From Gary... Like "Mommy" or like "Daddy"?

What do you get, when you mix a Timer Wolf and a Malamute?  Answer- the bottom picture.  Of course, the top two pictures are not this dog's real parents, but I just wanted to represent the generic breeds.  Who does the "baby" take after? To me- Its the malamute; otherwise, I doubt if the animal would be on the sofa (or even in the house at all).  People are like this too.  Sometimes children are as different as night is from day. And the consequences are equally as obvious...

Genesis, Chapter 25

19  This is the history of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham became the father of Isaac.  20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife.  21 Isaac entreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.  22 The children struggled together within her. She said, “If it be so, why do I live?” She went to inquire of Yahweh.  23 Yahweh said to her, 
“Two nations are in your womb.
Two peoples will be separated from your body.
The one people will be stronger than the other people.
The elder will serve the younger.”

  24  When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.  25 The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau.  26 After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. 

  27  The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.  28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob.

And this wasn't the extent of their differences; for Jacob followed after God and Esau did not. The result- Israel came from the former and Edom from the latter. This was still not the end of these things, for...

Malachi, Chapter 1

 1 An oracle: Yahweh’s word to Israel by Malachi. 

  2  “I have loved you,” says Yahweh. 

Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” 

“Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob;  3 but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.”  4 Whereas Edom says, “We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places”; thus says Yahweh of Armies, “They shall build, but I will throw down; and men will call them ‘The Wicked Land,’ even the people against whom Yahweh shows wrath forever.”

Why did God hate Esau? Because of what he did. Question 1: What kind of life do you lead?  Question 2: Does what I do make God pleased or displeased with me?  Only you know the answers to them, but for your sake, I hope they are positive!!!

By the way- At 225 pounds, "baby" is one VERY BIG DOG!!!

From Gary... Bible Reading January 15

Bible Reading   

January 15

The World English Bible

Jan. 15

Genesis 15

Gen 15:1 After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

Gen 15:2 Abram said, "Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"

Gen 15:3 Abram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir."

Gen 15:4 Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir."

Gen 15:5 Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be."

Gen 15:6 He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.

Gen 15:7 He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it."

Gen 15:8 He said, "Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?"

Gen 15:9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."

Gen 15:10 He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds.

Gen 15:11 The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

Gen 15:12 When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.

Gen 15:13 He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.

Gen 15:14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth,

Gen 15:15 but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age.

Gen 15:16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."

Gen 15:17 It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

Gen 15:18 In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:

Gen 15:19 the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

Gen 15:20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

Gen 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

 

Jan. 15, 16

Matthew 8

Mat 8:1 When he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

Mat 8:2 Behold, a leper came to him and worshiped him, saying, "Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean."

Mat 8:3 Jesus stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, "I want to. Be made clean." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Mat 8:4 Jesus said to him, "See that you tell nobody, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Mat 8:5 When he came into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking him,

Mat 8:6 and saying, "Lord, my servant lies in the house paralyzed, grievously tormented."

Mat 8:7 Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."

Mat 8:8 The centurion answered, "Lord, I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Mat 8:9 For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and tell another, 'Come,' and he comes; and tell my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, "Most certainly I tell you, I haven't found so great a faith, not even in Israel.

Mat 8:11 I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven,

Mat 8:12 but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Mat 8:13 Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way. Let it be done for you as you have believed." His servant was healed in that hour.

Mat 8:14 When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.

Mat 8:15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her. She got up and served him.

Mat 8:16 When evening came, they brought to him many possessed with demons. He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick;

Mat 8:17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases."

Mat 8:18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes around him, he gave the order to depart to the other side.

Mat 8:19 A scribe came, and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

Mat 8:20 Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

Mat 8:21 Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father."

Mat 8:22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

Mat 8:23 When he got into a boat, his disciples followed him.

Mat 8:24 Behold, a violent storm came up on the sea, so much that the boat was covered with the waves, but he was asleep.

Mat 8:25 They came to him, and woke him up, saying, "Save us, Lord! We are dying!"

Mat 8:26 He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.

Mat 8:27 The men marveled, saying, "What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

Mat 8:28 When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way.

Mat 8:29 Behold, they cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"

Mat 8:30 Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding far away from them.

Mat 8:31 The demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs."

Mat 8:32 He said to them, "Go!" They came out, and went into the herd of pigs: and behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea, and died in the water.

