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As For Me and My House

June 18, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

Beginning in Joshua 23, the Bible records Joshua’s speech to Israel before his death. His final message is a charge to faithfulness as Israel renewed their commitment to their covenant with God. This final message includes his famous last words—perhaps the most memorable words in all the book of Joshua—found in Joshua 24:15, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Israel had a choice. They could follow idolatrous tradition of pursuing the gods of their ancestors. They could soak up the culture around them and follow the ways of the Amorites in the land of Canaan. Or they could follow the one true God: Jehovah (Yahweh). Joshua highlighted the crossroads at which Israel found themselves. He impressed upon Israel their need to make a commitment. Serving the Lord will only come from a convicted exercise of their will.

Joshua made his choice clear that his household would serve Yahweh. He was going to practice the command of Deuteronomy 6:4-7. He would love God in his own life with all his heart. In loving God, he would diligently teach God’s commands to his children throughout each day. Christian fathers today have the command to bring their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord instead of provoking them to wrath (Ephesians 6:4). To do this takes time and involvement. One cannot be an absentee father and please God. We need men like Cornelius, devout men who fear God with all their house (Acts 10:2). We are thankful for those fathers who strive with all their might to do just that.

After Joshua’s death, the Bible makes this sad note, “Another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord” (Judges 2:10). Israel went from obediently taking the land God had given them in the days of Joshua (Joshua 21:43-45) to failing to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan (Judges 1:21, 28, 32). The book of Judges shows how Israel had grown to be more and more like their neighbors because they did not drive them out from the land (cf. Psalm 106:34-43). Just as Joshua warned, these neighbors would be a continual temptation causing repeated spiritual problems for Israel, “Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you” (Joshua 23:13). The next generation was in a snare spiritually because they listened to the world around them rather than the faithful who had gone before them (Judges 2:3). While Joshua was committed to making sure his household served the Lord, the next generation did not maintain that commitment. They soaked up the values of the Amorites that surrounded them. Whom will you and your household serve?

Longing to Be with God

June 11, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

Various worship songs with different melodies use for lyrics portions of Psalm 42:1-4, which reads:

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
“Where is your God?”
When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

These words express longing for God when He seems to be absent. The psalmist remembers past days when the whole community would go up to Jerusalem with joyful praise to celebrate one of the festivals Israel was commanded to keep (cf. Leviticus 23). The joy of former days stands in stark contrast to his present depression where the psalmist seems to be living on a diet of his own tears, harassed by his enemies. Instead of being in the temple in Jerusalem, the author of this psalm is far to the north of Israel in the heights of Hermon (Psalm 42:6). This great physical distance communicates the great spiritual distance he feels separates him from God.

In this low state, he speaks to his own soul, telling himself to hope in God (Psalm 42:5, 11). When you are low, remember to hope in God. God no longer dwells in a temple in Jerusalem, but in Christians, His church (1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:19-22). When you long for God like a deer longs for water, remember the promises of Jesus, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38), and, “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). Jesus shed His blood to cleanse the sins that separate us from God. This brings a better hope than the psalmist knew under the law; by this better hope we can draw near to God (Hebrews 7:19). The most important thing for you to do today spiritually is to commune with God, to draw near to Him who gave His own Son to have fellowship with you (James 4:8).

God Came in the Flesh

June 4, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

The apostle John had to combat false teachers who denied Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7). Jesus Christ was born of a virgin in fulfillment of a divine prophecy uttered over half a millennium beforehand (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14). It was not only the virgin birth that made Christ’s entrance into the world unique. God was manifested in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). This means Jesus Christ existed before His entrance into the world. He could most assuredly say to the Jews with whom He conversed, “before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). He the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is everlasting (Isaiah 9:6). He is God with us (Matthew 1:23).

Jesus Christ is distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3:16 and Luke 3:21-22 give the account of John immersing Jesus. Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and the Father said of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The Pharisees accused Jesus of not having a reliable message since He bore witness of Himself John 8:13. Under the law of Moses, the testimony of two or more was required (Deuteronomy 17:6). Jesus, however, had the right to bear witness of Himself because of His divine nature. Nevertheless, two witnesses were presented, “I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me” (John 8:18). This reply would be nonsense if Jesus and the Father were identical, just different names for one person. The Holy Spirit is also another distinct from Jesus (John 14:16). The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit make up the One God, but only the Son, Jesus Christ, came in the flesh to live as a human for a third of a century.

