Were former days better? by J.C. Bailey

 http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Bailey/John/Carlos/1903/Articles/formerda.html

Were former days better?

"Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this" (Ecclesiastes 7:10).

It rained last Sunday. I went to Radville to worship. A stretch of the road was under construction. I got stuck. I was late for the service. We lived in Radville many years. For many years there was not any gravel, let alone hardtop, on any road leading into Radville. To get stuck in the gumbo was not an uncommon experience. I know that what is called the “Good Old Days” is largely a myth.

I have just reread a book written by James Orval Filbeck entitled The Christian Evidence Movement. This book shows that at the time of the founding of the American nation Deism and Agnosticism were rampant. The opposition to truth was strong and more successful than it is today, as we are prepared to show. Men arose who challenged and defeated the foes of Christianity. Are we too complacent to do the same thing today?

Opposition to truth was rampant as the American nation was born. Let us look at the truth of this assertion. This is found on page 71 of Brother Filbeck's book. John Adams said on April 21, 1823: “It would be more pardonable to believe in no God at all than to blaspheme Him by the atrocious attributes of Calvin. Indeed, I think every Christian sect gives a great handle to atheism by their general dogma, that without a revelation, there would not be sufficient proof of the being of a God.” In other words, the Bible was not needed.

We quote further from Adams: “And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus by the Supreme Being as his Father, in the womb of the virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.” Brother Filbeck shows by exact quotations that there were many others of the Founding Fathers who were not believers in the Bible as the Word of God, nor in Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of the Father.

I want to show next that this had a profound effect on the thinking of the students in the schools of that day. Yale is one of the oldest and best-known Colleges in the U.S.A. On page 86 of the Filbeck book we have the following to show that the good old days were not different from what we have now. If anything, it was worse. The establishment of American Independence had not been affected without the moral contamination always the result of protracted wars. Licentiousness, both in conduct and sentiment, had followed the footsteps of liberty, and of the exultation of political emancipation, infidel philosophers found ready listeners, when they represented the restraints of religion as fetters of the conscience and moral obligation as shackles imposed by bigotry and priest craft.”

To show how successful the forces of evil were we quote from page 86: “At this critical period in the history of Yale, most undergraduates avowed themselves skeptics....The terrible condition for Christendom is made more evident by the fact that in the fall of 1796 only one freshman was a 'professing Christian': the sophomore class contained none; the junior, one; and the senior only had eight or nine. By the year 1800, it was reported that there were only five students who were members of the college church.”

Nor was Yale the only college so affected. We read the following about Princeton: “in the year 1782 there were only two students in the entire body who professed to be Christians.”

We learn this about Williams College: (The following was written by a member of the first class to graduate from the college): “Respecting the religious state of things in the College during my residence in it, I have no favorable account to give. It was the time of the French Revolution, which was, at that time, very popular with almost all the people in that part of the country. French liberty and French philosophy poured in upon us like a flood; and seemed to sweep everything serious before it.” So great was the flood of infidelity that we read further of still another college: “So great had been the common danger at Dartmouth College that in the class of 1799 only one member would openly make acknowledgment of his belief in Christianity.”

Nor was Adams the only man of the Founding Fathers who embraced the infidelity of the French Revolution. Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence, yet Jefferson permitted Dr. Thomas Cooper, a rank infidel, to teach in the University of Virginia until opposition made it necessary that he resign.

We could use many pages to show the terrible religious condition of the country at the time of the War of Independence. Thank God there arose men who met the infidelic challenge and defeated it. Are we brave enough to meet the present challenge? We have more evidence today to show that the claims of the infidel are false than they had then.

The following gives us some idea of what happened as the battle was joined in the “good old days”: “The turbulent wave of French infidelity and aggressive English deism almost simultaneously encroached upon the American continent. As these forces moved in upon the various phases of life, there began a counter move which grew stronger and stronger in zeal and intensity” (page 95).

One of the leaders in this fight was Timothy Dwight, many years President of Yale. I quote from him: “Dwight recognized the significance for mankind of words like Reason and Liberty; but to worship abstract terms seemed to him idolatry as meaningless as that of the heathen who bowed down before a sacred cow or stone. It was beyond his understanding how intelligent man could idolize a bare word, sacrificing at its shrine the very thing which it denoted” (page 97).

As we look at history, the French groaned under oppression, they talked of liberty, but what did they do? They turned their so-called liberty into an orgy of pillage and murder. The Communists talk of liberty for the masses but no force has ever so subjected the masses to abject suffering as the Communists have. Jesus said: “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). True liberty is only found in Christ. Sin always brings bondage and slavery.

I think we can do no better than to quote Mark Hopkins who was president of Williams College from 1836 to 1872. (President Garfield was one of his students and is reputed to have said: “A log with a student at one end and Mark Hopkins at the other is my ideal college.”) Hopkins believed that the evidence was conclusive in favor of Christianity. He contended that Christianity is supported by moral evidence.

If any one would care to look around they can see how true this is. In many things we all stumble but the deeper the faith in the Bible the higher the moral standard. He that would question this must close his eyes to all the evidence around him.

Hopkins further said: “Hume does not take into account the moral government of God at all. This is a great mistake.” Our quotation from Filbeck continues: “He (Hopkins) significantly stated that 'moral government of God is a movement in a line onwards toward some grand consummation, in which the principles, indeed, are ever the same, but the developments are ever new, in which, therefore, no experience of the past can indicate with certainty what new openings of truth, what new manifestations of goodness, what new phases of morals may appear'.”

We follow the reasoning of Hopkins further: “Hopkins took special notice of the question of divine revelation -- a revelation attested by miraculous demonstration; for whatever probability there was that there would be a revelation, the same was there that there would be miracles; because miracles so far as we can see, are the only means by which it would be possible for God to authenticate a communication to man” (page 106).

The assailants change but the battle does not change. We must put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand in that evil day. The forces of right are much stronger than the forces of evil but we shall not succeed if we think that we can reach heaven on flowery beds of ease. Others fought and were victorious. There is no question about the outcome if we are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

J. C. Bailey, 1979, Weyburn, Saskatchewan

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

HOW WAS THE APOSTLE PAUL NOT SAVED? by steve finnell

http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com/2017/02/how-was-apostle-paul-not-saved-by-steve.html

HOW WAS THE APOSTLE PAUL NOT SAVED? by steve finnell

1. The apostle Paul was not saved like the thief on the cross.

2. The apostle Paul was not saved by saying the sinner's prayer.

3. The apostle Paul was not saved by grace alone.

4. The apostle Paul was not saved by faith only.

5. The apostle Paul was not saved by baptism alone.

6. The apostle Paul was not saved by confession alone.

7. The apostle Paul was not saved by repentance alone.

8. The apostle Paul was not saved on the road to Damascus.

HOW WAS THE APOSTLE PAUL SAVED?