Mat 8:33 Those who fed them fled, and went away into the city, and told everything, including what happened to those who were possessed with demons.

Mat 8:34 Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.

Does the Bible Teach Geocentricity? by Bert Thompson, Ph.D. Trevor Major, M.Sc., M.A.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1151

Does the Bible Teach Geocentricity?

by	Bert Thompson, Ph.D. Trevor Major, M.Sc., M.A.

Q.

Does the Bible teach that the Sun revolves around the Earth, in contradiction to modern scientific knowledge on this matter?
A.
The medieval Catholic Church maintained that the Bible taught geocentricity (i.e., that the Sun and planets revolve around the Earth) as opposed to what we now know as the Copernican idea of heliocentricity (i.e., that the planets all revolve around the Sun). This situation began when Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria restated the ancient Ptolemaic geocentric theory in the second century after Christ, and was able to predict the motion of the celestial bodies with far greater accuracy than the existing theory of heliocentricity. Somewhere along the line, scientific dogma became enshrined in theological dogma, and passages in the Bible were found to consecrate Ptolemy’s theory. According to the theologians, man was the focus of God’s creative act, and therefore the Earth must be the center of God’s creation. After all, if we were dwelling on one average planet, rotating around one average star, in one average galaxy in an infinite Universe, how could we be the sole focus of God’s attention, and why should His only Son be sent just to this middling planet, as the Bible suggests?
Needless to say, this revolution of thought provided great fuel for the atheists, skeptics and agnostics. According to Paul Steidl:

The truths of God’s word and the work of Jesus Christ in no way depend on our position.... If anything, our lack of a unique position in the natural universe is only an illustration of the natural man’s lack of a unique position before God (1979, p. 6).

In other words, the presence of our material selves in the material Universe is not as important to God as our immortal souls. On the other hand, it is difficult to doubt that God has placed our planet in just the right place, and set it in motion in just the right way, to benefit the survival of humanity.
Copernicus submitted his ideas in the early sixteenth century, stating that geocentricity was incorrect after all. Some of Copernicus’ ideas could not be defended scientifically, but science generally had little to do with the attacks on this theory. Calvin, for instance, criticized Copernicus by appealing to passages in Joshua and Psalms that supposedly show the fixity of the Earth relative to the Sun. Galileo came along a hundred years later and firmed up the Copernican theories with better mathematics and with more accurate and numerous measurements. Unlike Copernicus, Galileo was persistent, arrogant, and prepared to stand up to the wrath of the Inquisition. Galileo’s assertion that the Bible should be interpreted in light of man’s knowledge of the natural world, and that Scripture should not have authority in scientific controversies, did little to endear him to church leaders. Thus, rather than being the case of “science versus the Bible,” it was “dogmatic scientist versus religious dogmatism.” This, of course, is not all the story; the remainder would be covered in a good history book.
One of the passages used to defend the biblical basis of geocentricity was Joshua 10:12-14, and later references to the same event, in which Joshua prayed, “Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; And thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon” (v. 12), that he might defeat the numerous armies assembled against his people. God immediately answered Joshua’s prayer, and in the following verse he wrote: “And the Sun stood still, and the Moon stayed.” Keil and Delitzsch have suggested that either the day appeared long to the warriors of Israel because of the greatness of the task they performed (i.e., defeating the enemy), or that God miraculously caused the day to be lengthened so the Lord’s army could perform its task. The former is consistent with similar language in other parts of the Old Testament, and the latter explanation is totally consistent with God’s infinite power over the Universe (1982, 2:106-112). In any case, as Joshua goes on to say in verse 14, “there was no day like that before it or after it.” Thus, whether miraculous or not, to say that these verses teach that the Earth continues to stand still, and that the Earth is the center of the Universe, is both a gross misinterpretation and a misapplication of the verse. This passage does not teach geocentricity, despite Calvin’s claims to the contrary.
In addition to Joshua 10, Calvin used Psalm 93:1 in defense of geocentricity. The verse simply suggests that the Earth is stable, and cannot be moved, but is it trying to say that the Earth is totally motionless in every sense? As the passage is primarily concerned with God’s majesty and power, it is more likely that the psalmist is saying, “Who but God could move the Earth?” Besides, the Earth is set in an unchanging orbit around the Sun, all the while rotating at a steady speed on a fixed axis.
Psalm 19:6 is a passage that often is cited as another example of Scripture teaching pre-Copernican astronomy. In this verse, the Sun is said to move, rather than the Earth, and therefore is said by some to imply that the Sun revolves around the Earth. There are many other verses in the Bible that talk about the Sun “going down” or “rising up.” This hardly should be surprising, however, since events in the Bible often are written in accommodative or “phenomenal” language—i.e., the language used to express phenomena as man sees them. Even today we teach our children that “the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west,” and astronomers and navigators use the Earth as a fixed point for purposes of simple observation, expressing distances and directions in relation to it. The weatherman on the evening news often will state that the Sun is going to “rise” at a certain time the following morning and “set” at a certain time the following evening. Why does no one accuse him of scientific error? Because we all are perfectly aware of, and understand, the Copernican view of the solar system, and because we likewise understand that our weatherman is using “phenomenal” language.
In addition, scientific foreknowledge could be claimed from Psalm 19:6 if a more literal interpretation was applied in the following way. Astronomers now know that the Sun moves in a gigantic orbit around the center of the Milky Way galaxy; traveling at 600,000 miles an hour it would take the Sun 230 million years to make just one orbit! It also is believed that our galaxy is moving with respect to other galaxies in the Universe. The Sun’s going forth is indeed from one end of the heavens to the other. In any case, there is no way to substantiate the claims that the Bible teaches geocentricity, or that it promotes any other anti-scientific concept.

