From Gary... Time, eternity and you

A picture from somewhere in New Zealand; HOW BEAUTIFUL!!!  From the heights of those marvelous peaks to the depths of that shadow covered pond, this scene is awe inspiring.  I find it most interesting that I am drawn to places like this.  Why?  Those peaks are barren places and the fog hides the full revelation of the scene. Again, WHY? 

An answer is found below...

Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 (Godsword translation)

 1 Everything has its own time, and there is a specific time for every activity under heaven:  2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pull out what was planted,  3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build up,  4 a time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,  5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to hug and a time to stop hugging,  6 a time to start looking and a time to stop looking, a time to keep and a time to throw away,  7 a time to tear apart and a time to sew together, a time to keep quiet and a time to speak out,  8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What do working people gain from their hard labor?  10 I have seen mortals weighed down with a burden that God has placed on them. 

  11 It is beautiful how God has done everything at the right time. He has put a sense of eternity in people's minds. Yet, mortals still can't grasp what God is doing from the beginning to the end of time.

Majestic scenery reminds us of eternity, which enables us to begin to understand God a little more by the works which he has done. And as time goes by, we gradually understand more and more. Although we can never fully understand the works of God (because we perceive time in a linear fashion, rather than a circular one [my idea] like God) we can know what God wants for us.  

Hebrews, Chapter 1 (WEB)

1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,  2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.  3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;  4 having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have.  5 For to which of the angels did he say at any time, 
“You are my Son.
Today have I become your father?”

and again, 
“I will be to him a Father,
and he will be to me a Son?”

  6  When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”  7 Of the angels he says, 
“Who makes his angels winds,
and his servants a flame of fire.”

  8  But of the Son he says, 
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.
  9 You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.”

  10  And, 
“You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth.
The heavens are the works of your hands.
  11 They will perish, but you continue.
They all will grow old like a garment does.
  12 You will roll them up like a mantle,
and they will be changed;
but you are the same.
Your years will not fail.”

The Scripture says is all- in a word; JESUS. He is our bridge from the temporal to the eternal. This world is a beautiful place, but even when it is but a dim memory, Jesus will still reign. Can you picture being with him forever? Now is the time!!!

From Gary... Bible Reading March 15

Bible Reading  

March 15

The World English Bible

Mar. 15

Exodus 25

Exo 25:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Exo 25:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take my offering.

Exo 25:3 This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, brass,

Exo 25:4 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair,

Exo 25:5 rams' skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood,

Exo 25:6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,

Exo 25:7 onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate.

Exo 25:8 Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.

Exo 25:9 According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it.

Exo 25:10 "They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.

Exo 25:11 You shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall overlay it inside and outside, and you shall make a gold molding around it.

Exo 25:12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.

Exo 25:13 You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.

Exo 25:14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.

Exo 25:15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it.

Exo 25:16 You shall put the testimony which I shall give you into the ark.

Exo 25:17 You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.

Exo 25:18 You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.

Exo 25:19 Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim on its two ends of one piece with the mercy seat.

Exo 25:20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat.

Exo 25:21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you.

Exo 25:22 There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel.

Exo 25:23 "You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth, and one and a half cubits its height.

Exo 25:24 You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it.

Exo 25:25 You shall make a rim of a handbreadth around it. You shall make a golden molding on its rim around it.

Exo 25:26 You shall make four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet.

Exo 25:27 the rings shall be close to the rim, for places for the poles to carry the table.

Exo 25:28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them.

Exo 25:29 You shall make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls to pour out offerings with. You shall make them of pure gold.

Exo 25:30 You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me always.

Exo 25:31 "You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. Of hammered work shall the lampstand be made, even its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers, shall be of one piece with it.

Exo 25:32 There shall be six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of its one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of its other side;

Exo 25:33 three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower; and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower, so for the six branches going out of the lampstand;

Exo 25:34 and in the lampstand four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers;

Exo 25:35 and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the lampstand.

