BiblicalInsights.net

Home of Alexander Campbell, Bethany, WV

This photo is a recent picture of the home of Alexander Campbell.  Alexander and his father Thomas were leaders in the Restoration Movement.  The Restoration Movement was the largest religious movement in American history.  Thomas Campbell wrote the Declaration and Address, an important document in Restoration history.  In this document, Thomas Campbell demonstrates a passion for unity and a passion for truth.  You cannot have unity without truth!  Let me share a few quotes from this historical document.  In proposition one, Campbell wrote, “The Church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally and constitutionally one; consisting of all those in every place that profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him in all things according to the Scriptures, and that manifest the same by their tempers and conduct, and of none else; as none else can be truly and properly called Christians” (Declaration and Address, Hester pub., 23).  Campbell was opposed to division.  He wrote in proposition ten, “That division among the Christians is a horrid evil fraught with many evils.  It is antichristian, as it destroys the visible unity of the body of Christ; as if he were divided against himself, excluding and excommunicating a part of himself.  It is antiscriptural, as being strictly prohibited by his sovereign authority; a direct violation of his express command.  It is antinatural, as it excites Christians to contemn, to hate, and oppose one another, who are bound by the highest and most endearing obligations to love each other as brethren, even as Christ has loved them.  In a word, it is productive of confusion and of every evil work” (Declaration and Address, Hester pub., 26).  Finally, Campbell pleaded that to achieve unity, “nothing out to be inculcated upon Christians as articles of faith; nor required of them as terms of communion, but what is expressly taught and enjoined upon them in the word of God.  Nor ought anything to be admitted, as of Divine obligation, in their Church constitution and managements, but what is expressly enjoined by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles upon the New Testament Church; either in express terms or by approved precedent” (Proposition no. 3, Declaration and Address, Hester pub., 23, 24).  The New Testament is normative for God’s church.  Campbell called the New Testament “a perfect model…for the worship, discipline, and government of the Christian Church.” Campbell’s most famous quotation was made during the meeting when the Declaration and Address was adopted, “Let us  speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where it is silent.”
     This year is the 200th anniversary of the writing of the Declaration and Address.  It was adopted on September 7, 1809 by the Christian Association in Washington, PA.  This would be a good time to renew the important study of the subject of unity as taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles in the New Testament.

     Marriage–The Promise
     “The playwright Thornton Wilder said it well: I didn’t marry you because you were perfect.  I didn’t marry you even because I loved you.  I married you because you gave me a promise.  That promise made up for your faults.  And the promise I gave you made up for mine.  Two imperfect people got married and it was the promise that made the marriage.  And when our children were growing up, it wasn’t a house that protected them; and it wasn’t our love that protected them–it was that promise.”  (Ravi Zacharias, I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah, p. 45).  Many are afraid of commitment.  They believe that they can have a lasting relationship without it.  This is not true.  In marriage, we take a sacred vow and make a promise “to have and to hold” “until death do us part.”  We must keep that promise.  Jesus said, “Wherefore they are  no more twain, but one flesh.  What therefore God hath joined together, let  not man put asunder” (Matt. 19:6).  Keeping the “lock” in wedlock depends upon meeting the responsibility of a commitment to another person made in a sacred promise.
     Marriage–The Service of Love
     “If the first thing about committing the will is that it is a death to yourself, what comes to life is a disposition that seeks to serve.  The one who serves does so with kindness and gentleness.  This is something we almost never think of anymore, that we are called to the service of love.  We are so prone to lay claim to our rights that we bury the demand that calls us to serve.  Our love story shows us in a simple act the beauty of service that has at its heart a kind spirit.” (Zacharias, I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah, p. 49).
     Marriage–Lovingkindness
     The Hebrew word translated “lovingkindness” is hesed.  It is the covenantal term for God’s love.  Hesed is the unmerited and generous favor of God.  It is a love that is gentle and always reaching out to the object of that love.  Old Testament scholar Daniel Block describes hesed as “that quality that moves a person to act for the benefit of another without respect to the advantage that it might bring to the one who expresses it…(This) quality is expressed fundamentally in action rather than word or emotion” (Zacharias, I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah, p. 51).
     Marriage-Sense of Humor

     Love is like an onion–
     You taste it with delight,
     But when it’s gone you wonder
     Whatever made you bite.
     Love is a funny thing, just like a lizard,
     It curls up ’round your heart and then jumps into your gizzard.’
     Love is swell, it’s so enticing,
     It’s orange gel, it’s strawberry icing,
     It’s chocolate mousse, it’s roasted goose,
     It’s ham on rye, it’s banana pie.
     Love’s all good things without a question;
     In other words, it’s indigestion.
            (Zacharias, I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah, p. 10)

     It is a daunting task to be king!  Solomon followed his father David on the throne of Israel.  David was one of the greatest kings to ever occupy the throne of Israel.  Solomon must walk in David’s shadow. 
     In Gibeon, the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream and said, “Ask what I shall give thee” (I Kings 3:5).  In humility, Solomon requested wisdom to rule the people of Israel (I Kings 3:9).  God was pleased with this request and granted Solomon wisdom and understanding.
     An example of Solomon’s wisdom is found in I Kings 3:16-28.  Two harlots came before Solomon with a dramatic problem.  The women lived in the same house and shared the same sleeping quarters.  During one night, one of the women rolled over on her infant son and suffocated him and he died.  In her desperation, she switched her dead son for the living son of the other woman.  When the other woman awoke, she immediately realized what had happened.  Both women claimed the living child and so the matter was brought before Solomon to discern who was the real mother of the living child.
     Solomon called for a sword.  The presence of the sword creates fear and produces a threat.  Solomon commands that the living child be divided into two halves and that each woman be given a half.  This command meant certain death to the child.
     The true mother of the living child could not bear the thought of his life being taken.  She relinquishes her right to the child in order for him to live.
    The false mother had no real love for the living child and agreed that it should be divided among them. 
     Solomon immediately recognized who the true mother was and awarded the living child to its rightful mother.  All ended well.
     This story is not just about Solomon’s wisdom.  It is about a mother’s love.  A mother’s love is not easy to define.  It is deep, rich and in some ways a mystery.  Both of these mother’s loved their own children.  The mother who lost her child by her own negligence had to be overcome with a tremendous sense of loss.  Her loss leads to her desperation.  She takes another woman’s son, not beause she loved the child, but because she attempted to recover her own loss and fill the void of the pain caused by her own negligence.  That pain must have been great.  It reveals her love for her own son.  However, desperation is not love.  In the end she is bitter and void of love.  You cannot overcome the pain of real loss by being unloving.  You must love again.
     The true mother in this story possesses all the instincts and love of motherhood.  She knows her child and she loves him deeply.  Her love is illuminated by her willingness to sacrifice a lifetime of joys with her son in order to protect his life!  She was willing to make the supreme sacrifice of her own happiness, over a lifetime, with the child, in order to save his life.  She faced an overwhelming sense of loss but she was willing to feel such pain for the sake of the life of her child.  In this way, she preserved love for her son.  She could live with the sacrifice knowing that her son lived. 
     The two mothers can easily be contrasted.  The false mother endured an unwilling loss that led to desperation.  The true mother was willing  to endure a sacrifice that magnifed her love for her child. Such sacrifice would be rare, but, how else could you define a mother’s love?