The apostle Paul was saved like the three thousand that were saved on the Day of Pentecost. He was saved just like every person saved under the new covenant.

 What did Peter preach on the Day of Pentecost? 

1. John 3:16  Saved by faith.The apostle Peter preached Jesus as Lord and Savior.(Acts 2:36)

2. Romans 10:9 Believe the resurrection of Jesus. Peter preached the resurrection.(Acts 2:25-35)

3. Acts 3:19 Saved by repentance. The apostle Peter preached repentance. (Acts 2:38)

4. Mark 16:16 Saved by water immersion. Peter preached forgiveness through water baptism. (Acts 2:38)(Acts 2:40-41)

1. Saul (Paul) Believed and repented on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9:3-6)

2. Saul (Paul) Prayed three days while on the road to Damascus, however, neither faith alone, nor saying a sinner's prayer was sufficient for him to have his sins forgiven. (Acts 9:9-11)

3. Saul (Paul) had his sins forgiven after three days on the road to Damascus. Acts 22:10-16......16 'And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.(NKJV)

Faith only advocates say that Saul's sins were forgiven because he called on the name of the Lord, not because of water baptism. That contradicts their own "faith only" belief that you are saved the minute you believe. Saul believed and repented three days prior on the road to Damascus.


The apostle Paul was saved just like every other person that was saved or will be saved under the new covenant. 1. Faith, John 3:16 2. Confession, Romans 10:9 3. Repentance, Acts 3:19 4. Immersion in water, Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16

NOTE: The thief on the cross was saved before the New Testament was in force. He was not saved on or after the Day of Pentecost. The new covenant was only in force after the resurrection and Ascension of Jesus.

TELL THEM THAT! by Jim McGuiggan

https://web.archive.org/web/20160316163055/http://jimmcguiggan.com/weekly2.asp?id_message=640

 TELL THEM THAT!

You know a group (or a family or an individual) that is having a rough ride in life and you know it’ll get worse before it gets better and you purpose to write them a letter. How would you begin it?

There’d be nothing at all wrong in saying something like, “Ah, dear people, we have heard of your pain and loss and we want you to know that our hearts are with your hearts…” Surely there’s always a place for the expression of fellow-feeling and sympathy!

  But troubled people need more than sympathy—of course! Where it’s possible we need to get involved in a “hands on” way to alleviate if not completely eradicate their difficulties (doesn’t Matthew 25:34-40 call us to that and more?). 

  After the meal has been eaten or the warmth of the personal visit is only a memory something must remain with them! The meal and the warmth and the clothes should all be given but there comes a time when the person must carry the burden alone and something must be put into these people that stays when the helpers depart.  

Peter writes to people in trouble, people despised and rejected by society, people who are undergoing suffering and will face even more in the days ahead. And how does he open a letter to that kind of people? 

  In 1:1-3 he tells them who they are!

  He tells them they are God’s chosen! He tells them that they are the people made different by the Holy Spirit! He tells them that they are the people covenanted to God by the blood of Jesus Christ (see Exodus 24:1-8). He later tells them that though they are rejected by their peers and despised by them that they are chosen by God and that he sees them as precious (1 Peter 2:4). Then he tells them that however scorned and mistreated they are that they’re God’s holy nation and royal priesthood with a destiny and a commission that beggars description (2:9-10).

  Peter doesn’t deny their trouble—far from it! Read the entire short letter in one sitting and see what I mean.

  But he opens his letter reminding them who they are! Imagine them sitting in their little assemblies and hearing these words read out to them (1:1-3, and the rest). If they can really believe these almost incredible claims will their lives not be transformed and will they not find joy as they see their trials as part of the suffering of the Lord Jesus? “Will they not be thrilled as they ask themselves, “This is who we are? This is really who we are?”

    And how should we speak to our troubled brothers and sisters throughout the world? What should we say to tiny assemblies in far-off places that are suffering for their faith? And to those nearer at hand! Is this not a direction we should go? In wise and caring ways should we not—before we speak of their troubles but never forgetting that they are troubled—should we not tell them who they are?

   Tell each other who you are! Unpack the meaning of who they are. Our people don't know who they are.

  Get a hands-on involvement in things that can be changed for each other.

  Then tell each other again who you are!

  Keep on telling one another who you are!

  Keep on telling one another WHOSE you are and therefore who you are!

         [And while we're at it—tell the happy and blessed who they are!]

         [And while we're at it, tell troubled non-Christians what kind of God GOD is. Tell them noble things about God and tell them that he will right all wrongs—the wrongs wrought against them! Help them to believe that what’s happening to them matters to Him and do what you can to help them trust Him. Remind them that Christians aren’t God’s “pets” and that they too hurt but that they have good reason to believe that abuse and tyranny and sadness do not have the last word!]

Peter’s readers were Messianic Jews scattered through the provinces he mentions as he begins his letter. Not only would they be in a real sense alienated from the Gentile world around them, many of them would be regarded with suspicion and worse by leaders in the Jewish communities (compare 1 Peter 2:4-10 where the Christians are viewed as stones in the temple built on the Rejected Stone and see Acts 4:11). These Christians were already suffering in some ways and to some degree and Peter insists that there is more ahead (1 Peter 1:6 and 4:7, 17).  

Since God is their Father and they are his chosen they might have expected to have everything going for them (this is a commonplace expectation and it isn’t an unreasonable one). Pain and loss speak their message loud and clear—“You don’t matter; if you mattered you’d be taken care of!” This is part of the reason Peter repeatedly stresses their identity—because their experience calls it into question.  

Having assured them of their identity he speaks to them of their inheritance in 1 Peter 1:3-5. 

You understand that what members of a good family inherit is not only a series of blessings—being part of a “good” family is the supreme blessing. Still, we mustn’t try to be too precise; while just the privilege of being part of a good family is the root of everything there are blessings that come to a good family that can’t be experienced by those outside it. It would be wrong to seek God only for what he can give us but it would be stupid to think we aren’t allowed to rejoice in the blessings he does give us.  

Peter’s troubled readers who were redeemed by the extraordinary (1 Peter 1:18-19) are heirs of the extraordinary. Whatever the inheritance is it cannot be seized by oppressors or plundered by conquerors. It is reserved in a realm beyond tyranny’s reach and in a place where thieves can’t steal it. It isn’t the kind of treasure that moths can eat or rust can destroy (Matthew 6:19-21). Present experience and past history would give all this a special clarity for these Jewish believers but it would say no less to Christians everywhere who live in slums with rapacious gangs and landlords and brutal governments and militia groups on the prowl. That inheritance which is now theirs by virtue of who they are will one day be their actual and personal experience. 

In the meantime—and this truth must be a terrible burden for the truly burdened by life—part of what they have inherited as part of the community of Christ is to share the sufferings of Jesus Christ. Note the explanatory words like “for” in passages such as 1 Peter 2:21; you were called to this “for” (because) Christ also suffered for us.  

