guidelines€¦ · the sword and trumpet founded in 1929 by geo. r. brunk i vol.lxxiv november 2006...

NOVEMBER 2006 $1.50

JOHN WILLIAMS

Guidelines

The Sword and TrumpetFounded in 1929 by Geo. R. Brunk I

Vol. LXXIV NOVEMBER 2006 No. 11

SWORD AND TRUMPET GUIDELINES monthly magazine is a faith ministry directedby a Board representing various constituencies of the Mennonite Church. It is committedto defending, proclaiming, and promoting the whole Gospel of our Saviour and Lord,Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. It emphasizes neglected truth and con-tends for “the faith which was once delivered to the saints.” This publication exposes andopposes doctrinal error which compromises that faith and leads to apostasy.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS — Sword and Trumpet, Inc.Raymond P. Brunk, ChairmanJohn J. Forry, Vice ChairmanStanley Good, Secretary/TreasurerDavid L. Burkholder Luke L. Horst, HonoraryPaul M. Emerson Lee H. Kanagy, HonoraryChristian Good Marcus YoderJames Hess, Honorary

IN THIS ISSUE

1. John Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover2. Person of the Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. Modesty in Dress: A Vanishing Virtue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24. From the Editor’s Desk:

Guest Editorial: Tuned In! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75. The Sunday School Lessons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96. Newslines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147. Courage to Be Involved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178. “I’m Ready to Kill Him!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189. Morality Should Be Part of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

10. A Bend in the Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2111. Laodicea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2312. Helping Others Deal With Their Anger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2613. Saying Something—or Just Singing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2914. Profanity in Sunday Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3115. Where Are the Prophets? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3216. Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3417. Don’t Marry Him! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3618. When Is a Day Not a Day? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

EDITOR — Paul M. Emerson

NEWSLINES — Hans Mast

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONSDavid L. Burkholder

CIRCULATION — Ethel Rhodes

THE SWORD AND TRUMPET (USPS 615-540) is published monthly by The Sword and Trumpet,Inc., P. O. Box 575, Harrisonburg, Va. 22803-0575. Periodicals postage paid at Harrisonburg, Va.SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 1 year US $12.00, 2 years US $20.00. Bulk rates on the basis of US$9.00 per year. Add US $3.00 per year for countries outside USA and Canada. Telephone (540)867-9419 or 867-9444. FAX (540) 867-9419. E-mail address: [email protected].

NOVEMBER 2006 PAGE 1

Person of the Month:

John Williams(1796-1839)

Williams was born at Tottenham High Cross in Middlesex and was brought up in aChristian family. As a child, he spent much time composing hymns and prayers for hisown use, but by the time he reached his teens he had lost the faith of his childhood.When he was eighteen, however, he was converted at Moorfields Tabernacle. Called tobe a missionary in 1816, he was accepted by the London Missionary Society andappointed to the Pacific Islands.

Taking his young wife, Williams sailed in 1817 with several other missionaries toSociety Island, near Tahiti, where a missionary station had already been established.Later, at the invitation of the king of Raiatea, he set up a station in the Leeward Islands.While the natives were happy to adopt Christianity as a state religion, it had only asuperficial effect upon them; they had low moral standards and were generally idle anddifficult to teach.

Williams tried to encourage them to become more industrious; he instructed them inboat-building and introduced the cultivation of sugar cane. He even set up a printingpress and published the Gospel of Luke and some elementary books in their own lan-guage in order to stimulate their interest in education.

But Williams was anxious to move on and reach the heathens on other islands. Whenhis Mission turned down the idea, he decided to take the matter into his own hands.With money from an inheritance, he purchased a schooner, the Endeavour, and set off toexplore the islands of the South Sea, financing the expedition by trading with thenatives. His first aim was to find the island of Rarotonga (where the people were said tobe the most ferocious in Polynesia); then he spent the next eleven years (1821-32) sail-ing the South Seas and planting mission stations.

Although financial constraints forced him to sell his ship, he was determined to con-tinue his travels; with considerable ingenuity he built his own boat in a space of fifteenweeks and set off once more. He visited Tahiti, the Savage Islands, Friendly Islands andSamoa before returning to Rarotonga to complete his translation of the New Testament.

When he went home on furlough in 1834, he discovered that news of his adventureshad made him famous and the LMS was now prepared to support his commercial activi-ties, voting to purchase a new ship for him. They also offered to advance him moneywith which to build a theological college at Rarotonga and a school at Tahiti.

On his return in 1837, he continued to tour the islands, reinforcing the work where amission had been established; he even ventured as far as the New Hebrides where hehoped to open up a new station. Some of the islands in the group had already been evan-gelized by John Paton and John Geddie, both of whom survived to see the fruits of theirlabor. But when Williams and his colleague James Harris landed at Dillon’s Bay, on Eromanga, on the 20th of November 1839, they were killed and eaten by natives. It was

(continued on page 8)

SWORD AND TRUMPET

Those who search in the Bible forGod’s directives on the matter of dresswill not find a list of specific require-ments, but there are general principleswhich determine the standard for attire.The scope of this article is to list onlythose elements that can be stated withcertainty. There are in addition someguiding principles in the Bible that canbe applied individually and more specifi-cally as a matter of conviction and com-mon sense.

We will look at facts which are basedon God’s unalterable principle of mod-esty, regardless of the activity or thelocation—whether at church, at Wal-Mart, on the beach, or at the gym. Whatare some Bible principles on dress?

1. Designed by the Creator

If we believe God is the Creator ofhumankind as the Scriptures declare,then it follows that we should submit tothe directives of our Maker. It would bepreposterous for a lump of clay to say toa potter, “You really didn’t know whatyou were doing when you made me andadorned me as such. Your requirementsare much too stiff; therefore I will chooseto resist your purpose.”

God’s answer to those who in effectdoubt His authority is found in Romans9:20, 21a: “But indeed, who are you toreply against God? Will the thing formedsay to him who formed it, ‘Why have youmade me like this?’ Does not the potterhave power over the clay?”

Since God made the man and womandifferently, the careful Bible student willnote that God tailored His dress code tomatch those differences. Genesis 1:27says, “So God created man in His own

image; in the image of God He createdhim: male and female He created them.”

Men are sexually stimulated (aroused)by sight, and women are stimulated bywords of endearment. Therefore God hasgiven certain commands to womenregarding their dress and appearance. In1 Timothy 2:9 we read, “In like manneralso, that the women adorn themselves inmodest apparel, with propriety and mod-eration.”

The passage does not imply that menmay dress improperly or immodestly.The command is directed to women sincethey are more commonly given over toenticing dress that affects men in avisual way. The Scriptures speak about“the attire of a harlot,” but we neverread about “the attire of a whoremon-ger”—one who frequents the company ofa harlot.

On the other hand God has given dif-ferent commands to men on how theyshould conduct themselves. For example,1 Corinthians 7:1 says, “It is good for aman not to touch a woman.” The wordtouch in Greek means “to kindle or lighta fire.” Hugging a family member or rel-ative is not what is implied here. Touch-ing that lights a fire refers to any physi-cal contact that stirs emotions anddesires. That command is given to men.God also gives warning to men aboutcontrolling their eyes. In Matthew 5:28Jesus says, “But I say to you that who-ever looks at a woman to lust for her hasalready committed adultery with her inhis heart.”

These verses do not imply it is allright for women to lust or to touch inap-propriately. The command is directed tomen because of their nature—requiring

Modesty in Dress: A Vanishing Virtue

by Kenneth Nell


that they guard their eyes and theiractions. So if it appears like womenreceive most of the admonition aboutdress in the New Testament—it is for asignificant reason that relates to God’soriginal design. Who are we to argueagainst the design of the Potter?

2. Requires That Nakedness Be Covered

What was the first thing that Adamand Eve realized after they sinned ineating the forbidden fruit? They sawthat they were naked. What was theirfirst response to this realization? Theyattempted to cover themselves. Eve“took of its fruit and ate. She also gave toher husband with her, and he ate. Thenthe eyes of both of them were opened, andthey knew that they were naked; and theysewed fig leaves together, and madethemselves coverings” (Genesis 3:6, 7).

The Hebrew word translated as cover-ings means a “girdle” or “belt.” Sometranslations use the words loin cover-ings. The fig leaf coverings were not ade-quate and did not remove the sense ofnakedness felt by Adam and Eve. NoticeAdam’s answer to God’s inquiry abouthis place of hiding. This was after he andEve were wearing the fig aprons. Inanswer to God’s question, “[Adam]where are you?” Adam said, “I wasafraid because I was naked; and I hidmyself” (Genesis 3:9, 10).

Even the partially clothed bodiescaused Adam and Eve to avoid God’spresence, and Adam said he was naked.Other verses in Scripture refer to partialdress as nakedness. Does that say some-thing about the warm weather ward-robes and swimming suit styles of today?I am guessing that the fig leaf apronsworn by Adam and Eve might have cov-ered more of the body than do many ofthe garments that are worn today.

What was God’s solution to the prob-lem? In Genesis 3:21 we read, “ForAdam and his wife the LORD God madetunics of skin, and clothed them.” The

word translated clothed means “to wraparound.” The term implies that the coatsor robes supplied by God enveloped thebody.

The Hebrew word for coats (KJV)means “a tunic” or “long coat.” Thesame Hebrew word is used to describeJoseph’s coat of many colors, and also todescribe the clothing of the priests. Didyou ever see a depiction of Joseph in hiscoat of many colors, or a Jewish priestwith his garb? If God were to makeclothing, like He did for Adam and Eve—for people who are often dressed insuffi-ciently today, even many professingChristians would have different ward-robes.

God gave special instructions to thepriests, who were to enter the presenceof God at the tabernacle. In Exodus20:26 we read, “Nor shall you go up bysteps to My altar, that your nakednessmay not be exposed on it.” Exodus 28:42gives a clue as to what part of the body, ifexposed, is considered by God to benakedness. God said that for the priests,“You shall make for them linen trousersto cover their nakedness; they shall reachfrom the waist to the thighs.” The NLTsays “to cover their flesh from their beltsto their legs.” From this we learn thatthe “waist” and “the thighs” are to befully covered; otherwise, God consideredthem to be naked.

The “thigh” is defined in an Englishdictionary as the limb extending fromthe hip to the knee and supported by asingle large bone. The minimum require-ment to avoid nakedness (related to thelower extremities of the body), is thatthe knee and above should be covered atthe very least. Adam Clarke in his com-mentary on 1 Timothy 2 points out thatsome immodest Greek women wore theirgarments open on each side, from thebottom on up above the knees, so as todiscover a part of the thigh. Thesewomen were called “show-ers (discover-ers) of the thigh.” God wants us to coverour nakedness in every aspect.

SWORD AND TRUMPET

3. Eliminates Improper Focus on theBody

What are the basic requirements inthe New Testament concerning dress, toavoid undue focus on the body? We con-sider first of all the instruction in 1 Tim-othy 2:9. “In like manner also, that thewomen adorn themselves in modestapparel, with propriety and moderation[shamefacedness and sobriety, KJV]; notwith braided hair or gold or pearls orcostly clothing.” There are a number ofqualifications just in this one verse.

First of all, clothing is to be modest.The Greek word, kosmios, translated“modest” carries the essential meaningof “order.” When applied to dress it hasthe meaning of being well-ordered,proper, and decent. It derives its meaningfrom the root word kosmos, often trans-lated as “world,” as in God’s creation.God’s well-ordered adorning of His cre-ation is a role model for us to follow inoutward appearance. Modest apparel forthe woman then should reflect God’sdesign and order, and compliment thegrace and beauty of womanhood.

There are two other words used in1 Timothy 2:9 which further defineproper dress—the words shamefacednessand sobriety. The word shamefacednesscomes from a Greek word which meansliterally “downcast eyes,” but it is meantin a good sense and refers to one who isashamed to overstep the limit of wom-anly reserve. The other word, sobriety, is“self-control,” especially over sexual pas-sions. Women are to exercise self-controlso that neither their passions nor anyoneelse’s are aroused.

There is a difference between dressingattractively and dressing to attract atten-tion. Modesty is dressing attractively.Dressing “to attract attention” is a viola-tion of the Bible’s expectation on dress. Ifa woman dresses in such a way that oth-ers can’t help but notice her bodily form(even if done unintentionally), she islikely to arouse carnal desire. Paul

warned against causing others to stum-ble because of our freedom (Romans14:13). In 1 Corinthians 8:9 he says,“Beware lest somehow this liberty ofyours become a stumbling block to thosewho are weak.” Granted, the man is heldresponsible for his lust, but the woman isnot free of guilt or accountability. Bothare guilty. Jesus refers to this principle inMatthew 18:7, “Woe to the world becauseof offenses! Offenses must come, but woeto that man by whom the offense comes!”

It is imperative that parents traintheir children, especially daughters, inproper conduct and modesty so as not tocause offense. It will be most effective tohave them wear when they are smallwhat we would like them to wear whenthey start making their own choices.Husbands and fathers have the greaterresponsibility, in that they know first-hand what causes their eyes to focuswrongly on the body of a woman. Thatinformation must be conveyed to ourwives and daughters who may not befully aware of the danger.