REFERENCES

Keil, C.F. and F. Delitzsch (1982 reprint), Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
Steidl, Paul (1979), The Earth, the Stars, and the Bible (Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed).

From Jim McGuiggan... Enter the Dragon (2): His method

Enter the Dragon (2): His method

Satan's overarching purpose is to cause wreck and ruin and since he knows he cannot hurt God himself he goes about hurting him by attacking God's darling creation--humans. Milton saw so much truth and in that marvellous way that great poets have he opens our eyes to greater depths and wider ramifications of the truth we think we know.

In his Paradise Lost, Book 2, the demonic council admits they can't harm God directly but rather than sit and nurse their eternal wounds in the dark, Beelzebub tells of a new world where God's darling children live and advises that the evil hosts should attack him by attacking them. It would even be better if the inhabitants of the new world were seduced into joining ranks with them since this would add bitterness to God's pain when he punished the darling newcomers for their satanic rebellion.

Though Heaven be shut,
And Heaven's high Arbitrator sit secure
In his own strength, this place may lie exposed,
The utmost border of his kingdom, left
To their defense who hold it: here, perhaps,
Some advantageous act may be achieved
By sudden onset--either with Hell-fire
To waste his whole creation…or, if not drive,
Seduce them to our party…This would surpass
Common revenge, and interrupt His joy
In our confusion…when his darling sons,
Hurled headlong to partake with us, shall curse
Their frail original, and faded bliss... 

That is Satan's agenda and seducatio is to be his weapon (click here) so he works to seducehumans to turn against God because from his own experience he knows full well, "Who overcomes by force hath overcome but half his foe." In seducing the humans he gives grief to God and by his satanic attack he interrupts God's pleasure which comes as the result of the satanic defeat. If he, Satan must suffer, then God will suffer also by the loss of his children as they join in the satanic rebellion. This is the Dragon's agenda and he goes about it in many ways that include the suggestions that will follow!

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

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com
 

From Ed Healy... Knowledge That Gives Understanding!

Knowledge That Gives Understanding!

As I reach out into the community about me, I have opportunity to bring the good news message to different people. One reaction I have received from time to time is that of someone having never read the Bible; some people don't even own a Bible. Their concept of Christianity or its principles is based only upon what someone has said or taught them from childhood.

There is good news in the Gospel. It is not just the words in the Bible, but it is what those words are saying and what they represent. The Gospel is the Living Word of God as declared in the person of Jesus Christ. He is our example for living a life with hope. The Gospel is living the word of God in our lives as instructed by the Holy Spirit through the apostles. When I respond to the Gospel I am making Christ the master of my life. As Paul said so many times in his letters, he viewed himself as being a bond-servant to Jesus Christ.

God's words are very important, but just having knowledge of the Bible will not change a life to be Christ-like. I must understand the life of and in those words, then live it in my own life.