Exo 25:36 Their buds and their branches shall be of one piece with it, all of it one beaten work of pure gold.

Exo 25:37 You shall make its lamps seven, and they shall light its lamps to give light to the space in front of it.

Exo 25:38 Its snuffers and its snuff dishes shall be of pure gold.

Exo 25:39 It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these accessories.

Exo 25:40 See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.

Mar. 15, 16

Mark 10

Mar 10:1 He arose from there and came into the borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan. Multitudes came together to him again. As he usually did, he was again teaching them.

Mar 10:2 Pharisees came to him testing him, and asked him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"

Mar 10:3 He answered, "What did Moses command you?"

Mar 10:4 They said, "Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her."

Mar 10:5 But Jesus said to them, "For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment.

Mar 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.

Mar 10:7 For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife,

Mar 10:8 and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.

Mar 10:9 What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

Mar 10:10 In the house, his disciples asked him again about the same matter.

Mar 10:11 He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her.

Mar 10:12 If a woman herself divorces her husband, and marries another, she commits adultery."

Mar 10:13 They were bringing to him little children, that he should touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who were bringing them.

Mar 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, "Allow the little children to come to me! Don't forbid them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Mar 10:15 Most certainly I tell you, whoever will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child, he will in no way enter into it."

Mar 10:16 He took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Mar 10:17 As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"

Mar 10:18 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except one-God.

Mar 10:19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder,' 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not give false testimony,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and mother.' "

Mar 10:20 He said to him, "Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth."

Mar 10:21 Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross."

Mar 10:22 But his face fell at that saying, and he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions.

Mar 10:23 Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, "How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into the Kingdom of God!"

Mar 10:24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, "Children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter into the Kingdom of God!

Mar 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God."

Mar 10:26 They were exceedingly astonished, saying to him, "Then who can be saved?"

Mar 10:27 Jesus, looking at them, said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God."

Mar 10:28 Peter began to tell him, "Behold, we have left all, and have followed you."

Mar 10:29 Jesus said, "Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News,

Mar 10:30 but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.

Mar 10:31 But many who are first will be last; and the last first."

Mar 10:32 They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him.

Mar 10:33 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles.

Mar 10:34 They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again."

Mar 10:35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask."

Mar 10:36 He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?"

Mar 10:37 They said to him, "Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left hand, in your glory."

Mar 10:38 But Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"

Mar 10:39 They said to him, "We are able." Jesus said to them, "You shall indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with;

Mar 10:40 but to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to give, but for whom it has been prepared."

Mar 10:41 When the ten heard it, they began to be indignant towards James and John.

Mar 10:42 Jesus summoned them, and said to them, "You know that they who are recognized as rulers over the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

Mar 10:43 But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant.

Mar 10:44 Whoever of you wants to become first among you, shall be bondservant of all.

Mar 10:45 For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Mar 10:46 They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road.

Mar 10:47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, and say, "Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!"

Mar 10:48 Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, "You son of David, have mercy on me!"

Mar 10:49 Jesus stood still, and said, "Call him." They called the blind man, saying to him, "Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!"

Mar 10:50 He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

Mar 10:51 Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "Rhabboni, that I may see again."

Mar 10:52 Jesus said to him, "Go your way. Your faith has made you well." Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

From T. Pierce Brown... Prove All Things

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Brown/T/Pierce/1923/allthing.html

Prove All Things

In the Lord's church, as in all other groups, there is a tendency to take the word of someone of whom we think highly instead of studying the word of God for ourselves. Although it is very dangerous, there may be some value in this, for each of us is ignorant of many things. For example, although I have been reading the Bible for over 60 years, there are some subjects I have not studied as deeply as I might have. If I discover that Foy Wallace, Gus Nichols, Guy N. Woods and N. B. Hardeman expressed the same specific view of the subject, I confess that until I have had a chance to study the subject in more detail, I would probably adopt their view as the most probable one. I am neither ashamed nor proud of that, but am stating what I think is a valid attitude. A child generally should accept what his parent believes and teaches him until he has a chance to examine the evidence for himself. The danger comes when one has an opportunity to study God's word in depth on some subject, but relies instead on one or more scholars for their conclusions.

