(Matthew 10:16)
Let us look first to the Scripture. Our passage is found in Matthew 10:16. Here is Jesus speaking to His disciples: �Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore as wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.�
Since I find no special reference that these were only instructions for these first century Disciples, I would assert that this portion is written not only for us - an admonition for study and understanding - but that these words were also spoken to us - as a military order for action. We may not be expected to build an ark; but, we are expected to bring men and women, boys and girls, to that Ark which is Christ Jesus.
Before I get started I�d like to just mention one important thing. Do you ever watch �Sesame Street� on PBS? They have a skit where they might put five baseballs on a table. Then, next to the baseballs, they put something completely unrelated, like a shovel. Then they sing a short song: �One of these things is not like the others. One of these things is different, somehow.�
I would use this illustration to show the differences between us. Let�s face it, if I ever say anything that is even close to profound, just check the bottom of the page and you�ll find one of you guys listed in the footnotes! I do accept my position as subservient. I thank you for allowing me to serve as best I can.
Yet, I do believe that God has allowed me to be here. I�d probably stay away otherwise. Well, I�d sure try a lot harder to stay out of this pulpit.
There are times when I wish more �Preachafiers�
Would just sit down in the smugness of their smartly constructed
Sermons,
- all three - alliterated - points,
And let some soul-sick,
From the multitudes seen going into a Christless eternity,
Old, broken down pugilist of a preacher,
A little worse for wear maybe from too many rounds with the adversary -
Crawl back into the pulpit for one more time.
To hold up the battered banner of the Cross of Jesus Christ,
To stand behind the Book
- Not because this is a place of safety,
But because this shows what is of real importance!
Not the proclaimer but that which is proclaimed!
And to shout forth with real joy (of course),
But also with real empathy,
With real passion,
With true pain
That so many would hear
While so few would respond
To those ever true / never old Words:
JESUS CHRIST DIED TO SAVE SINNERS!
If only I could preach in such a manner.
There are many other things which we must touch upon as we search to expound on the �Whole Counsel� of God. But, none so important as the fact that Jesus Christ died to save sinners! The battle in which we are engaged in these few days touches upon these very facts. Those of us, O. K., to those of YOU who are involved in the high academics of our cause, will find many things which come across your desk.
But, to the man in the pew, or even the man we want to see in the pew, the question of the translation is much more fundamental. Without a true conviction that God�s very Words are now available, and have been to every believer of every time in this Church-Age, we risk the following rational from the man we would seek to win to the cause of Christ: �I am being asked to trust in a Christ presented in a work in which even its defenders have no real trust. How can I? Why should I?
Joseph Smith argued that the Scripture was so polluted,
He must make a new Translation which would be pure.
Judge Rutherford saw the KJB as so flawed
He commissioned a completely new translation.
Ellen White saw the grand scheme of Scripture as
Needing new prophecies to explain it to a new age.
Mary Baker Eddy saw that the KJB needed
A guide to the science of its understanding.
AND,
Last Sunday Morning, and Sunday Evening, and Wednesday Night
At the
First Fundamentalist Super Church Of Separation From All Apostasy
(And Bus Ministry),
Saw it�s pastor,
The Rev. Dr. Fiddle, D.D.
Take all the time needed,
To point out all the errors,
That he had found
In the KJB.
It was so flawed and polluted,
Even the Rev. Dr. Fiddle, D.D.,
And his expert commentary,
Could not save the relic.
So, today, as the new pew Bible
Is a new translation,
Anointed as the True (for now!) Translation
By the
First Fundamentalist Super Church Of Separation From All Apostasy
(And Bus Ministry),
The Rev. Dr. Fiddle, D.D., pastor.
It does make one wonder just from what, and to what, is this idea of Biblical Separation. Of course, on the upside, what a wonderful thing for his ministry is all of this for the Rev. Dr. Fiddle, D. D. After all, his people must stand in awe of his intellect and spirituality. How special must his people fell to be protected from the KJB by the Rev. Dr. Fiddle, D.D.
Are convocations such as this needed to further the Gospel Message? Folks, what kind of a Gospel Message can we have if we do not stand for the Word which God gave. The question that humankind must ask, whether or not they realize the Truth of their God-created longing for fellowship with the Creator, is: Did Jesus indeed come to earth to die, to offer salvation to sinners?
