The Elon Challenger
ELON CHURCH OF CHRIST
New Hope, Alabama
Seeking to challenge your interest in things
spiritual & eternal (Eph. 6:10-18)
Volume 15 Number 11
July 2018
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Table of Contents
The House of Mourning—————————————— Mike Johnson
The Devil’s Yard Sale—————————————– Author Unknown
The Vapor of Time————————————————— Kent Heaton
Building Relationships in the Home —————————- Steve Klein
The Lord Is My Helper ———————————————— Billy Boyd
A Paying Principle——————————————– Author Unknown
Could I Be Wrong? ——————————————– Author Unknown
Don’t Leave Home Without It————————————– Joe R. Price
Facing the Facts of the Bible——————————- Author Unknown
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THE HOUSE OF MOURNING
Mike Johnson
Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.”
Why is it better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, i.e. why is it better to go to a funeral home than to a party? One would think the opposite would be true. A person might say, “There is more enjoyment in attending a festive event than a place where the dead are being mourned.” However, the passage is not speaking of “enjoyment” but is talking about what is better.
The reason why it is better to go to the “house of mourning” is that more can be gained from this type of house than from the house of feasting. At the house of mourning, we are reminded that death will come to all of us. We will “lay this to our heart” as the passage says.
The Bible teaching on the brevity and the uncertainty of life should be brought to mind in the house of mourning. Job 14:1-2 says, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not.” An understanding of this concept should motivate us to use the time we have left in God’s service. Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”
We are put here on this earth for a reason. We were not put here by God to do whatever we want to do. We were not put here pursue immorality, material things, and to serve our selves. The question, “What am I doing here?” is one of the questions that have always plagued mankind. The answer to this question is found very simply in Ecclesiastes 12:13 where the writer said, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
Have you learned lessons, which come from the house of mourning? All of us have a responsibility (in this short life) to serve God. Are we doing that now? Life quickly passes away; it can end at any time; Christ can return at any time. Are you prepared?
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THE DEVIL’S YARD SALE
There’s an old fable that says the Devil once held a sale and offered all the tools of his trade to anyone who would pay their price. They were spread out on the table and each one labeled. They were hatred, malice, envy, despair, sickness, sensuality — all the weapons that everyone knows so well. But, off to one side lay a harmless looking wood-shaped instrument marked “discouragement.” It was old and worn looking but it was priced far above all the rest. When asked the reason why, the Devil replied, “Because I can use this one so much more easily than the others. No one knows that it belongs to me, so with it I can open doors that are tightly bolted against the others. Once I get inside I can use any tool that suits me best.” (From The Bible Illustrator)
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THE VAPOR OF TIME
Kent Heaton
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain’; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.’” (James 4:13-15 RSV)
One of the great challenges of life is to understand the brevity of time. In the mind of man, life is full and vibrates with activity with little thought to the sudden end of time. As the seconds of the clock tick away the eye seldom glances to the mist of time that quickly fades. The New Year brings many plans, hopes, and dreams. Resolutions are made that were broken 365 days ago and new goals are set. Children anxiously look forward to the end of the school, young hearts plan weddings, careers are set in motion and lives are planned for the coming year. How different it will all be in 365 days.
James reminds us that life is not about tomorrow or even about today. We have plans that we make and fully expect to achieve those goals. However, life gets in the way so often to remind us that we do not know what will be on the morrow. Whether one believes in God or not the nature of life is still the same. The difference is that those who believe in God understand the complex nature of life and are able to live with contentment. Those who do not allow God to rule in their lives will only find heartache and confusion.
Time is a vapor, a mist, a fog – a breath. In the early morning hours the mist clings to the ground in the delicate balance between night and day. Our lives are hung in the balance between life and death in the same manner. Daniel told Belshazzar that Jehovah held his breath in His hand “and whose are all thy ways.” (Daniel 5:23) The vapor of time is determined by the Creator and man can only measure time but he cannot control it. What man can control is the manner he spends time.
David understood the nature of life when he writes, “Jehovah, make me to know mine end and the measure of my days, what it is; let me know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths; and my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Surely every man walketh in a vain show; surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.” (Psalms 39:4-6 ASV) The vapor of time is the frailty of the mortal flesh. When men seek the gain of the world and attain it, what have they gained? Death removes the worldly gain from the possessor and gives it to those who will possess it.
