Looking For the Road Signs

Although I have not been to Rome, I am told that all major roads in Italy will lead you there. The opposite is true if you are searching for salvation. At Matthew 7:14 Jesus says “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” - this from His sermon on the mount. I believe that doctrinal issues should meet this test and theological teaching should be subjected to this model for Bible study and understanding.

I fear that our society is rapidly moving toward general apostasy because of political correctness and liberalizing the text of the Bible through translations and teaching that is designed to reflect modern life and thereby produce a theology that is easy to sell to the “laity”. The “wide” road is taken not the “narrow” one. How can the “clergy”, preachers, and teachers do this to the very people they are supposed to lead to atonement?

Millions of people in our nation will go to a worship center next Sunday and recite the Apostle’s Creed, which offers 12 foundational beliefs for the broader “Christian” community (Catholic, Denominational, and non-Denominational). This creed professes a belief in/or that: (1) God as the creator; (2) Jesus the Son; (3) Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit thru the Virgin Mary; (4) was crucified, died, and buried; (5) rose from the dead on the 3rd day; (6) ascended to heaven; (7) will return to judge the world; (8) the Holy Spirit; (9) “catholic - universal” Church and communion of saints; (10) forgiveness of sin; (11) the resurrection; (12) life everlasting. I think most, if not all, believers agree with these tenets, but how do we secure numbers 10, 11, and 12? I believe here is where the road narrows.

So, how do we find the narrow way? First, let’s consider the Bible itself. Do you believe the Bible (and I am primarily talking about what we know as the New Testament) is inspired by the Holy Spirit and the infallible word of God? If you don’t, consider John 14:26 wherein Christ says the Holy Spirit will cause them (the apostles) to remember all that He had taught, and not just remember but would also teach them “all things”. That to me justifies or verifies the inspirational claim that the message contained therein is from God and, therefore, without flaw. So, for those who say that the books were written by men, yes, but with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I will rely on Christ’s words.

So then, if the best authority is the Bible, what must we do to find that road?

First, we are instructed at Matthew 16:16 that the bedrock of Christianity is the belief that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus, in this passage, says that it is on Peter’s statement - confession of faith - that He, Jesus, will build His church. Jesus is not going to build His church on Peter, or some royal lineage, but rather on the sure confidence that Jesus is the promised savior from God. We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God. Are you there - look here comes a sign that is directing us to that narrow road.

Second, we must consider baptism. If you believe in the Holy Spirit (Apostle’s Creed #8) and forgiveness of sin (#10), then one should find out what the Bible says about them and how you can get them. Matthew 28:19 states “therefore go and make disciples of all nations” -HOW - “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, pay attention - this is red-letter words! Mark 16:16 says “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved”, pay attention - more red letters! Now, why must we be baptized? Let’s start at the beginning of the Church. Take a look at Acts 2:38, wherein “Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. OK, we believe, we become followers (disciples), we are saved through baptism, because we are forgiven and therefore receive the Holy Spirit. Now we are on the narrow road.

But you may ask what form of baptism? Although there are several references within the text that would indicate submersion as the method, let’s look at the Greek term itself for a fail-safe understanding. In all three of the verses referenced above, the term used is Baptizo (No. 966 in the Lexical) - which is defined as dip, dye, immerse, plunge or submerge. I would think that it would be hard to reject such a clear definition and make any substitution for the method required by the scriptures. That, by definition, would exclude sprinkle, salute, place your hand on the TV, or anything else - just plunge me to victory.

I find it impossible to understand why the knowledgeable leaders in the religious community have led their members away from these clear, yet simple, requirements instituted by our Lord. The deceptive redefinition of the simple term, Baptizo, must cause our Lord great grief. Why, because He never intended there to be hundreds of different churches. You ask, how do you know? Not too difficult. Ephesians 4:4-6 calls for us to be of “one body” (church), “one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father” if we are to be connected to the Lords’ kingdom.

I pray that all herein is presented accurately, because it is a fearsome thing that James 3:1 tells us that “we who teach will be judged more strictly”.

It is of the highest importance where we will spend our eternity, so is it not of equal importance to know what the scriptures say we must do to spend it with our Lord? Shouldn’t we make sure we are on the narrow road? Read the book to avoid detours and dead ends.

Why Memorize the Bible?

Memorization has never come easy to me. It has always been one of those elusive skills that I felt I could not master. When I was a young boy, my mother always encouraged me to memorize various things. I was always astounded at her ability to recall some poem, list or story that she had memorized as a young girl. When I made the attempt to memorize some poem or Bible passage, it would escape my memory as soon as I was done with reciting it. Due to this inability to keep what I had learned, I stopped attempting to memorize anything. Yet I still found myself wanting to memorize the Bible because of the impression that’s been made by numerous people including my parents.

There have been numerous feats of memorization that impressed me when I heard about them. My own father surprised me when I learned at a very young age that he had memorized the entire KJV New Testament. Sometimes when listening to a sermon or Bible lesson, I can’t help but be amazed at the ability of the men teaching to recite passages without looking down at their Bible. I have heard accounts of men that memorized large passages of the Bible before they went overseas during World War II. They did this just in case they were captured and wouldn’t be allowed to have a Bible. I even heard of one preacher that had the entire gospel account of John memorized in Greek and preached sermons from the book without looking at it once. These are just a few of the instances that have guided me towards improving my Bible knowledge and have inspired me to memorize the scriptures.

It has become apparent to me as I’ve grown older that there is a lot of value to memorizing the Bible. It sharpens the mind and keeps it active. We are brought closer to God when His word is hidden in our hearts. We’re less likely to sin against God when we know His word intimately. (Psalm 119:11) It is easier to defend the hope that exists within us when the Lord’s word is a part of our life. (2 Timothy 4:2) It occupies our time with something of value that will last us to eternity. Finally, what better pursuit is there than learning God’s word in order to teach others about Jesus?

