THE POUND
PROCLAIMER
Volume III
August 2008
Number 10
Sing
to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day
to day. Psalms 96:2
A Lover Of Truth
Who is a candidate for becoming a
Christian? “… And let the one who is thirsty
come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Revelation
22:17). If the call is for everyone, why is it that ‘few’ (Matthew
22:14) will be saved?
With all the differing doctrines that are
taught, some simply misunderstand. On the other hand, Paul tells us that God
sends “… a strong delusion, so that they
may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not
believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians
2:11-12). Some people are lost because they believe a lie. God
allows those who reject the truth to believe a lie by using a strong delusion.
This seems out of character with God, so, why does He do it?
The key to understanding this is found in
the following words. “And with all wicked
deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth
and so be saved” (2 Thesasalonians 2:10). Those who
will become Christians are those who love truth. I speak of those who have a
character that abhors falsehood.
I have thought much about this verse in
recent days and have concluded something I would like to pass on to you. To
love truth, undoubtedly means to love the various teachings found in the Bible.
This is the most frequent way in which we use this verse. I would like to suggest
that there is something to be gleaned from this verse that goes deeper. Namely,
that a lover of truth is someone who loves the very existence of truth. What am
I saying? I am saying that here is someone who despises a lie and is repulsed
by a liar.
We live in a society which encourages
lying. How, you ask? By promoting the idea that we cannot always tell the
truth. Think about it! We hear things like, ‘a little white lie’ or ‘being
brutally honest.’ All of which imply that it is permissible to tell lies under
certain circumstances and that to always tell the truth, no matter what, is to
be brutal.
To prove their point, men will try to
place the honest person upon the horns of a dilemma. They will offer such
situations as, ‘Your wife comes in with a hair-do that makes her look like a
forty-five year old Little Orphan Annie then asks you what you think. Should
you be brutally honest and take a chance on hurting her feelings? Or, should
you tell a little white lie?’ Society says to lie about it and spare her
feelings. How about just being quiet and say nothing? But in so doing, won’t we
leave the untrue impression that we like the hair-do? Silence is consent, isn’t
it?
If you are having a difficult time
deciding what should be done in this case, it may indicate that you are not a
lover of truth. A lover of truth would, with kindness and love, explain that
his perception of what is pretty when it comes to hair-dos does not match hers.
If you think this is much-a-do about nothing, you definitely need to examine
your value system pertaining to honesty and truth.
Why have I approached these verses in
this manner? Because I am convinced that to be a lover of God’s revealed Word,
one must first be a lover of truth. If one sees nothing wrong with telling a
‘little white lie’ when situations demand it, they aren’t lovers of truth. If
one thinks to tell the truth in every situation is brutal, then they will be
very unhappy with what God has said in His Word.
The Editor’s
Page
We are quickly approaching the date set for
out gospel meeting. As the time draws near, we need to have a greater sense of
the possible. A successful meeting is within our grasp, provided we embrace the
‘can
do’ spirit. This is not to say we can leave God out and accomplish
greatness through human efforts. It is to say that doing God’s bidding will
afford to Christians a greater success than even they think.
We understand the necessity of letting
God be the central theme in our gospel meeting. But, do we understand that the
greatness of God far exceeds the limited ways we have sought him in the past?
We need to accept that we serve an awesome God. “But, as it is written, ‘what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the
heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’” (1 Corinthians
2:9). These words of Paul cause us to think about Heaven. They
should also cause to think about the power God gives to His children to
accomplish His will in their lives.
The Christian who experiences little of
the bounty of God is without the spiritual strength that is made available
through the omnipotent God. The weakness is not on God’s part but on the part
of Christians who seek God in a limited way. The reason we experience this
limitation is sometimes because of unrepentant sin in our lives. A second
reason is because we have an insufficient vision of God’s greatness. We need an
insight into and a deeper desire for the power of God. This will translate into
a success that is greater than any we might have imagined before.