Why should Christians suffer when their inheritance in Jesus Christ is glory, honor and immortality? Because they are part of the body of Christ who has borne our sicknesses and carried our diseases (see Matthew 8:16-17). Christians suffer for the world! They are part of the redeeming presence of Jesus in the world in every generation.

So even their suffering—however difficult it is for truly suffering souls to believe—even their suffering is shot through with glory. 1 Peter 4:12-16. That passage focuses more on the suffering that is persecution but to limit the NT’s view of the sufferings of Christians to nothing more that persecution is a real mistake. To reduce Christ’s suffering to what happened that week is a huge blunder. Lovers are filled with anguish because those they love are suffering, being and abused and misrepresented. Much of the suffering of the world rises out of the love people feel for their beloved ones.

A day will come when those who have embraced Jesus Christ will show the scars they gained as they served him and they’ll glory in them. Note this from Shakespeare’s Henry V about his outnumbered troops gathered against the French at Agincourt: 

We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers

 

This too is part of the inheritance of Christians. This too is part of what we should say to the truly troubled. 

The "Paying-a-debt Theory" by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1172

 

The "Paying-a-debt Theory"

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

It never ceases to amaze me that, even though our society “talks religion” on a regular basis, the one place we, as a society, neglect to go for real answers is the only place that has the answers—the Bible. On the cover of the April 12, 2004 edition of Time magazine, an artist’s depiction of Jesus grabs the readers attention and directs the reader to the question written in a large font across the right side of the cover: “Why Did Jesus Have to Die?” The lengthy six-page spread discussing the question is filled with quotes from theologians, ministers, and preachers, with an occasional Bible verse gratuitously inserted to give the article a hint of “religious authenticity.”

The six different authors of the article focused on two primary “theories” as to why Jesus died on the cross. One theory they attributed to Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1098. This theory they called the “paying-a-debt theory,” in which Christ’s death on the cross paid a debt for sinners that those sinners had no way to pay. This idea they termed “substitutionary atonement.” The idea pitted against the “paying-a-debt theory” was the theory of exemplary atonement. According to the idea of exemplary atonement, Jesus came to show humans an example to follow, and His death was not necessarily accomplished to pay some kind of debt.

“Experts” for both theories were interviewed. John Dominic Crossan, in his discussion of the theory of substitutionary atonement, called this idea “the most unfortunately successful idea in the history of Christian thought.” His reasoning for that was: “If I can persuade you that there’s a punishing God and that you deserve to be punished but I have some sort of way out for you, then that’s a very attractive theology” (as quoted in Chu, et al., 2004, 163[15]:60). Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention Southern Seminary, spoke against the idea that Jesus’ sacrifice was purely for example, with no payment of debt attached.

The most disturbing aspect of the article was the fact that the Bible—the only resource that could actually answer the question at hand—was given scant attention. In the six pages of writing, one short verse from Isaiah was quoted, one verse from the Psalms, a brief six-line discussion about Paul’s letter to the Romans, a single paragraph quoting a verse from Hebrews, one from Mark, one verse from 1 Peter, and one verse from Colossians. The verses quoted from Hebrews (9:12) and Mark (10:45) explained that Christ was ransomed for many, and that with His own blood He attained their eternal redemption.

Not only were the Bible verses in the article few and far between, they were put on par with the quotes from the “experts” and given little, if any, authoritative value. They were presented, not as the Word of God, but simply as another voice to be heard in the discussion. Furthermore, Anselm was credited with “developing” the “theory” of atonement—an idea that the biblical writers had “developed” through inspiration almost a thousand years before Anselm.

The real question of the article should have been: “According to the Bible, why did Jesus die on the cross?” A complete catalog of every verse pertaining to this question is not feasible in this brief article. But a few of the more direct statements make it clear that the Bible clearly depicts Jesus’ death on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for sinners who could not pay their own debt. Hebrews 9:22 explains that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission” of sins. Later in the chapter, the Hebrews writer remarked that “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many” (9:28). The prophet Isaiah wrote: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for out peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed…. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When you make His soul an offering for sin” (53:4-6,10).

John wrote that Jesus is “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2). The word propitiation means a satisfactory sacrifice or a sacrifice of appeasement. In a discussion with the elders from the church at Ephesus, the apostle Paul exhorted the leaders “to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). The verse in Hebrews referred to in the article sums up the idea of atonement quite well: “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place, once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (9:12).

It is true that several verses in the Bible explain that Jesus’ death was also accomplished to provide an example of how to behave when persecuted (1 Peter 2:21-25). It is not true, however, that this example detracts in anyway from the fact that Jesus was the satisfactory sacrifice Who paid the debt of sins and was offered as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Anselm did not develop the “theory” of atonement in 1098. The fact of atonement was in God’s mind even before time began (1 Peter 1:18-20), and eventually was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ. The article in Time magazine shows a fundamental problem with religion in America. Our society has stopped going to the Bible for definitive answers, and looks to the “experts” to answer questions that can only be answered correctly via the Bible. Until we, as a people, decide to go back to the Word of God for our answers, we will continue to meander aimlessly in philosophical and religious mire. We must adopt the attitude recorded by the psalmist in regard to God’s Word: “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts” (119:97-100).

REFERENCES

Chu, Jeff, et al. (2004), “Why Did Jesus Die?”, Time, 163[15]:54-61, April 12.

The “Problem” with Miracles by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

   

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=897

The “Problem” with Miracles

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

Using empirical data, some have decided what is and is not possible in this world, and miracles like the ones recorded in the New Testament do not fall into their “possible” category. Since they never have seen anyone rise from the dead or be healed instantaneously of a terminal disease, and since no scientific experiments can be carried out today that would verify the truthfulness of these miracles, then they assume that the miracles reportedly performed by Jesus must have some natural explanations. In an essay titled “Why I Don’t Buy the Resurrection,” Richard Carrier embodied the gist of this argument in the following statement:

No amount of argument can convince me to trust a 2000-year-old second-hand report, over what I see, myself, directly, here and now, with my own eyes. If I observe facts which entail that I will cease to exist when I die, then the Jesus story can never override that observation, being infinitely weaker as a proof. And yet all the evidence before my senses confirms my mortality…. A 2000 year-old second-hand tale from the backwaters of an illiterate and ignorant land can never overpower these facts. I see no one returning to life after their brain has completely died from lack of oxygen. I have had no conversations with spirits of the dead. What I see is quite the opposite of everything this tall tale claims. How can it command more respect than my own two eyes? It cannot (2000).