There are a number of principles, hints and tips I’ve learned and developed in my pursuit of memorizing God’s word. Listed below are the majority of the methods I use. As always, with any kind of process, there may be methods that work better for you than what’s listed here. Each person must decide for themselves what works best for them and put those methods to practice in their lives. My hope is that you will come away from this lesson with some new ideas for improving your attempts to write the word of God upon the tablet of your heart. (Proverbs 3:3)

 

Personal Work outline

The Bible is Inspired

II Timothy 3:16-f; Galatians 1:11-12; II Peter 1:21; I Thessalonians 2:13, 4:8; I Corinthians 2:13; John 10:35

 

The Bible is All-Sufficient

II Timothy 3:16-17; Galatians 1:8-9; I Corinthians 4:6;  II John 9; Revelation 22:18-19

“Chain” of authority

“All Authority” – Matthew 28:18 (Colossians 2:3; 9-10)

“All Truth” – John 16:13

“All things that pertain to life and godliness” – II Peter 1:3

“Faith…once for ALL delivered…” – Jude 3

 

The Covenants

Romans 7:1-7; Colossians 2:14-17; Hebrews 8:7-13; Galatians 3:15-29 (especially 3:24-f); Ephesians 2:14-16

 

The Sin Problem

Definition of sin – I John 3:4, 5:17; James 4:17

Universality of sin – Romans 3:9-23

Consequences of sin – Romans 6:23; Isaiah 59:1-2; Ephesians 2:1-3 (I Timothy 5:6); II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Matthew 25:41-46

 

Christ – the Answer to the Sin Problem

Christ – the only answer – John 14:6, 3:16; Galatians 4:4; Romans 8:24

His Nature

Godhood – John 1:1-3, 14, 10:30, 20:28; Matthew 1:23; Hebrews 1:8; Colossians 2:9; Titus 2:11-14

Manhood (humanity) – Hebrews 2:9-18, 4:15-f

His Redemptive work – I Corinthians 15:3; Romans 4:25

His death – Ephesians 1:7; Romans 5:9, 10; Revelations 1:5

He died for all – Hebrews 2:9

But, all will not be saved – Matthew 7:13-14

Therefore, there is something man must do to accept God’s grace – to contact the cross and its saving power.

 

Terms of Pardon

The Terms of pardon in the great commission

Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-47

Examples of the condition (terms) of pardon in action

Acts 2

Acts 8:26-39

Acts 9, 22

Acts 10

Acts 16

Acts 18:8

The One Baptism (Ephesians 4:5)

Action: Colossians 2:12; Romans 6:3-4; John 3:23; Acts 8:35-39

Purpose: Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2;12-13; I Peter 3:21; Romans 6:3

 

 

 

The Word of God

 

 

Tulip - Part 4

Psalm 46:10a (NIV)

10a Be still, and know that I am God;

Silencio!  Si, that is Spanish for silence.  When both of my kids were about 2 years old, they each had the talent for manipulating the remote control in just the perfect way to mute the TV and change the display text to Spanish.  I can’t remember how many times I would turn on the TV to see Silencio.

The writer of the Psalm above tells us to be still, to be silent, and to know God.  Today I would like to ask that you try the same for a few minutes.  Undoubtedly, if you are like most in today’s world, you have a hectic schedule and are inundated with fears and news of the economy, the election, your future, and on and on.  I don’t have a remote control to mute all of that for you, but maybe today’s lesson will help you be still.  Silencio!

This is the fourth part of a five-week series titled “TULIP”.  Each lesson can probably stand on its own but reading them in order, i.e. Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3, is advised before reading today’s lesson.  I want to thank you for taking the time to find this site and to read these lessons.  I pray that these will bring you closer to God’s Word and draw you nearer to Him.

If you recall from the first three lessons, you should know that the topics for this series are based on replacing John Calvin’s TULIP acronym with my own “TULIP” which is acting as my outline and a way of tying together five core principles that I think each of us should understand as modern day Christians.  My choice to use TULIP has no direct connection to Calvinism other than I chose to use a familiar acronym in the broader theological circles and replace it with five principles that I think are clearly taught in the Bible.

So far we have completed “T”, “U” and “L”, and, if you recall, “T” stands for Truth, “U” stands for Unity and “L” stands for Love.  Today’s letter is “I”.

If you are familiar with the churches of Christ or have read the first paragraph of the About LCOC link on this site, then you know that a foundational principle we hold is “let us speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent”.  I have no intention of breaking that principle in this lesson, but one thing I do intend to illustrate is how God sometimes uses silence to speak volumes.  So let’s get started with “I”.

Silence is often used in the Bible before or after big events.  After the Transfiguration in Mark 9:9, Jesus tells Peter, James and John to keep silent and not to tell anyone of the event until they had seen the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  Before the 7^th seal is opened in Revelation 8:1, there is silence in heaven for about half an hour.  In Joshua 6, you may recall the use of silence that Joshua commanded in the fall of Jericho until he gave the order to shout.  Another example is the approximate 400-year period between the Old and New Testaments, which is often referred to as the Silent Years.  This 400-year silence precedes another big event.  I’m not merely talking about the birth of Jesus Christ, but His condescension as a man - a human being just like you and me.  Today’s lesson for “I” is on His Incarnation.

Philippians 2:6-8 (NIV)

6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!

First, I have a quick confession to make.  Last week, I had the introduction mostly done and had a pretty good start on what I thought I wanted to write about for the remainder of this lesson, but the magnitude of this topic caused me to pause.  I fell into the depth and width of this topic and had to take the advice given above to be still.  So, I apologize for the delay in getting this lesson posted if any of you have been waiting patiently for it.  I’ve tried my best to put together the Words of God to tell this story.  I’m sure I will have left things out, either intentionally for time’s sake or unintentionally since I am imperfect.  Suffice it to say, I doubt that any of us fully understand all of the ramifications of His Incarnation, but I humbly pray that this will give you additional insight to draw you nearer to Him and His Truth.

In the Old Testament book of Daniel, you may recall the dream that the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had of the statue with the gold head, silver chest and arms, bronze belly and thighs, iron legs, and feet of iron and clay (Daniel 2).  Daniel, through God’s power, was able to describe the dream to the king and to tell him what the dream meant.  Each metal represented a different kingdom.  The gold head was the Babylonian kingdom in which they lived.  Today, with 20/20 hindsight, we may not realize the significance of this revelation of the other kingdoms.  If you know your history, then it is obvious that what Daniel told the king did in fact take place.  The Medes and Persians defeated the Babylonians, the Greeks defeated the Persians, and the Romans defeated the Greeks.