How short life is! As we grow older we realize that time is swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. (Job 7:6) The greatest wisdom is the understanding of making each day count toward the final day of our death. We die as we live but die we must. The difference in the life lived is the living of a life with the Lord’s will in mind. This is an acceptance of the guiding hand of Jehovah in whom we live, we move and we have our being. (Acts 17:28) In the early morning hours, grasp the mist in your hand and as it fades before your eyes, behold your life. Then look up to the stars of heaven that beckon with sparkling glory to the presence of an Almighty Creator who loves you and wants you to love him. In all things, the Lord’s will be done. “And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11)
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BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS IN THE HOME
Steve Klein
The foundation of a house is that upon which all else depends for support. If the foundation is not solid, the house is unstable (cf. Matthew 7:24-27). Likewise, the stability of the family depends upon a well-laid foundation.
Christ is the Foundation & Chief Cornerstone
The Bible certainly teaches that Jesus Christ is the foundation and chief cornerstone of our relationships with God and each other within His church (Ephesians 2:19-20; 1Corinthians 3:10). But Jesus is also the One who can best solidify and stabilize relationships in other places as well. While the relationships you and I have with family, friends, and co-workers or with institutions such as the government, may exist outside of Christ, they are never what they ought to be until Christ becomes a part of them. When a person becomes a Christian, every human relationship should change. The Christian is a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). His associations and dealings with others now have their basis in his relationship with Christ, and in a sense Christ is to become the foundation and chief cornerstone of every relationship the Christian has.
If this is true when it comes to the relationships with government (Romans 13:1-6) and employers (Colossians 3:22-25; 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12), it is vitally true when it comes to relationships within the home. Notice Paul’s instructions concerning the duties of young wives in Titus 2:4-5. They need to “love their husbands, to love their children…that the word of God may not be blasphemed!’’ Their relationships within the home reflect directly upon their relationship with God and His word. Similarly, husbands must dwell with their wives “with understanding… that your prayers may not be hindered!’’ (1 Peter 3:7). And, if the husband does not provide for his family “he has denied the faith’’ (1 Timothy 5:8). Do you see it? All of these passages are implying that proper dealings with one another in the home have a direct connection to our affiliation with Jesus Christ.
For Christians, THE KEY to building a solid home life is in realizing that every relationship within that home must be governed by Jesus Christ. When that is the case, husbands will love their wives “as Christ loved the church’’ (Ephesians 5:25), wives will submit to their “own husbands as is fitting in the Lord’’ (Colossians 3:18), and children will obey their parents “in the Lord, for this is right’’ (Ephesians 6:1). When Christ is the foundation of our homes, there will be no corrupt communication, but only words that are good for building one another up (Ephesians 4:29). There will be no spiteful behavior, bitterness, or grudge-holding, but only patience and forgiveness (Ephesians 4:31-32).
Christians sometimes complain about their home lives and the way that they are treated or mistreated by other members of the household. However, many times the complainer must come to realize that little can be done to change others in the home until they themselves decide to put Christ first in their own lives. Is Christ the foundation of your home?
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THE LORD IS MY HELPER
Billy Boyd
A little girl, when asked to repeat the 23rd Psalm, said, “The Lord is my shepherd, that’s all I want.” She may have been a little confused about the actual wording, but she expressed a truth that should be the property of every Christian. There is no blessing so valuable as the ability to lean upon the sufficiency of God, to find in Him all that we want. The firm basis of such trust was brought to Paul’s attention when the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 11:9).
Consider the unsearchable riches which one possesses when the Lord is his helper.
- There is a feeling of security that transcends social and financial security. The child of God can be content in all circumstances of life. “I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content.” (Philippians 4:11).
- There is a peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7) and floods the Christian’s life with joy that is unspeakable (1 Peter 1:8). This peace is greater than all the treasures earth can yield.
- There is a freedom from fear of all types. “So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear: What shall man do unto me?” (Hebrews 13:6). Fear of bodily harm and even of death itself is dissipated when we walk with the Lord. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil; for thou art with me:” (Psalms 23:4)
- There is a crown of life that glitters through eternity. “Henceforth there is laid tip for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).
In addition to these wonderful blessings, the Lord promises to provide us those things that we need physically. Surely, when the Lord is our helper, there can be no want.
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POINTS TO PONDER
- It is not wise to say something on every subject on every occasion.
- If you want to be miserable, spend a lot of time hating and despising others.
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A PAYING PRINCIPLE
God honors men who take His Word seriously. Stephen Girard, Philadelphia millionaire, one Saturday ordered his clerks to come to work the next day and unload a large shipment which had just arrived. One young man stepped up to the desk and said, as he turned pale, “Mr. Girard, I cannot work tomorrow.” “Very well, sir,” said the millionaire, “go to the cashier’s desk and he will settle with you.”
For three weeks, the young man tramped the streets looking for work. One day a bank president asked Mr. Girard to name a suitable person for cashier of the new bank about to be opened.
After reflection, Mr. Girard named this young man. “But I thought you discharged him?” “I did,” was the answer, “because he would not work on Sunday. The man who will lose his employment from principle is the man to whom you can trust your money.”