Although this argument at first may seem plausible, it runs into two insurmountable difficulties. First, there are things that took place in the past that no one alive today has seen or ever will see, yet they must be accepted as fact. The origin of life on this planet provides a good example. Regardless of whether a person believes in evolution or creation, he must admit that some things happened in the past that are not still happening today, or at least that have not been witnessed. To the evolutionists, I pose the question, “Have you ever personally used your five senses to establish that a nonliving thing can give rise to a living thing?” Of course, the evolutionist must admit that he never has seen such happen, in spite of all the origin-of-life experiments in the last fifty years. Does that mean that he does not accept the idea that life came from nonliving matter, just because he never has witnessed it personally? Of course not. Instead, we are asked to look at all the “evidence,” such as the geologic column and the fossil record, that he believes leads to such a conclusion. Yet the hard fact remains, no one alive today has ever seen life come from something nonliving.

Following the same line of reasoning, those who believe in creation freely admit that the creation of life on this planet is something that has not been witnessed by anyone alive today. It was a unique act that happened once, cannot be duplicated by experiment, and cannot be detected currently by the human senses. As with the evolutionist, the creationist asks us to look at the evidence such as the fossil record, the laws of thermodynamics, and the Law of Biogenesis, which he believes leads to the conclusion that life was created some time in the distant past by an intelligent Creator. Yet, before we drift too far from our discussion of a miracle such as the resurrection, let me remind you that this brief paragraph concerning creation and evolution is inserted only to prove one point—everyone must admit that he or she accepts some ideas and notions without having inspected them personally using the five senses.

Second, it is intellectual bigotry to assume that the first century people did not understand the laws of nature enough to differentiate between an actual miracle and other occurrences with natural explanations. We must not fall into the trap of thinking that the first-century onlookers did not know that rising from the dead or being healed of leprosy was unnatural. As C.S. Lewis explained:

But there is one thing often said about our ancestors which we must not say. We must not say “They believed in miracles because they did not know the Laws of Nature.” This is nonsense. When St. Joseph discovered that his bride was pregnant, he “was minded to put her away.” He knew enough about biology for that….When the disciples saw Christ walking on the water they were frightened; they would not have been frightened unless they had known the Laws of Nature and known that this was an exception (1970, p. 26).

The apostle Paul underlined this point in Romans 1:4 when he stated that Jesus Christ was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” The entire point of the resurrection was, and is, that it was not naturally or scientifically repeatable and that it proved his deity. As the blind man healed by Jesus so accurately stated, “Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing” (John 9:32-33).

REFERENCES

Lewis, C.S. (1970), God in the Dock, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

Carrier, Richard (2000), [On-line], URL: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/resurrection/1b.html.

The Adulterous Woman by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1277

 The Adulterous Woman

by	Dave Miller, Ph.D.

One of the most misused, mishandled, and misapplied passages in the Bible is the narrative of the woman caught in adultery, recorded in John 8:1-11. [For a discussion of the technical aspects of this passage as a textual variant, see Woods, 1989, p. 162; McGarvey, 1974, p. 16; Metzger, 1971, pp. 219-222; Metzger, 1968, pp. 223-224]. This passage has been used by situation ethicists (e.g., Fletcher, 1967, pp. 83,133), libertines, and liberals to insist that God is not “technical” when it comes to requiring close adherence to His laws. The bulk of Christendom has abetted this notion by decontextualizing and applying indiscriminately the remark of Jesus: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (vs. 7). The average individual, therefore, has come to think that Jesus was tolerant and forgiving to the extent that He released the woman from the strict restrictions of Bible law that called for her execution. They believe that Jesus simply waved aside her sin, and granted her unconditional freedom and forgiveness—though the Law called for her death (Leviticus 20:10). After all, isn’t it true that Jesus places people “in the grip of grace” (Lucado, 1996)?

Those who challenge these conclusions are derided as “traditionalists” who lack “compassion,” and who are just like the “legalistic” scribes and Pharisees who cruelly accused the woman and wanted her handled in strict accordance with Mosaic Law. Did Jesus set aside the clear requirements of Mosaic legislation in order to demonstrate mercy, grace, and forgiveness? A careful study of John 8:1-11 yields at least three insights that clarify the confusion and misconception inherent in the popular imagination.

First, Mosaic regulations 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). The woman in question was reportedly caught in the “very act” (vs. 4), but nothing is mentioned about the identity of the witness or witnesses. There may have been only one, thereby making execution illegal.

Second, even if there were two or more witnesses present to verify the woman’s sin, the Old Testament was equally explicit concerning the fact that both the woman and the man were to be executed (Deuteronomy 22:22). Where was the man? The accusing mob completely side-stepped this critical feature of God’s Law, demonstrating that this trumped-up situation obviously did not fit the Mosaic preconditions for invoking capital punishment. Obedience to the Law of Moses in this instance actually meant letting the woman go!

A third consideration that libertines overlook concerning this passage is the precise meaning of the phrase “He who is without sin among you….” If this statement is taken as a blanket prohibition against accusing, disciplining, or punishing the erring, impenitent Christian, then this passage flatly contradicts a host of other passages (e.g., Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5; Galatians 6:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14; Titus 3:10; 2 John 9-11). Jesus not only frequently passed judgment on a variety of individuals during His life on Earth (e.g., Matthew 15:14; 23; John 8:44,55; 9:41; et al.), but also enjoined upon His followers the necessity of doing the same thing (e.g., John 7:24). Peter could be very direct in assessing people’s spiritual status (e.g., Acts 8:23). Paul rebuked the Corinthians’ inaction concerning their fornicating brother: “Do you not judge those who are inside?… Therefore put away from yourselves that wicked person” (1 Corinthians 5:12-13, emp. added). Obviously, Paul demanded that Christians must judge (i.e., make an accurate assessment regarding) a fellow Christian’s moral condition. Even the familiar proof text so often marshaled to promote laxity (i.e., “Judge not, that you be not judged”—Matthew 7:1) records Jesus admonishing disciples: “…then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye” (vs. 5). The current culture-wide celebration of being nonjudgmental (“I’m OK, you’re OK”) is clearly out of harmony with Bible teaching.

So Jesus could not have been offering a blanket prohibition against taking appropriate action with regard to the sins of our fellows. Then what did His words mean? What else could possibly be going on in this setting so as to completely deflate, undermine, and terminate the boisterous determination of the woman’s accusers to attack Him, by using the woman as a pretext? What was it in Jesus’ words that had such power to stop them in their tracks—so much so that their clamor faded to silence and they departed “one by one, beginning with the oldest” (vs. 9)?

Most commentators suggest that He shamed them by getting them to realize that “nobody is perfect and we all sin.” But this motley crew—with their notorious and repeatedly documented hard-heartedness—would not have been deterred if Jesus simply had conveyed the idea that, “Hey, give the poor woman a break, none of us is perfect, and we’ve all done things we're not proud of.” These heartless scribes and Pharisees had the audacity to divert her case from the proper judicial proceedings and to humiliate her by forcibly hauling her into the presence of Jesus, thereby making her a public spectacle. Apparently accompanied by a group of complicit supporters, they cruelly subjected her to the wider audience of “all the people” (vs. 2) who had come to hear Jesus’ teaching. They hardly would have been discouraged from their objective by such a simple utterance from Jesus that “nobody’s perfect.”

