THE POUND
PROCLAIMER
Volume II
February 2007
Number 4
Sing
to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day
to day. Psalms 96:2
IT JUST HAPPENED!
The elders had
called this meeting with the two couples in an effort to resolve the problem,
if it could be resolved. It had become obvious to many in the church that the
husband in one couple and wife in the other had become much too “friendly”. The
way they were always together and embracing one another set off a red flag. Then
that which had been feared became public knowledge.
One of the women
sat and sobbed quietly. The other sat starring at a wall with red swollen eyes.
The husband of the first stood shifting his weight from one foot to the other
while his counterpart sat off to himself with anger and hurt on his face.
What was the
problem to be resolved? Adultery! Two Christian couples, the best of friends,
now find themselves having to deal with the heart rending sin of adultery.
The husband who
was standing spoke, “I didn’t mean to do it, it just happened! IT JUST
HAPPENED!
How is it that
sin happens? James tells us to, “Let no
one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be
tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted
when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has
conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth
death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.” [James 1:13-16] The
temptations of man come from his own lust. When we sin, it is because we first
had a desire to commit the act. The only exception is when one sins in
ignorance. I doubt very seriously if anyone thinks that the sin of adultery can
be committed in ignorance.
The age old
problem of sin is the unwillingness on man’s part to admit that he committed
the sinful act and then to take full responsibility for his action. We want to
blame others for what we do.
Adam and Eve
succumbed to this weakness. The man said, “‘The
woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.’
Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The
woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” [Genesis 3:12-13] Adam
first blamed the woman for his sin. Then he even went so far as to blame God by
pointing out that it was God who had given him the woman. Eve tried to lessen
her guilt by placing the blame of her sin on the serpent. If we study the
incident of Adam’s and Eve’s sin, we will discover that Eve gave in to the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life [1
John 2:16]. Paul adds to this discussion by saying, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and
Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
Yet she will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith and love
and holiness, with self-control.” [1 Timothy 2:13-15] The fact that
Adam was not deceived reveals the power Eve had over him. He knew full well
what he was doing but did it any way.
We need to be as
king David and be willing to admit our sin without blaming others [2
Samuel 12:7-13]. The simple words, “I have sinned,” are most
refreshing.
What happened in
the incident we spoke of at the beginning? Two homes were destroyed, an
unscriptural marriage resulted after the divorces and a congregation was thrown
into turmoil and anguish. And all this because, it just happened. Sin indeed,
has its consequences!!
The Editor’s
Page
I am a fixer. I
am not a fixer of stuck windows, or broken chairs, or leaky toilets. I am a
fixer of broken hearts, broken lives, and lost souls; at least that is what I
try to do.
In the world of
psychoanalysis, I am classified as co-dependent. An example of this
psychological disorder would be the child of an alcoholic parent where the
child assumes the place of the parent and the parent the place of the child.
The parent becomes dependent upon the child for their wellbeing and the child
takes on the role of supplying those needs.
It is in this
environment that the child grows into an adult who measures their self-worth
and acceptance by what they can do for other people. This leads into a myriad
of problems which we will not address for they are not germane to our
discussion.
We have
introduced the previous thoughts because Christians are prone to exhibit
co-dependent characteristics when dealing with lost souls. I speak namely of
the tendency to measure their self-worth by the success rate of saving lost
souls.
Do not
misunderstand; we should never loose compassion and zeal for the lost soul. The
thing we must not do is to carry around a burden of worthlessness because
someone made a choice to go to Hell.
Our
responsibility as a Christian is to ‘go and teach’ [Matthew 28:18-19; Mark
16:15]. The Christian is not commanded to make or force another
person to obey the gospel. Obedience to God is an individual action. Another
may instruct me, encourage me, and yes, lead me, but in the end, it is I who
will either choose Heaven or Hell.
Should these
facts lessen our compassion for the lost soul? Jesus our Savior and example
answers this question. O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to
it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her
brood under her wings, and you would not! [Matthew 23:37 ESV]
Jesus knew He would be rejected by those in
As I said, I am
a fixer. I know what it is like to lay awake at night worrying over what you
said or what you might have said that would have made a difference. I know what
it is like to have your motives questioned because you wanted so much to help
the other person’s life to be better. I know the heartache when it becomes
obvious that a soul is lost to God and there is nothing you can do about it.
I also know that
I am a child of the King. Which is why I
suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am
convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to
me. [2
Timothy 1:12 ESV] I know that I will, as all men, stand before God
in judgment to be judged of every word and deed done in this life [Revelation
20:12]. Will I stand before God and wave a hand over a sea of souls
and say, Look what I have brought you, oh Almighty God. I dare say not.
Hopefully,
without so much as lifting my eyes I will be able to proclaim, Holy Father, I
gave you all that I had; I left nothing behind; I never gave up; I never lost
heart; Your mercy has overwhelmed me; Your goodness has sustained me; Your love
saved me; I am Your unprofitable servant.
I close with
this thought. Discouragement is the most effective tool the Devil has in his
arsenal. We must never let the bad choices of lost souls discourage us from
moving on to the next lost soul. Do not give the Devil power over you by
judging your self-worth by your perceived success rate of saving lost souls.
PURPOSEFUL PREACHING
The man of God
spoke on the subject of adultery, murder, and kindred lusts. He did so by
speaking of the little ewe lamb which a rich man took from the bosom of its
owner. [2
Samuel 12] Nathan’s problem was the age old problem of getting the
hearer to make application. To get an audience to apply to themselves the
standard by which they readily condemn others, is most difficult.
Nathan’s bold
sermon on “adultery” did little to test his courage as a “preacher”. After all,
his audience deplored sin as passionately and convincingly as did the prophet.
However, Nathan was to face a moment of truth. It came when he said to King
David, “Thou art the man!”
John the
baptizer stood and decried the multiple sins of his generation and called upon
them to repent. John’s preaching met with success as seen from the great number
who came to be baptized in the
I once heard it
said that John need not have “lost his head.” The thought being that he could
have spoken in generalities. It is true, he could have continued in the
wilderness as a successful evangelist, but then he would have failed his
appointed purpose and lost his soul.
The example of
Nathan and John show that preaching must present and make application of Divine
Truth. This conviction for truth must not be compromised even if the target of that
truth is a king. Preaching in generalities may exalt the preacher in the eyes
of some, but it belittles the purpose of preaching. When the message has been
given, the audience must know what is wrong and feel the sting of rebuke, if
necessary. Anything less is not purposeful preaching.
Today, there is
much preaching against sin but with little effect. Moral degeneration, hatred,
division, jealousy, etc. are rampant and we need look no further than
ourselves. Why is this? It is not purposeful preaching to condemn sectarianism
without explaining that the sectarian spirit lives in the alliances formed by
brethren around schools, papers, preachers, or issues. Likewise, sermons that
condemn adultery but fail to apply the sin of adultery to unscriptural divorce
and re-marriage, fails to uphold the teaching of Jesus on the subject.
Pray that God
will send more Nathans and John the immersers!!
####################
WHAT MUST
I DO
Hear: Rom
Believe: Heb 11:6
Repent: Lk 13:5; Ac
17:30
Confess: Matt
Be Baptized: Ac
TO BE
SAVED?
###################
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MATTERS
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The Pound Proclaimer is published monthly by the Pound
All articles by the editor unless otherwise
stated
Editor: Glen Young
Phone: 276-796-5767=Office
804-365-8694=Home
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