THE TRENTON BULLETIN

THE TRENTON BULLETIN

Trenton Church of Christ, Trenton, Florida

Seventy years had passed and the city lay in ruins. Its walls were broken down and the gates burned with fire. Nehemiah would refer to the once majestic Jerusalem as a city lying in “waste” (Nehemiah 2:17). Cyrus king of Persia, stirred up in spirit by the Lord, decreed that the people could return from the land of captivity to their home in Judah (Ezra 1). Along with 5,400 articles of gold and silver taken from the temple seven decades earlier, the captives made the long journey to Zion. The year was 536 B. C. Worship was restored at Jerusalem and the restoration of the Temple began (Ezra 3). The foundation was laid with great ceremony and old men weeping for the glory of the first Temple. Resistance to the building arose and work stopped nearly sixteen years. Finally in 520 B. C. the rebuilding of the Temple began in earnest and completed in 516 B. C. (Ezra 5). Nehemiah would come later and the walls of Jerusalem would be rebuilt in fifty-two days (Nehemiah 6:15).

It should not be lost on the student of scripture that unlike the wisdom of men, the walls of the city were not first built but rather the Temple. The walls of the city were built ninety-two years after the first group of captives returned. What we find in the wisdom of God is that strength and power comes first from the Lord. The Temple represented the protection of Jehovah upon the people; the walls represented the protection of the people by the people and for the people. First they needed to restore the worship to God before seeking to build walls of stone. Restoration begins first in building the Temple, then the walls.

In our life, restoration begins in building the temple of the heart before the work of building the walls of our lives. Often we seek to build walls of protection without the help of God and we struggle and fail. We have missed the point of Haggai 1:4 - "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?" We cannot long serve God without establishing on our heart the temple of God. The walls of our life offer no protection. What gave the city of Jerusalem security were not the walls of stone but the stone of Zion. “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;’ whoever believes will not act hastily” (Isaiah 28:16).

The heart must first be restored to proper worship and the temple of God’s grace must be established upon the foundation of our lives. Wisdom begins with the heart being established with trust in God and not trust in men. Building the temple is affirming the presence of the Lord. The temple is a place of holiness and purity. It is a place of security and safety. The captives first put their trust in the Lord. Their faith and courage in the face of discouragement led them to build the Temple of God. Our faith and courage will lead us in the challenges of life to build the temple of God upon our hearts.

There will be opposition to the building the temple of God upon our hearts as there was in the captive’s days. With the power of God we can overcome and succeed in setting up our own “Ebenezer” (1 Samuel 7:12) as the stone of help. Building the Temple first sought the help of God first. Let us build our temple of faith to the Lord. The walls will come later. First, build the temple.

There are times we all get discouraged and wonder what it would be like if we could do what we want. What would it be like if we did not have to work or go to school? What would it be like to have all the money we wanted and could buy whatever we desired? Such wondering is natural but we realize that such is actually wishing and will not happen. In fact, some of the things we would want would not be good for us.

Have you ever gotten discouraged while serving God and wondered what it would be like if you could go somewhere else? Those with children want Bible Classes with lots of children so their young ones will have good companions. Young couples often want to go somewhere that will have numerous young couples for them to go out with. Single Christians want other single Christians nearby as they look for dates. I do not blame anyone for desiring such things. I remember being a teenager at a congregation that had no one my age. It can be discouraging and lonely.

There are times it is tempting to go somewhere else because we want something better. We want to go where the building is full and we will have more people to associate with. However, some will place their desires ahead of God's Word. People may leave a faithful congregation to go to a denomination because it is bigger and has more young people, but they are not placing God but themselves first.

This got me to thinking of what it was like to have been a Christian in the first century. We often read through the Book of Acts and learn of those at Jerusalem, Samaria, Antioch, and other places as they obeyed the Gospel. We read of the riot at Jerusalem that claimed the life of Stephen, Acts 7.57-60. We also read of Christians being scattered due to the persecution at Jerusalem and the spread of the Gospel. Also in this account is Paul's conversion and his various legal and personal trials. It was hard being a Christian in the first century. They had to be convicted by the word of God in order to stand up against such trials and tribulations.