The subject of this article was suggested to me as I was reading in some scholarly book by a premillenial author about how to interpret prophecy. He suggested that there are only two methods: the allegorical and the literal. He properly points out some dangers in the allegorical method. He defines the literal method as "that which gives each word the same exact basic meaning it would have in normal, ordinary customary usage." Then he makes this statement, "When the Old Testament is used in the New it is used only in the literal sense. No prophecy which has been completely fulfilled has been fulfilled any way but literally." He admits, "figures of speech are used as a means of revealing literal truth," but does not properly apply that knowledge in his interpretation of prophecy. Since the whole of his 633-page book is built on that assumption, I decided to test it, for Paul says, "Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess. 5:21). 

Let us notice a few of the prophetic passages that are plainly taught as fulfilled in specific cases in the New Testament. First, note Isaiah 40:3-4, "The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain." Jesus made it clear in Matthew 5:3, Mark 1:3 and Luke 3:4-6 that this had reference to John the Immerser. In the light of the assertion made by this author, J. Dwight Pentecost on page 10 of "Things to Come" let us ask the question: Did John literally exalt every valley, and literally make every hill low? Was John operating a bulldozer to prepare a way for a king? Of course figurative language reveals a literal truth. The questions are, "What is the literal truth to which this prophecy pointed? Were the words used in a figurative sense, or did John literally fill up a valley, move a mountain, and make a straight road for the King?" One does not need to be a scholar or write a doctoral dissertation to answer that.

In Matthew 12:18-20 there is the following statement of a prophecy from Isaiah 42, "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; My beloved in whom my soul is pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, And he shall declare judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry aloud; neither shall any one hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles hope." Who is so blind that they cannot see that if Jesus had literally broken a bruised reed this would not have meant the prophecy did not come to pass? It is plainly not true, as the author asserted, that the language of the prophecy had to be fulfilled by Jesus literally failing to break a bruised reed or put out smoking flax.

In Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10 and Luke 20:17 we find a quotation of a prophecy from Psalm 118:22, "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner." Surely one does not have to be a scholar to realize that Jesus was not speaking of a literal stone, or literal builders. To say that the prophetic language of the Old Testament is used in the New only in a literal sense is utter nonsense. Yet this is the very basis of the whole book of J.D. Pentecost and the premillenial concept which he is attempting to uphold.

The question, "Are the prophecies to be interpreted literally or figuratively?" implies something that the Bible shows is not so. The answer to the question of how the prophecies are to be interpreted is, "As Jesus and the inspired apostles showed they were to be interpreted." Some are literal; some are figurative. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, he was literally fulfilling Zechariah 9:9-10, but he did not literally "cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem" as verse 10 says. To say that it was not fulfilled any way but literally is the height of absurdity. It is a mark of wisdom to interpret it as Jesus did.

If one reads Zechariah 13:7-10, which begins with, "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith Jehovah of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered," he could not possibly know whether that prophecy was to be fulfilled in a literal or figurative way if he did not read Matthew 26:31 or Mark 14:27. In fact, he would not even know that it was a prophecy if Jesus had not revealed and interpreted it for us. 

The fact that the Jews rejected Jesus because they had a false notion of the meaning of prophecy should make us aware that anyone who interprets the scriptures as they did is wrong. Jesus plainly tells his disciples, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!" and a few verses later in Luke 24:44-45 we find, "These are my words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures."

Paul emphasizes the same thought in Ephesians 3:3-5, "how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit." Anyone who reads the New Testament with even the most elementary understanding can see that the Jews in general, including the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8, and the Apostles before they received the Holy Spirit, did not properly understand the prophets. If all their language was to be understood literally, this could not have been so.