So what is the answer to this puzzling circumstance? Jesus was striking at precisely the same point that Paul drove home to hard-hearted, hypocritical Jews in Rome: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things” (Romans 2:1). Paul was especially specific on the very point with which Jesus dealt: “You who say, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ do you commit adultery?” (vs. 22). In other words, no person is qualified to call attention to another’s sin when that individual is in the ongoing practice of the same sin. Again, as Jesus previously declared, “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). After all, it is the “spiritual” brother or sister who is in the proper position to restore the wayward (Galatians 6:1).

Consequently, in the context under consideration, Jesus knew that the woman’s accusers were guilty of the very thing for which they were willing to condemn her. (It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the man with whom the woman had committed adultery was in league with the accusing crowd.) Jesus was able to prick them with their guilt by causing them to realize that He knew that they, too, were guilty. The old law made clear that the witnesses to the crime were to cast the first stones (Deuteronomy 17:7). The death penalty could not be invoked legally if the eyewitnesses were unavailable or unqualified. Jesus was striking directly at the fact that these witnesses were ineligible to fulfill this role since they were guilty of the same sin, and thus deserved to be brought up on similar charges. They were intimidated into silence by their realization that Jesus was privy to their own sexual indiscretions.

Observe carefully that with the withdrawal of the accusers, Jesus put forth a technical legal question: “Woman, where are they? Did no man condemn thee?” (ASV), or “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” (vs. 10, KJV). The reason for Jesus to verify the absence of the accusers who had brought the charges against the woman was that the Law of Moses mandated the presence of eyewitnesses to the crime before guilt could be established and sentence passed. The woman confirmed, “No man, Lord” (vs. 11). Jesus then affirmed: “Neither do I condemn you….” The meaning of this pronouncement was that if two or more witnesses to her sin were not able or willing to document the crime, then she could not be held legally liable, since neither was Jesus, Himself, qualified to serve as an eyewitness to her action. The usual interpretation of “neither do I condemn you” is that Jesus was flexible, tolerant, and unwilling to be judgmental toward others or to condemn their sinful actions. Ridiculous! The Bible repudiates such thinking on nearly every page. Jesus was declaring the fact that the woman managed to slip out from under judicial condemnation on the basis of one or more legal technicalities. But, He said (to use modern-day vernacular), “You had better stop it! You were fortunate this time, but you must cease your sinful behavior!” Jesus did not condemn the woman legally--He had no grounds to do so. But He most certainly condemned her morally and spiritually!

Incredible! The scribes and Pharisees were trying to catch Jesus in a trap. Yet Jesus, as was so often the case (e.g., Matthew 21:23-27), “turned the tables” on His accusers and caught them in a trap instead! At the same time, He demonstrated a deep and abiding respect for the governing beauty and power of law—the law that He and His Father had authored. Jesus was the only person Who ever complied with Mosaic legislation perfectly. He never sought to excuse human violation of law, nor to minimize the binding and authoritative application of law to people. Any interpretation of any passage that depicts Jesus as violating God’s law in order to forgive or accommodate man is a false interpretation, as is any interpretation that relegates law to a status of secondary importance (cf. Deuteronomy 6:24; 10:13; Psalms 19:7-11; Romans 7:12). Any interpretation of any passage that contradicts the teaching of other clear passages also is false. Jesus was not in sympathy with the permissive mindset of today’s doctrinally lax thinkers who soften doctrine and the binding nature of law in the name of “grace,” “freedom,” or “compassion.”

REFERENCES

Fletcher, Joseph (1967), Moral Responsibility (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster).

Lucado, Max (1996), In the Grip of Grace (Dallas: Word).

McGarvey, J.W. (1974 reprint), Evidences of Christianity (Nashville, TN: Gospel Advocate).

Metzger, Bruce (1971), A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (New York: United Bible Society).

Metzger, Bruce M. (1968), The Text of the New Testament (New York: Oxford University Press), second edition.

Woods, Guy N. (1989), A Commentary on the Gospel According to John (Nashville, TN: Gospel Advocate).

 

"THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW" They Beheld His Majesty (17:1-9) by Mark Copeland

"THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW"

They Beheld His Majesty (17:1-9)

INTRODUCTION

1. What a blessing it must have been, spending time with Christ during
   His earthly ministry...
   a. To hear His teaching, spoken with the voice of authority - Mt 7:28-29
   b. To witness His miracles, which manifested His glory - Jn 2:11

2. Among those blessed to be with Jesus, three men especially so:
   Peter, James and John...
   a. They accompanied Jesus on the mount of transfiguration - Mt 17: 1-2
   b. Peter would later write of that experience on the mount - 2Pe 1:16-18
      1) He says they were "eyewitnesses of His majesty"
      2) That Jesus received "honor and glory" from God the Father
   -- What an experience this must have been for these three fishermen
      from Galilee!

3. The setting that led up to this event was as follows...
   a. Jesus had just made two amazing statements:
      1) He would come in glory and reward each one according to his
         works - Mt 16:27
      2) As supporting evidence, some would not taste death before they saw...
         a) "the Son of Man coming in His kingdom" - Mt 16:28
         b) "the kingdom of God come with power" - Mk 9:1
         c) "the kingdom of God" - Lk 9:27
   b. The gospel writers then connect these sayings with the event
      about to occur:
      1) Matthew and Mark record "and after six days..." - Mk 17:1;Mk 9:2
      2) Luke writes "about eight days" ("the Jewish equivalent of
         `about a week later'." - Wiersbe) - Lk 9:28
      3) Luke adds "after these sayings", clearly tying the event to
         what had just been said

[What happened on the mount?  Simply put, "They Beheld His Majesty".
What was the significance of this event?  To answer this question, 
let's take a closer look and note first of all..]

I. THEY BEHELD THE MAJESTY OF HIS PERSON

   A. EVIDENCED BY HIS TRANSFIGURATION...
      1. He was "transfigured" - Mt 17:2; Mk 9:2
         a. Gr.., metamorphoo, met-am-or-fo'-o
         b. Meaning to change, transfigure, transform
      2. This change affected His face and clothing
         a. His face shone like the sun - Mt 17:2 (Luke says the 
            appearance of His face was altered - Lk 9:29)
         b. His clothes became as white as the light - Mt 17:2
            1) Shining, exceedingly white, like snow, more than any
               launderer can whiten them - Mk 9:3
            2) White and glistening - Lk 9:29
      -- Peter later wrote that what he saw was His "majesty" (2Pe 1:
         16); the effulgence of His glory likely represented His 
         deity as the Son of God - cf. He 1:1-3

   B. EVIDENCED BY THE PRESENCE OF MOSES AND ELIJAH...
      1. They were talking with Jesus - Mt 17:3; Mk 9:4
         a. They also appeared in glory - Lk 9:31a
         b. Discussing with Jesus about His coming death in Jerusalem - Lk 9:31b
         c. Peter, James, and John had been sleeping, but awoke to see
            Jesus in His glory, and talking with Moses and Elijah - Lk 9:32
         d. Moses and Elijah then began to depart - Lk 9:33
      2. That Moses and Elijah would appear with Jesus was not lost on
         Peter - Mt 17:4
         a. Moses and Elijah were the epitome of the Law and the Prophets
         b. Peter wanted to build three tabernacles, one each for 
            Jesus, Moses and Elijah
      -- Jesus had evidently been elevated to the same level as Moses
         and Elijah in Peter's mind!