Melody Green in her book, Uncoveringthe Truth About Modesty, says, “ManyChristians are . . . either oblivious oruncaring about the effect they have onothers. They may even appear to have areal excitement and love for the Lord,[yet at the same time their bodies are]sending out a totally different message.”

Beware of clothing that is designed forlooks and not for proper covering.Today’s fashion designers come up withattire that is planned to have a calcu-lated effect. Just because the body is“covered” does not mean it is modestlycovered. The female form is just asprovocative as is a lack of sufficientclothing. Tight or clinging attire (andsheer materials) reveal by suggestionrather than by fact. Beware also of eyetraps that direct the eye to slits in skirts,low necklines, and shirts or blouses withbuttons open. Words and pictures atinappropriate places on clothing alsobecome eye traps.


The Christian woman’s primarydesire is not to put her body on exhibit,but to reflect the selflessness of Christ.Her appearance and dress should notsay, “Look at me, admire me,” butrather, “Christ lives in me and haschanged me from the inside out.” If thatchange has occurred, then there is noneed to draw improper attention to theoutward appearance. We read in 1 Peter3:3, 4, “Do not let your adornment bemerely outward—arranging the hair,wearing gold, or putting on fineapparel—rather let it be the hidden per-son of the heart, with the incorruptiblebeauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, whichis very precious in the sight of God.”

4. Sex-distinction in Pattern ofAttire

What does the Bible say about theneed for apparel to differ between theman and the woman? Israel was giventhe following command in Deuteronomy22:5. “A woman shall not wear anythingthat pertains to a man, nor shall a manput on a woman’s garment, for all whodo so are abomination unto the LORD

your God.” This Old Testament com-mand is a guiding principle that isreflected in nature, and is consistentwith God’s intent and order in creation.

Even though (in Bible times) bothwomen and men wore robelike garments,they were different in pattern and use.The women wore a long flowing garment,which was an indispensable article ofclothing. The men on the other handwore a shorter and tighter outer garmentthat was more like a long overcoat andwas a dispensable article of clothing wornfor distinction or position. Whenever aman had to work, run, or go to war, hewould pull up his garment and tie itaround his loins or waist. In the Bible itwas called “girding up your loins.”

In Job 38:3 and 40:7 we read theexpression “Gird up your loins like aman” (see marginal reference in NKJV).Nowhere in Scripture do we read of

women wearing breeches or girding uptheir loins. At times a man laid aside hisouter robe garment (such as Jesus did inJohn 13:4) when He washed the feet ofHis disciples, or as blind Bartimaeus didin Mark 10:50 when he threw aside hisgarment and came to Jesus.

Distinction between the sexes is a bib-lical principle supported in 1 Corin-thians 11, where Paul deals with head-ship. So, is it acceptable (according tothe Bible’s dress standard for women) towear pants, slacks, shorts, skorts, orculottes that look like baggy shorts?First Timothy 2:9 speaks of apparelmarked by sobriety and moderation—that which is in harmony with goodtaste. And the word translated apparelcannot mean anything other than a“long, loose, flowing garment.” TheGreek word katastole is an exact andprecise word, used only at this one placein the Bible. There are lots of words forclothing, attire, etc., but God inspiredPaul to choose this word to state a dressrequirement for Christian women. Theword is a combination of kata meaning“down” in reference to a garment letdown, and stole meaning a long loose-fitting outer garment often reaching tothe feet. In fact, stole is an English wordwhich the Webster’s dictionary definesas “a long loose garment.”

The minimum requirement is forChristian women at the very least—towear a long, loose, flowing dress. Lest weconsider this out of the question orarchaic, check the history books and youwill find that from the time of Christuntil the middle 1900s in civilized soci-eties—women, with the exception of har-lots, wore long, flowing dresses or theequivalent. In fact, it is only within thelast sixty years that God’s design for dis-tinction between the sexes has been gen-erally laid aside.

The universal symbol for designatinga men’s bathroom is a stick figure wear-ing a pair of pants. The universal symbolfor designating a women’s bathroom is a

SWORD AND TRUMPET

stick figure wearing a dress. That ishardly coincidence. Even society recog-nizes that there should be a distinctionin clothing even though for the mostpart the distinction is not practiced.

I read an article that told about awoman who made a decision to restricther wardrobe to dresses and skirts, as aresult of lessons learned in a ladies’Bible class. The speaker said, “Let medemonstrate something to you.” Sheasked the ladies in the audience to closetheir eyes momentarily. She held up alarge picture of a woman in a modestskirt and blouse. She asked the ladies toopen their eyes. Then she inquired,“Where did your eyes first fall natu-rally?” The audience agreed that theireyes were first drawn to the face of thewoman in the picture.

She once again asked the ladies toclose their eyes. When they opened theireyes they were looking at a large posterof a woman in a sport shirt and bluejeans. She asked, “Now, be honest andtell me where your eyes first fell natu-rally when you looked at this picture?”Many of the ladies in the crowd weresurprised that their eyes first focused onthe hip area before they ever noticed thewoman’s face. The point was made. Ifthis happened in a crowd of ladies, howmuch more is it true of men? God doeshave a purpose for His dress require-ments.

5. Stresses Inward Adornment NotOutward Display

The key verses are found in 1 Peter3:3, 4, which admonish believers not toput the emphasis on the outward adorn-ing “of arranging the hair, wearing gold,or putting on fine apparel—rather let itbe the hidden person of the heart . . . eventhe ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit,which is very precious in the sight ofGod.”

Allow me to explain these verses withan example: How much time is investedin dressing up, fixing up, making up and

beautifying the body which is corruptibleand soon grows old? Compare that to theamount of time spent beautifying theinner person which is incorruptible andwill never grow old. How attractive canyou make a 90-year-old woman look,according to the world’s standards ofbeauty? How much carnal lust can begenerated for a body that is bent andwrinkled with age? During life’s finalfootsteps, outward beauty tends to fade.

I’ve been in the presence of elderlypeople whose bodies were anything butattractive, but they caused the room toradiate with the beauty of their charac-ter and their godliness. I went awayencouraged and challenged. The Chris-tian woman has the greatest potentialfor true beauty, by developing the innerqualities of a gentle and quiet spirit. It isdefinitely true that a woman of charac-ter (one who loves the Lord), willenhance her outward appearance andbeauty. There will be a glow on her coun-tenance and a light in her eyes. Hermodest dress will compliment that radi-ance and beauty. A woman’s true adorn-ment is seen in the loving service andcharacter she demonstrates to others.Sisters who follow God’s design forbeauty are a compliment to womanhood.Colossians 3:12 encourages the people ofGod to “put on” mercy, kindness, hum-bleness of mind, meekness, and longsuf-fering.

A believer who is truly committed tothe Lord will not ask, “How little can Ido and still remain a child of God?”Rather, the question will be, “How muchcan I do to show my faith, love, and com-mitment to Christ even through my out-ward appearance?” �

Kenneth Nell is an ordained Church ofthe Brethren minister, serving on the min-istry team in the Pleasant Hill congregation(Southern PA District). Kenneth is principalof the Pleasant Hill Christian School andmoderator of the congregation.—Reprinted with permission from The

BRF Witness, July/August 2006.


I could hardly believe my eyes!Across the intersection a car sat wait-ing for the light to change, and theentire car was bouncing as the fouryoung men inside acted out whateverthey were hearing on their car stereo. Icould not hear any of the music exceptthe boom of the bass, but they wereobviously “tuned in” to something thatwas dramatically affecting their behav-ior.

No, everyone does not respond towhat they hear in the same way thoseyoung men did, but all of us are signifi-cantly impacted in one way or anotherby the voices and clamor of the worldaround us. In fact, I believe I can safelysay that our future will be shaped bywhat we choose to “tune in” to in ourlives.

There is an Old Testament storyrecounted in the Book of Hebrewswhich powerfully illustrates this prin-ciple. It is the story of Moses. You willremember, Moses was rescued fromcertain death by a daughter of Pharaohwho found him floating in a basket

which had been carefully prepared andplaced by his mother. After being ini-tially cared for by his mother, he spenta significant portion of his “growingup” years in Pharaoh’s household.

There can be little doubt that Moses’life near the epicenter of Egyptian civi-lization presented him with the clamorof many voices. In the midst of allthose voices, however, Moses made thechoice to “tune in” to the voice of theGod of Israel. What he heard changedhis life forever. The effect of Moses’choices is given by the Hebrew writerin 11:24-27.

To an uninformed onlooker, Moses’choices would have seemed totallyshocking. After all, he was rejectingriches and choosing poverty. He wasrejecting freedom and choosing slavery.He was leaving the highest civilizationof his day to lead approximately twomillion people into an uninhabitablewilderness. Nothing about Moses’choices makes sense unless you are“tuned in” to the God who was givingMoses his instructions.

Paul M. Emerson

GUEST EDITORIAL

Tuned In!by Daniel Stetler

SWORD AND TRUMPET

You see, the God to whom Moses waslistening knew that Egypt would loseits entire army in one day at the bot-tom of the Red Sea. He knew thatEgyptian civilization would fall, neverto rise again. He knew His own abilityto get Moses and every one of the chil-dren of Israel through the wildernessand to the land of promise. He hadplans to teach Moses about worshipand show him how to build theTabernacle. He planned to revealhimself to Moses in a more realway than anyone had experi-enced since Abraham’s day.

The Hebrew writer saysMoses endured because hesaw three things: 1. He sawthe temporary nature of thepleasures of sin (v. 25). 2.He saw the differencebetween true and false riches(v. 26). 3. Most importantly,he “saw him who was invisi-ble” (v. 27). The only reasonMoses was able to overcome theenticement of the glitter of Egyptiansociety was that he was “tuned in” tothe right source. He was hearing whatGod had to say.

Multitudes of people are “tuning in”to the god of this world who is blindingtheir eyes to eternal realities. They arebuying into the value system of thisworld, and as a result they do not seethings properly. They are trading theeternal for the immediate, the perma-

nent for the momentary, and the price-less for junk. The opinions of men aremore important than the opinion ofGod, and the thrill of the moment ismore desirable than the peace of aclear conscience.

Where are you “tuned in” today? Areyou hearing what God has to say, or areyou listening to what the god of thisworld has to say? If you are basically

living like everyone around you itmay be that you are “tuned in”

to the same information sourcethe world is listening to. Paultold the Ephesians that we allwalked according to thecourse of this world when wewere dead in trespasses andsins (Eph. 2:1-3), but whenChrist makes us alive, Hetunes our hearts to hear Hisvoice and follow Him.

The good news is that Godis there and He is still speak-

ing, just as He did in Moses’day! In the midst of our glitter-

ing, high-tech society when so manyvoices are calling you—HE STILLSPEAKS, and if you will “tune in” Hewill speak to you! He says if you willseek Him, you will find Him. If youknock, the door will be opened! If youwill draw near to Him, He will drawnear to you! Why not “tune in” to Himtoday? �—Reprinted from the Summer 2006 issue

of The Torch.

Multi-tudes of

people are“tuning in” tothe god of this

world who is blindingtheir eyes to

eternal realities.

JOHN WILLIAMS . . . cont’d.

in retaliation, it is believed, for the cruelties previously perpetrated by the crew of anEnglish ship. The missionaries’ remains were collected by Captain Croker of HMSFavourite and buried at Apia, on the island of Upolu, Samoa.

Williams is recognized as one of the most successful missionaries of modern times.Despite his lack of education and proper training, he was able to learn the languages ofthe different races he encountered and to adapt himself to the varying cultures of theSouth Sea Islands. His single-minded zeal for the well-being of the native peoples earnedhim a permanent place in the hearts of the South Sea islanders.

—Taken from 70 Great Christians. Edited by Gail L. Emerson.

NOVEMBER 5, 2006The Contest on Mount Carmel

1 Kings 18:20-24, 30-39

The time line of Israel’s history con-tinues to move forward. FollowingSolomon’s successful yet profligate 40-year rule, the kingdom divided, withRehoboam ruling over the tribes ofJudah and Benjamin and Jeroboamover the remaining 10 tribes. Spiritu-ally things went rapidly downhill. All ofIsrael’s kings followed in the path ofJeroboam who “made Israel to sin.”

Today’s lesson takes place in thetime of Ahab, the seventh, and worst,king of Israel. The players are KingAhab and his nemesis, the Prophet Eli-jah. The setting is the contest on Mt.Carmel between the prophets of Baaland Elijah, the prophet of God. (Read16:29–18:39 for the full story.)

King Ahab had accepted the chal-lenge from Elijah for a showdownbetween the prophets of Baal and him-self as the representative of the God ofheaven. As they gathered on Mt.Carmel, Elijah called the people to deci-sion: “If the Lord be God, follow him:but if Baal, then follow him.” The peo-ple were silent, noncommittal.

Elijah laid out the seeming inequalityof the contest, 450 to 1, and gave themajority side the privilege of first proof.Each side was to offer a bullock to theirdeity and the one who answered by firewould be recognized as The God. Thepeople agreed to the terms and the con-test was on. Notice the interesting capi-talization in verse 24. Elijah knew whowould answer.

After the failure of the Baalites tosecure an answer from their god (readthe answering verses), Elijah took thestage. His first act was to repair thealtar of the Lord, using twelve stonesrepresenting the twelve tribes of Israel.He then arranged the fuel, killed thesacrifice, and drenched it all with waterto prove there was nothing under-handed about his actions. Elijahwanted the people to understand thatwhat happened was not trickery on hispart, but a vivid demonstration of thepower of the God of heaven.

