How Do They Make Paint?

It is now 8:50 AM, Friday morning.  Socorro has just taken over the task of driving-I started driving this morning at 5:30---on our way to Pennsylvania.  Typing on this laptop, swerving in between 18-wheelers and speed demons on I-85, is not the easiest thing to do. I have to hit the backspace key a lot to correct errors.  I got up at 4, but in order to pack the car, make breakfast, check my email (of course), g et dressed (not necessarily in that order) and make the 5:30 SP, I did not have time for any type of Bible study.  So, now is the time.

As I searched for some particular phrases this morning in my Excel Spreadsheet that contains the New Testament (NIV), I realized again how difficult it is to understand a lot of it.  We have been taught that the Bible was written such that kids at the 6th grade level could understand it.  I find that very hard to believe.  Maybe most words translated into the New International Version are understandable by twelve year-olds, but I sure doubt that the messages that come from those words are.  I still have difficulty with topics such as losing salvation, simply because of the seemingly contradictory passages found throughout the NT.  Also, the concept of the 'old law' being completely done away with, at times, does not make sense.  There are numerous stories that are difficult to understand.  I guess that is why it is so important to read things other than the Bible as well---in order to help understand what the Bible says.  Of course, it is important to know that everything you DO read about peoples' take on certain passages, is not necessarily correct.  So, that makes it doubly difficult to have good Bible studies by one's self. 

Recall the story about how Nicodemus was having difficulty with the concept of being born again?  Turn now to John, Chapter 3.  You there?  If so, read verses 1 through 21.  After you have finished reading, go back to verse 4.  Notice how confused Nick is.  To be BORN AGAIN?  Come on Jesus-how can that be?  A grown man just can't do what you are teaching.  THEN, when Jesus answered him and explained about being born again, not of flesh, but of water and the Spirit, Nick was even more confused.  "How can this be?", he said, when Jesus likened the wind to someone born of the Spirit.  I don't know about you, but to ME, that verse, 8, is still very confusing and doesn't really help me to understand the born-again concept.  Jesus told Nick that he is a teacher of Israel, and he doesn't even understand that 'simple' concept???? 

In Mark, chapter 10, verses 17 and 18, Jesus has a conversation with a man who calls Him a good teacher.  Even though He reprimanded the man for calling Him 'good', Jesus was a GREAT teacher.  Without Jesus speaking in riddling stories and then patiently explaining a lot of them, I STILL would not have a good understanding of a lot of the Bible.  It takes someone with a lot of knowledge, not a 6th grader, to understand the messages of the Bible and then turn around and teach them.  We are not fortunate enough to have Jesus sit with each of us as He did Nicodemus, so we have to rely on others to help teach us. 

Earlier this morning, we were going past an 18-wheeler advertising Sherwin-Williams Paints when Socorro turned to me and asked "How do they make paint?".  Well-I bet you know my answer.  'Uh, I have no idea."  That just wasn't on my curriculum in Science in either High School or College.  There are, of course, lots of people who know the correct answers to that question, I just don't happen to be one of them.  Oh sure, I could have made up something, like:  "well, first you start with pigment, usually obtained from some plant or mineral, and then you combine it with a certain type of oil, and then..."  And if I had said that, I would have been doing the same thing lots of people do when they 'teach' the Bible---they make things up, or give their opinions, or repeat what they have been taught----even though it may be 100% WRONG.  (Getting on I-77 now-harder even to type going around a sharp turn)---okay, I'm back.  As I was saying, people make up stuff as they teach the Bible.  It was obvious to us now, that Nicodemus had been teaching incorrectly-hopefully, after his lesson with Jesus, he returned to his subdivision and started a new series of lessons, this time centered upon the truth about Jesus, salvation, heaven and hell.

I don't want to say Jesus was fortunate, that is to have all that knowledge, but it sure did help Him teach these new concepts to the people of that day.  We don't have Jesus physically around today to help us understand Bible stories or even how paint is produced.  We do, however, have several sources, reliable sources, to whom (or what) we can turn.  As far as the paint dilemma is concerned, there are several printed references available to us, and even a lot simply on the internet.  You can find whatever you want to know, on the internet.  At least, you can be taught about any subject you desire by going to the billions of bits and bytes that make up the information highway.  However, you must be careful when you 'learn' from that source, making sure that it is correct.  The ease of that system has allowed people to not only place facts at the fingertip keystrokes of others, but also opinions, guesses and even falsehoods.  Don't get me wrong, the internet as a research library, is an excellent tool---but be aware of what is out there.  Nicodemus may have been surfing the web one day when he suddenly came across a website called "Messiah.com", clicked some buttons, and became intrigued with what was being taught.  So intrigued, however, that he decided he wanted to slip away from his computer one night and check out the actual source from which those teachings came..hence the conversation as recorded by the apostle John.

Other sources to enhance our research capability is the use of concordances, bible dictionaries, English dictionaries (especially for us who, even though we have lived in the US all our lives, see English as a second language!), expository books about portions, or all, of the Bible, language books that teach the Hebrew and Greek languages, side-by-side translations (or separate) of both the Old and New Testaments and even the Bible itself.  The list certainly seems endless, but most of us only use one document, the Bible (and even that, we don't use anywhere near enough).  Most of you probably know that I have taught lessons on How and Why to study the Bible.  In each of my lessons I refer to other reference materiel-I suggest buying them, or at least checking them out of a library.  I hope some of you have taken that advice.  If not, you are missing a lot.  You are relying on MEN (and women) to teach you about the most important subject of your life-salvation.  There are billions of people in the world.  There are millions of different teachings about salvation.  How do you KNOW what you are being taught by someone else is true?  This is important...you NEED to know.  Now, I am not professing what you have been taught by the leaders of your church is wrong.  But it COULD be.  Always remember that.  I don't want to die someday, go to some place we refer to as 'the golden gate' and come to find out that I should have yinged when I yanged.

Jesus seemed to laboriously continue his lesson with Nicodemus, teaching about Moses, belief, condemnation, salvation, light, darkness, evil and love.  Nick got, all from one source, a complete summary of what it takes to go to heaven.  I want each of you to go back and read those verses one more time after you finish this (hopefully you paused up above to read it the first time).  I want you to dig into what Jesus was teaching.  Check out the Greek words that were used for some of the more predominant words like I mentioned three sentences ago.  Find, even on the internet, interpretations of this story, and evaluate differences.  After all, from these verses comes the one verse that signifies to many that baptism and repentance are not necessary, only belief (v 16).  So, be wary as you read others' accounts of this story.  But I want you to do it, to better understand this significant teaching.

I don't know how they make paint, and except for not being able to answer my wife, I really don't care.  I DO however, want to make a POINT.  I care about my, and YOUR, salvation.  I want us all to KNOW all we can about this subject. One advantage we DO have over Nicodemus, even though he saw the original source, we have the written Word to study.  Nicodemus had only the OT.we have both that and the NT, which of course, better explains what Nick learned from the 'good teacher' that night.  You can go back to those Scriptures over and over again.  You can research from dictionaries and concordances and a myriad of other sources to help you understand.  I challenge each of you to relive that conversation that night between our Lord and Mr. Nicodemus and become confident of the true meaning of salvation.

To God goes ALL the glory.