We must not allow that Message of the Cross to be simply another brand in a generic world of Religion.
The question is not of End Time prophecies - �Looking for a Rapture? Try Christianity - A Quicker Picker Upper!�
The question does not concern a simple stuffing of religious knowledge into people�s heads. �Are you tired of dusty old Theologians asking, �How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?� Try Baptist Bran. Dancing is not a concern of ours.�
The question does not concern slide shows or religious entertainment. �In a world of complicated discussion on important issues, take a rest and listen to the leading of �Slap Shot Lefty.� He may have never read one of those little chapter things - you know, �Mark,� �Luke,� �John,� or �Jerry,� - but, he was a great hockey player and was saved over four days ago. Has your preacher ever played hockey?�
The question is: �Have you been washed in the Blood of the Lamb?� Has Jesus Christ saved your soul? If tonight were the night of your death, would you awaken in Heaven in the morning?
These are the important questions and it is from the True Word of God that we find the answers! Yes the Translations Issues are vitally important. It is from God�s Word, given by inspiration and providentially preserved for us, that we find the true answers. This is The Word we can trust because we know that God gave this Word. Isn�t it the height of lunacy to trust the eternal destination of our immortal souls to a �word� which is not the Word given by God? Should we trust the place of our eternal abode - let along the possibility of everlasting fellowship with Jesus, to a word which is less than that which God has given?
Is this Translation Issue of any real importance? Yes; maybe just a little. Don�t you think so?
Do your know that God does not need us?
He can get along just fine without our help.
That is part of the wonder of His asking
That we take part in the �Translation Issue.�
God says, �come over here for a minute and give Me a hand.�
My reply to God is that He doesn�t really need any help.
His Answer: �Yes; it is true. I will accomplish My Will.
But, I do desire your fellowship.�
I have no reply.
The thought is too grand.
A child asked me some time ago if I had ever really seen a person die. This was just after I�d sat up all night with an uncle. I felt for this uncle. He meant much to me. Now came that child�s question. I was able to say, �Yes; several times. Each one seems different.� I then went on into a discourse about how each person faced his or her own encounter with death.
You know how it is with preachers: �Be instant in season and out. Ever ready to tell a story to explain a situation.�
As pastors we find ourselves in these terminal situations from time to time. When there is time we find ourselves spending more and more time going over to the persons house. Later, we go to the nursing home or the hospital. We sit by the person and hold their hand. We present the claims of Christ. We pray with all the fervor we can muster. And we tend to cry - real and honest tears - with the family. We feel that have felt the grief and lived the sorrow of the family. To a degree... To a degree.
In due time death makes his required journey and calls upon one close to us. The depth of pain that over washes every aspect of our being... This opens our emotional eyes to a level of hurt and pain that we might not have realized could possibly exist. We, finally, realize that never before have we even come close to scratching the surface of that pain.
That professionalism that we do need to fulfill our status of care giver, which is part of our calling, has gotten us through the pain of many a funeral. But, it has never gotten us even close to the pain of a funeral. Looking at this could lead us to look at personal work in a new light.
Personal work is not trying to build up a great ministry. Personal work is not looking at the souls of men and seeing them as notches on our Bibles or attendance charts. Personal work is not doing so much that the next larger church will call us. Personal work is not lobbying so that the newspaper will ask us to write a weekly column. Personal work is not being so active in civic affairs that the mayor will ask us to serve on the city image committee.
These are not bad things of themselves. Take them and run with them if that�s all you have. Just slow down often enough so that God can get in His two-cents worth! He just might be able to find a better impetus. Bottom line, of course, is that we need to be very careful in handling the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. The world needs to understand, and so do we!, that we are not important! What is important is that Jesus Christ died to save sinners.
I�d like to think of real personal work as embodied in a person I�ll call �Jim.� Jim has been doing the same job at the factory for ten years. For the past seven years Steve has worked at the lathe next to Jim. For eight hours a day. For five days a week. For fifty weeks a year. For the past seven years these two men have been more than simply workers together. They have shared everything.
Like the time when Steve�s daughter was being harassed by, �...that stupid little boy in the green V. W...� Jim learned to not get Steve started on that one. Then there was June 16th, two years ago.