At the set time for the evening sacri-fice (see Exodus 29:38-43), Elijahprayed a simple prayer of supplicationto the Lord, asking Him to vindicateHimself and him as His servant. Hesought no glory for himself, but thatthe people would recognize the God ofheaven for who He truly was. Elijahhad the heart of a prophet, anunquenchable desire to show God toHis people and thus effect change inthe heart and attitudes of the people.

So the fire fell. It not only consumedthe offering; it also burned the stones,the dust, and “licked up the water thatwas in the trench.” Everything. God’spower was displayed in a mighty andmiraculous way. “And when all the peo-ple saw it, they fell on their faces: andthey said, The Lord, he is the God; theLord, he is the God.” All doubt hadbeen erased. They had to acknowledgeGod’s display of power. They recognizedand acknowledged His superiority overBaal.

Did this cure Israel’s backslidingonce and for all? Unfortunately not.There followed a succession of wicked

by David L. Burkholder

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONSA Devotional Commentary


SWORD AND TRUMPET

kings, and some 140 years later Godallowed Israel to be conquered byAssyria and disbursed throughout thenations.

God’s chosen people paid a terribleprice for their failure to follow the Godwho had done so much for them. Theirexample serves as a valuable lesson toevery succeeding generation. God willnot be mocked. The soul, or nation,that continues in sin will come underGod’s judgment.

For thought and discussion

1. What causes people to go astray fromGod? Who/what is responsible? Howcan the trend be reversed? Discussthis with your class.

2. What kind of man does it take to be aprophet of Elijah’s caliber? Whatdescribes their character?

3. What motivates supposedly intelli-gent people to worship a god of theirown making that is incapable ofaction on their behalf?

4. What was at the heart of Elijah’sprayer?

5. Does God still use miraculous proofsof His power to convince men today?What do you think? What might besome factors limiting the expressionof God’s power today? Discuss.

NOVEMBER 12, 2006Josiah Brings Reform2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3, 21-25

Josiah was the 16th king of Judah,the 8th and last of the good kings. Hereigned 31 years and about 220 yearsafter Ahab’s rule over Israel (last Sun-day’s lesson). Josiah was only eightyears old when he ascended the thronefollowing the murder of his father,Amon. (For background read 2 Kings21:25–23:25 and the parallel account in2 Chronicles 34 and 35.) “Josiah’s reignon the Davidic throne for 31 years was

the last surge of political independenceand religious revival before the disinte-gration of the Southern Kingdom whichended with the destruction of Jeru-salem in 586 B.C.” (Zondervan PictorialBible Dictionary).

As a 16-year-old teenage king, Josiah“began to seek after the God of Davidhis father” (2 Chronicles 34:1-3), andfour years later he began religiousreforms in Judah and Jerusalem. In the18th year of his reign (2 Chronicles34:8), he instigated a renovation of thetemple at which time the long-neglected book of God’s Law was redis-covered. That discovery and the result-ing religious reforms are the centraltheme of today’s lesson.

Hilkiah the high priest found thelong-lost book of the Law during thetemple renovation and gave it toShaphan the scribe to read. Shaphanthen took it to the king and read it inhis hearing. King Josiah was alarmedas he realized how far the nation haddeparted from the Law of God. He torehis robes in sorrow and in mourningthat departure. He immediately sent adelegation to Huldah the prophetess(verses 14-20) to discern the Lord’svoice concerning their backsliddenstate.

Josiah recognized the great disparitybetween God’s will and the life of thenation. He also recognized, and feared,God’s judgmental wrath. He also recog-nized that this spiritual decline was thefault of previous generations and thatthey were presently but victims of thatneglect. But Josiah was more concernedabout correction than he was in placingblame. “Go,” he said, “inquire of theLord for me, and for the people.”

Hearing of God’s sure judgment,Josiah called a national assembly in thehouse of the Lord in Jerusalem. Therehe read to the leaders and to the people“all the words of the book of thecovenant.” These were not his words oropinions, these were the words of


Jehovah God. Josiah then led the peo-ple in covenanting to “walk after theLord, and to keep his commandmentsand his testimonies and his statuteswith all their heart and soul.” And thepeople pledged themselves to thecovenant.

There followed a thorough spiritualhousecleaning, of the temple, of falsepriests, of the places of idol worship, ofspiritists and mediums. Then, to sealtheir commitment to the Lord, Josiahinstituted a Passover, the likes of whichhad never before been seen in thenation’s history—all because a youngking took seriously his nation’s respon-sibility to their God.

Josiah’s epitaph in verse 25 says itall. Neither before nor since was theresuch a king who “turned to the Lordwith all his heart.” What an outstand-ing and exemplary young man.


1. God’s chosen people seemed to haveevery advantage—a God who lovedthem and prophets who warnedthem. Why was their obedience andspiritual commitment so spotty?What lessons can we learn from theirfailures?

2. Do we sometimes overlook the poten-tial contribution of young people tothe work of the church today? Whatcan be done to develop more Josiah-like young men? Where does thisresponsibility lie?

3. What are the roots of spiritualneglect? What factors cause individu-als or churches to go into spiritualdecline? Discuss this issue with yourclass.

4. Differentiate between the words ofman and the Word of God in convinc-ing men of sin. Wherein lies the dif-ference?

5. Notice from this account the tremen-dous value of strong, unbending lead-ership in guiding people to the truthand obedience of God’s Word.

NOVEMBER 19, 2006The People Go Into Exile

2 Chronicles 36:15-21; Psalm 137:1-6

Despite the notable reforms underKing Josiah, upon his death the nationagain plunged into spiritual decline. Abrief 22 years later, after a succession offive wicked kings, Jerusalem wasdestroyed and the people taken captiveto Babylon. (Read 36:1-14 to get a pic-ture of the sad and deplorable state ofaffairs.) It is disheartening to read howthese kings “did evil in the sight of theLord.” It was a dark time in the life ofGod’s people. They were headed fordestruction.

But God did not give them up easily.He is a merciful, loving, and patientGod. He continually sent His messen-gers, the prophets, to warn them andencourage them to repent, “because hehad compassion on his people, and onhis dwelling place” (see 1 Kings 9:3).He did not wish evil upon His people orthe city of His dwelling place. Read theProphet Jeremiah’s appeal in Jeremiah25:1-7.

Did the people respond to God’s gra-cious call? No, “they mocked the mes-sengers of God, and despised his words,and misused his prophets.” By theirrejection they showed they were not theleast bit interested in reform, in return-ing to the “Lord God of their fathers.”They rebelled “till there was no rem-edy” (v. 16). God had no choice but tocarry out His threat of punishment.

God used the Chaldeans to destroythe city, loot and burn the temple, killthe inhabitants, and take captive toBabylon those who survived. Theirunfaithfulness and refusal to repentangered God and left Him no recoursebut to punish His people as He hadrepeatedly warned them He would do.

But there was a limit to God’s judg-ment (see v. 21). God was not makingfinal disposition of His people. He was

SWORD AND TRUMPET

subjecting them to a period of disciplinein order to turn their hearts back toHim. He had further plans for His peo-ple. He planned to restore them againto their land and establish a renewedspiritual relationship with them. (Thetheme of next Sunday’s lesson.) For thetime being, however, Jeremiah encour-aged the people to settle down in Baby-lon and resume the normal activities oflife. They would be there 70 years.(Read Jeremiah 29:1-10.)

Psalm 1:37 is the lament of the peo-ple in captivity in Babylon, far fromhome, dispossessed of their land, theirtemple, and estranged from their God.Their outlook was bleak. They wept inremembrance of Zion as they gatheredby the rivers of Babylon for worship.Their joy was gone. They couldn’t bearto play joyous songs on their harps. Thereality of their situation had set in and,undoubtedly, was providing a turningpoint in their attitudes.

To add insult to injury, their captorsrequired of them songs of mirth, songsof Zion, worship songs. The Babyloni-ans, of course, had no concept of thedepth of feeling these people had fortheir land and their temple. Nor didthey understand the relationship of apeople to a living God.

God’s people not only refused to singthe songs of Zion in a strange land,they pledged to never forget Jerusalem,the symbol of God’s presence withthem. Only a deep longing would carrythem through the long and difficultyears of their captivity. Were theybeginning to feel remorse for their sins,their failure to obey God? One wouldcertainly assume that to be the case.


1. As we note from our lesson today, itis a dangerous thing to spurn theWord of the Lord. What are the even-tual results?

2. I ask again, as I have repeatedly inthese lessons from Israel’s history,

why does it seem so easy for people ofprivilege to turn away from God?Discuss this with your class.

3. What methods does God use today toturn His wayward people back toHimself? Discuss.

4. Israel had direct word from Godthrough the prophets, warning andencouraging them, yet they failed toheed. Today we have the living Wordand God’s Holy Spirit to teach andinstruct and encourage us. How isour track record of faithfulness com-pared to theirs?

5. What carries God’s people throughdifficult and seemingly impossiblesituations?

NOVEMBER 26, 2006Return From Exile

Ezra 1:1-8; 7:27, 28

God’s time clock for Judah continuedto tick. The 70-year captivity prophe-sied by Jeremiah was over (Jeremiah29:10). God was now at work arrangingdetails for the move back to Judah andJerusalem from Babylon. And just asHe had used a heathen king to punishand discipline His people, He again useda heathen king to forward them ontheir way back home.

Ezra, priest and scribe, descendant ofAaron, was the recorder of this transac-tion. Later he worked closely withNehemiah in instituting religiousreforms among the returned exiles.Ezra was not part of the first wave of50,000 returnees to Jerusalem. Hearrived 78 years later with the secondwave of expatriates, 1,800 in number,including 38 Levites to serve in thenewly rebuilt temple. (Read Ezra andNehemiah for background.)

Cyrus, king of Persia, had recentlyconquered the Babylonian empire andestablished himself as head of the vastPersian Empire encompassing many


nations. Though not a follower of theLord God of heaven, he acknowledgedHim as the one who had enabled him toachieve such military and political suc-cess. In recognition, Cyrus proclaimeddeliverance to the Jews living in hiskingdom, encouraging them to returnto Jerusalem and rebuild the house oftheir God.

It is thought very likely that Danielwas the one who brought Isaiah’sprophecy to Cyrus’ attention, and thatCyrus was deeply impressed by the factthat he was mentioned by name 200years before he was born. (See Isaiah44:28–45:4.) But regardless of how it allcame about, God was the ultimatemover of Cyrus’ heart. And Cyrusresponded with gratitude by releasingGod’s people to return home andrebuild their temple and their nation.

Furthermore, he commanded thosewho chose not to go to help those whodid “with silver, and with gold, and withgoods, and with beasts, beside thefreewill offering for the house of Godwhich is in Jerusalem.” Everything wascovered for the reestablishment of thereturnees and the rebuilding of God’shouse.

Notice in verse 5 that God was also atwork in the hearts of His people tostimulate a desire to return. It wasundoubtedly the more pious among thepeople who had a desire to return, thosewho lamented the captivity as we sawexpressed in Psalm 137 in last Sunday’slesson and those who expressed deepremorse for their departure from God.

Cyrus went a step further andreturned the “vessels of the house ofthe Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar hadbrought forth out of Jerusalem.” Thesewere essential in the reestablishment oftheir worship of God. (Read Ezra 3:1-6.)Can you imagine the joy of God’s peopleto be sent on their way home with theking’s blessing, with resources torebuild, and with those instrumentswhich enabled their worship of God?

These treasures were delivered byMithredath, Cyrus’ treasurer, to thesafekeeping of the prince of Judah,Sheshbazzar (possibly Zerubbabel).

The verses from Chapter 7 containEzra’s prayer and praise to God formoving King Artaxerxes to allow him togo to Jerusalem (read Chapter 7), andto “beautify the house of the Lord.”Note that “chief men” went with Ezrato Jerusalem. The success of God’s peo-ple in rebuilding their relationship toGod rested not only on the king’s gen-erosity, it also depended heavily on thestrong leadership of men of God.


1. Does God still use ungodly people tobenefit His chosen people today? Canyou cite examples?

2. Be sure you understand the historicalsetting and the long-term ramifica-tions of the situation portrayed intoday’s lesson.

3. Why was the temple such an impor-tant focal point in the life of God’speople?

4. Note the role of strong leadership inachieving God’s purposes for His peo-ple.

5. There is a vital and perhaps oftenoverlooked principle expressed in7:27 as a response to God’s blessing.It is thankfulness. Let’s not neglectto praise and thank God for His pres-ent work on our behalf. �

A Paradox of GrowthDr. Bonar once said that he could tell

when a Christian was growing. In pro-portion to his growth in grace, he wouldelevate his Master, talk less of what hehimself was doing, and become smallerand smaller in his own esteem, until,like the morning star, he faded awaybefore the rising sun. —D. L. Moody

—from The Sword of the Lord

SWORD AND TRUMPET

Newslines . . . by Hans Mast

incidents events occurrences facts illustrations episodes committees vignettes proceedings problems

experiences crises adventures transactions meetings tragedies scoops reports conferences happenings

bulletins questions reports affairs dramas encounters personages actions t idings et cetera

Pope Prepares to Embrace Intelligent Design

In a move that reverses the disaster ofCatholic acquiescence to evolution, PopeBenedict is preparing to endorse the sci-entific theory of intelligent design. This isimportant because much of the worldequates Catholicism with Christianity.