We should not reject some truth we may learn from someone just because he is premillenial, or because he belongs to some denomination. Truth is truth, from whatever source it may come. However, we should recognize a very important principle. That is, rat poison may be 98% corn or peanuts. It is the 2% that does the damage. If one habitually drinks from contaminated wells, the chances are very high that he will suffer damage. This means that we should be very careful as we study the writings of any person, denominational or otherwise. If we know the basic premise on which he operates, it may help us to discern the falsity of his doctrine more easily. We need to continue to "Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good" and never be afraid to re-examine any doctrine we have been taught, regardless of who taught it.

T. Pierce Brown

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

From Jim McGuiggan... Get Saved

Get Saved

Everybody wants to save us from something. Teachers want to save us from ignorance, doctors want to save us from disease and financial advisors want to save us from the mismanagement of whatever money we have. It’s all good and all praiseworthy. There’s no point in being stupid about it, all these things are important to us as we live out our lives. But sometimes we hunger for something deeper than that. Down inside us we know there's a need for a profounder salvation. That's the business Jesus Christ is in.

He opens up our eyes to a bigger life and a richer humanity. He talks to us of "destiny" and "mission" and "life" that is brimful of life. He comes telling us that all these needful things are not the same as life. He comes saying that the body’s more than something to put clothes on, that living is more than three meals a day and twelve hours at work. He says housekeeping is needful but it isn’t the sum total of what we were made for!

He comes saying that our families and friends and health and music and reputation are all God’s gifts to be enjoyed but he says that if we’re to make them substitutes for his Holy Father that we’ll remain forever hungry and dissatisfied. The hunger, the sense of "there’s more than this" that nibbles at the edges of our minds shouldn’t be dismissed as nothing. It’s God working with us. He says he made us for more than all these. Not for less! But for more than all these lovely gifts. How can you tell? Hmmm, I suppose there’s only one way to tell if Christ is all he claims to be. "Taste, and see that the Lord is good." Give it a shot, get saved!

Let him save you from your sins. Yes, sins! The host of things you’ve done wrong down the years. Things about which you feel ashamed even at this distance. Not just crass evils but "respectable" wrongs, common wrongs, the wrongs of which we’re all guilty. Wrongs that we’re used to calling "wrongs" and he calls "sins" because, whether we’ve known it nor not, they’ve dishonored him.

Let him save you from your lack of profound purpose and the emptiness that sometimes comes over you in a wave of near mental nausea.

Let him save you from your settling for less. He loves our pleasure. For pity’s sake he gives us the gifts of music, romantic love, health and the like for us to enjoy! He doesn’t begrudge us our pleasure—he provides it! But it’s himself he wants to give and that makes all the difference. Get saved!

Television watching, door knock, she goes, speaks to someone at the door for several minutes. She comes back, silent. Who? A Christian. What did he want? Wanted to know if I was saved. Did you tell him you went to church regularly? He didn’t ask me that. Asked me if I was saved. Yes, but did you tell him that you’re involved in community programs around here? He didn’t ask me that either. Just asked me if I was saved. I know, but did you not tell him you taught school, sang in the choir and visited nursing homes? Are you listening to me? He didn’t ask me anything like that. He just asked me if I was saved. And...I’m not.

Do it, please. Get saved.

 ©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Should David have been Stoned? by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx?article=652&b=2%20Samuel

Should David have been Stoned?

by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

In Leviticus 20:10, the Bible records: “The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.” In 2 Samuel 11:3-4, the Bible declares that David took Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and committed adultery with her. In chapter 12 of that same book, the prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin, thereby convicting David of his sin and bringing him to repentance. There is, however, no record that David was stoned or put to death because of his adulterous union with Bathsheba. In fact, David was allowed to continue his reign as king of Israel. Skeptics have pointed to this scenario and accused God of being a “respecter of persons,” claiming that He showed David more mercy than the Levitical Law allowed. Certain Bible believers have done the same, claiming that God simply had mercy on David in spite of what was written in the Law.

