Be Ready to Answer

SOURCE: The Spiritual Sword, 10/2007

Be Ready to Answer

by Alan E. Highers

We are all familiar with the admonition of the apostle Peter: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).  There are three expressions in particular that we wish to emphasize from this verse: “ready,” “answer,” and “reason.”

First, one is to be “ready always,” i.e., prepared “invariably, at any and every time” (Vine, 43).

Second, one must be ready always “to give an answer.”  Answer is from apologia, the same word from which we get our English word apologetics, meaning a defense.  It is defined as “ready to make a defense to anyone” (Arndt-Gingrich, 96).  The same word is used in Acts 22:1, “hear ye my defense,” and Philippians 1:17, “I am set for the defense of the gospel.

Third, the manner in which we make a defense of the hope that is within us is by providing a “reason” to those who ask.  We do not merely make wild, belligerent claims, unsupported by evidence.  Neither do we rely on emotion, feeling, or passion.  The term, reason, in this text is from the Greek logos, indicating a word.  A word is a means of communication.  Jesus was “the Word” in the sense that He communicated Deity to the world (John 1:1-3).  Inspired men communicated “by the word of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15).  We are to give a “reason” for the hope within us, suggesting that we should be able to communicate to others why we believe what we believe.  “This obligation implies sufficient acquaintance with the word of God to substantiate one’s hope therewith, and godliness of life consistent with its teaching” (Woods, 98).

Things Implied by this Obligation

1.  That a Christian’s hope is defensible.  The very admonition to be ready always to give a defense manifests that the faith can be defended.  We live in what is sometimes called a post-modern society.  Post-modernism disdains the idea that one can be “right” about anything and others be “wrong.”  The influence of this philosophy can be seen everywhere around us.  Unless the Christian is careful in this age of false toleration, we will begin to absorb the prevailing consensus of the world which says “everyone is right,” “whatever one believes is the truth for him,” “it does not make any difference what one believes.”  Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).  He declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

2.  That there is such a thing as absolute truth.  We have a “reason” for what we believe.  We are able to appeal to the word of God as a ground for our hope.  “Hold fast the form of sound words” (2 Timothy 1:13), “holding fast the faithful word” (Titus 1:9).  God did not leave us without a standard, adrift on a sea of uncertainty.  “We have also a more sure word of prophecy … but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:19021).

3.  That we can understand the revelation God has given to us.  In order to “give an answer to every man that asketh,” we must be able to comprehend the message God has given to us.  “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17).  God’s will is understandable.  Paul spoke of the revelation which was given unto him and said, “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:4).  It is necessary for us to study that we may grow “in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).  We begin with the milk of the word (1 Peter 2:2), and we advance in knowledge so that we can digest the meat of the word (Hebrews 5:14).  The apostle Peter spoke of some things “hard to be understood,” but he did not say “impossible to be understood” (2 Peter 3:16).  With study, diligence, and a pure heart, we can grow in understanding and knowledge of the will of the Lord, so that we may give an “answer” to those who ask a “reason” for the hope that is in us.

4.  That a Christian should be able to defend what he believes.  To be able to “give an answer” is to be able to defend our convictions.  Paul said, “We also believe, and therefore speak” (2 Corinthians 4:13).  Faith is not blind; it is based upon evidence.  “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).  Every child of God should endeavor to know the basis of what he believes and to be able to communicate that to others.  This does not mean that one must be a public speaker or a professional scholar, but each one of us should feel comfortable to open the word of God and to point to the “book, chapter, and verse” that sustains our faith.  Elders in the church should “be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers” (Titus 1:9).  Even a Christian couple such as Aquila and Priscilla could instruct Apollos, teaching him “the way of God more perfectly” (Acts 18:26).  Jude exhorted us to “contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).

5.  That there is a duty to teach others.  People will constantly ask a reason for the hope within us.  We should be ready always to give an answer.  Peter says we are to do this “with meekness and fear,” i.e., not in arrogance or pride, but out of genuine respect toward God and His word.  The apostle Paul stated that he taught publicly and from house to house (Acts 20:20).  In writing to Christians at Rome, where there was much persecution, he nevertheless stated: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).  In Acts 20:26-27, the apostle proclaimed: “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”  May every member of the body of Christ be pure from the blood of all men in that we deliver the counsel of God to all who come within our sphere of influence.

…

References
Arndt, William F. and Gringrich, F. Wilbur (2nd Ed., 1979), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

Vine, W.E., An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Iowa City: Riverside Book and Bible House).