—Source: The UK Guardian Unlimited

* * * * * * *Study: Psychological Scars forWomen Who Abort

A study from Bowling Green StateUniversity shows that the psychologicalproblems endured by teen motherswith unexpected pregnancies are muchgreater if they abort than if they givebirth. The study had a sample size ofover 1000 women. —Source: Agape Press

* * * * * * *Coal as Alternative Fuel

The U.S. Air Force is the latest in astring of organizations to seriously pur-sue synthetic gas made from coal as analternative to oil. The U.S. has 90% of theworld’s coal reserves, which are esti-mated to last in excess of 300 years.Reports on coal liquefaction from Chinaindicate production of oil substitutes atan equivalent of $25-$35 USD/barrel.Current oil prices are $72 a barrel.—Sources: Newsweek, USA Today, and

Wikipedia

* * * * * * *

Oil: Mideast and MidwestIn our Hutchinson, Kansas community,

we are surrounded by oil wells creakingand groaning through the day and night.An oil-drilling rig and crew workedaround the clock about 1 mile from ourhouse drilling an oil well. When they(apparently) came up with a dry hole,they moved a mile or two down the roadand tried again. The rising price of oil hasalso raised the nice monthly stipend thatsome of our neighbors receive from oilwells on their property. It has alsoincreased the eagerness to develop fur-ther domestic oil sources, which is a posi-tive development.

—Source: Hans Mast Eyewitness News

* * * * * * *Christians Used as Shields in Lebanon

A Lebanese told this story (through arepresentative of Christian SolidarityInternational) about Hezbollah firingrockets from his house: Hezbollah mili-tants came into his house without per-mission. They ignored him as they set uptheir rocket launchers on his roof. Hegathered his family and fled to his nearbycousin’s house. Fifteen minutes later,after Hezbollah had launched the rocketsat Israel, Israeli jets bombed his house.

—Source: Agape Press

* * * * * * *Reuters Fakes Photos

Reuters admitted that they doctored a

photo taken of the aftermath of an Israeliair strike. They added thick plumes ofsmoke to the photo. In another doctoredphoto, they also added three bombs drop-ping out of an Israeli F-16 that was drop-ping no bombs. The only thing the F-16was doing was dropping a flare to misdi-rect a surface-to-air missile fired at the F-16. Reuters clone-stamped (made threecopies of) the flare in the picture andthen labeled them as missiles that the F-16 was shooting at ground targets.—Sources: Reuters, Ynet News, Washington

Post, and Little Green Footballs

* * * * * * *Writer/Blogger Mom Highlightedin MWR

The Mennonite Weekly Review did afeature piece on Dorcas Smucker, authorof the book Ordinary Days: Family Life ina Farmhouse and monthly columnist forthe Eugene Register-Guard. RobertRhodes, the editor of MWR said, “[O]urstory on [Smucker] is now the top hit-get-ter for the month so far on our site, evenoutpacing Floyd and his shenanigans.”Her “Letter from Harrisburg” columnand book (which is made up of hercolumns) are simply stories about herfamily. Her husband, Paul, is a pastor of aconservative Mennonite church in Ore-gon. She has a very engaging, colorful,and witty cast of characters in her sixchildren (ages 7-20) and husband. She isnearly as well-known in conservativeMennonite circles as being the author ofone of the premier Mennonite blogs, Lifein the Shoe, in which she shares morewonderful, hilarious, and uplifting storiesof daily life. I personally highly recom-mend the blog, book, and column.—Source: Mennonite Weekly Review, Ordi-

nary Days (http://tinyurl.com/gsgfx), andLife in the Shoe (http://dorcassmucker.blogspot.com)

* * * * * * *Pro-Life Group Buys AbortionClinic; Finds Abuses

A pro-life group, Operation Rescue,

bought an abortion clinic in Wichita, KS,and then evicted its tenants. They usedcrime scene techniques on the walls andcarpets, which were found to be coveredin blood. One of the volunteers said itlooked as if a “chain saw massacre” hadoccurred. They also found an industrialstrength garbage disposal in a sink in theback that was used in the disposal of thebodies. Operation Rescue plans to convertthe abortion mill to a memorial to pre-birth victims and an office suite for Oper-ation Rescue. —Sources: Hutchinson News and Christian

News Wire

* * * * * * *U.S. Missile Defense Agency toHelp Israel Anti-Rocket Efforts

The Pentagon’s Missile DefenseAgency is helping Israel develop a sys-tem that will destroy the short-rangeKatushya and Qassam rockets in flight.Israel is interested in purchasing thetactical high-energy chemical-laser sys-tem that has had very good success indestroying relatively short-ranged non-ballistic missiles. —Source: Reuters

* * * * * * *Aborted Baby Born Alive

The decomposing remains of a babywere found by police in a biohazard bagat an abortion clinic. The mother of thebaby delivered the baby because therewasn’t an abortionist immediatelyavailable to kill it before birth. Afterthe baby was born, the owner of theclinic rushed in and carried the babyoff. The Miami-Dade County medicalexaminer and police have confirmedthat the baby was born alive. Investiga-tion and prosecution are pending.

—Source: WorldNetDaily

* * * * * * *Australian MPs Decry Secularism

Over a dozen Australian MPs hosted aforum in which they scolded secularismand urged a return to Christianity. For-mer Nationals leader John Anderson


SWORD AND TRUMPET

said, “Where are we going to draw ourvalues and beliefs from in the future,Big Brother? Millions of Australianswatch (the reality television show)rather than go to church.” Senator Bar-nett said that the forum was “aresponse to the denigration at a publiclevel of Christian values.”

—Source: The Australian

* * * * * * *Authorities Foil Islamic AirlinerTerror Plot

Twenty-four men were arrested inBritain shortly before they had plannedto blow up 10 airliners over the Atlantic.They planned to use liquids, concealed inshampoo bottles, that were inert whenseparate, but explosive when mixed. Theyplanned to use iPods and other electronicdevices to detonate the devices. Key intel-ligence help was provided to the Britishauthorities by Pakistani intelligence andinformants within British Muslim com-munities. This plot has brought aplethora of new restrictions to airlinetravel that are frustrating passengers.The only liquids or gels allowed past secu-rity are baby formula/milk and prescrip-tion medications.—Sources: Newsweek, CNN, Fox News, and

the London Telegraph

* * * * * * *Indian Supreme Court RulingHurts Christians

India’s Supreme Court ruled thatpolice no longer need a warrant to arrestChristians accused of evangelism. Thiswill likely open the floodgates of persecu-tion now that almost anyone can initiatean arrest. —Source: ASSIST News Service

* * * * * * *Christian Orphanage in Sri LankaAttacked

“A mob of 200 people, accompanied bythree Buddhist monks, attacked a chil-dren’s home run by the Dutch ReformedChurch in central Sri Lanka on Sunday,

and planted a Buddhist flag on the roof.The mob forced their way into the chil-dren’s home in Balana, Kandy District,assaulted staff and threatened to kill thehouseparents. They threw stones at thehouse and broke roof tiles and rainwatergutters. The fence surrounding the prop-erty was completely destroyed . . . [T]hestaff of the children’s home were warnedthat if they did not leave the premises,they would be ‘burned alive.’ The ‘house-parents’ fled on Sunday night.” —Excerpt from “Sri Lankan Buddhist

Extremists Attack Church-Run Children’sHome, and Threaten Death.” ChristianSolidarity Worldwide and Worthy News(http://tinyurl.com/o5nmy).

* * * * * * *Three Christians on Death Row in Indonesia

The national Indonesian police chiefissued a last minute stay of the firingsquad execution of three Christian menaccused of inciting violence (oh theirony!) against Muslims. The Vatican andEU have strongly urged Indonesia not toexecute the men. It appears that the con-viction process was less than impartial, toput it mildly. An opinion piece in theJakarta Post (the largest English lan-guage newspaper in Indonesia) haspointed out numerous holes in the officialstory and has called for an indefinite stayon the execution and the establishment ofan “Independent Team for the Collectionand Search for Facts” to determine thetruth. The three men have appealed toIndonesia’s president for a pardon.—Sources: The Jakarta Post, The Times of

London, and BBC

* * * * * * *Quote of the Month

“Unbelief is actually perverted faith,for it puts its trust, not in the living Godbut in dying men. The unbeliever deniesthe self-sufficiency of God and usurpsattributes that are not his. This dual sindishonors God and ultimately destroysthe soul of man.” —A. W. Tozer


“I looked on my right hand, andbeheld, but there was no man that wouldknow me: refuge failed me; no man caredfor my soul” (Psalm 142:4).

This verse comes from a psalm express-ing deep distress— “trouble,” David callsit in verse 2. The trouble is not describedfor us in the psalm, although he indicatesseveral times it is relational.

The psalm title says David wrote this“when he was in the cave” (apparentlyduring the time Saul, his father-in-law,was seeking to take his life).

Relationship conflict—barriers, dis-tance, hurtful words, misunderstanding,ill will, accusation, disagreement, anger,bitterness, grudges, rivalry, revenge—there is no painless way to fight, is there?

And the world has not changed sincethe time of David. There still are peoplewho fear each other, even in family andchurch relationships. In-laws want tocontrol. Leaders who should be godly canget nasty. Onlookers hear skewed reportsand take sides. Rumors spread. Accusa-tions are made. People are pushed to takesides who don’t even know what the con-flict is about. Distance. Sorrow. Distress.Abandonment. Hate and hurt.

Somewhere in the conflict is someone,like David, who is not fighting, someonewho is caught in a war he did not startand doesn’t want to continue.

And such people often feel alone. Theyhave no one they can talk to, no one whocares for their soul.

What did David want?What does any person want who feels

alone in distress?1. We want someone who cares.

Trouble stirs a deep cry from the heartfor someone who cares. We want someonewhose heart is toward us, especially whenthe trouble is caused by someone who isagainst us. Isn’t there someone who has

genuine compassion?2. We want someone who will hear us.

Distress urges us to talk—we want toput into words what we are goingthrough. And we want someone to hearwhat we are saying, to take the time tolisten until they understand what we aregoing through.

“Oh, that someone would hear me!”Job cried in his distress. His distress wasnot due simply to the losses he had expe-rienced nor to the physical pain from thesores, but to the inner anguish that hisbest earthly friends did not understand.

Sorrow, trouble, loss, rejection—theseare experiences we all go through at sometime in our lives. But the differencebetween trouble seeming to be bearableor unbearable often hinges on the realiza-tion that someone knows and under-stands or the torturous reality that”noone cares for my soul.”3. We want someone who will stand

by us.David was chased by Saul from one hid-

ing place to another, and one by one,David’s friends also were cut off from him.It was dangerous for people to identifywith David. When Jonathan stood up forDavid, Saul tried to pin him to the wallwith a spear. When Ahimelech innocentlyfed David and gave him a sword, Saulkilled not only Ahimelech, but 85 relativesas well. Various people in the wildernessarea tried to curry Saul’s favor by givinginformation about David’s whereabouts,but who was willing to stand by David?

“Isn’t there someone!” David groans inanguish. In this anguished cry of David,we hear the cry of every lonely man andwoman in distress. If there is anythingworse than the distress we are goingthrough, it is the awful awareness that weare totally alone in it. No one is with us.

This plaintive cry of David tells us

Courage to Be Involvedby John Coblentz

SWORD AND TRUMPET

several things. First, it tells us that it isimportant to be involved in the lives ofthose in distress and to be involved at aheart level, not superficially.

It is not only humane, but it is godly tocare enough to weep with those who weep.They do not need general, nice-soundingadmonition (Biblical though it may be) somuch as they need the caring presence ofsomeone who listens with an attentive earand an understanding heart.

Second, from David, we realize that tobe involved at this level of a person’strouble takes courage. To be understand-ing of human suffering will mean that“Saul” might get ugly.

Jesus is our example here—He touchedthe untouchables; He cared for the sick andthe sinful. It earned Him the derisive title“Friend of sinners,” and eventually it cost

Him rejection and a shameful death. Andso, while David shows us the distress of nothaving someone who cares about our trou-ble, Jesus teaches us that caring about thesorrows of others is right, though it may bemocked or misunderstood.

Finally, from David we learn where toturn when others forsake us. AlthoughDavid cried for human understanding, heturned to God for comfort when othersfailed him. “O LORD: I said, Thou art myrefuge and my portion in the land of theliving” (v. 5).

God’s people are never completelyalone! We always do have One who caresand truly understands. In the next issue,we will further explore this glorioustruth. �—Reprinted with permission from Deeper

Life Ministries newsletter, August 2006.

“I’m Ready to Kill Him!”by David L. Burkholder

Those were words spoken to me by amother about her son. He had failed tocarry through with a financial obligationon her behalf and, as a result, incurredadditional expense for her. She was upset.And threatening.

I understood her threat to kill him notas in dead, but as in severe reprimand forhis failure. But still, at the least, herthreat didn’t sound good. As I ponderedthe incident, I had to wonder if maybe hisfailure was not at least in part due to pre-vious failure on her part to properly trainher son in the matter of responsibility toobligations. Something was lacking some-where, I was sure of that.