Steve said that this was a much happier day. �I�m not certain that I wanted to give my little Wanda to that Perry guy. It�s not that Perry isn�t great. He is! Like the son I never had. It�s just... I mean... My little girl!� The two men actually shared some tears over that one.
Jim could go on all night with stories about his pal, Steve. Especially today. For the first time in over three years, since that incident at the dentist!, Steve is not there to Jim�s left as the day goes by. The story goes quickly through the plant as the day goes on. A couple of five-year-olds kids, not watching where they were going... In swerving to miss them Steve put his own car over the center line...
Jim is beside himself. All of those opportunities to present the plan of salvation that he�d let pass by... He was thankful for the times which he had presented the claims of Christ, of course. But, now Jim begins to pray even more earnestly than before. Jim can not abide the thought of Steve going to a Christless eternity.
The pastor, of course, is going to go by and witness to, and pray with Steve. Jim called him the first thing when he heard about the accident. Still, who is going to be praying the more fervently?
God sends each of us to do personal work. There will be many people that each of us will see, and know, and have the opportunity to deal with, that no one else will even know.
You have a mission field.
It�s yours alone.
You have a mission field.
It�s near your home.
You see your mission field
Each step you take.
Work in your mission field
�ere it�s too late.
I�d like to be professionally proud and say that Jesus only sends preachers out into a world of personal work, but... If God would have only sent preachers, we�d never get the job done. We�re too busy at conventions. OOPS! We�d spend too much time going over manual and focus group read-outs. We�ve just gotta get things done - right! How many fundamentalist preaches does it take to put in a ceiling light bulb? Just one. He stands on a chair and waits for the universe to revolve around him.
O. K.; it�s nowhere that bad! But, we - preachers, are in danger of sliding into a detached professionalism. It�s not that we lose the vision. It�s not that we lose the fire. It�s that we gain the quarterly reports.
The truth of the matter really is that each individual Christian does have a mission field which is his, or hers, entirely. And, yes, each Christian is sent out as a sheep into this field. God would not have said that He�d send us as �sheep� unless that is exactly what He meant. So, what did He mean?
Sociologist�s will tell us that civilization began among humankind when our ancestors began to plant crops and domesticate the wild animals. Personally, I think that civilization began when God said, �Let these two be one.�
Be that as it may... I have a real problem with picturing any sheep which is not domesticated. I just can�t get a picture of a wild sheep in my mind. I can, if I really work at it, picture a sheep in a torn leather jacket. But, my mind rebels at the thought of him anywhere near a Harley!
There are four things I have noticed about sheep. 1) They tend to follow the orders of the shepherd, as long as they know he is watching! 2) They are most often seen in groups. 3) They do not go off by themselves often. When they do it is to their detriment. 4) They have no defense against the predators around them.
1) Sheep tend to follow the orders of the shepherd as long as they know he is watching. Sheep can be very stupid.
Day after day this shepherd guy takes them to the best pasture ground in the area. It never fails. Still, these sheep will study for any chance to run off and try to find better pasture land. It never works!
2) Sheep are most often seen in groups.
Even the carnal Christian gravitates toward church. It is the natural setting for the Christian. The man who said that he could worship as well in the �Cathedral of the Pines� as he could in the church confines is probably right. If he really believes what he says then he is so far out of fellowship with the Lord as to be as miserable in church as he would be siting on a fire ant hill in southern Louisiana.
Christ so constructed His church that her membership will enjoy being together. As the Head of, and the Founder of, the church is Jesus Christ, it would seem wrong for an erstwhile church member to ignore this edifice of His labor and love.
As the Bride of Christ, the church is not an organization to be shunned.
3) Sheep do not often go off by themselves. When they do it is to their own detriment.
It is the Christian who is off by himself, away from the nurture and guidance of a local church, who is most in danger of succumbing to the siren call of the cults and other anti-church groups.
4) Sheep have no defense against predators.
We, a fleshy humans, are ill equipped to fight against the wiles of Satan. But, praise be to God, Satan is completely unable to fight against the Might and Majesty of Jesus Christ, Who is our Shepherd.
As sheep we are sent into a world that is fraught with danger toward us.
Jesus warns those who are sent. Wolves will just sit there and drive the poor sheep to tears. What do these wolves do to the Christian sheep. Why, they taunt them. They tease them. The wolves will even tell stories about the sheep. What peril are the sheep in that cannot be resolved by contact with their Great Shepherd?