Woods, Guy N. (1956), A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles of Peter, John, and Jude (Nashville: Gospel Advocate).

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One Talent

SOURCE: Bulletin, CHURCH OF CHRIST, P.O. Box 251, Mammoth Spring, AR 72554

The One Talent Man

Oh, how often one hears men cry,
“I’m just a one talent man”
When what he really means is this:
“I don’t want to do what I can!”

 

How many men have only one?
Have you ever know of such?
Yet, over and over one hears,
“I just cannot do very much.”

 

Tragic it is that talent wastes,
With the Lord’s work in the balance;
While one sits crying, “I can not,”
Worrying of his lack of talents.

 

Instead of counting how many,
Develop what’s been given to you;
For God shall require no more of us,
Than He gives ability to do.

 

 

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TALC Update 071025

74% Completed

With the hard word of Dave Dugan and Larry Cole we now have a searchable index of 74% of the annual lesson commentaries available online.  Many of my preaching brethren among churches of Christ have some of these volumes in their libraries.  I know that there was once printed an index of some of these volumes, however, this one is searchable online.  This should be a great advantage.  We have it available online in such a way that you can search the PDF files:

• One year at a time
• One decade at a time
• All of the years which we have indexed (64 years at this time)

You can download the files or use them online.  Find the files by clicking H-E-R-E.

If you have one of the 22 volumes which have not been indexed, perhaps you would like to index it yourself, send it to me, and we will add it in with the others.

—-David Lemmons

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Overview of Philippians

SOURCE: Gospel Advocate, 1/13/1972
What a GREAT privilege it was for me to sit in classes for two years under the late Wendell Winkler!!! When he taught us “Prison Epistles,” he provided an outline/overview of the Book of Philippians. As I was thumbing through some old Advocates, I found the article below, which is a shortened version of what I was taught in class. I hope it helps you have a better and richer understanding of this wonderful message to the church at Philippi.

The Christian Life According to Philippians

by Wendell Winkler

The church of our Lord had its beginning upon European soil with the establishment of the Philippian church. This congregation was established upon Paul’s second missionary tour upon answer to the Macedonian call. While in Troas there appeared unto Paul in a vision a man from Macedonia saying, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” Whereupon Paul and his company sailed the Aegean Sea, came to Samothracia, Neapolis, and thence to Philippi. First, the gospel was preached to Lydia and her household; and, then, to the jailer and his household. And, upon the obedience of these, the church of our Lord had its beginning (Acts 16:8-34). Sometime later, during his first Roman imprisonment, Paul wrote four epistles—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. A study of the Philippian epistle most graphically and interestingly portrays unto us the Christian life. Let us study it chapter by chapter.

Chapter 1: The SAVIOR-CENTERED Life

There must be a center around which one’s life gravitates. Paul teaches us in Philippians 1 that the center is Christ. Christ is mentioned on an average of more than every other verse in this chapter:

• 01. Servant of Christ (v. 1).
• 02. Grace and peace from Christ (v. 2).
• 03. Day of Christ (vv., 6, 10).
• 04. Longed after them in the bowels of Christ (v.8).
• 05. Fruits of righteousness are by Christ (v. 11).
• 06. Bonds in Christ (v. 13).
• 07. Brethren in Christ (v. 14).
• 08. Christ is preached (v. 15-18).
• 09. Spirit of Christ (v. 19).
• 10. Christ to be magnified in our bodies (v. 20).
• 11. To live is Christ (v. 21).
• 12. Desired to be with Christ (vv. 22-24).
• 13. Rejoice in Christ (v. 26).
• 14. Conversation to be after the gospel of Christ (v. 27).
• 15. Believe on Christ (v. 29).
• 16. Suffer for Christ (v. 29).

Indeed, Christ is the emphasis of Chapter 1. Not around ourselves, not around the social calendar, etc., but around Christ our lives are to gravitate. With Paul we must come to say, “For me to live is Christ” (v. 21). What does that mean?

• 1. His will must be considered in every decision I make.
• 2. His church must come first in every preference I make (Matthew 6:33).
• 3. All I do is done for His glory, not my own.
• 4. In my thoughts by faith I look back with gratitude to when He came to earth as my Saviour, and in hope look forward to when He will appear the second time unto salvation–and, in the meantime, walk with Him day by day.