So what?  Well, guess what happened in the 400 so-called “Silent Years”?  The Greek kingdom split into four just as the angel Gabriel described to Daniel in Daniel chapter 8.  One of those four kingdoms, the Ptolemy’s, ruled in the area including Egypt.  Because of the Greek influence for learning, they built a great library at Alexandria for housing the vast number of scrolls that they would amass.  Around 270 B.C., they had a large group of Jews, traditionally 72 in number, come and translate the Jewish writings into Greek to house there in Alexandria.  This translation became known as the Septuagint - Greek for 70, presumably after the rounded down number of 72 translators.  So, again, what’s the big deal?  By taking the Jewish writings, including Daniel and other prophets, God’s providence preserves the Hebrew text at a time almost three centuries before the birth of Jesus.  And, almost three centuries before the Romans will conquer the last of the four Greek kingdoms.  Cleopatra VII, the last of the Ptolemaic rulers, committed suicide as the Romans conquered Egypt around 30 B.C.  It is often speculated that God waited until this time to send His Son because the Greek and Roman influence had provided a common language for the masses, well built roads for travel and commerce and the Pax Romana (”Roman peace”) that gave a relative peace during the first two centuries so that Christianity could be more easily spread.  I suggest another reason He waited and why we have the 400 or so silent years is that it allowed the prophets to be quiet and the Hebrew text to be translated for more people to read and, more importantly, it gave those writings and prophecies an air of authenticity that would not have existed if the text had solely remained in Hebrew.  Sure, there is neither just one copy of the Hebrew text nor just one copy of the Greek Septuagint.  Many claim that this is a reason for skepticism.  I would suggest just the opposite.  Once the original has been split, in this case the Hebrew from the Greek, it becomes almost impossible to make any alterations to both sets and especially if there are multiple copies of each.  So, even if there are minor differences between copies, the amazing fact remains that this prophecy is fulfilled just as it was recorded more than two centuries before it happened.  If you know your Old Testament, there are many other prophecies that fall into the same boat.  We don’t have time to delve into each of them, but it should give you confidence that what you read in the Old Testament is inspired from God or how else could you explain the fulfillment of the prophecy in Daniel?  Pure luck or some kind of highly coordinated hoax?  Many choose to be skeptical and doubt that any of these prophecies are genuine despite what was just presented.

One such doubter was King Ahaz.  We read about him in 2 Chronicles 28 and Isaiah 7.  He was King of Judah and God sent His prophet Isaiah to tell him that if the king did not stand firm in his faith to God, then he will not stand at all (Isaiah 7:9).  Then the following verses read:

Isaiah 7:10-14 (NIV)

10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz,
11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

It might sound noble that Ahaz didn’t want to test the Lord and ask for a sign.  However, it’s clear from his behavior and from Isaiah’s response that Ahaz didn’t want to ask God because he didn’t have faith in God.  You can read in 2 Chronicles 28 that he did everything from sacrificing his sons in the fire to offering sacrifices to the gods of other countries.  So the sign that we are so familiar with came about because of the lack of faith of this wicked king.  Again, many today may choose to be skeptical and doubt, claiming that the word for virgin could simply be translated young maiden from the Hebrew.  That’s true, but what kind of sign would that be?  Wouldn’t that be the most common occurrence for a child to be born?  Just like King Ahaz, today’s skeptics will not put the Lord to the test and believe the signs He has given because they simply do not want to believe.

Galations 4:4-5 (KJV)

4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

“But when the fulness of the time was come”, why the wait one might ask?  If you’re like me, then you’re probably thinking, “Who are we to question God?”  As we read in Galations above, God has His own timetable.  Indeed, God had a plan of salvation from the very beginning.

Genesis 3:14-15 (KJV)

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The words in verse 15 spoken by God in the Garden of Eden to the serpent are sometimes referred to as the Protoevangelion, which is the Greek word that translates to “first gospel”.  Here, after Adam and Eve have disobeyed God, we hear what God has planned for mankind and the serpent - i.e. the devil (Revelation 20:2).  It is a curse of enmity between the two and it may not sound like “good news” at all.  However, the woman’s seed mentioned here is the first allusion to the birth of Christ and that is the basis for the good news - the gospel.

1 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)

16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

John 1:14 (NIV)

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

These are just a couple of verses that tell us that Jesus came to this earth in the flesh, i.e. in a physical body.  Why is that so important?

1 John 4:2-3 (NIV)

2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

2 John 1:7 (NIV)

7 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

No, the antichrist isn’t mentioned in the book of Revelation as so many might think.  John tells us in these verses that the antichrist is anyone who doesn’t believe that Jesus came in the flesh.  So it’s a big deal to John, but again, why is that so important to us?  Let’s look at Hebrews chapter 2 - feel free to read chapter 1 first on your own if you can.  I can’t help but list all of chapter 2 since I cannot decide which verses to leave out.  Please bare with me and read the following from the writer of Hebrews, presumably Paul.

Hebrews 2:1-18 (NIV)

1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment,
3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.
6 But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
7 You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor
8 and put everything under his feet.” In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.
11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”
13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil-
15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.
17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

In verse 14, you can read that Jesus had to come in the flesh because we are flesh and blood.  He had to be like us in order to be able to make the atonement for our sins.  By living a sin free life, a life of perfect obedience to God His Father, Jesus is able to assume our guilt of sin and suffer the penalty of death for us in our place.  Therefore, through our faith in Him, we are justified in God’s sight by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:22-23 (NIV)

22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-
23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Additionally, in the last two verses of Hebrews 2, we are told that because he suffered and was tempted, he is able to help us in our times of trial as well.  He is a merciful and faithful high priest.

Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV)

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV)

5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

In Exodus 20:8-11, God gave the Israelites the fourth commandment.  It’s the only one of the ten that starts out with “Remember”.  The commandment is to remember the Sabbath and to rest.  It was God’s way of giving man a reminder that He had created the cosmos in six days and the seventh day was a day of rest.  In Matthew 26, Mark 14 and Luke 22, Jesus instructs his disciples to eat of the bread and drink of the cup to remember his body and his blood.  We also do this weekly as a reminder that Jesus did come to this earth in the flesh and gave himself for us so that we could be reconciled to God.  He too will give us rest.

Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

In John Calvin’s TULIP, I stands for Irresistible Grace.  I’m no expert on Calvinism, but my understanding is that Calvinists believe when God calls his elect to salvation, that they cannot resist and therefore, it is irresistible.  Today’s lesson has already gone longer than I would prefer, so I’ll just quickly say that just like King Ahaz and other skeptics and unbelievers, it comes down to a choice.  You can resist God’s call if you so choose.  Based on what you’ve read today and what you already know, I hope you can fully trust and have total confidence in all of God’s prophecies and promises and choose faith in Jesus Christ.

Song #726 - “We Saw Thee Not”

We saw Thee not when Thou didst come To this poor world of sin and death;
Nor yet be-held Thy cot-tage home, In that de-spis-ed Naz-a-reth;
But we be-lieve Thy foot-steps trod Its streets and plains, Thou Son of God:
But we be-lieve Thy foot-steps trod Its streets and plains, Thou Son of God.

We saw Thee not when lift-ed high, A-mid that wild and sav-age crew;
Nor heard we that im-plor-ing cry, “For-give, they know what they do!”
But we be-lieve the deed was done, That shook the earth and veiled the sun;
But we be-lieve the deed was done, That shook the earth and veiled the sun.

We gazed not in the o-pen tomb, Where once Thy mang-led bod-y lay;
Nor saw Thee in that “up-per room,” Nor met Thee on the o-pen way;
But we be-lieve that an-gels said, “Why seek the liv-ing with the dead?”
But we be-lieve that an-gels said, “Why seek the liv-ing with the dead?”

We walked not with the cho-sen few, Who saw Thee from the earth as-cend;
Who raised to heav’n their wond’ring view, Then low to earth all pros-trate bend;
But we be-lieve that hu-man eyes Be-held that jour-ney to the skies;
But we be-lieve that hu-man eyes Be-held that jour-ney to the skies.

I hope you’ll come back next week for our final lesson in this series.  And I’ll end today’s lesson with this verse from Romans.

Romans 16:20 (KJV)

20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.

 

 

Tulip - Part 3

This is the third part of a five-week series titled “TULIP”.  Each lesson can probably stand on its own but reading them in order, i.e. Part 1 & Part 2, is advised before reading today’s lesson.  I want to thank you for taking the time to find this site and to read these lessons.  I pray that these will bring you closer to God’s Word and draw you nearer to Him. 

If you recall from the first two lessons, you should know that the topics for this series are based on replacing John Calvin’s TULIP acronym with my own “TULIP” which is acting as my outline and a way of tying together five core principles that I think each of us should understand as modern day Christians.  My choice to use TULIP has no direct connection to Calvinism other than I chose to use a familiar acronym in the broader theological circles and replace it with five principles that I think are clearly taught in the Bible.

So far we have completed “T” and “U” and, if you recall, “T” stands for Truth and “U” stands for Unity.  Today’s letter is “L”, the middle letter of the acronym TULIP.  Being at the center, or heart, makes it seem fitting that today’s lesson is on Love (did you guess it from last week’s closing hymn?).  There’s so much to discuss on Love that we’ll barely touch the tip of the iceberg in today’s lesson. 

Last week, in Part 2, we looked at some words from Jesus’ prayer as recorded in John 17.  Today, we will look again at some of Jesus’ last words before his death.  Jesus says the following to the eleven after Judas Iscariot leaves the Upper Room as recorded in the gospel of John: 

John 13:34-35 (NIV - all scriptures below are NIV unless noted)

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

A new command?  Did the disciples hear correctly?  They had heard on several occasions Jesus command what we often refer to as the Golden Rule: 

Matthew 7:12

12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. 

Luke 6:31

31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.
33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?  Even ‘sinners’ do that.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you?  Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.
35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.  Then your rewards will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 

This time however, Jesus goes farther and tells them not only to love one another, but also to love one another just as He had loved them.  Returning back to John 13, Peter responds by asking a question to Jesus’ prior statement that “Where I am going, you cannot come” in verse 33: 

John 13:36-38

36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”  Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?  I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me?  I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! 

You likely know how this story unfolds.  Peter is bold in his assertion that he will lay down his life for Jesus.  However, it is only hours until Peter will be questioned: 

John 18:17

17 “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter.  He replied, “I am not.” 

Two more times, it is recorded that Peter denied that he was Jesus’ disciple.  What a turnaround from making the bold assertion of being willing to die for Jesus and then being unable to answer yes to a simple question.  Thank God Almighty that we have someone that we can count on! 

John 3:16 (KJV)

16 “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. 

His love for us is unconditional: 

Romans 5:8

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

How much does He love us?  His love for us is immeasurable: 

Ephesians 3:17b-21

17b …And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen. 

By this kind of love, all men will know that you are His disciple! 

Song #873 in our hymnals should be a familiar youth group or camp round song to many of you.  Here’s the first verse only: 

Love, love, love, love,
the gospel in a word is love,
Love thy neighbor as they brother,
love, love, love. 

What better way to spread the gospel than to show Jesus’ love through our actions?  In a recent Sunday morning service, the sermon included a reference to an unnamed preacher who went to a nearby restaurant.  If I can recall the story accurately, once the restaurateur found out which church this preacher attended, he told the preacher something to the effect that the members of his church who dined at his restaurant were some of the most miserable and unhappy people he had ever met.  How sad!  So, before we end today, I want to give you a little test.  How do you show your love for others when you are in a situation where others are serving you as at a restaurant?  Are you pleasant and try to let men know you are a disciple by your love?  Or is this something you are working on? 

A couple of years ago, USA Today ran an article on how some CEOs judged potential employees.  One CEO, Raytheon’s Bill Swanson, listed several “unwritten” rules that he followed.  Of the 33 he listed, the rule that he said never fails is this:  A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person.  Just wanted to show you that even the world can see this behavior for what it is, so shouldn’t we be keenly aware of how we are seen since we are representing our Lord? 

“L” is for Love.  Next week we’ll tackle “I”. 