Sometimes real persecutions come. While our bodies may be attacked and torn, our souls are under the protection of our Savior. What peril are the sheep in that cannot be resolved by contact with their Great Shepherd?
Still, Satan is a well equipped enemy of the Christian. He is cunning and ruthless. He knows what is our weakest part.
Satan is often fond of reminding us of the weaknesses of our youth. �Don�t forget,� he taunts us, �What you have done. And you still call yourself a �fit vessel� for a Holy and Just God? How?�
The sad thing is that so many of us work so hard, especially as youngsters, to give Satan more ammunition. Satan, it seems, does not always just outright lie. Sometimes he just takes part of the truth and twists it until we wish he were lying.
The next time that Satan is really bothering you with this sort of attack, the �Do you have the right to be a worker for God� scam, it might be good to ask a simple question of just where Satan and you are at that very moment.
Satan is the avowed enemy of God - working against the Program of God at every turn.
We, meanwhile, the sinner set free, have been asked by God to work with Him in the great task of evangelism. Think of that! God, the Author and Sustainer of the universe asks that you, and I, work with Him. He does not need us. He desires our fellowship. Think of it! That knowledge alone ought to get your heart skipping faster than a barefooted bathing beauty on a blacktop parking lot on a hot and sunny summer day! It�s great stuff! God loves me, and you, and you, and even y�all.
Still, Satan does fight us. In the past few years it seems that sleep is being used on me. Every time I sit down it seems that my body says, �Turn out the lights; the party�s over.� You may have noticed me walking about, or standing in the foyer during some of the speakers times. It is so I can stay awake. I can nearly go to sleep during my own talk. Well, anyone could do that, I suppose! But, I keep trying to go to sleep when the good speakers, with the really interesting information, are giving out what I especially need to take in!
I�ve been tempted to say that this is due to the fact that I�ve been gifted with the gift of sleep. The only problem with this is that I�m afraid that someone would put a town name on it and claim it was a revival. How�s it sound: �The Great Galesburg Sleeping Revival.�
I joke, but hasn�t this already begun? How else, other than the outworking of �The Great Galesburg Sleeping Revival,� can we understand the great colleges and whole denominations reaching out and accepting an inferior text as a revelation from God?
Where, other than �Dreamland,� as Dean Burgon penned in his books, could we find precious nuggets of insight on things spiritual from a text which seeks to supplant - and reassign to the ash heap of history that True and Preserved Text given us from God?
Yes, Satan is always ready to attack. So what is the Christian to do? The Christian is to go ahead and do that which the Shepherd has assigned.
How do we handle that assignment? Indeed! I recall one incident as though I�d just now hung up the phone. I can not recall my rational. That bothers me. The only rational I can see would be tied in with spiritual pride, or a pugnaciousness that is unbecoming to one who should be spreading the simple Message that Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
I had received a call from one of the local cults; they asked that we join with them in some sort of civic festival. I told them that we had no basis for fellowship. They began to explain what they saw as some areas where we could come together as Christians. Instead of simply saying, �I am sorry. But I do not believe that we have any basis for religious fellowship. This is based on our view of God, the means and purpose of salvation, the role of the believer in the church,� and so forth.
I could have tried to explain some of our many differences and used this as a witnessing opportunity. Instead I just gave the �Reader�s Digest� short version of our differences. I believe it went something like this: �We have no basis for fellowship because we worship the Lord God Almighty Who made the Heaven and the Earth. You, meanwhile, worship demons form the pits of Hell.�
I don�t dispute the accuracy of what I said. I do think that I might have, should have, been able to find a nicer way to say the same thing!
What I said, the way I said it, and the spirit in which I said it, have pretty well ruled out any sort of personal work between our people and those of this cult in the Galesburg area!
An example of this: A few years ago two men from this cult called on my daughter at her home. Now, she has a little more patience than do I. She said that they were wasting their time since she already had a church home. They asker her where her church was. She told them it was our church. Without a further word, they simply left.
Did I do wrong in refusing to work with them? No. Did I do wrong in my attitude toward them as lost sinners? Yes! Definitely.
