[Biblemat] S) HOW TO MAKE IT RELEVANT (1)

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is the first installment of
a study from the Word of God.  Use to the glory of  God.

HOW TO MAKE IT RELEVANT  (1)

       Where the cry was heard a few years ago among churches
of Christ, "Preach the Word, brother, preach the Word," now we
often hear, "Make it relevant, brother, make it relevant."  There
seems to be developing , in the church of the Lord, a differnt 
thrust in preaching today.  Is the "Old Time" first principle sermon simply 
a thing of the past, or is there a place for it now?
And what message should we be preaching to today's world?

       The problems of the poor, the inequity of conditions of some 
in our society, the problems that the immoral faces, the difficult-
ies which burden down the social outcasts -- in short, the prob-
lems of all those who are down-trodden should be the concern
of all right-thinking people.  And especially should it concern
those who claim to follow Jesus.  But does all of that mean that
our preaching today should depend upon the problems of to-
morrow's newspapers and television news shows?  How can
we make it relevant, anyway?

       The word, "relevant" means:  "Pertinent, fitting the require-
ments."  Every  preacher of the Gospel of Christ should be striv-
ing to preach a message that is relevant to his audience.  So, 
how do we determine what is relevant, and how do we present
it in a relevant way?  Let's first see what a felevant message is, 
and how we can present it.

The Inspiration Of The Scriptures: -- In these "last days" Jesus
was chosen by God to be His Spokesman to all mankind.  "God,
having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by
divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these
days spoken unto us in His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all
things, through whom also He made the worlds" (Heb. 1:1,2).
Again, on the mount of transfiguration, God spoke of Jesus,
"This is My well beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased, hear
ye Him" (Matt. 17:5).  Jesus chose twelve men to be apostles to
carry His message to all man, and He promised them:  "But the
Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My
name, He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembra-
nce all that I have said unto you" (Jno. 14:26).  The apostles, 
therefore, were not dependent upon their own knowledge, mem-
ories or research for the accuracy of what they preached.  Jesus
called the Word of God "truth" (Jno. 17:17), and told the apostl-
es that the Holy Spirti would guide them "into all truth" (Jno. 16:
13).  They spake, and wrote, "as the Spirit gave them utterance"
(Acts 2:4).  That message which they preached, was thus "inspir-
ed of God" (2 Tim. 3:16).

       The apostles, as Jesus had promised, were baptized with
the Holy Spirit some ten days after He was ascended back to
heaven (Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-4).  As the apostles "went everywhere
preaching the Word" (Mk. 16:20), they were guided by the Holy
Spirit.  As the apostle Paul described it:  "For who among men
knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which 
is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the
Spirit of God.  But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that
were freely given to us of God.  Which things also we speak, not
in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit
teacheth, combining spiritual things with spiritual words" (1 Cor.
2:11-13).

       it was this God-given guidance that would enable Paul to
write later:  "All Scripture is inspired of God" (2 Tim. 3:16).  The
which they preached, and wrote, was thus inspired of God.  "When ye 
received from us the Word of the Message, even the
Word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is
in truth, the Word of God, which also worketh in you that believe" (1 Thes. 
2:13).  If their message to us is not  "relevant"
or "fitting," we must remember that they wrote as God directed
them.  If we thik their message is old-fashioned, then let us have
the courage to place the blame where it belongs.  Jesus told
these apostles, "He that  heareth you heareth Me; and he that
rejecteth you rejecteth Me; and he that rejecteth Me rejecteth
Him that sent Me" (Lk. 10:16).  If that  message is not relevant
today, then Christ is not relevant today either.  It is His Word
which they preached and wrote during the days of the apostles.
It is the inspired Word that guides us into all truth today as well.
(More will be posted on this subject tomorrow, the Lord willing.
JWS).
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