Books

Bible Basics

By Bill Dillon

Golden Things of the Bible

Introduction

People are interested in things that are valuable and useful. Stories of buried treasure are a delight to young and old alike. Many have been thrilled by the classic tale of R. L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Students of the mythology of ancient Greece have read with pleasure the story of Jason and his search for the Golden Fleece. The discovery of gold in California and the Yukon in the 1800’s drew thousands of prospectors to these regions in a great “Gold Rush” era of our nation’s history. Possession of the bright yellow metal, gold, has been a mark of wealth for thousands of years. Historians apply the phrase “Golden Age” to the period when a nation reaches its highest peak of development. We now turn to those golden things of the Christian Religion.

Good morning friends, and welcome once again to the “Words of Life” gospel broadcast. We are coming to you live from this radio station. Today we shall talk about “The Golden Things of the Bible.” But first, allow me once more to extend an invitation to you and your family to attend the worship services of the Mountain Home Church of Christ. Our church building is located at the corner of College and North Streets. We meet at 9:30, 10:20 AM and 6:00 PM today and at 7:00 PM on Wednesday evening.

The welcome mat is always out for you. Come with:

A Bible in your hand

A friend by your side

A smile on your face

A song in your heart.

Discussion

The Bible is the golden book. The will of God is found in the Bible. Psalm 19:9,10 says:

“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

Again, Psalm 119:27 declares:

“Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.”

The Bible is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure to say nothing of it being a fountain of wisdom. It reveals the will of God, the state of man, and the way of salvation. It is light to direct us, food to support us, and comfort to cheer us. The inspired Word of God is the book above and beyond all other books as surely as the sun is above the clouds. It is the only book that accurately deals with the great questions of life: “Who am I?” “Where did I come from?” “Why am I here?” “Where am I going?” The Bible answers all of these questions.

The Bible tells us who we are. The book of Genesis says we are men and women created by God and in His image (Genesis 2:7).

The Bible tells us that we came from God. We are a combination of dust and deity.

The Bible tells us that we are here for a purpose. That purpose is stated in Ecclesiastes 12:13:

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

The Bible tells us where we are going depends on how we are living. Titus 2:11,12 says:

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”

If we live for God, eternal bliss will be our destination and our destiny.

The Bible breaks the bonds of the enslaved, takes the heat out of life’s fierce fever, the pain out of parting, the sting out of death, and the gloom out of the grave.

It is indeed the Golden Book.

The Golden Chapter

1 Corinthians 13 is the golden chapter of the Bible, for it deals with the golden virtue of love — the greatest virtue. In this chapter, Paul shows the value of love by pointing out that spiritual gifts without love are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1,2). He shows that benevolence without love is nothing (13:3); that for the body to be burned, without love as the motivation, it amounts to nothing. The virtue of love is that:

“Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil: Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul contrasts love that never fails with the temporary miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit which were to pass away. In showing the victory of love, he concludes that there abides faith, hope and love — but love is the greatest of all things.

The Golden Verse

The golden verse of the New Testament is John 3:16. It says:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

In these cherished words are concepts that have no end at all — we can only say of them, they melt into the far reaches of eternity.

The words of this golden text suggest the most profound and sublime themes ever known to man:

1. The first words introduce the greatest Being that we can ever know anything about — GOD. Hebrews 11:6 says of God:

“But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

2. This verse (John 3:16) also mentions the largest number of beings to think about — the world; the entire world. Think of the total number of people to ever live, from Adam to when Christ comes back again — billions upon billions of souls! Like the beam of the cross of Christ, God’s love and provisions for salvation point both backward to the beginning and forward to the end of the ages.

3. This verse mentions the greatest gift of the ages — God’s only begotten Son.

4. This verse mentions the greatest faith possible.

5. This verse also mentions the greatest possible human tragedy — to perish. Many people today don’t believe in hell or else they think it has been air conditioned! But the Bible teaches that the wicked shall be cast into hell — into fire unquenchable.

6. Finally, the text teaches the greatest possible human blessedness — eternal life.

The Golden Rule is found in Matthew 7:12:

“All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, even so do ye also unto them.”

This principle is a great capstone of human relations, the topmost peak of ethics in human relationships — the Mount Everest of all human relationships. Other ancient teachers and rabbis stated it in a negative form, but Jesus put it in its positive form.

The Lord taught that the essence of righteousness is the constructive doing of good, not just the negative avoidance of doing harm. Jesus’ principle deals with treating men with kindness. It is the kind of compassion and mercy shown by the Good Samaritan who helped the wounded man in Luke 10. The principle is that of rendering justice, mercy and love to all men as prescribed by law. The Emperor Severus inscribed the golden rule on his palace wall and highly respected its content. We should inscribe the golden rule on our hearts and practice it in our lives. It is the least that a Christian can do. I want just to note here, that the golden rule, as wonderful as it is, is not the highest rule you, as a child of God, can live by. The golden rule, as commonly stated says “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” There is a rule higher than the golden rule — that’s right. Let us call the highest rule of all — the diamond rule. The diamond rule says, “Do unto others even better than you would have them do unto you.” The principle of the diamond rule is found in Romans 12:10 which says “in honor preferring one another.” Also in Philippians 2:3 we read “let each esteem others better than themselves.” Let us all try to live by the golden and the diamond rules.

The Golden Promise

The golden promise is found in Romans 8:28:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

The purpose of God for your life is good. To them that love God all things work together in God’s great purpose of good. Those who love God, that is, those who obey the gospel and live righteous lives, will have events worked out for their benefit in God’s care and providence. So let us not murmur nor complain about our circumstances and hardships. But like Joseph and Esther in the Old Testament, let us do what is right and let God use us freely in His great purposes. We cannot, with our finite minds, grasp God’s plan; in the last analysis, all we can do is humbly make the best of every circumstance that confronts us and pray God’s will to be done in all things.

We do not need to be very old in life to look back on life and see that things that we thought were disaster worked out to our good; things that we thought were disappointments worked out to greater blessings. We can look back, and we see a guiding and a directing hand in and through it all.

The Golden City

In describing the heavenly city, John wrote in Revelation 21:18 “and the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass.”

Revelation 21:21 says, “the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” Throughout history many historians and explorers have found the great cities of men full of fascination and importance. They write of Rome, Paris, London, New York, etc. My friends, the greatest city of all, and the one to which Christians work to inhabit, is the golden city of heaven, to at last be in the presence of God and walk down those streets of gold.

Conclusion

Christianity is truly the golden religion. It has the golden book, the golden chapter, the golden verse, the golden rule, the golden promise and the golden city.

Are you journeying toward the City of Gold? You can start your trip by repenting of your sins and being baptized for the remission of those sins.

Thanks for being with us today.