Have you ever wondered what first century Christians wanted for their children? Being a Christian parent could not have been easy in the first century. I doubt if they had classrooms like we do now. Who knows what type of classes the early churches had for their young people. Most likely what the children learned came by way of their parents. Mothers and fathers would have instructed their children in the way of the Lord. "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6.4). Many of these parents would face persecution and see their children face similar trials. Some would die at the hands of the Jews as they tried to stop the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. Later on, some would face Nero. They would be fed to lions, or have their heads chopped off, or be dipped in oil and burned alive. Domitian and Diocletian would cause the streets of cities to be red with the blood of Christians. I dare to say that many first century Christians would look at parents today that complain because there are not enough young people for their children to be with and wish for such problems. They simply wanted their children to be able to serve God and live. I know some parents don't want their children to make the sacrifices that earlier Christians made in serving God. But it is through those sacrifices that our children learn to depend on God and grow.

I dare to say that some first century Christians would have wished for things to have been different for themselves and their children. They would look at our buildings with padded pews, classrooms, teaching material, and wish they had it so good.

Many early Christians probably just wished they could worship God in peace and quiet. All they wanted to do was to preach the Word of God to their fellowman and help others go to heaven. Paul did not wish for more money or a greater retirement plan, he wanted his brethren to be saved. "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved" (Romans 10.1). Those that met for a whole year at Antioch in Acts 11 made a lot of daily sacrifices so as to meet each day with their brethren and teachers. They may have wished for a time when they could simply pick up a Bible in order to know the Word of God as we can do today.

Have you ever wondered how many Christians decided to stay home instead of hear Paul or Barnabas preach? I am sure some were tempted to do so since there is a warning given in Hebrews 11:24-25: "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as [is] the manner of some, but exhorting [one another], and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." But I wonder how many actually were sporadic in their attendance.

Have you ever wondered how many Christians backslide in the first century? We read of men like Hymenaeus and Philetus who strayed from the truth in 2 Timothy 2.17-18. Young widows were told to remarry less they cast off their first love and get involved in things like gossip and being busy bodies, 1 Timothy 4.11-13. Peter warns us of going back into the world in 2 Peter 2. I don't know about you but the picture of a dog vomiting and eating its own vomit is pretty disgusting. That is what some Christians did in the first century. We will never know how many felt the price was too high to pay to be a Christian. But we do know they were wrong, just as those who do the same thing today are also wrong.

Have you ever wondered how many Christians in the first century await the Day of Judgment? They paid the price and remained faithful to the very end, Revelation 2.10. Revelation 6 speaks of those that were slain on the altar for the word of God. "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Lord holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?'" (Revelation 6.10) All we know is that it is not as long now as it was then and it will come.

Perhaps you have not been tempted to wonder and wish like I have. Perhaps you have been tempted to quit or compromise the word of God for an easier road. But let us not lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing and realize the many blessings we have today.

Some believe there’s nothing in a name. But they wouldn’t dare name their children “Judas” or “Jezebel” because of the infamy attached to these names. So, does it stand to reason that God would be pleased with people who rename His church?

We should make it very clear that God has not given just one name to the church belonging to His Son. Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). He declared that He would build His church—not a church belonging to someone else, or to some board of directors who then are given the freedom to name it whatever they feel like!

The truth found in the New Testament is that many descriptive names have been given. “All the churches of Christ greet you” (Romans 16:16). Which churches? The churches of Christ! These are congregations of the Lord’s people, and they bear the name of Christ.

“You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the assembly and church of the first-born who are written in Heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12:22–23). Who is the first-born? “And [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:18).

When one makes the effort to get into the New Testament and read it for himself, he will discover different names associated with the Lord’s church; the one He said He would build:

· The church of God (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 3:5).

In the first century when the gospel was given by God to mankind, there was only reference to “the church” because there was no other. The phrase “the church” is found 62 times in the New Testament. “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body” (Ephesians 1:22–23). Which one?—The only one belonging to Him; the only one He built; the only one against which the gates of Hell will not prevail! “There is one body . . . one faith” (Ephesians 4:4–5).

Sometimes people have chosen to defame the church of Christ by adding people’s names to it. Martin Luther is an example. He never asked for the church to bear his name, but some did anyway. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:9–10).