The Bible is God speaking to me that I might come to know Him, the only True and Living God. Yes, God's Word has life in it because it deals with the good news of true life in Christ Jesus.

God's words are very important for me to know, to understand and most of all to live. In God's word is revealed the meaning and purpose of life. It is very important that I know and understand what God reveals to me and how He wants me to live according to His word.

We should not just pass on the ideas of Christianity to others. We should encourage personal study, understanding, and most of all personal living of God's word in our lives.

2 Tim 2:14-16 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. (NIV)
 

From Gary... Enemies

One fundamental fact of life: If you are living a worthwhile life- you will have enemies. The unfortunate truth is that some people will HATE you for your beliefs. Some people will do everything they can to harm you in every way they can; and delight in doing so.  Do everything you can to be at peace with those around you, but FOLLOW GOD.  Paul says:

Philippians, Chapter 3

 17 Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example.  18 For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ,  19 whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.  20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself. 

Be convinced in your heart of the truth and be willing to pay the price for your beliefs. Stand up for God in this world. Winston Churchill is correct, BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT THAT HE IS IN AGREEMENT WITH THE SCRIPTURES.

From Gary... Bible Reading January 14

Bible Reading   

January 14

The World English Bible

Jan. 14

Genesis 14

Gen 14:1 It happened in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim,

Gen 14:2 that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar).

Gen 14:3 All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea).

Gen 14:4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled.

Gen 14:5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

Gen 14:6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, which is by the wilderness.

Gen 14:7 They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar.

Gen 14:8 The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim;

Gen 14:9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.

Gen 14:10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills.

Gen 14:11 They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way.

Gen 14:12 They took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

Gen 14:13 One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Abram.

Gen 14:14 When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

Gen 14:15 He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

Gen 14:16 He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

Gen 14:17 The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

Gen 14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.

Gen 14:19 He blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:

Gen 14:20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." Abram gave him a tenth of all.

Gen 14:21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, and take the goods to yourself."

Gen 14:22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,

Gen 14:23 that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.'

Gen 14:24 I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion."

From Mark Copeland... David’s Son And David’s Lord (Mark 12:35-37)

                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                David’s Son And David’s Lord (12:35-37)

INTRODUCTION

1. Teaching in the temple on Tuesday of the Last Week, Jesus easily
   silenced His critics...
   a. Those who questioned His authority - Mk 11:27-33
   b. The Pharisees and Herodians, regarding taxes - Mk 12:13-17
   c. The Sadducees, regarding the resurrection - Mk 12:18-27
   d. A scribe, regarding the foremost commandment - Mk 12:28-34

2. Jesus then asked the Pharisees a question...
   a. Concerning the Christ (Messiah) as the son of David - Mk 12:35
   b. How could that be if David by inspiration called the Christ
      "Lord"? - Mk 12:36-37
   c. Seemingly a conundrum they could not answer

3. The passage Jesus referenced was Psalms 110...
   a. The most frequently quoted OT text in the NT
   b. Quoted or alluded to 33 times in the NT - D. M. Hay

[While the Pharisees could not answer, we have the benefit of completed
revelation to understand how the Christ could be both David’s son and
David’s lord, and how Jesus proved to be both...]

I. THE CHRIST IS DAVID’S SON

   A. ACCORDING TO PROPHECY...
      1. As prophesied to David, with Solomon as a prefigure of Christ
         - 2Sa 7:12
      2. As promised by the prophets - Isa 11:1-5; Jer 23:5-6; Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-25
      -- At the time of the NT, the common Jewish expectation was that
         the Christ would be a descendant of David

   B. JESUS IS THE DESCENDANT OF DAVID...
      1. Jesus was David’s son through the royal ancestry of Joseph - Mt 1:1-17
         a. Matthew’s gospel shows that Jesus was the royal descendant
            of David
         b. Following the lineage of David through his son Solomon - Mt 1:6
      2. Jesus was David’s son through the fleshly ancestry of Mary - Lk 3:23-38
         a. Luke’s gospel shows that Jesus was the fleshly descendant of
            David
         b. Following the lineage of David through his son Nathan - Lk 3:31
      -- Jesus was a descendant of David on both sides of His family
         (mother and step-father)!

[Jesus’ question was not to cast doubt on Christ as David’s son.  It
served to stump His critics for they did not comprehend how David’s son
could also be David’s lord. Today, we understand how...]