It didn’t take long to figure out that therelationship between that mother and heradult son was at the least somewhatstrained. I may be wrong (hopefully), butthere also seemed to be a disconnect intheir ability to communicate, a lack of

responsibility, at least on the son’s part,and gross lack of mutual respect on thepart of both. I was appalled. If she spoketo me, a nameless face on the phone, insuch terms about her son, I wonderedwhat she was going to say to him. I pitiedhim. I pitied them both.

Now parenting isn’t easy. The task ofmolding young minds and training themin useful, noble patterns takes effort andtime. And, as one can easily discern byobservation, yelling at children or threat-ening them does not usually produceintended results, at least for the long run.It seems to be a tactic of last resort. And atacit admission that previous instruction,if indeed there was such, had failed toachieve its intended goals.

We parents do tend to become frus-trated at times due to lack of properresponse from our children. They can beexasperatingly difficult at times (just as

l


we were as children). And it takespatience to deal with their misbehavior.But expressing our displeasure or frustra-tion in threatening or uncomplimentaryterms does not work and serves more tohighlight our failings than the child’s.

The Scriptures give us much directionon the responsibility to teach and trainour children and on the proper relation-ship that should exist between parent andchild. The well-known proverb (22:6) tellsus that if we “train up a child in the wayhe should go . . . when he is old, he willnot depart from it.” That speaks to theearly and continual teaching of responsi-bility and other values which prepare thechild for life. Another well-known passagein Deuteronomy 6 gives additional guide-lines for the proper instruction of childrenin the ways of God and uprightness. NewTestament Scriptures in Ephesians 6 andColossians 3 speak to the attitude withwhich parents are to give instruction totheir children. It is to be a loving, kind,non-threatening matter.

In short, it is the parents’ responsibilityto take these impressionable minds com-mitted to their care and instill in themguiding principles which will serve themfor a lifetime of usefulness and value bothto God and mankind. To fail in this respon-sibility not only robs the child of the prepa-ration needed for a satisfying and usefullife, it also reflects negatively on theassumption of our parental responsibility.

Sadly, too many parents today are notequipped for their role, either never havingbeen so trained by their parents, or neverhaving committed themselves to the Lordof life who is able and ready to guide themin this great task. Somehow this cycle mustbe broken if we are to produce capable,responsible, and useful persons for society,to say nothing of the greater responsibilityof preparing them for eternity.

One way Christian parents can help isby simply being living examples to thesociety around us which seems to be adrifton a sea of neglect and indifference inregard to child training. Too many chil-

dren today are left either to their owndevices or with caretakers whose job issimply to monitor their activities. Oftentheir outlook on life is molded either bypeer interaction or television or their owninner drives. As a result, society is failing,badly, to produce oncoming generations ofcapable, adequately equipped and disci-plined citizenry.

By modeling God-centered homeswhere love, discipline, instruction, andtraining are an integral part of daily life,we can as Christian parents leave anexample for our neighbors to follow. Timespent in wholesome family activities pro-vides unpretentious opportunities forguidance in life-principles and the bond-ing so necessary between parent and childwhich makes instruction effective. Workhabits, moral values, respect for others,and personal discipline—all are learned inthe healthy give-and-take of parent-childinteraction. This speaks to those whoobserve.

What else can we do to turn the risingtide of confrontational parent-child rela-tionships? A cautious, appropriate “wordin season” may at times be in order. Aword of commendation and encourage-ment when we observe wholesome inter-action is also always in order. We shouldalso not overlook the value and efficacy ofprayer for those who guide oncoming gen-erations—parents, teachers, pastors, andothers.

The last thing we want to do is “kill”our children through neglect, indifference,or wrong approaches to corrective disci-pline. We should strive, rather, to see thatthey are brought up “in the nurture andadmonition of the Lord.” That sets theirfeet on the right path and provides thebasis for instruction in life-principles.Pagan societies often killed their childrendue to a value system skewed by evilinfluences. We need to work toward estab-lishing a value system that respects chil-dren and works diligently in the trainingand equipping of them for a useful, pro-ductive, and God-honoring life. �

SWORD AND TRUMPET

In his book Diseconomies of Scale inPublic Education (Xlibris), scholar Dr.Donald Lade raises serious questionsabout the amount of money spent on pub-lic education in America today. He main-tains that “one salient fact . . . is thatschool district budgets live in a world ofshadows, at the very least so far as thevoting public is concerned. Another fact isthat the cost basis for these budgets iseven more obscure.”

One significant fact is the UnitedStates spends $536 billion a year on edu-cation, which amounts to slightly morethan $10,000 per student per year. Evenwith the War on Terrorism, we spendmore on education than we do on nationaldefense: $486 billion. We spend more oneducation than any other nation in theworld; yet test scores reveal our studentsdo not do as well as students in othernations that spend considerably less thanwe do on education.

In the United States, as columnist/social critic David Brooks noted in the Feb-ruary 19, 2006 New York Times, “we spendmore money on education than any othernation. We have undertaken a millionexperiments to restructure schools andbureaucracies. But students who lack cul-tural and social capital because they do notcome from intact, organized families con-tinue to fall further and further behind—unless they come in contact with somegreat mentor who can not only teach, butalso change values and behavior.

As Texas high school teacher Paul Zochpoints out in Doomed to Failure: TheBuilt-in Defects of American Education(Chicago: Ivan Dee), even though Japanspends much less than we do on educa-tion, its students do much better than ourstudents on test scores. Japan’s educa-tional system emphasizes character aswell as intellectual development. Its

school system teaches young persons thatit is a matter of personal and family honorto behave and do well in school, and thatdoing well in school requires study, hardwork, self-sacrifice, self-discipline, andcooperation in the learning process.

Vernie Schoor, president of CharacterChoice in Colorado, says American schoolsalso must stress character as well as intel-lectual development; the purpose of edu-cation should be to help young peoplebecome good human beings, not just goodstudents.

As Dr. William Kirk Kilpatrick pointsout in his book Why Johnny Can’t TellRight From Wrong (Simon & Schuster),the social and moral problems involvingyoung people today emanate from the lackof character education. A professor of edu-cation and psychology at Boston College,Dr. Kilpatrick observes: “In addition tothe fact that Johnny still can’t read, weare now faced with the more serious prob-lem that he can’t tell right from wrong.”

Being an educator himself, Dr. Kil-patrick primarily is concerned with howschools and fellow educators can pointyoung people in the right direction towardwisdom and virtue. He proposes that edu-cators: Teach students self-discipline,respect for others, self-respect, and suchvirtues as moral courage, justice and char-ity; refurbish activities that encouragestudents to practice good habits and virtu-ous conduct such as volunteer work atorphanages or nursing homes; restore theorder, discipline, and good moral climatethat once prevailed in schools; use historyand literature to teach morality throughthe study of historical heroes like Abra-ham Lincoln and the great works of themoral and intellectual giants of civiliza-tion. �—Mr. Gow is a radio commentator and

writer.

Morality Should Be Part of Educationby Haven Bradford Gow


These and other heartaches some-times invade missionary experience,forcing an unwanted “bend in theroad” of life and ministry. WhenChrist’s international ambassadors areforced to return home, these woundedsoldiers of the cross are often writtenoff by their constituents as casualties.After initial shock and concern, theirsupporters and friends move on withtheir busy lives, and the sidelined mis-sionaries struggle alone.

Sometimes the problems require themissionary to take a leave of absenceor resign from the agency. This is anincredibly difficult decision for every-one involved. Others will take a pas-torate in their home country or switchto an evangelistic ministry in thehomeland. Sadly, they often assumethat the “closing of the door” to theirprevious cross-cultural mission meansthat they should revert to a ministryamong the majority (Anglo) culture

where they grew up.Praise God for those who, returning

to their homeland, never abandon theiradopted language and culture. Numer-ous Hispanic churches in the U.S. havebeen planted by missionaries who hadto leave the field but never left the pre-cious people whose culture God hadgiven them to cherish and serve inJesus’ name. Some returning veteransfrom Asia and Africa have sought min-istries to immigrant populations fromtheir region, resulting in many comingto Christ.

But all too often the years andresources invested for a missionary toacquire a new language and cultureoverseas are lost upon returning home.This deprives the North Americanchurch of the rich experiences and cul-tural insights of those who could beused in multi-ethnic outreaches anddaughter church-plants.

Tragically, many of our American

A Bend in the Roadby Bill Commons

Dr. David Jeremiah, founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries,wrote a book by the title A Bend in the Road describing his struggles when a bat-tle with cancer forced him to restructure his life and ministry. Such unscheduledstruggles invade all of our lives in unexpected ways and at inconvenient times.Missionaries are not immune to personal tragedies and family traumas, either.What should they do when—• critical health needs make it impossible to continue on the field?• their elderly parents back home need care and nobody else can help?• their young child is diagnosed with severe emotional/behavioral problems that

will require years of specialized care unavailable in their region?• their teenage child gets in trouble on the field and their family is forced to

return home for an extended time of counseling and stabilizing?• local violence causes injury to a family member, sidelining the family from

overseas service until recovery and rehabilitation is complete?• a missionary husband or wife dies suddenly and the spouse with small children

is unable to continue alone on the field?• conflicts in their marriage or on the missionary team bring heartbreak and

result in their family returning home?• breakdown or burnout sidelines them for an extended period of time?

SWORD AND TRUMPET

churches continue to be culture-boundand ethnocentric, content to ignore thechanging communities around themand to remain mono-cultural in theirmulticultural environment, which Godhas given them for Jerusalem-Judea-Samaria ministry.

Just think what couldhappen if our churchesembraced returning mis-sionaries and prized themas resources God gave thelocal church to expandintercultural outreaches.Pastoral staffs could includethese veterans as special-ists, helping them to reachout to the mixed communityand embrace local minori-ties and immigrants withCalvary’s love as part of thelocal church’s missionsstrategy.

Cross-cultural evangelism/disciple-ship in church planting is no longerjust “out there.” The ends of the earthhave come to town, and bends in theroad have brought to local churches

gifted servants who could lead in his-toric local advancement of the gospel.

Imagine the impact if our Americanchurches reached their local ethnicpopulations, discipling them and send-ing them as missionaries to reach their

communities and homecountries for Christ!

Let’s not squander theinvestments we have madein missionaries we sent,but for whatever reasonGod sent back to us. Mayour churches learn to usethem and their unique lin-guistic and cultural abili-ties for strategic evange-lism. Their “bend in theroad” can lead to fruitfulintercultural ministriesback home. And thechurches who receive them

gladly, love them back to “normal,”and put them to work in the commu-nity could experience unprecedentedgospel advance. �—Reprinted with permission from the

Summer 2006 issue of The Message.

“Just think whatcould happen ifour churches

embraced return-ing missionariesand prized themas resources to

expand intercultural outreaches.”

Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement

by Dan Lucarini

141 pp. Soft cover.

Now available from:Sword and Trumpet

P.O. Box 575

Harrisonburg, VA 22803-0575

$11.95 U.S. postpaid.


John W. Gardner of the CarnegieCorporation in New York recently said,“The survival of the idea for which thisnation stands is not inevitable, it maysurvive if enough Americans careenough.”

This was not a preacher talking; itwas a man who is high in the realms ofman.

He knows well, as we are beginningto know, that there are vast and myste-rious forces moving across this world ofours which would destroy every funda-mental American concept including theChurch . . . for which this Nationstands . . . for these forces are godlessforces.

They are taking advantage of any sit-uation, any time, anywhere under anycircumstance to promote what theywant in this world.

And they do it with no semblance ofmorality. For they are not troubled byany conscience or standard at anypoint.

And so secular and religious leadersalike, are calling for us to return to theprinciples and attitudes that made ourcountry progressive and strong.

We must realize, if we have not, andunderstand it more fully if we have notunderstood it, that the church is caughtin this situation.

The day has long since passed whenthe Christian Church could take forgranted her continuation as an effectiveforce in the world.

Forces of paganism that infiltrateinto life and even into our homes agreat blatant worldliness that woulddestroy every spiritual value, a sweep-ing materialism that has becomealmost the basis for judging everything!

Our church is not immune to the

influence of these forces or to the char-acter of the day in which we operate.

You all are familiar with Revelation 2and 3. Those two chapters representthe messages to the seven churches.Here is a most discriminating charac-terization of the church.

There are those that have thought itrepresented a prophetic sequence,beginning with the Apostolic times,coming on down through the variouseras and periods of history, down to thetime of the end.

There are those that have thought itrepresents kinds of churches. Or theymay feel that here are portrayed thefundamental problems faced by thechurches of all ages.

I think there is a prophetic signifi-cance to the messages to the churches.

God’s Judgment Is on a Spiritual Basis

One thing is crystal clear throughoutthose messages. God’s appraisal, andGod’s judgment is on a spiritual basis.When it comes to the point of God deal-ing with the church nothing else mat-ters much but the spiritual.

Think about how true that was inthe ministry of Jesus. He didn’t talkmuch about things, He talked aboutspiritual elements and spiritual truths.

And have you thought lately: Theearly church had little to say aboutmaterial things. Once in a while a littlemention. But the great issues are spiri-tual issues. These messages close withthis message to the church at Laodicea.