Before we end, for those of you who may be curious, the “L” in Calvinism’s TULIP stands for Limited Atonement.  In essence, this belief is that Jesus died only for the elect - the predestined.  That belief is foreign to the churches of Christ.  We believe that Jesus died for all.  It is true that we do not believe in universalism, which believes everyone is saved.  But, as we’ve already read above, God loved the entire world (John 3:16).  He also wants all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and does not will that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). 

Therefore, we believe that the New Testament gives you the opportunity to choose for yourself to follow Christ and to be His disciple.  So what must you do?

One must hear the gospel (Romans 10:17), believe (Hebrews 11:6), repent of past sins (Acts 17:30), confess Jesus as Lord (Matthew 10:32) and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). 

If you are interested in contacting our church for further information, please click here for contact details.

 

Tulip - Part 2

It was totally coincidental, as far as I know, that the invitation song in Sunday morning’s service yesterday was the same song upon which we ended last week’s lesson (#745: “Where Could I Go?”).  My intention for the ending the lesson with that song was simply to relate it to last week’s lesson and give you something to sing during the week as songs sometimes get “stuck in your head”.  But if it did play a role as an “invitation song” to bring you back this week, then it worked better than I had intended.  In any event, I want to thank you for whatever reason you decided to drop by today and I pray that we can all benefit from God’s Word this week.

This is the second part of a five-week series loosely titled “TULIP”.  Today’s lesson can stand on its own but reading last week’s first lesson to get some introductory insight is advised before reading today’s lesson.

As you read in the first lesson, you know that the topics for this series are based on replacing John Calvin’s TULIP acronym with my own “TULIP” which will act as my outline and a way of tying together five core principles that I think each of us should understand as modern day Christians.  My choice to use TULIP has no direct connection to Calvinism other than I chose to use a familiar acronym in the broader theological circles and replace it with five principles I think are clearly found in the Bible. Also, as a contrast, I will give a quick overview of what the letter stands for in Calvin’s TULIP. We covered both letters T & U in the first lesson, so this won’t be done in today’s lesson.

We started with “T” last week and, if you recall, “T” stands for Truth.  Today, we continue with the letter “U”.

There were several topics that we could have looked at that begin with “T”.  There are not as many topics to choose from this week with “U”.  One thought that crossed my mind while putting together last week’s lesson on Truth is Romans chapter 1.  In verses 18 through 20, Paul proclaims that God has made the truth plain to everyone through His invisible qualities in the creation of the world.  In the Greek, the word translated world is “kosmos” or what we are more familiar in English as “cosmos”.  The whole cosmos, or Universe, makes God’s eternal power and divine nature clearly seen and thus man has NO EXCUSE as we read from Romans (all scripture listed in today’s lesson is taken from the New International Version):

Romans 1:18-20

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

No, today’s lesson isn’t on the Universe.  But it is something I want to tie to last week’s lesson before we proceed.  In the book of Revelation (not Revelations) of Jesus Christ, we read several times that God is the Alpha and the Omega - the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

Revelation 1:1 and 8

1a The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants…

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, ” who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

 God states that He is the first (or beginning) and the last.  So, just as Paul writes in Romans that in the beginning, through the universe, or cosmos, we should see the invisible qualities of God, I want to point out a similar argument that through death, the last thing we see in our universe, God also displays His invisible qualities.  Death would seem to be the end.  However, if we can see God in the creation of the universe, then we must also see Him as the only hope we have after our physical death.  Death is punishment for sin (Genesis 3:19), but God can use it to show Himself to us just as He did through the creation of the universe and to give us a basis to seek Him - our search for eternal life.  Anyway, that’s just a few thoughts.

Last week, I mentioned that Pilate asked Jesus “What is truth?” and that it may be the question of the ages.  Well, just as large, if not a larger question, is the question “Why?”.  Why is there death?  Why do we suffer?  Hopefully, the last paragraph gives you a glimpse at what God may have in mind although it may not answer it entirely.  When it comes to these questions, I would like us to look at John’s account of Jesus’ prayer just hours before he was arrested.  We’ll look at John chapter 17 if you want to read it in its entirety.  Here are the specific few verses from chapter 17 that we’ll discuss.

John 17:11, 20-23

11b Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name - the name you gave me - so that they may be one as we are one.

20 My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be as we are one:

23 I in them and you in me.  May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

 Thanks to John, the only gospel that records this prayer, we can hear some of Jesus’ final words.  In Jesus’ final hours, he is taking the time to pray about unity.  Surely then, we should consider this of utmost importance.  At such a critical time, it is hard to imagine that Jesus would be praying about anything other than God helping him through the next few days.  Therefore, on with today’s lesson - U stands for Unity.

You may be surprised that in the King James Version, the word unity, as translated into English, only appears three times (at least based on my research tools):  twice in Ephesians 4 and once in Psalm 133.  The NIV translation of ‘complete unity’ in verse 23 above is included in these words ‘that they may be made perfect in one’ in the KJV.  The Greek word used is the word typically translated as perfect.  So the NIV shows the essence of what is meant in the literal translation of the KJV, i.e. “made perfect in one” equates to “complete unity”.

That being the case, that the word unity is hard to find in scripture, unity is thus somewhat hard to define.  So today we will look at a few examples of unity that God provides to us in His Word to help us see what God has in mind for us when it comes to unity.

The Father and Son

Jesus prayed in verse 11 above that the Son and the Father are one.  Their relationship is the most obvious example and it is the ultimate example of unity that we have in which to pattern our lives.  Even as Jesus was praying for unity, he also prayed the following:

Mark 14:36

36 “Abba, Father,” he said, ” everything is possible for you.  Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

 Jesus knew what kind of death he was about to undergo.  Yet, even though he asked God to lift this cup from him, he was totally devoted to doing God’s will.  Likewise, we should have the same devotion to God and His will.

The Creation

Another example of unity is the creation.  Paul states in Romans 1, as we discussed above, the creation is evidence of God’s eternal power and divine nature.  I propose that it is also evidence of His unity - unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  A discussion of the Trinity is beyond the scope of this lesson, but we will look at a few verses to show that Jesus was totally involved in the Creation (see verse 3 below for the emphatic statement to that effect).