II. THE CHRIST IS DAVID’S LORD

   A. ACCORDING TO PROPHECY...
      1. As prophesied by David in the text Jesus quoted - Ps 110:1-7
         a. The Christ would be David’s lord
         b. Ruling at God’s right hand as both king and priest forever
      2. As prophesied by Isaiah - Isa 9:6-7
         a. The Christ would be a Son, Mighty God, Everlasting Father
         b. Over a government with no end
      3. As prophesied by Micah - Mic 5:2
         a. The Christ born in Bethlehem would be a ruler
         b. Who would be from everlasting!
      -- OT prophecy declared the kingship and deity of the Christ!

   B. JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD...
      1. As accepted and claimed by Jesus
         a. Jesus accepted the title "Son of God" in worship - Mt 14:33
         b. Jesus referred to Himself as the "Son of God" - Jn 5:25;
            10:36; 11:4
      2. As proclaimed by others
         a. God called Jesus His Son - Mt 3:17; 17:5
         b. Peter confessed Jesus as the Son of God - Mt 16:16
         c. Mark began his gospel declaring Jesus as the Son of God - Mk 1:1
         d. The angel Gabriel spoke of Jesus as the Son of God - Lk 1:35
         e. John the Baptist testified that Jesus is the Son of God - Jn 1:34
         f. Nathaniel, Martha, and John confessed Him as the Son of God
            - Jn 1:49; 11:27; 20:31
      3. Being called the Son of God alludes to His pre-existence
         a. As expressed in John’s prologue to his gospel - Jn 1:1-2
         b. As claimed by Jesus Himself - Jn 8:56-58
         c. As taught by the apostle Paul - Php 2:5-7
      -- NT scriptures clearly declare the deity of the Christ!

   C. JESUS IS THE KING OF KINGS...
      1. Jesus now has all authority in heaven and on earth - Mt 28:18
      2. All things (including David in heaven!) have been subjected to
         Him - Ep 1:20-23; 1Pe 3:22
      3. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth - Re 1:5
      4. The King of kings and Lord of lords - 1Ti 6:14-15; Re 17:14
      5. Who will reign until all enemies are placed under His feet,
         death being the last - Ps 110:1; 1Co 15:24-26
      -- NT scriptures clearly declare the kingly reign of the Christ!

CONCLUSION

1. This is the answer to the conundrum posed by Jesus...
   a. The Christ is David’s son by virtue of His incarnation in the
      lineage of David
   b. The Christ is David’s lord by virtue of His eternal deity and
      present reign!

2. The apostle Paul would later write that Jesus is...
   a. The Son of David according to the flesh - Ro 1:3
   b. The Son of God as evidenced by His resurrection - Ro 1:4
   c. "Our Lord" - Ro 1:3

Not only did David rightly call his Son "lord", but so should we.  Have
we accepted David’s Son (Jesus) as Lord, serving Him as "volunteers in
the day of Your power"...? - cf. Ps 110:3; Lk 6:46

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

Give a Defense...to Everyone! by Kyle Butt, M.A.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=847

Give a Defense...to Everyone!

by	Kyle Butt, M.A.

The word apologetics derives from the Greek apologia, which means to defend or give a defense. Christian apologetics, then, is the defense of the Christian belief system.
The passage in 1 Peter 3:15 often is hailed as “the apologetic verse” because of its command to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense [apologian] to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”
The inspired apostle instructed believers to be ready to give a defense. Offering a defense for the hope that lies within the heart of faithful Christians often is an easy thing to do. Whenever a person is surrounded by others of “like precious faith,” it proves an easy task to boldly defend New Testament Christianity. Perhaps it is for that very reason that Peter carries the thought a step farther by saying that Christians should stand ready to offer a defense “to everyone who asks you.”
Imagine Peter penning these words as his mind drifted back to the hour of Jesus’ arrest and trial. Shortly before the events of that night unfolded, Peter boldly and bravely had declared that he would die with Christ. Yet once the murderous mob confiscated His Lord, Peter was reduced to lurking in the shadows and following at a distance. His weakness and ignominy would only multiply as he was ushered into the courtyard of the High Priest. Waiting for him outside the trial was an enemy he was unable to fight—one so fierce and heinous that his mouth seemingly could not utter a defense of either his faith or his Lord. That enemy was…a servant girl!
“You also were with Jesus of Galilee” she accused. And Peter, who had been one of the first disciples to declare that Christ was the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16), and who had been the one among the disciples to voice his affirmation that Christ alone had the words of life (John 6:68), stood dumbfounded as he cowardly muttered, “I do not know what you are saying” (Matthew 26:70).
Peter had faced a primordial challenge to his faith—and had failed that challenge miserably. He thus knew from firsthand experience exactly how it felt to have his faith collapse under the weight of pressure from the enemy. Yet only a few weeks after his shameful denial, the Lord granted him the privilege of preaching the sermon that opened wide the doors of the Kingdom on the Day of Pentecost.
Peter’s admonition to those who were to follow after him, therefore, becomes somewhat like the warning of a loving mother who has burned her hand on the stove many times and wants to save her child from making the same mistake and enduring the same pain. Peter’s life-changing experience, no doubt, was why the apostle urged every Christian to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” He understood all too well the alternative—denying the Lord in the face of the enemy—and knew far better than most that it was too horrible to contemplate.