People come with a fight or flight syndrome. If they look at us and realize that we come toward them (Not to them, but toward them!) With an attitude of �destroy the enemy� rather than to �discuss that which is important because we love your soul for the Savior,� they will tend to react by either throwing up their arms and attempting to keep us at bay or by loading up their own cannons so as to approach the battle field in full armor.
Either way we�ll get no effective witnessing accomplished.
It was in 1967, I believe. �Flower Power� was still a frightening concept. A young man of about twenty summers came into the downtown fundamentalist church. His clothing was old, but not dirty or tattered. His hair was long and he sported the beginnings of a nice beard.
What was it that drew him in? I don�t know. He was not there, this was obvious, to cause any problems. He was quite and well mannered. Maybe he had a soul problem Maybe he was responding to the prayers of his mother. I don�t know.
I do know that the pastor arose and began his sermon...
I think that I shall never see
A thing as ugly
As a Hippie.
The young man sort of deflated into the pew. All the expectancy, and the excitement, with which he had entered into the church were drained out within the first five seconds of the service. He stayed through the service and slipped out the back door, speaking to no one. ...as if any might have spoken to him! I never saw him return. What happened to that young man�s soul?
Don�t anyone be so heartless and cruel as to say, �Well, that�s not my problem. He wasn�t elect.� That is simply misusing the Good Theology of God for the base purpose of our own souls deceit!
One more and then I�m done.
The young man had long hair. I understood. He was doing the same thing that I had done at the same age. He was trying to relate to the youth culture to reach those ensnared within it. I finally realized that the best policy is not to wear the muddy, sin soaked shoes of the sinner. Better to entice the sinner to try on the Sandals of the Savior and to walk a new path.
The boy would often come to me with questions that others had given him. I�d help as much as I could, praying always that he would come through this time. This night he had come to listen to an evangelist from a college which claims to be a bastion of fundamentalist theology. He had even convinced a friend to come with him.
The evangelist began to speak. We soon found that his wife was accomplished at Opera. This was a good thing, too. In short-shift we were informed that this was the only music which was God ordained. Gregorian Chants - of the devil! Jazz - of the devil! Rock (gasp!) And (gasp!) Roll (gasp!) Music (gasp!) - of the devil! Gospel music - of the devil! Big Band music - of the devil! Symphonic music - of the devil! And on, and on, and on... If it was not opera it was of the devil. Of this much we were assured.
Of course it wasn�t enough to note how bad was the music, we were also treated to a barrage about how every single person who had ever heard any of this music - and who didn�t love opera, were themselves of the devil. I told this long haired boy to take his friend and just silently leave by the side door. I�d try to explain the attitude of the speaker later.
Then the evangelist saw the two long haired boys. At this point he began an over fifteen minute assault on the grooming habits of the American male. My wife timed him.
Some good did come from this attack. That young boy no longer bothers me with questions. I no longer have to ferry him or his friends to church services. Yes, this stalwart man of God - this evangelist, did wonders for the service of his Lord in regards to this young man. I wonder what he�s done for others.
I�ve said all of this to say one thing. Be careful. Be sure that it is the Will of God when you go on the attack. For the most part, especially on the matters of translations, we will have no choice but to adopt an attack mode of some sort. Ours is a minority opinion. We must bring the other side down a bit from his positions as high standing authority.
We cannot allow ourselves to be put in a position where our plea is, �I know what everyone else says. But, here is what I believe.� To establish our position we must strike out with snakelike courage and audacity. We need to tell the TRUTH. �I know what everyone else says. But, here is the Truth of the matter. Here is what God says about this situation.�
But, while we are at it,... As harmless as doves. We should never change our Message when it is of God. We should never �adapt� our Message when God has given it. But, we can be careful with that Message.
I have an industrial strength �weed wacker.� It will take out small trees. It will, if we are not careful with it, take off some of that $9000.00+ siding which was put on the house last summer. I try to be careful with it.
That�s all I would ask. Let us not run people off - or over. We do not have to destroy those which we seek to convert. We want the �herd� to follow the Savior, not to run from the speaker! We do not reach men�s hearts and minds by putting our hands on their throats!
If we were to win every argument by the strength of intellect, if we were to cow the opposition with the strength of the facts, if we were to cleanse the field of combat via the force of argument... If we were to do all of this and yet find that the parade ground would then stand silent to our cause, what would have gained for the cause of Christ?