Jesus shared in the same part of human life, being flesh and blood, as you and I are presently experiencing (Hebrews 2:14). He became tired, hungry, thirsty, and sick. He was tempted in all points as we are, yet He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). He can identify with us in our struggles. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). He offered up prayers to the Father in the midst of vehement cries and tears (Hebrews 5:7). He now stands as our mediator when we pray to God; He does not stand as God who never struggled with human frailties, but as the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). While those outside of Christ have trouble seeing the divinity of Jesus, in the church we may have trouble grappling with the humanity of Jesus. As we partake of the Lord’s supper together this first day of the week, let’s remember John 19:5, which says, “Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

To Grow Like the New Testament Church

May 29, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

Once the church of Christ was established, the Lord was daily adding the saved to it (Acts 2:47). The multitudes that were added kept increasing (Acts 5:14) to the point that the disciples in Jerusalem multiplied greatly (Acts 6:7). The reason for this growth was continual teaching and preaching. The first-century church taught Christ’s word even when persecution arose because of it. Early Christians filled Jerusalem with the doctrine of Christ (Acts 5:28). Right after the apostles had been detained by the council and warned by them not to speak in the name of Jesus (Acts 5:40), they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the Lord’s name (Acts 5:41), and continued preaching and teaching Jesus. Acts 5:42 says, “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” To multiply, the church must teach and preach the gospel to the world (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16).

The rest of the book of Acts is filled with examples of great numbers of souls being added by the Lord to His church (Acts 8:12, 31; 35, 42; 10:47-48; 11:21, 24; 13:12, 48; 14:1; 16:5; 17:4, 12; 18:8). The church of Christ at Flatwoods has had as its motto a determination to go and grow like the New Testament church. Just as we strive to follow the pattern of the New Testament in the organization and worship of the church, we also must strive to grow like the church in the New Testament. This past week, I noticed the statue of a blue mustang outside the Denver airport. Thinking of this statue compared to real flesh-and-blood racehorses that come to Kentucky to compete, I was reminded of a quote. Regarding churches of Christ, Donald McGavran observed: “For a church to claim to be a New Testament church because it has the right form, as regards deacons and elders, and right ritual in regard to communion and baptism, and right name is, to be sure, good. But the claim sounds a little hollow when the New Testament life and exuberant ability to proclaim the Gospel and propagate churches are lacking. A marble statue of a horse might exhibit all the outward forms, but lacking the ability to run and father colts, it can’t really claim to be a horse. To truly be New Testament churches, the gathering of Christians must want to grow, know how to grow, and pay the price to grow.” Let not this criticism be valid regarding us.

The Goshorns assemble with us this Lord’s day for the last time before their departure to Peru to do mission work. We have the expectation of seeing them again in their return visits. We pray for their family here, their safety there, and their success—that many souls are added by the Lord to His church due to their efforts. We should also be convicted as a congregation to be in mission here in Flatwoods, KY. Daniel, Audrey, Caleb and Charlie are dear friends. Daniel and Audrey have the desire for the Lord’s church to grow, have greatly increased their knowledge of how the church can grow, and are willing to pay the price for the church to grow. Let us all have the desire, know-how, and willingness to pay the price so that souls may be saved.

The Cost of Truly Valuing the Worth of Eternal Souls

May 20, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

The apostle Paul wrote, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7). What is the treasure Paul refers to here? The gospel Paul preached was the treasure; he mentioned it in the third verse of this chapter. The gospel is so precious because it gives light to those in spiritual darkness: “the light of the glorious gospel of Christ” (v. 4). Paul spoke of one’s conversion to Christ as a heart being enlightened by the gospel resulting in, “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (v. 6). In Christ, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden (Col. 2:3). Thus, the gospel Paul preached can be called unsearchable riches that bring light (Eph. 3:8-9).

Though he was a great apostle, Paul understood himself as merely a vessel that contained this precious treasure. Paul considered his earthly body as an earthen vessel, a clay pot. The body of man came from the earth to which it returns (Gen. 2:7; 3:19; 18:27; Job 10:9; Psa. 103:14; Ecc. 3:20; 12:7). Clay was common in Paul’s world. Clay pots were cheap to make, fragile, and expendable. Paul was contrasting his own weakness compared to the great, powerful treasure of the gospel he possessed. Paul went through hardships for the sake of the gospel that caused cracks to form in him as a clay pot, but instead of being destroyed, he remained intact by God’s power (2 Cor. 4:8-9). His outer physical body may perish, but his inner spiritual life was renewed daily (2 Cor. 4:16).

The knowledge of the truth in the gospel of Jesus Christ brings with it eternal life (1 Jn. 5:20). Paul was willing for his physical body to suffer death so that the knowledge of the gospel that brings eternal life might be made known. The Corinthians to whom Paul wrote were among those who benefited by this willingness. To them, Paul went on to write his daily experience of, “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:10-12). Paul faced dangers every hour for the gospel to the point he could say, “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:30-31). He was willing to do this as a servant of God. “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (Rom. 8:36). By continually dying and continuing to live, Paul reenacted the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The death and resurrection of Jesus were not merely the message he preached, but the model by which he lived.

All of us as Christians have been identified with Christ’s death and resurrection when we were baptized (Rom. 6:3-5). We must continue to do so by putting to death the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:24), and by denying ourselves to take up our cross daily and serve Jesus (Lk. 9:23). An eternal soul is more valuable than all the world’s treasures (Mt. 16:26). If we must endure hardships in this short life so that souls may be saved for eternity, then it is worth it.