Yesterday was August 31st, the 243rd day of the year. On August 31, 1881, during the Apache Uprising, Fort Apache, Arizona Territory- three soldiers were killed in an Apache attack near the fort. On August 30, 1881 General Carr took several troops and set out to arrest a medicine man named Nock-aye-de-Klinny, who was responsible for instigating the uprising through his prophecies that their dead were going to return when the white intruders were gone. On that trip some of Carr’s Indian scouts turned against the soldiers and killed some of the troops. Word came to Fort Apache sometime after midnight on August 31st that some of the soldiers were killed. Major Cochran, who was left in charge of the Fort, dispatched a few troops with warnings about the uprising. One troop was sent by pack mule to Black River to bring back the two troops stationed there to operate the ferry on the road to Camp Thomas. When these three troops were about eight miles out from Fort Apache they were ambushed by the Apaches and killed. The accounts of this event that I have read never mentioned the names of the troops ambushed and killed as they were returning to the Fort. They appear to have been soldiers who were doing a dangerous job for a cause in which they believed. They were among the great unknowns who were trying to make a difference for settlers in the Arizona Territory. There were many casualties of the Indian uprising, several of whom are unknown to us by name. There are many unknowns in the Bible. By the unknowns I mean the Lord’s silent servants who stand up for God’s cause and fight the good fight wherever they are try to make a difference in the world in which we live. Tola and Jair are men like this (Judges 10:1-5). They may not have led any great military campaigns. They might not have commanded great armies. They may not have left a legacy of great spiritual achievements. But, what they did accomplish deserves consideration. What they did still challenges us today. Tola and Jair were not military giants like Gideon, but they did an amazing work for the Lord. These men helped maintain peace for many years in a nation split apart by war, rebellion and pagan worship. That in itself is no small feat. When there were no attacks from the outside, they helped prevent the nation from being ripped apart from the inside. Theirs was a ministry of peace in a time of turmoil. These men also helped to preserve the heritage of their nation. They ministered to the faithful remnant in Israel in a time when that fading remnant needed consistent leadership. Tola and Jair did in their day exactly what we are supposed to be doing in our day. They acted like salt. Jesus said that His people are “the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13). Salt, as you know, purifies, adds flavor to bland foods, and helps preserve meat. In Bible times, salt was more valuable than money. The ancient Romans used to give a soldier his pay in salt rather than money. The word “salary” comes to us from the Roman word “salarium”, which speaks of a soldier being paid in salt. The phrase “not worth his salt” comes from this practice. When Jesus called His people “the salt of the earth,” He uses it as a metaphor that teaches about the influence His people in the world today. We are to have a preserving influence. Salt wards off rot and decay! It is rubbed into meat in an effort to preserve it. Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19) could have been saved by the preserving influence of just 10 righteous men. So it is in America today! I am convinced that the presence and the prayers of “salty” Christians has done more to preserve this nation than anything else we could name. It is the righteousness of God’s children that made America great and it is what preserves the religious freedoms that we still have today. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Pro. 14:34). We are to have penetrating influence. Salt will penetrate and infiltrate whatever it touches. It is an aggressive substance. The early church penetrated the world (Acts 8:1, 4; Acts 17:6). I believe that we have been called by the Lord to be an active force in the world around us. The church of Christ should be a militant army charging the very gates of Hell. We are to have a purifying influence. Salt has remarkable cleansing ability. Elisha cleansed the waters at Jericho with salt (2 Kings 2:19-22). In ancient times, newborn babies were washed in salt to cleanse their bodies and to give firmness to their skin (Ezek. 16:4.) Salt in a wound can cleanse the area. Often, Christians have a purifying effect on the world around them. They ought to behave differently when the child of God walks up. Don’t be offended if they stop talking when you come around. Just thank God that you are acting as a purifying force in the world around you. Every meat offering was to be made with salt (Lev. 2:13). So it is with our lives. We are to offer our lives as an offering to the Lord (Rom. 12:1-2). When we do, it proves that we are worth our salt! We are to have a pleasing influence that brings out our best. Salt blends and adds flavor to food. In fact, there are some foods that are better off not eaten, if there is no salt! So too, the Christian should flavor the world around him. As salt, we are to so live our lives that we bring out the best in those around us. That is what Jesus did time and again, and that what you and I are supposed to be doing for His glory! “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27). We are to have a poisoning influence. Salt kills some things! Have you ever poured salt on a slug? Slugs and salt do not mix! Salt poured on a lawn will kill the grass. Too much salt is not good for your blood pressure. Abimelech (Judges 9:45), took a city and the sowed the city with salt to prevent the ground from being used to grow crops. He killed the fields with salt. By the same token, when true Christianity is sowed into the lives, homes and communities of the world, some things will be put to death. We can make an impact on our world by the very fact that Christianity is pure poison to sin. When Jesus comes into a life, drinking, cussing, fighting, hating, killing, drugging, loose living, et al., are all put to death as we yield to Him in baptism and rise to walk in newness of life as new creatures (Rom. 6:3-4; 2 Cor. 5:17). We are to have a promoting influence. Salt creates a thirst for water in those who are exposed to it! As salt, the Christian has the wonderful opportunity to promote a thirst for Jesus in the world. When we take the call of Jesus seriously and live right, look right, act right, talk right, worship right, and dress right, we have the ability to create a thirst for Jesus in the hearts of those around us. When that happens, we can point men to Jesus and share with them the water of life. Sadly, there are some Christians who do not promote thirst, but ridicule instead. Too often they live substandard immoral lives and the world sees it and says, “Why should I follow Jesus? I live just as good as that crowd down at the church!” The sad truth is that sometimes they are right! Let’s so live that we ever prove them wrong. Our lives must be above reproach if we are to create a thirst for God in the world around us! We must never give anyone cause to say, “If that is a Christian, then I never want to be one.” Instead, our lives ought to motivate people to say, “That is what I want my life to be.” We are to have a proven influence. Salt changes nearly everything it touches. We are called to be thermostats and not thermometers in the world around us. We are to be the instruments that God can use to implement change in a wicked world. When genuine, New Testament Christianity touches this sinful, wicked world there will be change of some variety. We just need to be sure that we are changing the world and not the other way around! There is a modern mentality that says, “We have to be like the world to win the world.” We’ll win see more people saved when we are like Jesus! That is the doctrine of Jezebel and is discussed in Revelation 2. “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden” (Rev. 2:24). You cannot wallow in the “depths of Satan” and serve the Lord our God! Tola and Jair carried out a very important ministry in Israel. God used them to touch a nation. God used them to maintain peace. God used them for His glory, and that is the mark of a successful ministry! By the same token, if we can simply glorify God and hand down old-fashioned Biblical worship and service to the next generation, our lives and ministries have been successful. Let us pray that we will honor God throughout the days of our lives!
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 13:22:27 +0000
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