John 1:1-3, 14a

1 In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that had been made.

 14a The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

 Where is the unity in this example?  First off, if you have ever worked on a big project, you know how difficult it is to get anything done and work as originally planned especially when more than one person is involved.  Plans change.  Things don’t fit into other projects as originally anticipated.  The list goes on and on.  Take corporate income tax software as an example.  These are two very complex systems: consolidated corporate income tax returns and computers (both software and hardware).  Combining these together to create one final product is a huge task requiring numerous programmers and accountants to design and build the system.  Even during and after it is built, its continuance is always a moving target since laws change, the underlying software and hardware change over time.  So to compare that relatively complex system to the entire cosmos with all of its integration from the smallest of things (subatomic particles, etc.) to the farthest galaxies should give us the sense that its creation is done with total unity.  I like to ask this question, “When was the last time the cosmos had to be rebooted?”

Marriage

In the beginning, God also established the relationship of marriage.

Genesis 2:23-24

23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

 God designed this relationship to be one of unity.  It is an example that we all can see, whether married or unmarried, and many can actually live out.  Not that any of us can ever achieve a perfect unity with a spouse, but it does give us the opportunity and allows us to grow and mature.  Jesus tells the Pharisees that it is designed for unity in the following verses in Matthew.

Matthew 19:4-6

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?

6 So they are no longer two, but one.   Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” 

The Body of Christ

As mentioned above, the only occurrence of the word ‘unity’ in the King James Version is twice in Ephesians 4 (the other occurrence is in Psalms and we’ll end with it below).  Let’s take a look at these two occurrences in Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:3-6 and 13-16

3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

4 There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called-

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

For your homework, read the full chapter of Ephesians 4 to see how this chapter describes unity.  Did you read I Corinthians 15 last week?  Just checking…

My prayer is that today’s thoughts have been beneficial to every one of you and that we all can strive for unity as God has shown us in the examples we have examined today.  I hope that this helps you in your study and prayer life.  Please continue to pray for me as we have 3 more lessons to go.

See you next week when we will tackle the next letter - “L”.

Just as we ended last week and I think I’ll probably try to incorporate at the end of each of the remaining TULIP lessons is to leave you with a hymn.  Since music seems to have a way of helping us remember things, I want to leave you with the five verses from the following great gospel hymn.  In our songbooks, it is #250 titled “”How Sweet, How Heavenly”.  Read, or sing to yourself, the following verses and see if this resonates with today’s thoughts (Hint: You won’t find the word Unity but should find the sense of unity throughout the song.  Also, you can’t help but sing this song and find the topic for next week’s lesson too.):

How sweet, how heav’n-ly, is the sight, When those that love the Lord
In one another’s peace delight, And so fulfill the word. 

When each can feel his brother’s sigh, And with him bear apart;
When sorrow flows from eye to eye, And joy from heart to heart. 

When, free from envy, scorn, and pride, Our wishes all above,
Each can his brother’s failings hide, And show a brother’s love.

When love in one delightful stream Thro’ ev’ry bosom flows;
When union sweet and dearest esteem In ev’ry action glows.

Love is the golden chain that binds The happy souls above;
And he’s an heir of heav’n who finds His bosom glow with love.

Who knows if this will be one of the songs in this coming Sunday morning’s service?  There’s only one way to find out.  If you live near or around Lewisville and would like to attend our Sunday morning services, please feel free to join us this Sunday at 9:00 am for Bible class and 10:00 am for the morning service.  Click here for directions.  I hope to see you there whether you are a current member or just a visitor to this site.  May God bless you!

Psalm 133:1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

 

Tulip - Part 1

Thanks for dropping by our blog today! 

We have all likely read numerous blogs in the last year or so, as they’ve grown almost as ubiquitous as cell phones and email.  Blogs often seem so easy to write as we read them and, like me, maybe you’ve always thought you’d like to be on the other end (writing a blog entry that is).  Well, now as I attempt at my first blog on our EBS web site, I find it isn’t as easy as it looks (as are most things in this world).  So I hope that you can sit back and read this month’s series, which I will describe shortly, and I pray that it will encourage you and edify your faith and knowledge of our great God and His Son!

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This “month’s series” was original slated for the five Mondays in September.  It is now being posted today, the last Monday in September, and the four Monday’s in October.  Just a quick clarification since there are some references to the month of September below.

Deciding on a topic has always been difficult for me ever since high school English class.  So, of course, even though I had a couple of months to prepare, just two weeks ago I was still deliberating (or procrastinating) on what exactly I would write about for the month of September.  Fortunately, while getting ready for Sunday morning services that particular week, I was watching a TV show and the host mentioned the TULIP acronym.  For those of you who haven’t had theological schooling or read much about denominations may likely have never heard of TULIP.  In a nutshell, TULIP is an acronym for the five main principles of John Calvin (Calvinism).  You may, and probably should, wonder why that would be worth noting.  Well, when you’re desparate for getting a series together you can grasp at about anything waiting for the proverbial light bulb to glow above your head.  Having several ideas on what to write, but lacking organization on how to lay that out, somehow I decided that “borrowing” the TULIP acronym might be a good idea (you might see it as a tulip bulb glowing above my head) - to replace the Calvin TULIP with five topics that I think are relevant to represent God’s revelation to us.  So, in this series, I have decided to use the TULIP acronym to base each Monday’s lesson over the five weeks of September.  It isn’t intended to be an outright replacement for Calvin’s beliefs.  It will be my outline and a way of tying together five core principles that I think each of us should understand as modern day Christians.

Today, we start with “T”.

First of all, let me briefly write a few words to describe the first letter of the Calvinists’ TULIP acronym as it represents John Calvin’s beliefs.  To Calvinists, the T stands for Totally depraved.  This goes beyond what we, members of the church of Christ, believe based on the Bible.  We do believe that we are depraved in the sense that we are sinful and that we are completely guilty before God without a means to provide for our own salvation.  However, Calvinists, as I understand it, go further and believe that man is Totally depraved which means that we are also incapable of even responding to God’s call to salvation in Jesus Christ.  In essence, we have no free will and no ability to choose to accept the free gift of God - His Son.  For now, I’m going to leave the Calvinists’ belief and we will return to this later in today’s lesson.