I. The Divine Indictment

First of all: The accusation of a lackof full devotement to God or His work.The Laodiceans were neither hot nor

Laodiceaby Hugh C. Benner

SWORD AND TRUMPET

cold. They held to a kind of middleground that has no issues particularlyin any direction.

Where churches are lukewarm youwill find, works without soul passion,religion without any emotion, andactivity without zeal—a kind of formal-ism gripping everyone. It devolves intoroutine without life.

I tell you, friends, when-ever those conditions beginto exist the church will beneither cold nor hot. Andthey will come under thejudgment of God.

God says, I can’t standpeople like that. I cannottake a church like that. Icannot recognize peoplewho will try to straddle thewhole situation and be nei-ther cold nor hot.

Here is represented akind of sinful religion, notnecessarily because they doevil things, but becausethey are trying to carry on a religion forwhich they pay no personal price, carryon a religion that has no grip, no heart,no feeling, and no passion in it.

They have felt if they would gothrough certain forms and certain rou-tines they would make it through. ButGod says I’ll have nothing to do withthat sort of thing. If you are going to belukewarm I’m through with you!

Secondly, it is in Laodicea that wefind a profound distortion of values.

The church supposed itself to be rich,increased with goods and have need ofnothing. Here’s your materialism.

This church adopted worldly stan-dards of value. They were content tolive for secondary issues rather thanthose things by which men live or die.

But the most stinging indictment ofthe Laodiceans was their loss of firstlove. They lost their fellowship with God.They lost their communion with God.

The first element that is lost by the

spiritual church, is never works, labor,orthodoxy, promotion, or organization.They can continue to be tops on thoselines. It is love they lose first.

The radiance, the romance, the bless-ing, the joy, the spiritual attractiveness,there is where the spiritual churchbegins to drift and lose out.

Long after they have lost the radi-ance, and the power, andthe joy, they can carry onthe machinery. For thattakes no particular devo-tion, or passion.

The loss of spiritual real-ity, so that they still gothrough the forms but theyhave lost the powerthereof—that is the clearindictment of God againstthe Laodiceans. And it is anindictment that we toocould bear unless we careenough!

The Divine Counsel

Our Lord counsels the Laodiceans, “Icounsel thee to buy of me gold tried inthe fire, that thou mayest be rich; andwhite raiment, that thou mayest beclothed, and that the shame of thynakedness do not appear; and anointthine eyes with eyesalve, that thoumayest see. As many as I love, I rebukeand chasten: be zealous therefore, andrepent” (Revelation 3:18, 19).

I read in Revelation 19:8, concerningthe Bride, . . . she should be arrayed infine linen clean and white, for the finelinen is the righteousness of the saints.

It is a matter of inner purity and theoutworking of life of righteousness andtrue holiness.

You need righteousness, and cleanclothes, but you also need eyesalve, ourLord instructs. There is illumination inJesus Christ, there is illumination inthe power and the presence of the HolySpirit. Too many churches are blind tospiritual truth. The only solution is this

The first elementthat is lost by the

spiritual church, isnever works,

labor, orthodoxy,promotion, or

organization. Theycan continue to be

tops on thoselines. It is lovethey lose first.


divine eyesalve that takes away theblindness and enables them to see thetruth as it is in Christ Jesus.

Thank God! We have a mighty Godwho says I will reveal Myself to My peo-ple!

The Divine Promise

“Behold, I stand at the door andknock.”

When I began to read this I began tosee that this is a part of the message tothe church. Written to the church, wenow have the picture of Jesus Christstanding at the door of HIS church, try-ing to get inside . . . so that He can getinside and do something with them,and to them, and through them!

It is on that basis that I find the pat-tern for the survival of the Church inany age, and our age. Old fashioned butsufficient.

“I’m standing at the door knocking!”Aren’t you glad He’s there!

“I’m there whether you want Me ornot . . . whether you do any-thing with Me or not! I’mthere!”

I wish I could get it toyou like I think Jesus feelsit. He invites, “If any manhear My voice and will openthe door, I will come in!”

Here is our responsibil-ity—the element of our ini-tiative. Here is the point ifanything happens we muststart it. We must issue theinvitation! There are noinevitable revivals andawakenings to come.

Revival Will Come Only When We Open the Door!

Carnal disobedience, quenching ofthe Spirit, shut out the Lord. He said, Ifyou’ll open that door I will come in!

I see here the answer to the churchproblems in all times and age. It was notin beautiful churches. It was not in

financial resources. It was not in esteemor prestige. It was not in the highlytrained people. It was not in clever meth-ods. BUT CHRIST CAME IN BY THEMINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!Read the Acts of the Apostles again!

Something happens when Christ isrevealed. There is a renewed evangelis-tic effectiveness.

And I’m glad there is another part!“To him that overcometh will I grant tosit with me in my throne, even as I alsoovercame, and am set down with myFather in his throne.”

Here is the reminder that we are in astruggle that will not be a pushover! Wewill have to fight against the world, theflesh, and the devil.

In the midst of materialism, worldli-ness, paganism, materialistic pressures,formalism, and distortion of values—there will be those who have VICTORYIN JESUS.

These are fateful days; we ought to berealists concerning this world.

In the light of world con-ditions, we must set our-selves with every means atour command to meet theattack of the enemy.

We must in this era, giveto God unqualified, unequiv-ocal, unquestioning devotionthat says “Let the worldthink as they please, we aregoing with God!”

Let others do what theymay, we go with God! Toparaphrase John Gardner:THE SURVIVAL OF THEIDEA FOR WHICH THIS

CHURCH STANDS, IS NOT INEVIT-ABLE, IT WILL SURVIVE AND PROS-PER UNDER GOD, IF WE WILL CAREENOUGH!

We’re going to overcome! Christ isgoing to live in our midst! And we’regoing to have the victory! �—Reprinted by permission from Faith in

the Future, Summer 2006.

We must in thisera, give to God

unqualified,unequivocal,

unquestioningdevotion thatsays “Let theworld think as

they please, we’regoing with God!”

SWORD AND TRUMPET

Helping Others Deal With Their Anger

by Robert D. Jones

Our world is an angry world. How canyou minister God’s truth in specificways to the angry people you meet? Howcan we become wiser, more graciouspeople-helpers in dealing with this com-mon problem? Let’s consider a basicthree-pronged ministry agenda andsome tools to help our angry friends,family members, and counselees.

First, enter the person’s world,understand him and his situation, andgive Gospel hope.

Your initial aims in helping an angryperson are to reflect Christ’s care andhope for him and to cultivate a warm,welcoming relationship with him. Jesus,our great high priest, offers mercy andpower to all who look to Him, includingangry people. From Him we may“receive mercy and find grace to help usin our time of need” (Heb. 4:16). God’sWord—the “book about anger”—givesanswers to anger problems.

Interviewing the person is vital; youcan’t help a person you don’t know. Youwill want to start with general informa-tion and move progressively towardspecifics. This means understanding andresponding with Christlike interest tothe person’s significant past influences,present circumstances, and future con-cerns. What are his situational pres-sures? How have people sinned againsthim? When? In what ways? Where is hebeing tempted? Compassionate listeningis vital.

Why are these matters so important?Because an angry person is frequentlydefensive and mistrusting, he will notopen his life to you unless you show gen-uine desire to hear his story, includinghis hardships. Moreover, it is not enoughthat you understand him; you must

communicate this to him. He needs toknow you understand and care.

Knowing the person also requiresunderstanding his specific anger inci-dents. When does he get angry? Whattriggers his anger? Toward whom is itdirected? What does he do and say inanger? What patterns do you observe?Of course, paying attention to the per-son’s nonverbal behavior and the tone,inflection, and volume of his words willalso inform you. And, as you get to knowhim better, you may also begin to feelsome of his anger expressed against you.Wise homework assignments, includingjournaling anger incidents that distin-guish the situation, the response, andthe heart beliefs and motives, will pro-vide you with further understanding.

As you are getting to know the per-son, you must continually present thehope of Christ. Help the person from theoutset to believe that Christ forgivesand changes angry people and thatGod’s Word has answers to his angerproblems. Help him to discover thishimself through both the private means(reading and meditating on Scripture,prayer, etc.) and public means (worship,Bible teaching, service, “one another”fellowship with mature believers, etc.) ofgrace. Testimonies of God’s transforma-tion of your own and others’ angryhearts will also go a long way towardgiving him hope and helping him trustyou.

As you speak of Christ’s grace andpower, you invite hope and faith. Stress-ing the facts of the Gospel—Christ’sdeath and resurrection for sinners likeus—and the promises of God must beyour priority. Key passages for memo-rization and meditation that instill help


and point to Christ’s provisions for sin-ners include Hebrews 4:16; 1 Corin-thians 10:13; Ephesians 1:3 (and Eph. 1-2); 2 Peter 1:3; John 6:68, 69; andColossians 2:3, 9, 10.

Based on this grace, then invite yourcounselee or friend to passages like2 Corinthians 5:9, 10; 5:14, 15; and2 Peter 1:3-11 with a commitment tolive for Christ, please God, and applyGod’s answers to his life. At the sametime, make allowance for people who atthis stage are not yet convinced thatJesus can truly forgive and change themand that He is worthy of the person’sallegiance.

Second, help the person to root outhis sinful heart beliefs and motives thatcause sinful anger and to embrace theGod of grace.

As you address specific anger issues,it’s vital for you to help your friend orcounselee see that his anger arises fromhis heart. Thorough and lasting godlychange happens when our heart beliefsand motives are radically changed byGod’s grace.

Your task at this stage is to expose theperson’s ruling beliefs and motives andto teach and persuade him in fresh waysto repent and believe Christ. He mightoffer a half dozen explanations for hisanger that will fall short of the Bible’ssimple but piercing heart diagnosis. Youmight find it helpful to ask him to studya passage like James 3:13–4:12 and toteach it to you during your counselingsession.

What idol clusters might you find inan angry person? The same you see inyour own heart. We clutch for controlover circumstances and relationships.Parents explode when their childrenbuck their authority. Wives angle to gettheir husbands to go to church. Hus-bands demand wives to submit sexually.Workers build their hopes on a promo-tion or raise. Pastors demand that mem-bers perform well; members expect thesame from their pastors.

Comfort and convenience can alsorule people. A dad yells at his son forinterrupting his evening affair with hisnewspaper. An employee complainsabout the boss assigning him extrawork. A pastor’s wife resents the con-stant phone calls from a chronic com-plaining congregant.

Or perhaps the person’s fear of man—his craving for approval and reputa-tion—causes anger. An embarrassed hus-band erupts when his wife fails to cleanthe house before their friends arrive tovisit. A defensive wife resents her hus-band’s critical comments about her infront of his parents. The performance-driven schoolteacher collapses when herstudents criticize her.

In short, list the person’s “unmetemotional needs” and you will usuallyfind his angry roots. During this phaseyou should encourage the person to con-tinue journaling his anger incidents. Butas he begins to understand his heartwith biblical insight, the journal willbegin to reflect a repentant heart. Theperson may progressively transform itfrom a problem journal to a prayer jour-nal, addressing God with second personpronouns.

Of course, it is not enough to help theperson uproot idols. You must help himreplace his false trust with renewedtrust in the living God, a growing confi-dence in Christ and His Spirit, HisWord, and His Church. Three truthsseem particularly vital for those withangry hearts.

1. God is the Righteous Judge of YourOffenders. Angry people who have beensinned against need to know that a justGod will punish sin and vindicate Hispeople. They need to let God be angryfor them and to trust in God’s perfectjustice—perfect in discernment, in tim-ing, and in degree of punishment. In Hisown time and His own way, He will con-demn the guilty and vindicate the righ-teous.

Key passages to teach or assign might

SWORD AND TRUMPET

include Psalm 94; Romans 12:14-21;13:1-7; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8; 1 Peter2:21-23; 4:19; and Revelation 6:9-11. JayAdams’ How to Overcome Evil: A Practi-cal Exposition of Romans 12:14-21 hashelped many Christians fight this battle.

2. God is the Merciful Forgiver andRighteous Judge of Your Sins. Angrypeople focus on the specks in others’eyes and ignore the planks in their own(Matt. 7:3-5). The place to begin to dis-lodge this self-centered distortion is toknow that God in Christ has forgivenbelievers their massive, multimillion-dollar sin debt against Him. Key pas-sages for the person to study includeMatthew 18:21-35; Ephesians 4:32;Colossians 3:13; Isaiah 38:17; Jeremiah31; Micah 7:18-20; and Psalms 32; 51;103; and 130. Such a study also preparesyour friend for God’s call to forgivethose who have sinned against him.

In addition, we want to help angrypeople expand their awareness and rev-erence for God as their holy judge. Whiletempted to return evil for evil, they needto know that God’s holy eyes gaze uponthem. “The fear of the Lord is the begin-ning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10); suchreverent wisdom is required when fac-ing mistreatment.

3. God is your Good, Loving, and Sov-ereign Father. Angry Christians oftenfeel out of control—lost, abandoned, andorphaned in a world out of control. Ouragenda is simple: help them know Godas their Father. They are sons, notslaves; heirs, not orphans (Galatians3–4). Direct your friend to list and medi-tate on God’s attributes in passages likeRomans 8:28-39; Genesis 37–50 (espe-cially 50:19, 20); Luke 12:22-32; andMatthew 6:19-34. Jerry Bridges’ Trust-ing God: Even When Life Hurts or hisbooklet abridgement “You Can TrustGod” can aid us. God opposes the proud,but gives grace to the humble (James4:6; Hebrews 4:16; Luke 12:32; 18:9-14).