Chapter 2: The SELF-EMPTYING Life

(1) The principle of the self-emptying life is stated in verses 3 and 4: “Let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

(2) The self-emptying life is exemplified by Christ in verses 5-11, “…and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

(3) The self-emptying life is illustrated by Timothy and Epaphroditus in verses 19-24 and 25-30. Of Timothy it is said, “For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” Concerning Epaphroditus Paul says, “Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.” We must divest ourselves of self and let Christ live within (Galatians 2:20). Such obtaining, it will no longer be what do I want and what will I decide to do; rather, it will be what does Christ desire, and what is His will in the matter? Only then can we sing with meaning, “None of Self and All of Thee.” Too, whenever we start living the self-emptying life, we will no longer concentrate upon what others have failed to do for us; instead, we will busy ourselves in thinking of, and in doing for, others.

Chapter 3: The SOUND Life

In verses 2 through 11, Paul warns against the doctrinal errors of Judaism. Then, in verses 12 through 21, we have his warnings against the doctrinal errors of anti-nomianism. This system of thought said that salvation was already attained; therefore, a person need not strive for salvation, nor be concerned with moral and ethical standards. Today we must be armed and ready to expose and refute the errors of Catholicism, denominationalism, modernism, hobbyism, liberalism, and experimentalism. Yes, it is upon these issues that the battle lines are drawn today; and, here is where the Christian stands with the sword of the Spirit unsheathed to fearlessly attack error (Philippians 1:7, 17; Jude 3; Ephesians 5:11; 6:17; Titus 1:9-11).

Chapter 4: The SERENE Life

In chapter 4, Paul outlines for us why the Christian life is a serene life.

(1) The Christian life is a steadfast life. “So stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved” (verse 1).

(2) The Christian life is a happy life. “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice” (verse 4). When Paul wrote this he was in prison; yet, he said, REJOICE. Why? How could he say such? Simply because he had come to learn that happiness is not dependent upon external circumstances, but upon inner qualities of the heart.

(3) The Christian life is a worry-free life. “Be careful for nothing” (verses 6-7). Though prayer, as the text suggests, the Christian casts his every care upon the Lord; and, correspondingly, God sends his peace as a military garrison to guard his heart against the intrusion of all anxious alarms and fears.

(4) The Christian life is a contented life. “For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (verse 11). The Christian is not to be content with what he is (Philippians 3:13-14), but with what he has (Hebrews 13:4-5).

(5) The Christian life is a victorious life. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (verse 13). With Christ, and through the strength He supplies, there is no burden we cannot bear, there is no mission we cannot fulfill, there is no challenge we cannot meet, there is no responsibility we cannot shoulder, and there is no problem we cannot solve.

(6) The Christian life is a sacrificial life. “Ye sent once and again unto my necessity … Having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God” (verses 15-18). Mothers and missionaries are some of the happiest people on the earth. Why? Because happiness is to be found in giving (Acts 20:35); and, they give so much.

(7) The Christian life is a sufficient life. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (verse 19). This has been called the Christian’s banknote. With MY GOD being the president; SHALL SUPPLY being the promise to pay; ALL YOUR NEED, being the amount; ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GLORY, being the capital of the bank; and BY JESUS CHRIST, being the cashier.

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MDR in Ezra

Lessons on Divorce and Remarriage from the Book of Ezra

I have just read an interesting article written by Jon Macon. I received it by Email and have uploaded it to my website. I think you would benefit from a study of this 6-page discussion. It develops three lessons that have application to Christ’s teaching on the subject of Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the New Testament. You may read it or download the file by clicking H-E-R-E.

–David Lemmons

If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to the LemmonsAid feed by pasting the following into your feed reader: LemmonsAid You say you don’t have a feed reader? Step into the 21st Century by getting a good one for FREE at: http://newsgator.com You can learn all about RSS feeds by clicking H-E-R-E THANKS!

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2 Chronicles 20:35-37

SOURCE: Gospel Advocate, 6/22/1972
This is a lengthy article and quite involved, but if you will stay with it to the end, you will be blessed in the reading of it, I am confident–DRL.

An Exercise in Futility

by Dan Harless

Some time ago Brother Goodpasture called my attention to that tantalizing passage of scripture, 1 Kings 22:48, which reads, “Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.”

Recently Brother Goodpasture called my attention to the passage again, as if to say, “When are you going to do something with it?”  Since then I have looked at it more closely.  It continues to be tantalizing.  In fact, it has become eminently challenging.