“…So stand fast in the Lord, my beloved.” (Phil 4:1)
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COULD I BE WRONG?
There was a man who had a picture of the leaning tower of Pisa on the wall. Every morning, it was hanging crooked. He found out that the maid was twisting the picture to make the tower straight. Lots of people look into God’s Word and find out that it does not harmonize with their lives or religious beliefs. They try to twist the Word of God to fit their beliefs or lives instead of correcting their doctrine to fit the Word of God.
Then there was the fellow who ordered a barometer and received it through the mail. The hand pointed to “Storm”. He shook it to unstick the hand but it did not turn back. In disgust, he packed up the barometer and returned it to the manufacturer, thinking that it was faulty. That night a terrible storm destroyed the whole area around him. He thought the barometer was wrong. Many people are warned of the certainty of God’s judgment on the wicked but they refuse to believe that it could be right. You can refuse to prepare if you want to, but rest assured that God’s vengeance is sure.
Then there was the woman who got up in the middle of the night to get her sleepless husband some sleeping pills. In the dark, she got the wrong bottle and gave him some poison. In the morning, when her husband was discovered dead, the police figured out what the woman had done and explained it to her. The woman became very angry and refused to believe her husband was dead, because she thought she was giving him the right medicine. She could not have been wrong because she thought she was right.
Many people today trust their feelings to take them to heaven. When they are shown that feelings are not reliable, but rather more likely to deceive them, they become angry. People can trust their feelings, but unless they are based on the testimony of the New Testament, they will be false and deceive.
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Don’t Leave Home Without It
Joe R. Price
You remember the old American Express catch phrase at the end of their commercials: “American Express, don’t leave home without it.” Well, this morning as I arrived at the office I realized I had left home without my Bible and the documents I intended to be working on today (and hence, the seed of this article).
There is any number of things we should not leave home without, including:
- Faith in Christ. Each day as Christians go to school or work it is vital that their faith be solidly in place: “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Faithless teachers challenge the faith of our children by teaching them such things as organic evolution and the social values (I use that word accommodatively) of humanism. Unbelieving classmates will often disagree with Biblical standards of purity and decency and tempt young Christians to compromise their faith and “have some fun.” Immoral co-workers will test your allegiance to Christ by their vulgar language and lack of godly values. The normal tasks of the day put trials before every child of God. Faith must be maintained as we live in a faithless world. Without faith we will not please God (Heb. 11:6). Faith: “Don’t leave home without it.”
- 2. Responsibility and integrity. You will be exposed every day to people and situations that test your commitment to truth, honesty, and dependability. At work, the Christian should serve his employer “not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but as bond-servant of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.” (Eph. 6:6-8) Trustworthiness, dependability, and honesty: “Don’t leave home without them.”
- Love for God and man. The attitudes, decisions and actions of every Christian are to be the result of love for God and others. “’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ (Matt. 22:37-39). Love “does no harm to a neighbor” – even when that “neighbor” harms it (Rom. 13:10, 8-9; Matt. 5:38-45; 1 Cor. 13). We do not know God nor have His approval if we do not love others: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 Jno. 4:8). Love: “Don’t leave home without it.”
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FACING THE FACTS OF THE BIBLE
Adam and Eve, for one bite of fruit when they were not even hungry, brought sin, suffering, shame, and death upon themselves and the human race (Genesis 3).
Lot’s wife revealing her longing for the things that pertain to earth, took one look back and became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19).
Achan, for a garment of gold he could not wear and for silver and gold he could not spend, paid with all his possessions, his family and his life (Joshua 7).
Samson, for the caress of a hypocritical woman, lost his will, his strength, his liberty, his eyes, and finally his life (Judges 15).
David, to enjoy another man’s wife, handed to posterity a tale of adultery, shame, and tears, boldly written across its face (2 Samuel 11-12).
Ahab, coveting another’s vineyard, permitted his wife to have its owner killed (1 Kings 21).
Judas, for thirty pieces of silver, which he had no occasion or conscience to use, took his own life in shame and despair (Matthew 27).
Demas, loving the transient world more than a permanent future, forsook Paul and provoked the wrath of heaven (2 Timothy 4:10).
The Christian who seeks first anything above the kingdom of heaven will lose his soul forever (Matthew 6:16f).
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The Elon Challenger is published monthly by the church of Christ meeting at 4021 Hobbs Island Road in Owens Cross Roads. The mailing address is PO Box 149, New Hope, AL, 35760 where any comments, questions, or requests for further information can be sent. The Challenger is also distributed monthly to the Elon congregation as an eight page, paper publication. The editor is Mike Johnson.
The website address is www.elonchurchofchrist.com.
Evangelist & Editor: Mike Johnson
www.seekingthingsabove.org