Third, help the person put off his sin-ful anger expressions and replace them

with godly words and actions.Having led your friend or counselee to

embrace the God of grace, you need tohelp him apply the Gospel to change hisangry behavior. The direction you takedepends on the type of anger heexpresses. You must tailor the biblicalcall to replace sinful words and actionsto fit the particular person.

If he tends to be an anger-revealerthen you will want to lead him to takeactive, concrete steps to develop self-control, godly speech, and biblical peace-making and problem-solving. A host ofProverbs will help you, including 12:18;16:32; 25:28; and 29:11, along with passages like Matthew 5:21-26 and Ephesians 4:25-32.

On the other hand, the person maytend to be an anger-concealer who inter-nalizes his anger. Passages like Leviticus19:16-18; Ephesians 4:25–5:2; and Luke15:25-30 can address this. Help yourfriend see the evil of such behavior. Par-ticular godly behavioral changes to culti-vate for the anger-concealer include atti-tudinal/heart forgiveness, proactiveGod-pleasing speech, and biblical peace-making and problem solving.

Helping an angry person can becostly—it will cost you time to cultivatea relationship. It will cost you theenergy of reading your Bible and pray-ing. And it may even subject you to hisanger. But the riches of serving ourLord in this ministry far outweigh ourinvestment. To see friends, family mem-bers, and fellow church members hum-bling themselves before the God ofgrace brings us a rich reward, as James5:19, 20 reminds us: My brothers, if oneof you should wander from the truthand someone should bring him back,remember this: Whoever turns a sinnerfrom the error of his way will save himfrom death and cover over a multitudeof sins. �—Reprinted with permission from The Bib-

lical Counselor, August 2006.


A restless listener interrupted mylong-winded story with, “Are you sayingsomething, or just talking?” The ques-tion came back to me recently; sitting ina song service, I asked myself, “Am I say-ing anything when I sing?” Are thewords I sing true in my life, or am Imouthing platitudes that have little to dowith my Christian experience? If thesongs we sing do not match our experi-ence, the songs are no more than sound-ing brass, or tinkling cymbals: we are notsaying anything when we sing.

Hymns

Our favorite hymns are often the oldhymns of the Wesleys, Watts, and Luther.These hymns provide a wonderful sourcefor teaching doctrine. They remind us ofwhat holy people have long believedabout justification, sanctification, assur-ance, and the other great doctrines of ourfaith.

But, are the hymns true? Yes, ofcourse, they are true objectively: they arebased on Scripture. But, are they truesubjectively: have we experienced thedoctrine of which we sing? “And Can ItBe” cannot be fully appreciated by asinger whose chains have not fallen off,whose soul is not free, and who has neverexperienced the joy of sins forgiven. Thehymn was born out of Charles Wesley’sexperience; it must be reenacted in ourexperience if the hymn is to retain itslife. If the doctrines we sing are not partof our experience, we are not saying any-thing when we sing; our hymns aresounding brass and tinkling cymbals.

Gospel Songs

Many of the great gospel songs of ourheritage testify to the personal experi-ence of saints who experienced the joy offull salvation. Born in the fervor of thecamp meeting movement, these songstestify to a vibrant experience with God.

When we sing those great holinesssongs today, are they our testimony? Is“Holiness Forevermore” truly our“watchword and song,” or do we sing itsimply because we like the exciting basspart? Do we sing “Blessed Assurance” asa testimony to the witness of the Spirit,or do we choose it only because it has alilting tune that catches our ear? If theexperience we sing about is foreign to ourown experience, we are not saying any-thing when we sing; our gospel songs aresounding brass and tinkling cymbals.

Praise Music

Gospel choruses and today’s praisesongs encourage spontaneous praise.Because of its accessibility, this styleoffers great possibilities for worship—butit also brings unique dangers. Because oftheir simple texts, praise songs can bemindlessly repeated with little attentionto the meaning of the words. Because thewords sound good, the songs can suggesta patina of worship even if true worshipis nowhere to be found. As a friend said,“By the third repetition, I get a ‘religiousfeeling’—even if I haven’t thought evenonce about what we are singing.”

Isaiah 6:1-8 illustrates true worship:worship involved emotion, but it went

Saying Something—or Just Singing?

by Randall McElwain

SWORD AND TRUMPET

deeper than emotion. Isaiah’s worshipinspired confession, it compelled achanged life, and it incited a commitmentto service. Should our worship do less?When we truly worship, we will leave asdifferent people. Unfortunately, it is pos-sible to attend church without worship-ing; it is even possible to sing “worship”songs without worshiping!

We can sing “I’m tired of being stirredwithout being changed” without makingthe necessary sacrifices for a trulychanged life. We can sing “I’ll Go WhereYou Want Me to Go” while ignoringGod’s call to service. If we sing aboutsurrender while refusing to accept God’sauthority over our lives, we are not say-ing anything when we sing; our chorusesare sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.

What Do We Do About It?

How do we ensure that we are “sayingsomething” when we sing? Some suggestthat we do away with the old songs ofexperience so that people won’t be madeuncomfortable. Please, no! Instead, let usseek a revival of the experience of whichwe sing.

Pastors, hold us responsible for whatwe sing. John Wesley encouraged hisleaders to ask the congregation, “Are thewords you just sang true in your life?”Confront us with the message of what wesing. Use the songs to challenge us to adeeper spiritual life. Ask us, “Did yousing the truth or did you simply mouthwords? Are you saying anything whenyou sing?”

Songleaders, prayerfully search forsongs that will convict and challenge usas we sing. Lead us in hymns that teachthe great doctrines of the church; lead usin gospel songs that remind us of thevital revival experience out of which ourchurches were born; lead us in chorusesand praise songs that challenge us withthe reality of God’s presence today.

Worshipers, ask God to make thehymns real to you personally. A song canbe as convicting as a sermon; let Godspeak to you through the songs we sing.If “Blessed Assurance” is not a personalreality, hold on in prayer until you cansing it from the heart. If you know thetheory of sanctification but not the expe-rience, seek a pure heart until you cansing with the saints:

A heart in every thought renewed,And full of love divine,Perfect, and right, and pure, and good,A copy, Lord, of Thine!

Let it never be said of our generationthat we now sing the songs of the holi-ness tradition without the experience ofholiness. Instead, let us sing hymns thattestify to our experience with God andthat challenge us to an even deeper walkwith God. �

Randall McElwain teaches Bible andMusic at Hobe Sound Bible College. In addi-tion, he has taught short term courses onBible and Worship in Taiwan, Dominica, andVietnam.—Reprinted from the Convention Herald,

Jan./Feb. 2006.

y z y z


More than seventy-five percent of theChristians I know use one or more ofthe following expressions: “Goodness,”“Goodness gracious,” “golly,” “gee,”“heavens,” “for heaven’s sake,” “whatthe deuce,” or “what the dickens.”There are many more that could bementioned, but these should be suffi-cient.

When you say, “What the deuce,” youare really saying, “What the devil.” (SeeWebster’s New International Dictionary.)

“Dickens” is another euphemism fordevil. A euphemism as described byWebster is “a way of describing anoffensive thing by an inoffensive expres-sion.”

“Darn,” according to the dictionary,means to “damn.” Webster defines“Gosh” as a substitute for “God” usedin oaths. Therefore, if we use this wordwe transgress the second command-ment, “Thou shalt not take the name ofthe Lord thy God in vain, for the Lordwill not hold him guiltless that takes hisname in vain” (Exodus 20:7).

“Golly” is another euphemism for theprofane use of God and is recognized bylanguage authorities as meaning God.

Many who throw up their hands inhorror when they hear the word “hell”in an oath repeatedly say, “Oh, heav-ens,” or “For heaven’s sake,” which ismuch worse, for it gets closer to Godand His throne. “And he that shallswear by heaven, sweareth by thethrone of God, and by him that sitteth

thereon” (Matthew 23:22).Webster says that the phrases, “For

goodness sake,” and “Goodness gra-cious,” refer originally to the goodnessof God. “Gee,” commonly thought of asmere slang, is listed in the dictionarywith a capital letter and said to be “aform of Jesus in minced oaths.” Menwho are authorities on the history ofwords have traced these expressions totheir origin.

But some people will excuse them-selves and say, “I don’t mean it thatway when I use those words.” I willgladly grant that this is true, but it isjust as true that many worldly peoplewho use the name of God in vain do notmean it, either, but do it from force ofhabit.

The Bible says the Lord will not holdhim guiltless that takes His name invain. We take it in vain whether wedress it in Sunday clothes or speakcoarse oaths.

“If any man among you seem to bereligious, and bridleth not his tongue,but deceiveth his own heart, this man’sreligion is vain” (James 1:26).

You ask me, “What can I say then, if Ican’t use any of these words?” Thereare 400,000 words in the English lan-guage, and I dare say that ninety-fivepercent of them would be safe to haveon your lips when you are dying. �

—From Young Companion, August, 1978.Reprinted from Family Life, Feb. 2006.

PROFANITYin Sunday Clothes

by Fred Beck

� �

SWORD AND TRUMPET

It was God who first said, “I sought fora man . . .” (Ezekiel 22:30).

Throughout the history of His dealingwith this planet, God has been seeking formen that He could trust—men throughwhom He could accomplish His purposes.

God chooses different kinds of people toaccomplish His purposes. He uses teach-ers, counselors, helpers, servants, andadministrators to edify and build Hischurch. But one of God’s keys to dealingwith His people has always been Hisprophets. Historically, prophets are thosepreachers of righteousness who standuncompromisingly for the truth of God’sWord. They quickly call us to accountabil-ity and personal holiness. These servantsof God are unashamed to stand againstthe tide of unbelief, and they are unafraidto point the finger of conviction and say,“Thou art the man!”

Unfortunately, the modern evangelicalchurch in America lacks such people. Fewand far between are the genuine prophetsof God in the church today. Whether theyserve as pastors, evangelists, or missionar-ies, their motivational spiritual gift is todeclare the absolute and certain truth ofGod’s Word both to the Christian commu-nity and to the lost world. For the prophet,the Word of God is like a fire raging withinhis soul. A prophet cannot merely sit backand watch the world go to Hell. He mustspeak up and warn the wicked of theirways and call the prodigal back to God.

In the Old and New Testaments alike,the prophet had a unique place in theministry of God’s Word to His people.Because of the nature of his calling, theprophet often found himself at odds withsinful society. Prophets were often unpop-ular, and even our Lord Jesus said of Him-self that a prophet is without honor in hisown country (see Matthew 13:57).

One spiritual gift seems lacking in

today’s evangelical churches—that of theprophet. We have an abundance of teach-ers, exhorters, rulers, givers, mercy-showers, and servants, but we do not haverevival! Perhaps that is, in part, because ofthe absence of prophets who fearlessly anduncompromisingly proclaim our need andcall the church to repentance. Seminars onrevival will not produce revival. Lectureson the history of revival will not producerevival. Lessons on how to have revival willnot produce revival. Genuine revival willcome only when men and women are con-victed of their sins, repent, and turn toGod. There can be no real revival withoutrepentance in response to an awakenedconscience about personal sin.

Our churches today have bigger build-ings, bigger budgets, better methods, andbetter staff. Our buildings are full to thebrim with activity and excitement, but wedo not have revival! I believe God is look-ing for men who will sound the trumpet,show His people their sin, and unflinch-ingly cry out for a return to the God ofour fathers.

Before we can hope to see any signifi-cant change in American Christianity, wemust have more true prophets of God will-ing to call us back to holiness—the onlyacceptable standard for serving God. Weneed men and women who are willing tolet God have absolute authority in theirlives. Only then will we be able to witnessthe powerful influence of lives totally ded-icated to the kingdom of God and to thespreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

BECOMING USABLE

The prophet was often called the “manof God.” His life was characterized by totaldevotion to God. While the prophets werenot perfect by any means, they were moreGodlike in their character than any of thekings, rulers, or priests because they had

Where Are the Prophets?by Del Fehsenfeld, Jr.


no institutional interest to serve. Theywere solely God’s men, and they knew it.

Perfect Heart

God is looking for men and women witha “perfect” heart. “For the eyes of the LORD

run to and fro throughout the whole earth,to shew himself strong in the behalf ofthem whose heart is perfect toward him”(2 Chronicles 16:9a). These are people whohave the rare quality of wholeheartedness,singlemindedness, and genuine sincerity.The prophets of old were ablaze with God’sglory. They did not come representingthemselves. They came representing Godalone. They feared only Him and, there-fore, were fearless in their preaching.

The church today is spiritually anemic.We have a high view of ourselves but alow view of Jesus Christ. We set our spiri-tual standards low, then struggle to meetthem, and congratulate ourselves think-ing we have done a good job. We tend tomagnify the good while tolerating the evilwithin our own churches. We brag on thechoir, the bus ministry, the fellowship din-ners, and all our overcrowded schedules,but have little to say about the spiritualdepth of our people.