Before we proceed, I want to remind each of you that I fully acknowledge that I am not inerrant or infallible.  As with anything you read or hear, whether from the Internet or your most trusted Sunday morning speaker, it is your individual responsibility to search the Scriptures to determine if what you read or hear is true.  So I encourage you to be like the Bereans, whom Luke records “were of more noble character than the Thessalonians” because they “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11; NIV).  So, if it was noble for the Bereans to confirm what the apostle Paul said, how much more nobler is it for you to examine what you read here?

Sorry for the extended introduction this first week.  Now on to our first lesson — T is for Truth.

There are many aspects of truth in which we could focus on in this lesson.  My goal is to try to keep it simple, yet try to get to the heart of the subject.

What is truth?  You may recall these words from the mouth of Pilate as Jesus stood trial before him (John 18:38).  It may be the question of the ages.  It is doubtful that you can get any two people who agree on everything as it relates to the truth.  Some believe in an absolute truth.  Others believe in a truth that is relative and subjective and is uniquely the truth for each individual.  I hope we can all agree that when it comes to truth, in the long run, it doesn’t really matter what we “think” about the truth.  Truth, by its very nature, will triumph over any beliefs that we may have unless what we believe is the truth.  Therefore, it should be your goal to know truth.  A wise rabbi once said, “and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32b).  Of course, that wise teacher was our Lord Jesus Christ.  So, is there a truth that we can all agree on?

On a whim, I decided to Google “truth”.  The first link it produced was to thetruth.com.  It turns out to be a web site trying to spread the truth about tobacco and other killers.  They claim that “Big Tobacco” kills over 1,200 people a day.  It reminded me of a Senate hearing where then Attorney General Joycelyn Elders was being questioned on the spread of AIDS and she said something to the effect that “Senator, we’re going to lose our entire society.  You know, most of the people that die with heart disease and cancer are our elderly population, you know, and we all will probably die with something sooner or later.”  It seems that we are inundated with claims that this or that is going to kill us, from tobacco, to AIDS to global warming.  As simple and elementary as it sounds, they are right.  We are.  Just as the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution outlines truths that our Founding Fathers held to be self-evident, I propose to you that the fact that we are all going to die is self-evident as well.  It might be the closest thing we have to a truth that we all can agree on.  Sure, the disagreements come as to what happens after death, but I want to focus on the truth that we are going to die.  Many focus on certain things that might kill us and try to reduce or eliminate that as a cause of death.  However, those who do focus on those things often fail to see the big picture.  The truth about death should cause us to consider the following:  there is either life after death or there is not.

One only has to open to the third chapter of Genesis to see how the serpent tried to, and successfully did, deceive Eve and Adam.  He said, “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4).  By keeping Adam and Eve from focusing on the truth, you know the rest of the story.  Their actions led to the consequences we see still see in death today.  Even if you do not believe this story, you still have the reality of death staring you in the face.

Sometimes we gloss over the fact of death and look past it to the after life.  I’m not trying to sound morbid or make myself appear to be some deep thinker.  I’m just attempting to put this truth into its simplest implication for those of us who believe and for those of you who may not.  You don’t need to rely on me for the answer to this.  Let’s read what Paul has to say in I Cor 15: 32b, “If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”  Paul logically concludes that if the dead are not raised (i.e. there is no life after death), then we might as well eat and drink because there is no reason to hold out false hope.  He clearly implies this in I Cor 15:19, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”  Many people around us either do not believe or do not want to be bothered by this truth of death and its implications.  Many lead a hedonistic lifestyle because of this - which according to Paul is what we all should do if there is no life after death.

So back to the great teacher, how does the truth set one free?  In John 8:31-41, the Jews who heard that statement questioned Jesus about how could they be set free since they did not consider themselves slaves as were their ancestors in Egypt and Babylon.  Likewise, in the same way, we may feel free but we must come to the realization that we are slaves to sin, and through the consequences of sin, our penalty is death (Romans 6:23).  We are indeed slaves in need of freedom.  And Jesus tells the Jews in verse 36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

T is for Truth.  The truth is you will die.  You are a slave to sin and therefore to its consequence of death.  You will either die and be no more if there is nothing after death or you may have the hope of Jesus Christ that you may have life after death and may have it abundanltly through Him.  It’s your choice.

Another truth about death is that it is the number one fear for many people.  The fear of losing your physical life, of being separated from your family and friends, to the uncertainties of what happens next all contribute to the overall fear of death.  The fear of death can be overcome through a belief in the gospel message.  That good news is that Jesus Christ came to this earth and died for our sins, that he was buried and raised on the third day.  Since He is now raised and very much alive, God has given us the promise that, if we believe in Jesus, we too may have the gift of everlasting life (John 3:16).  That indeed is great news!  I Corinthians 15 is a wonderful chapter to read on this subject - I hope you find the time to read it this week.

Now, back to Calvin’s TULIP for a moment before we end today’s lesson.  The second letter “U” stands for Unconditional election.  The Calvinists’ belief is that God chooses the Elect who will be saved and who will not be part of the Elect.  It is not based on merit or any choices we make.  This belief along with the Totally depraved belief described above are contrary to what we believe in the church of Christ.  I would submit that holding these beliefs should produce a similar response to Paul’s in I Cor. 15:32.  If one believes that no one has free will to choose and that God has ultimately decided everyone’s fate, then why should anyone do anything other than eat, drink and be merry?

I pray that these thoughts have been beneficial to you and I hope that it helps you in your study and prayer life.  I also ask that you please pray for me - I still have 4 more lessons.

See you next week when we will tackle the next letter - “U”.

Music has a way of helping us remember things.  I want to leave you with a verse from the following great gospel hymn.  J.B. Coats wrote the following that I think resonates today’s thoughts:

Life here is grand with friends I love so dear;
Comfort I get from God’s own word;
Yet when I face the chilling hand of death,
Where could I go but to the Lord? 

Where could I go, O where could I go,
Seeking a refuge for my soul?
Needing a friend to save me in the end,
Where could I go but to the Lord?

September - Temptation

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon.

On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force its body through that little hole.  Then it seemed to stop making any progress.  It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther.  It just seemed to be stuck.

Then the man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.  The moth then emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.  The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened!  In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.  It never was able to fly.  What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.  Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle.  By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.  We would not be able to spiritually mature without trials and temptations.  We would not be as strong as what we could have been.

