A typical summertime afternoon
thunderstorm is rolling through my Middle Tennessee community as I write these
words (Thursday June 28, 2019). Thunderstorms are awesome things to behold –
wind, rain, lightning, and of course, thunder! More on that in a moment.
Thunderstorms make me think of God – not only because of the tremendous power
displayed, but because of Bible statements that relate God with thunder and
wind! For example King David said in Psalm 18:10 – "And He [God]
rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind."
Then in verse 13 the warrior / poet continued, "The Lord
thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and
coals of fire." In Psalm 104 an inspired writer declared, "He
[the Lord] lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the
clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind." So it is, the
wind and thunder and power of a summertime thunderstorm always make me think of
God. And when the high-speed wind of a severe and fast-moving thunderstorm
blows through at 60 or 70 mph, I sometimes wonder where God is going in such a
hurry! Having said all that, 20 minutes after I wrote the first sentence of
this little piece, the storm has let up and moved off to the northeast. Yet, I
can still hear thunder in the distance! Experts tell us thunder can be heard
from a maximum distance of 10 miles under good atmospheric conditions. They
further say that the grumbles and rumbles we hear is the sound of thunder
reaching us at different times from the sound produced along its leangth. So,
the thunder you hear sounding off may be nearby or may be miles away!
Now consider these words from 1
Thessalonains 1:7-8 After commending "the church of the
Thessalonians" (1:1) for their eager and wholehearted reception of the
gospel in spite of persecution, the apostle Paul wrote – "so that you
became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the
word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also
in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to
say anything." The word for "sounded forth" in this
passage in the Greek New Testament is "echomai." Earl Edwards, long
time Bible professor at Freed-Hardeman University, wrote that " ‘sound
forth’ depicts something like thunder or a trumpet blast that causes
reverberation or echoing" (Truth For Today Commentary on 2 Thessalonians,
p 25). The church of Christ at 1st century Thessalonica was a noisy
church! With the gospel that is! They were not "silent saints" and
they were not stingy with the greatest story ever told. They were out, loud,
and proud with the gospel. Paul said they became examples to a whole region in
the Roman Empire. "The word of the Lord sounded forth" from
them like thunder rolling and reverberating. There’s a lot we don’t know about
them – the size of their weekly "attendance" and contribution or
annual budget, how many they baptized each year, who the preacher and elders
were. What we know is that their faith toward God thundered out – near and far.
They were committed to telling people the message of the gospel. Now, when was
the last time you sounded forth the word of the Lord? Does your faith toward
God ever go out, that is outside the church
building? Just askin’.
– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
During
the "baptism" of Ireland’s King Aengus (in the middle of the 5th
century), St. Patrick, so the story goes, leaned on his sharp-pointed staff as
he talked and inadvertently stuck it down into the King’s foot. Patrick finally
noticed a growing pool of blood at the king’s feet and realized he had stabbed
the royal foot. He expressed his deep regret and begged the king’s forgiveness.
He then asked Aengus why he hadn’t moved or complained in spite of the severe
suffering he endured. The king replied he thought it was all a part of the
ceremony! I’m not sure if King Aengus was scripturally baptized by being "buried"
with Christ, that is, immersed in water, or if, as was often the practice
of that time, he had water "sprinkled" or "poured" on him.
New Testament baptism most definitely is a burial (Romans 6:3-4; Colossians
2:12) in water for believers (Mark 16:16; Acts 8:35- 38) who have
repented, and that it is for the forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38). But one
thing is crystal clear – King Aengus deeply believed baptism was important
enough, if need be, to do some bleeding! Ancient Christians, unlike some who
profess faith in Jesus in modern times, held deep convictions about baptism. In
my personal library, I have a really fascinating book entitled The Early
Christians In Their Own Words. The book is a collection
of long and short quotations from followers of Jesus in the earliest Christian
centuries. The quotations were selected and edited by Eberhard Arnold. The
sources quoted include such people as Polycarp, Origen, Tertullian, Clement of
Alexander, Ireneaus, Ignatius and others. The following quote is from the
editor of the book Eberhard Arnold as he discusses the fact that candidates for
baptism went through a thorough course of teaching that included the changes
converts were expected to make – "Under these conditions any question of
infant baptism could only be possible after the middle of the second century.