God is not looking for better programs.He is looking for better men and womenwhose hearts are wholly His.

The awakening in Wales was born outof the ministry of men and women whosehearts were perfect with God. Men like F.B. Meyer and Evan Roberts were theprophets God used in that day to reviveHis church in one of the few great revivalsof the twentieth century.

The Bible urges us to be singlemindedin our devotion to God. It also warns thata double-minded man will be “unstable inall his ways” (James 1:8). Unstable menare driven by impulse, circumstance, orthe fear of others. But those with perfecthearts have set their minds, wills, affec-tions on the one supreme objective—toknow, love, honor, and serve, and obeyGod with all their hearts. Such whole-hearted devotion will not flirt with love of

money, self, pleasure, or the praise of men.Charles Wesley said it this way:

Oh, for a heart to praise my God,A heart from sin set free,

A heart that’s sprinkled with the bloodSo freely shed for me.

A heart resigned, submissive, meek,My great Redeemer’s throne;

Where only Christ is heard to speak,Where Jesus reigns alone.

A heart in every thought renewed,And full of love divine;

Perfect, and right, and pure and good,A copy, Lord, of Thine!

Purpose and CommitmentGod is looking for men and women of

purpose and commitment who know whosethey are and where they are headed. Suchindividuals have a sense of direction andare able to provide sound leadership to oth-ers. They are driven, not by dreams ofgrandeur, public acclaim, having their namein print, or being materially secure. Rather,their values and decisions are determinedby the ultimate purpose to which they havecommitted their lives—to be like Jesus andto be pleasing to Him.

Those who understand God’s purposefor their lives do not drift through life,waiting for things to happen to them.They do not spend their lives in an easychair with their feet propped up, one eyeon the sports page and the other on thelatest prime-time rage.

Their lives are under the control of theSpirit, who makes their days purposeful,their minds disciplined and clear, and theirspirits alert, sensitive, and energized byGod Himself.

Such people are more concerned aboutbuilding God’s reputation than their own.They are committed to building His king-dom rather than seeking a personal follow-ing of their own. Their focus is not on secu-rity in this life, but on one day hearingtheir Master say, “Well done, thou good andfaithful servant.” That is what gets themout of bed in the morning and keeps themheaded in the right direction. �

—Reprinted from The Biblical Evangelist,Volume 37, Number 3, May-June, 2006.

SWORD AND TRUMPET

Sometime ago at a midweek prayerservice, we were sharing needs andrequests when a brother spoke up withthe request, “Pray for the peace of Jeru-salem.” I knew the request was a biblicalphrase yet somehow it all seemed ratherabstract. Knowing that effectual prayeris not vain repetition, I wondered whatthe motive should be behind such arequest. In this article, we will attempt,through answering several questions, tohave a simple Bible study on the subject.Obviously, it will be neither exhaustivenor bulletproof, but hopefully may behelpful and inspirational.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: theyshall prosper that love thee” (Psalm122:6).

What did it mean to David?“Beautiful for situation, the joy of thewhole earth, is mount Zion, on the sidesof the north, the city of the great King”(Psalm 48:2). Doubtless, Jerusalem forvarious reasons held a very special placein David’s heart. Notice how the versesfollowing our text give insight to hisintent and motive. “For my brethrenand companions’ sakes, I will now say,Peace be within thee. Because of thehouse of the LORD our God I will seekthy good” (Psalm 122:8, 9). The interestof the king was the welfare of his peo-ple. The interest of the man after God’sown heart was the welfare of God’shouse. For those two reasons he wasconcerned about the peace of the city.He made a matter of prayer the welfare,prosperity, and safety of that which wasdear to his heart.

Was Jerusalem really a specialcity? God in His instruction to theIsraelites concerning their worship toldthem: “But unto the place which the

LORD your God shall choose out of allyour tribes to put his name there, evenunto his habitation shall ye seek, andthither thou shalt come” (Deut. 12:5). In2 Kings 21:7 as Manasseh’s desecrationof Jerusalem is recounted, Jerusalem isreferred to as, “of which the LORD saidto David, and to Solomon his son, Inthis house, and in Jerusalem, which Ihave chosen out of all tribes of Israel,will I put my name for ever.” And inspeaking to Solomon after the templededication, God said, “For now have Ichosen and sanctified this house, thatmy name may be there for ever: andmine eyes and mine heart shall be thereperpetually” (2 Chron. 7:16). We seethen how that God chose a special cityby design, and promised to put Hisname there forever. Yes, Jerusalem wasspecial. It was the center of God’s king-dom of the old covenant, the apple ofhis eye (Zech. 2:8).

Is Jerusalem still a special cityand is Israel still God’s chosennation? We see that when God made acovenant with men, He included a verybig risk factor. God’s covenants may beforever, but what if finite man fails tomeet the conditions necessary to con-tinue in the covenant? God made it veryplain in His revelation to Solomon thatHis covenants come with conditions. IfHis conditions, which He set forth, werenot followed, He would pluck them outof the land and cast down the house(2 Chron. 7:19-22). But what about thecovenant? Does it also pass away?

Let us consider two more relevantpassages, one old and one new, that giveus some insights on the validity ofIsrael still being God’s specially chosenpeople. “Thus saith the LORD, which

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

by Joshua S. Ebersole


giveth the sun for a light by day, and theordinances of the moon and of the starsfor a light by night, which divideth thesea when the waves thereof roar; TheLORD of hosts is his name: If those ordi-nances depart from before me, saith theLORD, then the seed of Israel also shallcease from being a nation before me forever. Thus saith the LORD; If heavenabove can be measured, and the founda-tions of the earth searched out beneath, Iwill also cast off all the seed of Israel forall that they have done, saith the LORD”(Jeremiah 31:35-37). “As concerning thegospel, they are enemies for your sakes:but as touching the election, they arebeloved for the fathers’ sakes. For thegifts and calling of God are withoutrepentance” (Rom. 11:28, 29).

In these Scriptures, we have two factspresented. First, the nation of Israelcan be considered cast off and no more anation when the sun, moon, and starsno longer shine, when the heavens canbe measured and when the foundationsof the earth can be searched out. Sec-ondly, God has chosen to work with thephysical nation of Israel on the basis ofHis love for and His promises to theirforefathers, a calling which is irrevoca-ble, even though they are the enemiesof God on the basis of the gospel.

Now in saying this, we are not imply-ing that they will find acceptance withGod outside of repentance and the bloodof Christ, but only that they have beencalled and chosen in a special way. Weknow that when a person calls on theName of the Lord, God makes no dis-tinction of race or promises to forefa-thers. “For there is no differencebetween the Jew and the Greek: for thesame Lord over all is rich unto all thatcall upon him” (Romans 10:12).

However, we with Paul can look for-ward to a time when Israel as a nationwill be converted. This was a mysterythat Paul was interested that the earlyGentile believers should not be ignorantof (Romans 11:25). This is not to imply

a salvation without a personal accep-tance of the work of Christ, but this israther a prophecy that the seed of Jacobas a whole will accept Christ as theirMessiah. This has never yet been ful-filled. Many more promises and prophe-cies should be included to give thisquestion a more complete answer.

It is apparent that the restorationthat God has predicted through the OldTestament prophets has never beenrealized. It is also obvious that theamazing birth and growth of the nationof Israel today has generated muchspeculation and many false predictions.We see once again that man cannot relyupon his own understanding, but cer-tainly there is a special joy that thrillsus when we see our living God at workin the hearts and lives of a chosen peo-ple. And we find ourselves encouragedto know that this same God will con-tinue to be true to the promises that Hehas made to us who are His chosenthrough Christ Jesus.

Should this command be takenfiguratively? In contrasting the oldcovenant with the new, Paul writes,“But ye are come unto mount Sion, andunto the city of the living God, the heav-enly Jerusalem, and to an innumerablecompany of angels” (Heb. 12:22). OurJerusalem is not of this world. It is notsubject to attack by the prince of thepower of the air for it is heavenly. How-ever, our brethren are. Christ’s king-dom, made up of the collective body ofbelievers that are still on earth, is ingreat need of the intercession of prayer.

Consider the importance that Paulcontinually placed on prayer as he againand again requested prayer for himselfand the church and the many times heassured them of intercession “night andday praying exceedingly” (1 Thess.3:10). Daily on our tongues should beprayers of intercession concerning thephysical and spiritual welfare of ourbrethren. This was the true burden ofDavid’s prayer, intercession for his

brethren. This should be an importantpart of our prayer life also.

Should we still pray for thepeace of Jerusalem? I believe it isimportant to devote ourselves to thethings that are important to our God. Ifpart of His revealed purpose andpromise is to work with a certain nationand people, it is only reasonable for usto be concerned and interested in thatwork and plan. However, we no longerpray simply for the peace, protection,and welfare of the physical seed of

Jacob. We have a purpose of greaterimportance. We pray for their reconcili-ation with the Prince of Peace. Weanticipate the day when the Lord poursupon the house of David, and upon theinhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit ofgrace and of supplications: and theyshall look upon Him whom they havepierced, and they shall mourn for Him,as one mourneth for his only son. �

—Reprinted by request from The PilgrimWitness, December 2004.

Don’t Marry Him!

When a Christian girl told C. H.Spurgeon that she was about to marry aman who neither loved the Lord Jesusnor attended church, he placed beforeher the apostle’s warning in 2 Corin-thians 6:14: “Be ye not unequally yokedtogether with unbelievers.”

Then when she tried to assure Mr.Spurgeon that her influence, when theywere married, would lift him up, thepreacher asked her to stand on a chair.“Now,” he said, “you try to pull me upto your level.”

She tugged hard, but her efforts werein vain.

“Right.” He went on. “Now I amgoing to pull you down, but do all youcan to remain on the chair.”

She tried hard, but all the trying inthe world didn’t keep her there afterthe first tug.

“That,” commented the wise pastor,“is what will happen if you marry thatman. You won’t lift him up, but he willpull you down.”

* * * * * * *SOUND ADVICE TO THE LADY

T H I N K I N G O F M A R RY I N G A NUNGODLY OR UNSCRIPTURALM A N: “ T H E Y W O N ’ T C H A N G EA F T E R T H E C E RT I F I C AT E I SSIGNED.” —from The Sword of the Lord

“All Praise Be to the Lord”

Memories of Geo. R. Brunk II

George R. Brunk IIby those who knew him.

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P.O. Box 575Harrisonburg, VA 22803

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PAGE 36 SWORD AND TRUMPET


Those Christians who hold to anextremely old Earth acknowledge thatboth Scripture and history teach Abra-ham lived just a few thousand yearsago. Furthermore, chronologies inScripture identify the time betweenAbraham and Noah, and the timebetween Noah and Adam as a total onlyof a few thousand years. Even using themaximum time spans given in variousmanuscripts yields a total of only a fewthousand years between Adam and thepresent. But maybe the creation tookbillions of years, they say.

It seems obvious. The Bible specifiesthat God’s work of creation took “sixdays,” at the end of which He createdAdam. He provides a record of Hisactivities on Day One, Day Two, etc.He even brackets each day by theterms “evening and morning.” Addingsix days to the time since Adam stillequals only a few thousand years, or soit seems. Those who advocate an Earthof billions of years in age do so byasserting that the days of creationwere really of vast duration. Is thereany Biblical and linguistic evidencethat a “day” can be of great length?

As a matter of fact, the Hebrewword yom, here translated “day,” canhave a variety of meanings, just like inEnglish.

In both languages, the term mostoften refers to a solar day, defined byone revolution of the earth on its axis.If I say “today” you know what I mean.Or when I say “the day of your birth”it’s clear. Perhaps I could modify theword by a numerical adjective, like“first day” or “three days,” and youwould know what I meant. But I couldsay “in the day of George Washington”and you would know I was referring toa period of time around the Revolution-ary War. It all depends on context.

How the word is used specifies itsmeaning in any particular usage.

In Genesis 1, God apparently wentout of His way to make sure we didn’tmisunderstand, for He defined yom thefirst time He used it. On Day One, aftercreating the heavens and the earth,God created light (v. 3), and “Goddivided the light from the darkness” (v.4). This light/dark cycle was furtheridentified when “God called the lightDay [yom], and the darkness he calledNight” (v. 5). Throughout the rest ofthe passage He uses the term for theFirst Day through the Seventh Day.

The door to misinterpretation isclosed in Exodus 20:11, where Godwrote in stone some things He reallydidn’t want us to misinterpret. Thefourth of the Ten Commandments con-cerns our work week, where we arecommanded to work six days and reston the seventh. “For in six days theLORD made heaven and earth, the sea,and all that in them is, and rested theseventh day.” Same word, yom, samecontext, same modifiers, same tablet ofstone, same Author, same finger whichwrote it. If words have meaning, thenGod created in six days just like ourdays. His work of creation becomes thepattern for our work week.

“Day” can mean a period of timewhen the context demands, but in thecreation account “day” means a real“day.” Christians need to allow theunchangeable Scripture to define itsown terms and not rely on the tempo-ral musings of men. �

—Reprinted with permission from theInstitute for Creation Research.

MMM

When Is a Day Not a Day?by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

Deceptive DiagnosisWhen Sin Is Called Sickness

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guidelines€¦ · the sword and trumpet founded in 1929 by geo. r. brunk i vol.lxxiv november 2006...

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