[But Peter was soon to learn that Jesus was above Moses and Elijah,
especially in regards to His authority!  As we continue, therefore, we
note that...]

II. THEY BEHELD THE MAJESTY OF HIS COMING KINGDOM

   A. EVIDENCED BY THE VOICE FROM HEAVEN...
      1. While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed
         them - Mt 17:5
      2. Peter, James, and John, fearfully entered the cloud - Lk 9:34
      3. A voice came out of the cloud:  "This is My beloved Son, in
         whom I am well pleased, Hear Him!" - Mt 17:5; cf. 3:16-17
         a. This terrified the disciples - Mt 17:6
         b. Jesus then sought to comfort them - Mt 17:7
      4. The command, "Hear Him!"...
         a. Implies that God would begin to speak through His Son, not
            the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) - cf. He 1:1-2
         b. That the rule and reign of God would be exercised through
            His Son, as He would be given all authority in heaven and
            earth - cf. Mt 28:18
      5. Of course, this rule and reign (i.e., Christ's kingdom) would
         begin after Christ suffered (i.e., His death) and entered into
         glory (i.e., His ascension) - cf. Lk 24:26
         a. Which explains why He told them to tell no one the vision
            until after His resurrection - Mt 17:9
         b. What they had witnessed was a foretaste, a foreshadowing of
            His coming glory and rule in His kingdom!

   B. EVIDENCED BY THE ABSENCE OF MOSES AND ELIJAH...
      1. After hearing the voice, and lifting up their eyes, only Jesus
         was present - Mt 17:8; Mk 9:8
      2. Perhaps symbolizing what the voice clearly declared:  that
         Jesus was the one they were to hear, not Moses and Elijah who
         likely represented the Law and the Prophets

CONCLUSION

1. Truly "They Beheld His Majesty"...
   a. They beheld the majesty of His person
      1) Transfigured before them
      2) Exalted even above Moses and Elijah
   b. They beheld the majesty of His coming kingdom
      1) Acknowledged from heaven as God's beloved Son
      2) The One whom all should heed, for all authority would be given to Him

2. What is the significance of this event?
   a. It may be the fulfillment Jesus' statement recorded in Mt 16:28;
      Mk 9:1; Lk 9:27
      1) That some would see the Son of Man "coming" in His kingdom
      2) That some would see the kingdom of God "present" with power
      3) That some would see the kingdom of God (i.e., His rule or reign)
   b. If such is the case, what they saw was a foretaste of His kingdom or rule...
      1) Which would not be fully exercised until after His death and
         resurrection - cf. Ep 1:20-23; 1Pe 3:22
      2) Which would include that day in which He will judge the world!
         - cf. Ac 17:30-31; Mt 16:27

3. In any case, all of the events at the mount contributed to giving
   Jesus what Peter later described as "honor" and "glory" from the
   Father - 2Pe 1:17
   a. The glorious transfiguration of Christ
   b. The presence (and their subsequent absence) of Moses and Elijah
   c. The voice from heaven, acknowledging Christ as God's Son

4. What does God desire of us today?  
   a. Not tabernacles or temples erected in the memory of His Son
   b. But for us to simply obey what God said at the mount: "Hear Him!"

If we desire to add to the honor and glory that Jesus so richly 
deserves, and to one day behold His majesty in heaven, then let be
careful to heed what He himself said regarding His authority:

   "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go
   therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
   in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
   teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
   and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 
                                                     - Mt 28:18-20 

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

Look up! and be amazed! by Gary Rose

 

Iridescent clouds; what a wonderful sight to behold! I have had the pleasure to actually see these several times, but OH, I wish I had seem them more often. This is a nice picture, but to actually see them in the heavens, with your own eyes, is to become as a little child, who understands for the first time what the word amazement means.

As I look at this picture, I recall being at my Grandmother’s farm in upstate New York and looking up at the sky on a pitch-black night and seeing for the first time the magnificence of the milky way. I remember thinking: How wonderful God must be to create such marvelous things.

The Psalmist has said…

Psalm 19 ( World English Bible )

1 The heavens declare the glory of God.

    The expanse shows his handiwork.

2 Day after day they pour out speech,

    and night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language,

    where their voice is not heard.

There are those in this world who do not believe in God and that is a shame, but there would be far fewer atheists in the world if more people just spent some time outside on a dark, dark night. The heavens boldly pronounce the existence of their creator and all we have to do is really, really look and THINK ABOUT IT!

Have you gazed at the heavens lately? Try it, you will fall in love and I don’t mean with the stars, either!

Your Friend,

Gary

Bible Reading for August 21-23 by Gary Rose

 

Bible Reading for August 21-23

 World  English  Bible

 

Aug. 21

Job 20-23

Job 20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,

Job 20:2 "Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me, even by reason of my haste that is in me.

Job 20:3 I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame. The spirit of my understanding answers me.

Job 20:4 Don't you know this from old time, since man was placed on earth,

Job 20:5 that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?

Job 20:6 Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds,

Job 20:7 yet he shall perish forever like his own dung. Those who have seen him shall say, 'Where is he?'

Job 20:8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found. Yes, he shall be chased away like a vision of the night.

Job 20:9 The eye which saw him shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more see him.

Job 20:10 His children shall seek the favor of the poor. His hands shall give back his wealth.

Job 20:11 His bones are full of his youth, but youth shall lie down with him in the dust.

Job 20:12 "Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue,

Job 20:13 though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth;

Job 20:14 yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him.

Job 20:15 He has swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly.

Job 20:16 He shall suck cobra venom. The viper's tongue shall kill him.

Job 20:17 He shall not look at the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and butter.

Job 20:18 That for which he labored he shall restore, and shall not swallow it down. According to the substance that he has gotten, he shall not rejoice.

Job 20:19 For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up.

Job 20:20 "Because he knew no quietness within him, he shall not save anything of that in which he delights.

Job 20:21 There was nothing left that he didn't devour, therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

Job 20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress shall overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery shall come on him.

Job 20:23 When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.

Job 20:24 He shall flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow shall strike him through.

Job 20:25 He draws it forth, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him.