It is a fact that at the beginning there was no infant baptism. The conviction
of the first Christians depended upon their deep belief in baptism. Through
their faith in the Holy Spirit they were the church of believers that could
forgive every sin because in it every sin was overcome. Many came to the
Christians, impressed by the possibility of a totally new way of living and
looking for a power that would save them from their unworthy lives" (p
12).
There
can be no denying water baptism was viewed as vital in the first century. In
the book of ACTS, under the preaching of inspired men, there is no
record of any person who heard and believed and wanted to obey the gospel who
ever ate a bite or drank a drop or slept a wink until they had been baptized! Acts
2:41 records that after the first gospel sermon under the Great Commission,
about 3,000 were baptized "that same day." In Acts 8:35-38
Philip preached Christ to the Ethiopian eunuch. When they came to a pool of
water, the eunuch asked, "What hinders me from being baptized?"
Philip’s preaching of Jesus convicted him of the need to immediately be
baptized, and after confessing his faith in Jesus, he was. In Acts 16:33
we read about a Roman jailor who heard the gospel after midnight and "immediately
he and all his household were baptized." All these people had a deep
belief in the importance, yea, the necessity of baptism in being saved. How
about you? Think about it.
–
Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
Have
you ever told a lie at church?! I don’t mean to offend you, but somebody
observed that at church we can sing a lie as easily as we can tell one. So if
you object to the question about telling a lie at church, allow me to re-phrase
the question and ask, "Do you ever sing a lie down at church?" For
instance, we sing "Oh How I Love Jesus" when in reality some would be
more honest if they would just sing, "Oh How I Like Jesus." And we
sing "I Surrender All" when really we surrender only some, and maybe
only just a little dab. And there is the song by Asa C. Palmer "Ready to
Suffer." The chorus says, "Ready to go or ready to stay, Ready my
place to fill; Ready for service, lowly or great, Ready to do His will."
Focus on the phrase, "Ready for service, lowly or great." What do you
mean when you sing that song? Are you, in the words of the first verse of that
song, "Ready to suffer grief or pain, Ready to stand the test"? It is
not that difficult to find people who are ready and willing to suffer pain and
serve for athletic glory ... political glory ... military glory ... financial /
business glory ... even social or scientific glory (think about space
explorers, etc.). But are you ready to suffer and serve, or even be
inconvenienced to do God’s will and serve Jesus Christ in the church?
Matthew
20:20-27 records a time when Jesus rebuked James and John and their mother
[see Mark 1:19] for their misguided ambition. They wanted to be close to Jesus
– not a bad thing – on His right hand and on His left in His kingdom! They had
no idea what they were asking (verse 22), but to their credit they
recognized Jesus was King and they were eager and willing to be involved in His
kingdom! After reminding them that greatness in God’s service is measured not
by how many serve us but by whether or not we serve (verses 25-27),
Jesus concludes His efforts to re-wire their thinking about greatness and
service with these sobering and challenging words – " just
as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life
a ransom for many" (vs 28). Many in the church would do well to read
and re-read and re-read that statement. God-come-in-flesh as a Man showed up
one time here on Planet Earth where the name of the game is dog-eat-dog and
climb and claw and compete and coerce your way to the top by hook or crook. And
when He showed up He didn’t come as a show-man or a celebrity. He came as a
servant. When it came to saving our souls, He was ready to go. Once on the
cross, He was willing to stay. He proved ready for service, lowly service, for
what could ever be more lowly than for God-in-the-flesh to end up with spit on
His face, His heart broken, and His body fastened to a rough Roman cross with
metal spikes? Yes, yes, yes – He proved ready to suffer grief or pain and ready
to stand the test. The greatest threat to the well-being of the church of the
Lord in general and our congregation in particular is when church members
demand a padded cross to go along with the padded pews; a comfy cross that
demands no sacrifice and / or discomfort; a convenient cross that allows
Christians to be spectators in the church who see the "ministry" and
"ministering" as some- thing paid preachers and professional staff
are supposed to do. Do you really want to follow Jesus and be like Him? Then
quit just "coming to church" and being a spectator, and get busy
serving. Think about it.
– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