1 Corinthians 10:13

13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

The Greek word for “temptation” has a double meaning: trial and temptation.  A trial comes from God who wants to make Christians.  A temptation comes from the devil who wants to break Christians.  God is ultimately in control and temptations can make us stronger.  God allows us to be tempted, but has limited Satan so that he cannot force us to sin.  We sometimes realize that we are not as close to God when we sin as a result of our temptations.  God is faithful and never fails to provide the way of escape if we have the commitment to resist.

James 1:2-3

2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

This joy describes a deep sense of well being that comes from knowing that God is in control of everything in our lives.  It is an assurance that he is constantly at work to develop within us character traits of endurance and patience.  Christians will suffer trials to test their faith.  The Christian faith is then strengthened if he is devoted.  Testing strengthens our character.  Trials produce character the same way regular exercise builds muscle tone. 

Peter adds that testing proves our faith is genuine.

1 Peter 1:7

7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

When the heat is on, who we actually are, and what we truly believe is revealed.  Peter also suggests that this tested faith gives praise, glory, and honor to God.  Staying faithful through prolonged agony shows others how much we value God.  Christians can face trials knowing that it is only for a short time compared to the eternity in Heaven.  In Peter’s day, potters baked clay pots to give them strength.  The process cracked those pots with flaws, but the ones that survived were proved genuine.  Just as the pots had to be tested in the fire, so we too must endure the fire.  Christians can stand any trial for they are nothing compared to the eternal glory that shall be for Christians.  Life is a laboratory of faith.  God tests us to confirm the strength of our faith and the sincerity of our commitment to him.  Abraham was tested to sacrifice his son in Genesis 22. 

Gen 22:1-2

22:1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

2 And He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

This is the most severe and last recorded trial of Abraham.  The command was to kill Isaac who was the one through whom the promise could come.  Abraham had more than enough time to reflect on this during the forty-two miles between Beersheba and the land of Moriah (Jerusalem), but nothing could move him from his purpose to obey God.  Abraham was so committed to doing what God commanded that the act was counted as completed even though Isaac was saved from actual death.  It is important to distinguish the difference between testing and temptation.  We know that God tempts no one.

James 1:13

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

Satan is the tempter.

Matt 4:1-3

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

God can use Satan’s temptations to test us.  God converts what Satan intended for evil and uses it to achieve good.  A good example is Job.  Job never realized that God allowed his testing because he was pleased with him.

Job 1:8

8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

There may be no reason behind our testing other than that God is pleased with us.  He may want to reveal himself to us and others through such testing.  How many times have we wanted to take the quick way out of struggles and difficulties, to take those scissors and snip off the remaining bits in an attempt to be free?  We need to remember that our loving Father will never give us more than we can bear and through our trials and struggles we are strengthened as gold is refined in the fire.  May we never let the things we can’t have, or don’t have, or shouldn’t have, spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have.

Don’t focus on the things you DON’T have, enjoy each moment of everyday God has given you.

 

September - Prayer

A man’s daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father.  When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows.  An empty chair sat beside his bed.  The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit.

“I guess you were expecting me, he said.  ‘No, who are you?”  said the father. The minister told him his name and then remarked, “I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to show up.”  “Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bedridden man.  “Would you mind closing the door?”  Puzzled, the minister shut the door.  “I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man.  “But all of my life I have never known how to pray.  At church I used to hear the preacher talk about prayer, but it went right over my head.” I abandoned any attempt at prayer.”

The old man continued, “Until one day four years ago, my best friend said to me, “Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus.  Here is what I suggest.  “Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair.  It’s not spooky because he promised, ‘I will be with you always’.  “Then just speak to him in the same way you’re doing with me right now.”  “So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day.  I’m careful though if my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.”  The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey.  Then he prayed with him and returned to the church. 

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon.  “Did he die in peace?” he asked.  “Yes, when I left the house about two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek.  When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead.  But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed.  What do you make of that?”  The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, “I wish we could all go like that.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17

17 pray without ceasing;

Christians can not live their life without God.  God’s help is available by showing our dependence on him and asking him for guidance.  A Christian should develop his spirit of prayer and devotion and preserve it in his heart so that he is in constant communion with God at all times.  Christians should treasure the spirit of prayer and let their devotion to God be their primary goal in life.

Colossians 4:2

2 Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;

Paul is writing to urge the church in Colossae to continue to pray and be thankful as they prayed.  Prayer and thanksgiving go hand in hand.  A Christian should always be thankful for the many blessings that he receives from God.  The faithful Christian should continually strive to maintain the constant communion with God.  The Christian not only prays about his own needs but also the needs of the church and the world.  (the last sentence made me think of I Timothy 2:1-4; not sure if you wanted it but just a thought)

Luke 18:10-14

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

A Pharisee was one of the two principal sects of the Jews (Sadducees).  They were noted for their rigid observance of the law and of traditions.  A publican was one of the tax collectors and classed with the sinners or outcasts. 

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

The Pharisee assumed an attitude where he could be seen. He gave thanks, which was an important part of prayer, but he gave thanks for the wrong reason.  He trusted that he was sufficiently righteous to merit God’s favor.  He was thankful that he was not like any sinners
Extortioners = Robber and Plunderer
Unjust = One who deals unfairly with his fellow man
Adulterers = Those who have violated the requirement of a pure life
The Pharisee reached the climax when thanked God that he was not even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get.

The Law of Moses only commanded one fast a year on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus).  In his selfishness and vanity he has used the pronoun “I” five times within his short prayer.

13 But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinner.

The publican approached God humbly for he would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven.  He pounded his chest as a proof of his sincerity of his grief and an open confession of his sins.  He then pleads to God to be merciful to him because he recognizes the fact that he is a sinner. 

14 I say unto you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The good man went home a sinner and the sinner went home a good man.  The tax collector realized he was a sinner and asked for God’s mercy.  The Pharisee believed that he was not like the sinful man and needed no forgiveness.  He failed to recognize that his pride was his sin.  When one relates himself to the standard God wants us to live by, he will realize that he is a sinner.  The Bible continually teaches that the one who acknowledge his sinfulness and approaches God with a repentant heart will be accepted by God.  This is the reason that repentance is necessary in salvation. 

 

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