A close look at the actual Law of Moses shows that these conclusions are incorrect. God did not jettison the Law of Moses in order to keep David alive. Mosaic regulations specifically stated that a person could be executed only if there were two or more witnesses to the crime (Deuteronomy 19:15). One witness was insufficient to invoke the death penalty (Deuteronomy 17:6). When we look at the situation between David and Bathsheba, we do not find that even one eyewitness was present to verify the adultery. In fact, it seems that the entire adulterous affair was quite hidden from the general populace. Only with the arrival of Nathan, the prophet, who was sent by God, did the details surface concerning David’s adultery. Nathan, however, could not be a witness against David, since there is no record of his having been at the scene of the crime. And even though he apparently got the information directly from God, that still would not fall under the ordinance mentioned in Deuteronomy 19:15. Furthermore, he still would need one more witness in order for David to be stoned.

In truth, if those under the Law of Moses were condemned based on whether or not God knew of their crimes, then far more deaths would have occurred, since “the eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). We find, then, that the Mosaic Law was not ignored in David’s case; nor is this an instance of God showing partiality. Yet, even if there had been witnesses, and the Israelites had not properly followed the judicial procedures as set forth in the Law of Moses, it would not have been God’s fault, but the fault of the Israelites who failed to obey God’s commandments.

After This, the Judgment by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=554

After This, the Judgment

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

Life is not fair. Every day, in hundreds of ways, this fact makes itself abundantly clear to us. September 11, 2001 marked a day when the unfairness of this physical life became especially apparent. The entire world stood with mouth agape as it watched four hijacked United States commercial planes used as weapons against our unsuspecting nation. Within minutes, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were rocked by the impact of these planes. Fires burned, smoke billowed, and the loss of innocent human life shocked us all. Through the carnage and terror, one primary feeling emerged from the collective mind of the United States—we will find and punish whoever did this.

When this type of tragedy occurs and the heinousness of criminal activity comes into full focus, the question always arises: Is it right in God’s eyes for humans to demand that the perpetrators be brought to justice and punished for their dastardly act of vicious cowardice? And if so, who has the authority to administer such punishment. Fortunately, the Bible provides clear answers to such questions. In Romans 13, the inspired apostle Paul explained that each citizen has an obligation to be obedient to the governing authorities because “the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” Furthermore, the government “does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil” (Romans 13:1-4).

The Bible plainly teaches that the government has the God-given authority to execute wrath on those who do evil. What does the statement “does not bear the sword in vain” mean in this context? Without a doubt, the sword in the first century (as well as in previous and subsequent centuries) was looked upon as a weapon of death. The Old Testament is replete with references to the sword being just such an instrument. Hosea 11:6 records: “And the sword shall slash in his cities, devour his districts, and consume them.” Again in Jeremiah 15:3 it is written: “ ‘And I will appoint over them four forms of destruction,’ says the Lord: ‘the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.’ ” New Testament references support the idea as well. Revelation 6:8 states: “So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth” (emp. added). When Paul stated that the government does not bear the sword in vain, he explicitly advocated the idea that the government reserves the right to administer capital punishment.

One reason God has given this right to the government can be found in Ecclesiastes 8:11: “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” If proper punishment is not meted out to the perpetrators of crimes, then more and more people embolden themselves to commit crimes against the government and their fellow human beings.

Along with this authority, the government has been given a tremendous responsibility to administer justice properly and without partiality. The Proverbs writer commented: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, the people groan” (29:2). It is true that many unrighteous rulers have taken power and misused the authority of the government. Consider Herod, for instance, who “killed the brother of John with the sword” (Acts 12:2). Or bring to mind the evil Roman Emperor Nero who captured Christians and tortured them via heinous acts of persecution. And no list of evil rulers would be complete without the infamous Hitler, who murdered over six million Jews. But even though these rulers have abused the office and authority that God gave the governing powers, the authority given to the government by God has not been lessened because of their abuse. The government “does not bear the sword in vain.”