Job 20:26 All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire shall devour him. It shall consume that which is left in his tent.

Job 20:27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity. The earth shall rise up against him.

Job 20:28 The increase of his house shall depart. They shall rush away in the day of his wrath.

Job 20:29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, the heritage appointed to him by God."

Job 21:1 Then Job answered,

Job 21:2 "Listen diligently to my speech. Let this be your consolation.

Job 21:3 Allow me, and I also will speak; After I have spoken, mock on.

Job 21:4 As for me, is my complaint to man? Why shouldn't I be impatient?

Job 21:5 Look at me, and be astonished. Lay your hand on your mouth.

Job 21:6 When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.

Job 21:7 "Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?

Job 21:8 Their child is established with them in their sight, their offspring before their eyes.

Job 21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

Job 21:10 Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and don't miscarry.

Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock. Their children dance.

Job 21:12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

Job 21:13 They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol.

Job 21:14 They tell God, 'Depart from us, for we don't want to know about your ways.

Job 21:15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?'

Job 21:16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

Job 21:17 "How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them, that God distributes sorrows in his anger?

Job 21:18 How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?

Job 21:19 You say, 'God lays up his iniquity for his children.' Let him recompense it to himself, that he may know it.

Job 21:20 Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

Job 21:21 For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?

Job 21:22 "Shall any teach God knowledge, seeing he judges those who are high?

Job 21:23 One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.

Job 21:24 His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened.

Job 21:25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good.

Job 21:26 They lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them.

Job 21:27 "Behold, I know your thoughts, the devices with which you would wrong me.

Job 21:28 For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?'

Job 21:29 Haven't you asked wayfaring men? Don't you know their evidences,

Job 21:30 that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, That they are led forth to the day of wrath?

Job 21:31 Who shall declare his way to his face? Who shall repay him what he has done?

Job 21:32 Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men shall keep watch over the tomb.

Job 21:33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him. All men shall draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.

Job 21:34 So how can you comfort me with nonsense, seeing that in your answers there remains only falsehood?"

Job 22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

Job 22:2 "Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.

Job 22:3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous? Or does it benefit him, that you make your ways perfect?

Job 22:4 Is it for your piety that he reproves you, that he enters with you into judgment?

Job 22:5 Isn't your wickedness great? Neither is there any end to your iniquities.

Job 22:6 For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

Job 22:7 You haven't given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

Job 22:8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth. The honorable man, he lived in it.

Job 22:9 You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Job 22:10 Therefore snares are around you. Sudden fear troubles you,

Job 22:11 or darkness, so that you can not see, and floods of waters cover you.

Job 22:12 "Isn't God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are!

Job 22:13 You say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?

Job 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn't see. He walks on the vault of the sky.'

Job 22:15 Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden,

Job 22:16 who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream,

Job 22:17 who said to God, 'Depart from us;' and, 'What can the Almighty do for us?'

Job 22:18 Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

Job 22:19 The righteous see it, and are glad. The innocent ridicule them,

Job 22:20 saying, 'Surely those who rose up against us are cut off. The fire has consumed the remnant of them.'

Job 22:21 "Acquaint yourself with him, now, and be at peace. Thereby good shall come to you.

Job 22:22 Please receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.

Job 22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.

Job 22:24 Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.

Job 22:25 The Almighty will be your treasure, and precious silver to you.

Job 22:26 For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and shall lift up your face to God.

Job 22:27 You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you. You shall pay your vows.

Job 22:28 You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you. Light shall shine on your ways.

Job 22:29 When they cast down, you shall say, 'be lifted up.' He will save the humble person.

Job 22:30 He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

Job 23:1 Then Job answered,

Job 23:2 "Even today my complaint is rebellious. His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.

Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!

Job 23:4 I would set my cause in order before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

Job 23:5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would tell me.

Job 23:6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No, but he would listen to me.

Job 23:7 There the upright might reason with him, so I should be delivered forever from my judge.

Job 23:8 "If I go east, he is not there; if west, I can't find him;

Job 23:9 He works to the north, but I can't see him. He turns south, but I can't catch a glimpse of him.

Job 23:10 But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I shall come forth like gold.

Job 23:11 My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside.

Job 23:12 I haven't gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Job 23:13 But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? What his soul desires, even that he does.

Job 23:14 For he performs that which is appointed for me. Many such things are with him.

Job 23:15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him.

Job 23:16 For God has made my heart faint. The Almighty has terrified me.

Job 23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.

Aug. 22

Job 24-26

Job 24:1 "Why aren't times laid up by the Almighty? Why don't those who know him see his days?

Job 24:2 There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.

Job 24:3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

Job 24:4 They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.

Job 24:5 Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.

Job 24:6 They cut their provender in the field. They glean the vineyard of the wicked.

Job 24:7 They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.

Job 24:8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.

Job 24:9 There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,

Job 24:10 So that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.

Job 24:11 They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.

Job 24:12 From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn't regard the folly.

Job 24:13 "These are of those who rebel against the light. They don't know its ways, nor abide in its paths.

Job 24:14 The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.

Job 24:15 The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye shall see me.' He disguises his face.

Job 24:16 In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They don't know the light.

Job 24:17 For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.

Job 24:18 "They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They don't turn into the way of the vineyards.

Job 24:19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned.

Job 24:20 The womb shall forget him. The worm shall feed sweetly on him. He shall be no more remembered. Unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree.

Job 24:21 He devours the barren who don't bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.

Job 24:22 Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.

Job 24:23 God gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways.

Job 24:24 They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone. Yes, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.

Job 24:25 If it isn't so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?"

Job 25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

Job 25:2 "Dominion and fear are with him. He makes peace in his high places.

Job 25:3 Can his armies be counted? On whom does his light not arise?

Job 25:4 How then can man be just with God? Or how can he who is born of a woman be clean?

Job 25:5 Behold, even the moon has no brightness, and the stars are not pure in his sight;

Job 25:6 How much less man, who is a worm, the son of man, who is a worm!"

Job 26:1 Then Job answered,

Job 26:2 "How have you helped him who is without power! How have you saved the arm that has no strength!

Job 26:3 How have you counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge!

Job 26:4 To whom have you uttered words? Whose spirit came forth from you?

Job 26:5 "Those who are deceased tremble, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

Job 26:6 Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.

Job 26:7 He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.

Job 26:8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not burst under them.

Job 26:9 He encloses the face of his throne, and spreads his cloud on it.

Job 26:10 He has described a boundary on the surface of the waters, and to the confines of light and darkness.

Job 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke.

Job 26:12 He stirs up the sea with his power, and by his understanding he strikes through Rahab.

Job 26:13 By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent.

Job 26:14 Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. How small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?"

Aug. 23

Job 27-29

Job 27:1 Job again took up his parable, and said,

Job 27:2 "As God lives, who has taken away my right, the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter.