Sin is a deterrent to successful gospel
meetings. Isaiah tells Israel, “Behold,
the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it
cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your
God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear”
(Isaiah
59:1-2). The principle stated in these verses is applicable to the
devout Christian as well as the unsaved, because all sin separates from God.
How can a local church expect a successful meeting when there is sin in the
camp? Instead of waiting for God to bless our efforts, it may be that God is
waiting for us to repent of the sins that keep Him from blessing us.
Added to the hindrance of sin is the
hindrance of an atrophied knowledge of God’s nature and power. We too often
forget that God “… is able to do far more
abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within
us,” (Ephesians 3:20). When we think in terms of limited
success, our thinking is influenced by the Devil. When we think in terms of
unlimited success, we are showing an understanding that God is willing to raise
us to a higher plane of accomplishments.
Will we have a successful gospel meeting?
If we have a bigger desire and a greater sense of what can happen, the answer
is yes! If we allow God to cleanse us of any and all sin, the answer is yes! If
we allow God to purge away all the things that hold us back, the answer is YES!
THE LAST WORD
BEING A GOOD
LISTENER
Have you ever
tried to have a conversation with someone who did not listen to what you were
saying? Frustrating isn’t it? We have all had conversations where we were asked
to repeat ourselves because the other person was not listening. Preachers see
it in the eyes of their audiences more times than they want to admit.
True
conversation can only be experienced if both parties listen to one another.
When one participant does not listen to what the other says, the conversation
becomes one sided. Any attempt to share information is lost. The non-listener
will miss important information necessary for their well being. When that
information comes from God, it becomes imperative that we listen.
When Jesus was
teaching daily in the temple, the chief priests, scribes and principle men of
the people wanted to kill Him, “but they
did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his
words” (Luke 19:48). This implies that Jesus had the undivided
attention of the people. Their minds were upon Him and on what He was saying.
They were deadly serious about hearing what was said. They were not going to
let anyone or anything come between them and hearing the words of this man who
spoke like no other they had ever heard before.
Jesus
proclaimed John the baptizer to be the greatest man born of woman, thus
assigning him a place in God’s scheme of things. Jesus then said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”
(Matthew
11:15). After introducing the parable of the seed and the sower,
Jesus said, “He who has ears, let him
hear” (Matthew 13:9) John writes of the sea beast and those who
worship him in the book of Revelation. Once John has introduced this image, he
writes, “If anyone has an ear, let him
hear:” (Revelation 13:9). There are many other places in
Scripture that we could site. These will suffice to illustrate the point of how
necessary it is to be a good listener, especially to God’s word.
In my preaching
experience, I have seen people nod sleepily, play with babies, talk among each
other, look aimlessly around the room and get this glazed look in their eyes
which indicate they are deep in thought. Thoughts which I doubt seriously have
anything to do with the subject of the sermon.
We all realize
there will be distractions, babies crying and older children being restless.
With such incidentals, I do not have a problem. However, I acknowledge there is
a problem when people are consistently poor listeners. Practice being a good
listener. Your soul depends on it.
You
Are Invited To
A
GOSPEL
MEETING
September
21-26, 2008
At
The
Pound
Speaker:
Gerry
####################
WHAT MUST
I DO
Hear: Rom 10:17
Believe: Heb 11:6
Repent: Lk 13:5; Ac
17:30
Confess: Matt 10:32; Ac
8:36
Be Baptized: Ac 2:38;
22:16
TO BE
SAVED?
###################
FAMILY
MATTERS
AUDIO SERMONS & RADIO PROGRAM:
If you would
like to hear a sermon you can access our Audio Sermons page. Also on this page
is a place to access our radio program [WALKING BY FAITH]. Place your cursor
over the title, WALKING BY FAITH radio program and click. This will take you to
a page where you can download a program. The program is a weekly so there will
be a new program uploaded each week. We also keep the sermons updated as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Pound church web site = www.poundchurchofchrist.org/
WALKING BY FAITH
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The Pound Proclaimer is published monthly by the Pound
All articles by the editor unless
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Editor: Glen Young
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