Unfortunately, certain unalterable limitations make it impossible for the government to catch and punish every person who has committed criminal acts. Some villains inevitably slip through the cracks of the justice system and never are punished in this life. Each year thousands of parents abuse their own children physically and sexually and receive none of their just deserts. Each year hundreds of murder cases are filed away stamped “UNSOLVED,” and will stay that way. Each day thieves loot and plunder, making themselves fat and rich off of the toil and labor of their victims, yet they get away scot-free.

Because of the injustice that goes unpunished, many wonder if there is a righteous God Who sees and acts on behalf of the victims. They need wonder no more, because God “has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31). The wicked have been warned that “God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:8). And: “ ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:30-31). While it is the case that God’s retributive justice is not meted out to its full extent in this present age, it is not the case that it will remain muted so forever. Paul had this to say to those who persisted in wickedness: “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil” (Romans 2:5-9). Some may escape the sword of the state, but they will not escape the sword of their God.

5 Reasons Racism is Ridiculous by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=4171

5 Reasons Racism is Ridiculous

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Atheism has no rational basis upon which to call anything objectively just or unjust, including racism. If mankind is merely the result of billions of years of mindless evolution and is nothing more than animals (as atheistic evolution contends; Marchant, 2008), then man can logically make evolutionary-based racist remarks that are consistent with the godless General Theory of Evolution. In fact, Charles Darwin’s “Bulldog,” atheist Thomas Huxley, did just that in his 1865 essay, “Emancipation—Black and White.” He alleged, for example, “no rational man, cognizant of the facts, believes that the average Negro is the equal, still less superior, of the white man.” In truth, if there is no God, mankind could just as easily look down upon and mistreat others (whom he deems are less evolved), as he does roaches, rats, and orangutans (Lyons, 2011; Lyons and Butt, 2009). Those who are Christians, however, logically contend that since (1) God exists, and (2) the Bible is the Word of God, racism is morally wrong—and completely ridiculous for the following five reasons.

#1—ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

Not only did God specially create Adam and Eve in His image and vastly different than all other living things on Earth (Genesis 1:26-27), since then, every human being has been made according to God’s likeness. While preaching to Gentiles in Athens thousands of years after the Creation, Paul, a Jew, did not contend that man was once the offspring of God; he said, “We are” the offspring of God (Acts 17:28-29). [The Greek word esmen in 17:28 is the first person plural of eimi (to be). This recognition of being God’s offspring served as a basis for his argument, as the next verse indicates: “Being then the offspring of God….”]

James wrote: “But the tongue can no man tame; it is a restless evil, it is full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God: out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren these things ought not so to be” (3:8-9, ASV, emp. added). [The English verb “are made” (ASV) derives from the Greek gegonotas, which is the perfect participle of the verb ginomai. The perfect tense in Greek is used to describe an action brought to completion in the past, but whose effects are felt in the present (Mounce, 1993, p. 219).] The thrust of the expression, “who are made after the likeness of God” (Greek kath’ homoisosin theou gegonotas), is that humans in the past have been made according to the likeness of God, and they are still bearers of that likeness. For this reason, praising the Creator at one moment, while hurling unkind, racist remarks at another time, is terribly inconsistent in a most unChristlike way. All human beings (of every color and ethnicity) are divine image bearers.

#2—GOD ONLY MADE ONE RACE—THE HUMAN RACE

Although people come in different colors, shapes, and sizes, and although they often associate more closely with those whom they find more similar in ways to themselves, the fact is, there is only one human race. Racism is ridiculous because we are all related, not by means of naturalistic evolution, but by special Creation. No one person is inherently of more value than another person. We are all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve—the specially created couple whom God made thousands of years ago in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:20). What’s more, we are also sons and daughters of Noah and his wife, through whom the Earth was repopulated after the worldwide Flood of Genesis 6-8.

As the apostle Paul informed the idolatrous Athenians 2,000 years ago, God “made from one blood every nation to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). Adam and Eve had children, who had children, who had children…who had you and me. We are all physically related. We are all of one race—the one human race. We are all (as modern science classifies us) of the same human species—Homo sapiens. We all trace our ancestry back to Noah, and then back to Adam. We may have different skin color, facial features, hair texture, etc., but we are all brothers and sisters! We are family—a part of the same human race.