Job 27:3 (For the length of my life is still in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils);

Job 27:4 surely my lips shall not speak unrighteousness, neither shall my tongue utter deceit.

Job 27:5 Far be it from me that I should justify you. Until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

Job 27:6 I hold fast to my righteousness, and will not let it go. My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

Job 27:7 "Let my enemy be as the wicked. Let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.

Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

Job 27:9 Will God hear his cry when trouble comes on him?

Job 27:10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty, and call on God at all times?

Job 27:11 I will teach you about the hand of God. That which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

Job 27:12 Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?

Job 27:13 "This is the portion of a wicked man with God, the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty.

Job 27:14 If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword. His offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

Job 27:15 Those who remain of him shall be buried in death. His widows shall make no lamentation.

Job 27:16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay;

Job 27:17 he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

Job 27:18 He builds his house as the moth, as a booth which the watchman makes.

Job 27:19 He lies down rich, but he shall not do so again. He opens his eyes, and he is not.

Job 27:20 Terrors overtake him like waters. A storm steals him away in the night.

Job 27:21 The east wind carries him away, and he departs. It sweeps him out of his place.

Job 27:22 For it hurls at him, and does not spare, as he flees away from his hand.

Job 27:23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

Job 28:1 "Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.

Job 28:2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.

Job 28:3 Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.

Job 28:4 He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.

Job 28:5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread; Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.

Job 28:6 Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.

Job 28:7 That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon's eye seen it.

Job 28:8 The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by there.

Job 28:9 He puts forth his hand on the flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots.

Job 28:10 He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing.

Job 28:11 He binds the streams that they don't trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings forth to light.

Job 28:12 "But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:13 Man doesn't know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.

Job 28:14 The deep says, 'It isn't in me.' The sea says, 'It isn't with me.'

Job 28:15 It can't be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price.

Job 28:16 It can't be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

Job 28:17 Gold and glass can't equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

Job 28:18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.

Job 28:19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

Job 28:20 Whence then comes wisdom? Where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:21 Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.

Job 28:22 Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'

Job 28:23 "God understands its way, and he knows its place.

Job 28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky.

Job 28:25 He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.

Job 28:26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder;

Job 28:27 then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out.

Job 28:28 To man he said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.' "

Job 29:1 Job again took up his parable, and said,

Job 29:2 "Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me;

Job 29:3 when his lamp shone on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,

Job 29:4 as I was in the ripeness of my days, when the friendship of God was in my tent,

Job 29:5 when the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were around me,

Job 29:6 when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me,

Job 29:7 when I went forth to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street.

Job 29:8 The young men saw me and hid themselves. The aged rose up and stood.

Job 29:9 The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

Job 29:10 The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

Job 29:11 For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me:

Job 29:12 Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had none to help him,

Job 29:13 the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

Job 29:15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.

Job 29:16 I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I didn't know, I searched out.

Job 29:17 I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, and plucked the prey out of his teeth.

Job 29:18 Then I said, 'I shall die in my own house, I shall number my days as the sand.

Job 29:19 My root is spread out to the waters. The dew lies all night on my branch.

Job 29:20 My glory is fresh in me. My bow is renewed in my hand.'

Job 29:21 "Men listened to me, waited, and kept silence for my counsel.

Job 29:22 After my words they didn't speak again. My speech fell on them.

Job 29:23 They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.

Job 29:24 I smiled on them when they had no confidence. They didn't reject the light of my face.

Job 29:25 I chose out their way, and sat as chief. I lived as a king in the army, as one who comforts the mourners.

 

Aug. 21

Romans 2

Rom 2:1 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.

Rom 2:2 We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.

Rom 2:3 Do you think this, O man who judges those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?

Rom 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Rom 2:5 But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;

Rom 2:6 who "will pay back to everyone according to their works:"

Rom 2:7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life;

Rom 2:8 but to those who are self-seeking, and don't obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation,

Rom 2:9 oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who works evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Rom 2:10 But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Rom 2:11 For there is no partiality with God.

Rom 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Rom 2:13 For it isn't the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified

Rom 2:14 (for when Gentiles who don't have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves,

Rom 2:15 in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them)

Rom 2:16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.

Rom 2:17 Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God,

Rom 2:18 and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

Rom 2:19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

Rom 2:20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth.

Rom 2:21 You therefore who teach another, don't you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn't steal, do you steal?

Rom 2:22 You who say a man shouldn't commit adultery. Do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

Rom 2:23 You who glory in the law, through your disobedience of the law do you dishonor God?

Rom 2:24 For "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," just as it is written.

Rom 2:25 For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

Rom 2:26 If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won't his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?

Rom 2:27 Won't the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law?

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;

Rom 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.

Aug. 22

Romans 3

Rom 3:1 Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision?

Rom 3:2 Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God.

Rom 3:3 For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God?

Rom 3:4 May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, "That you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment."

Rom 3:5 But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do.

Rom 3:6 May it never be! For then how will God judge the world?

Rom 3:7 For if the truth of God through my lie abounded to his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

Rom 3:8 Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), "Let us do evil, that good may come?" Those who say so are justly condemned.

Rom 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin.

Rom 3:10 As it is written, "There is no one righteous; no, not one.

Rom 3:11 There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God.

Rom 3:12 They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not, so much as one."

Rom 3:13 "Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit." "The poison of vipers is under their lips;"

Rom 3:14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."

Rom 3:15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood.

Rom 3:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways.

Rom 3:17 The way of peace, they haven't known."

Rom 3:18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Rom 3:19 Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.

Rom 3:20 Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

Rom 3:21 But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets;

Rom 3:22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction,

Rom 3:23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;

Rom 3:24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;

Rom 3:25 whom God set forth to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God's forbearance;

Rom 3:26 to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.

Rom 3:27 Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what manner of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

Rom 3:28 We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

Rom 3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn't he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

Rom 3:30 since indeed there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith.

Rom 3:31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.

Aug. 23

Romans 4

Rom 4:1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, has found according to the flesh?

Rom 4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God.

Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."

Rom 4:4 Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as debt.

Rom 4:5 But to him who doesn't work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

Rom 4:6 Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works,

Rom 4:7 "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

Rom 4:8 Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin.

Rom 4:9 Is this blessing then pronounced on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.

Rom 4:10 How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

Rom 4:11 He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them.

Rom 4:12 The father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision.

Rom 4:13 For the promise to Abraham and to his seed that he should be heir of the world wasn't through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Rom 4:14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect.

Rom 4:15 For the law works wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience.

Rom 4:16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

Rom 4:17 As it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations." This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were.

Rom 4:18 Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, "So will your seed be."

Rom 4:19 Without being weakened in faith, he didn't consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb.

Rom 4:20 Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn't waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God,

Rom 4:21 and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Rom 4:22 Therefore it also was "reckoned to him for righteousness."

Rom 4:23 Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone,

Rom 4:24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead,

Rom 4:25 who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.