn to buy. I travel around seeking for a field which contains good corn. Finally, I see a field which strikes my fancy. The owner says that he will sell it. I then enter the field to see if the corn suits me. As I pass down the rows, the stalks are tall and strong. Almost every stalk has two massive ears hanging from it. However, I pay them little attention. I am looking for something else. Finally, I find it. Over in a low wet corner I find a scrawny little stalk with one little nubbin on it. I pull up the stalk, nubbin and all. I take it to the owner and say, "This is very poor corn. Just look at that nubbin!"

Anyone can easily see that I wasn't being fair. I wasn't really looking to see what the field of corn was like. I was just trying to find fault with it. It would seem that I was not really interested in buying the field. I was just looking for the nubbin, and in my search for the nubbin, I overlooked all of the good corn. There is an old proverb which says, "He who is looking for faults in his brethren will surely find them." (From Gospel Messenger)

§ General Douglas MacArthur wrote: “People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest, wrinkles the soul. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubts; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fears; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.”

§ God is highly dangerous. We are sinful and He is holy. Sin can no more exist in the presence of God than darkness can exist in the presence of light. To stand before Him as we are is to invite destruction. If God were to keep a record of our sins, we could not stand in His presence. In a cemetery not far from New York City is a headstone engraved with a single word: FORGIVEN. The message is simple, unembellished. There is no date of birth, no date of death, no epitaph. There is only a name and the solitary word ‘Forgiven.’ But that is the greatest word that can be applied to any man or woman, or written on any gravestone. (Our Daily Bread, 5-7-93)

§ “God had nothing to do with it!” the scientist insisted. Birds are able to navigate when they migrate because they have a compass inside their head. That’s all. But then somebody asks these scientist writing in the current issue of the Journal Nature who sets the compass to adjust for the earth’s rotation. “Well, that,” the scientist said, “that remains a mystery.” (Associated Press 8-5-93)