From Jim McGuiggan... Enter the Dragon (1)

Enter the Dragon (1)

Satan's overarching agenda is to wreck and ruin. There are suggestions in scripture that Satan rebelled against God. There is explicit mention of angelic rebellion in places like 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6 and while there is no express mention of Satan in those texts they open the door for the reasonableness of a satanic apostasy. We presume Satan was created by God and since God cannot create what is inherently (by creation) evil we presume that Satan made himself God's enemy. Click here for some brief remarks on that. 

There's no reason at all to think that Satan thinks he can dethrone God! In the movie Gladiator a Roman officer surveys the ranks of the enemy who are about to engage in a battle they can't possibly win and wonders why they won't admit it. His general asks him, "Would we?" We continue to pursue lost causes for a variety of reasons and if you hate a man savagely enough you'd be willing to bring the house down on yourself if you thought it would do him an injury. When it began to look as though World War II was going against him, Hitler made it very clear that whether the Nazi regime would win or lose that this would be true:

"We shall not capitulate…no, never. We may be destroyed but if we are, we shall drag a world down with us…a world in flames…But even if we could not conquer them, we should drag half the world into destruction with us and leave no one to triumph over Germany. There will not be another 1918."

The apocalyptic visions of Revelation show the Dragon, who is identified with the great Serpent and Satan (Revelation 12:9; 20:2, and see Romans 16:20 with Genesis 3:14-15), at war with the Lamb and his armies. He seeks the destruction of the child born to be King and when thwarted in that he turns on the children of God (Revelation 12). And he makes it his business to deceive the nations so that they will worship the beast and the Dragon who gives power to the beast (Revelation 13) rather than God. 

In his poetry John Milton gives us a spellbinding description of Satan's fanatical hatred and opposition to God. Early in Book I, though racked with deep despair Satan smolders in "immortal hate" and hisses to Beelzebub, his chief ally, that his mind is fixed and that he will never bow to knee to God or sue for grace. Beelzebub wants to know the point of continuing a battle they can't win when all they'd get is more defeat and Satan rebukes him for weakness and tells him:

Fallen Cherub, to be weak is miserable,
Doing or suffering: but of this be sure
To do aught good never will be our task,
But ever to do ill our sole delight,
As being contrary to His high will
Whom we resist. If then His providence
Out of our evil seek to bring forth good,
Our labor must be to pervert that end,
And out of good still to find means of evil. 

He looks around at the desolation and gloom that has now become his kingdom and he insists that the farther from God he is the better. And with a tone of finality he sets his awful course,

Farewell, happy fields,
Where joy forever dwells! Hail, horrors! hail,
Infernal World! And thou, profoundest Hell,
Receive thy new possessor—one who brings
A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven out of Hell, a Hell out of Heaven.
What matter where, if I be still the same…
Here at least we shall be free…
Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice,
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. 

With this he goes off to build his capital, the great city Pandemonium, to which he gathers his despairing host of followers to, "Consult how we may most offend." Finding them whimpering and beaten he so rages that with words without substance he raises their courage and dispels their fears. Flags are raised, trumpets are blown and the vast host begins to shout in unison, and with swords and lances beating on their shields they frighten the Night as they swear eternal hatred against God and all he loves.

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

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.