#3—GOD DOESN’T PLAY FAVORITES…AND NEITHER SHOULD WE

Although God is omnipotent, He is actually color-blind. His all-loving, perfectly just nature will not allow Him to love someone more than another based upon the color of a person’s skin or the nation in which one was born. Similar to how God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), God cannot show favoritism.

Moses wrote: “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19). Peter said: “God shows no partiality. But inevery nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34-35, emp. added). According to Paul, God “does not receive a face” (Galatians 2:6, NASB literal footnote rendering); that is, “God does not judge by external appearance” (Galatians 2:6, NIV).

In short, it is impossible to hold “the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, (the Lord) of glory, with respect of persons” (James 2:1, ASV). The Christian’s care and concern for his fellow brother by Creation and by Christ is to be color-blind.

#4—LOVE IS NOT RACIST

Whereas racism is fueled by earthly ignorance and hate, the Christian is filled with the fruit of Heaven’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The child of God is directed by an omniscient, omni-benevolent Father Who expects His children to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). To the Philippians Paul wrote, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (1:9-11, emp. added). 

In two of the more challenging sections of Scripture, Paul wrote: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:4-6, ESV). “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another…. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…. Repay no one evil for evil…. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:9-18).

No Christian can be a racist, and any racist who claims to be a Christian is, in truth, a liar. As the apostle John explained, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21).

“[W]hatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor [regardless of his or her color and ethnicity—EL]. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:9-10, NIV).

#5—JESUS IS EVERYONE’S SAVIOR

In one of the earliest Messianic prophecies, God promised Abraham that it would be through One of his descendants that “all the nations” and “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 22:18; 12:3, emp. added). It certainly was an honor for Abraham’s family to be chosen as the one through whom the Savior of the world would come, but Jesus did not come only to save the Jews. God did not enact a plan of salvation to save one particular color of people. He did not send Jesus to take away the sins of a particular ethnic group or nation. Jesus is the answer to the whole world’s sin problem; He is “the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17, emp. added).

“God…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4, emp. added). For this reason, “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations” (Luke 24:47, emp. added)—to people of all colors, in all cultures, in whatever countries.

The Gospel “is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16, emp. added). And when individuals in the world “obey the Gospel” (2 Thessalonians 1:8; see Lyons and Butt, n.d.) and are added to the Lord’s Church by God Himself (Acts 2:47), we all become one in Christ Jesus. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:29).

CONCLUSION

I do not claim to be an expert on race relations, but I know that some people genuinely struggle with the sin of racism. Some struggle with being the recipients of racism, which in turn may cause them to be tempted to react in racist ways. Others struggle with cowardly silence as they tolerate the sin of racism in their homes, churches, schools, businesses, and communities. Still others seem so preoccupied with advancing their own racial agenda that they appear to hastily interpret most everything as a racial problem, when most things are not.

Jesus once taught the hypocrites of His day, saying, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). May God help us to see as He sees: “for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). What a better world this would be if everyone realized the foolishness of judging a book by its cover. Racism really is ridiculous.

REFERENCES

Huxley, Thomas (1865), “Emancipation—Black and White,” http://aleph0.clarku.edu/huxley/CE3/B&W.html.

Lyons, Eric (2011), “The Moral Argument for the Existence of God,” Apologetics Press,http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=4101&topic=95.

Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (no date), Receiving the Gift of Salvation (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press), http://www.apologeticspress.org/pdfs/e-books_pdf/Receiving%20the%20Gift%20of%20Salvation.pdf.

Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (2009), “Darwin, Evolution, and Racism,” Apologetics Press,http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=2654.

Marchant, Jo (2008), “We Should Act Like the Animals We Are,” New Scientist, 200[2678]:44-45, October 18-24.

Mounce, William D. (1993), Basics of Biblical Greek (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).