We learn more of this incident in ancient history from 2 Chronicles 20:35-37.  A kind of dramatis personae is given and we are also given a look at persons and places, plus an insight into hopes and schemes.  “And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; the same did verey wickedly: and he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.  Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Jehovah hath destroyed thy works.  And the ships were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.“

The persons and places include…

• 1.  Jehoshaphat, the good king who made some notable mistakes.
• 2.  Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, king of Israel.  It is said of Ahaziah that he succeeded his wicked father in every sense of the word.
• 3.  Eliezer, the priest, who revealed the cause of the disaster.
• 4.  The influence of the exploits of Solomon whose great fleet had been assembled a hundred years before.
• 5.  Tarshish, Ezion-geber and Ophir.
• 6.  Finally, there are the undeniable evidences of the mighty hand of Jehovah who ruled then (and rules now) in the affairs of men.

Solomon’s ships are referred to as “a navy of Tarshish.”  The word “Tarshish” suggests a smelting plant or refinery.  With regard to Solomon’s “refining” fleet, it seems that the copper smelted at Ezion-geber (the modern Tell-el-Keleifeh) was used for trading purposes.  His fleet sailed down the Red Sea and spent as much as three years in making these long hauls.

Much of the wealth which so impressed the Queen of Sheba was gained in this manner.  The Queen concluded that “the half was not told” her concerning the wisdom and riches of Solomon (1 Kings 10:7).  There is a line in Masefield’s “Cargoes” that lifts a passage of Scripture (1 Kings 10:22) nearly word for word:

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

The Ophir of Solomon’s day, famous for its gold mines, was located in S.W. Arabia in what is now Yemen.  In our time the search in that part of the world is for black gold, the oil that keeps the wold’s machinery running, including its weapons of warfare.  The ships of world powers and super powers are seeking and transporting as much fo this liquid wealth as they can get.  Truly, they are ships of Tarshish.

But back to ancient Ophir.  I recall reading, when I was a young lad, the novels of Sir Rider Haggard, particularly the one entitled, King Solomon’s Mines.  It was a thriller in those far-off days.  In the literature of today, featuring the non-hero and violence for the sake of violence, Haggard’s works appear quite tame.  EVen so, I recall that it was absorbing stuff for a youngster back in those days of comparative innocence.

All of which leads me to ask, “What of ships in our time that never sail?”  There are many.  There is, for example, the young man, sincere, idealistic, dedicated–yet lacking in moral stamina.  The assaults of the critics, the skeptics, the malcontents, and the dissidents during his formative years often prove too much for him.  He has rubbed shoulders with them.  He has listened to their ideas, often failing to measure them by the word of God.  Consequently, the young man, in the manner of the ships of Jehoshaphat, is broken; he is “not able to go to Tarshish.”

A young woman, reared in a Christian home and nourished by Christian principles, leaves home for a far-off Ezion-geber, which is to say a college or university of her choice.  Her purpose, and that of her parents, is the building and outfitting of a ship, a human ship that will safely ply the treacherous seas of modern life.  Her destination is Ophir, whose location is in the far reaches of the mind; her quest is moral and spiritual success.  She is astounded by moral laxity all about her.  Eventually, however, she begins to question the values her parents have impressed upon her.  A gradual lowering of the bars of righteousness inhibits her spiritual progress.  The workmanship and materials are no longer chosen for their excellence.  The ship is launched but it is broken and unseaworthy.  It cannot sail.  There will never be a happy, profitable voyage to Ophir.

“Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Jehovah hath destroyed thy works.”  Righteousness is not born of evil.  In our time as in the days of Isaiah, calling “evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20), will not work.  Christians, young and old, are a sweet-savor and a powerful influence in this world.  But it is quite possible for the salt of the earth to lose its savor, in which case it is “thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot” (Matthew 5:13).  The metaphors differ; the principle remains the same.

Jehoshaphat encountered and embraced evil in the person of Ahaziah.  Evil has many forms and travels many roads.  The more infatuated we become with evil the more blinded we become to its ugliness.  Pope was right…

Vice is a monster of so frightful mein,
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.

Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters,” but man insists it’s worth a try.  Jesus said, “for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other,” but man says it is not so, that he is merely broadening his perspective; that he is a complex creature with diverse interests and that he can live successfully in two worlds at once.  But Jesus has the last word, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

The history of mankind is a history of the absoluteness of our Lord’s teaching.  The first object lesson was demonstrated in Eden.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses–at one time or another these and other great men of old endeavored to walk on both sides of the street at once.  It couldn’t be done then.  It can’t be done now.  There will never be a time when it can.  Jehoshaphat learned this lesson the hard way.  His ships were broken.  Ships continue to be broken in our time.  What about yours?  and mine?  Are they destined to sail to fabulous Ophir or will they be broken before ever they sail?

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