August 29, 2022

"DISCIPLINES FOR THE DISCIPLE" The Discipline Of Teaching by Mark Copeland

https://executableoutlines.com/topical_series/disciplines-for-disciple/disc_08.html

"DISCIPLINES FOR THE DISCIPLE"

The Discipline Of Teaching

INTRODUCTION

Reviewing once more what we have covered in this series...

Prayer - especially the value of secret, simple, and steadfast prayer
Meditation - contemplating God, His works, His words, and things worthy of virtue
Fasting - a means of humbling one's self before God when joined with sincere prayer
Singing - which edifies the singer as well as praises God
Fellowship - communing with other Christians as we engage in spiritual activities
Giving - sharing sacrificially of money, time, and ability as God's grace allows

If a person spends much time exercising themselves in such spiritual disciplines...

They will undoubtedly grow in grace and knowledge as disciples of Christ
They will likely be able to share the benefits of such growth with others

That naturally leads us to the discipline of teaching...

Another spiritual exercise that can help us become more like Christ
For certainly He was the Master Teacher, who taught in public and private

[In discussing teaching as a spiritual discipline, let's first make an observation or two about...]

THE DUTY OF TEACHING

NOT ALL ARE TEACHERS...

There is the gift of teaching - Ro 12:3-8

Not every member has the same function in the body of Christ
Some are gifted by ability and opportunity to be teachers

Not everyone is a teacher - 1Co 12:28-31

Just as not everyone is an apostle
Though we should strive to become the best we can be in Christ

There is danger in becoming a teacher - Jm 3:1-2

There is stricter judgment for teachers
Which is why not many should become teachers

-- This pertains to teaching in a formal sense - cf. Ep 4:11-12

BUT ALL SHOULD TEACH...

Preachers should teach others - 2Ti 2:2

Not just when evangelizing
But also when training disciples

Elders should teach the flock - 1Ti 3:2; Tit 1:9

Inherit in their duty as pastors to feed the flock
Sufficiently conversant in the Word to guard against error

Teachers who have the gift of teaching - Ro 12:6-7

Not just teachers of adult classes
But those with the ability to teach children!

Parents are to teach their children - Ep 6:4; 2Ti 1:5; 3:15

Fathers bringing them up in the training and admonition of the Lord
Mothers and grandmothers doing the same as Eunice and Lois did for Timothy

Older women should teach (KJV) the younger women - Tit 2:3-5

To train and admonish younger women as wives and mothers
Which can be done informally as well as formally

Everyone should teach others concerning their hope - 1Pe 3:15

We are to have a hope that is visible
We are to be able to provide a reason for that hope

-- Informally at least, everyone should be able to teach - cf. He 5:12

[Teaching in one way or another is incumbent on us all. That we might desire to teach, consider...]

THE DELIGHT OF TEACHING

THE FRUIT BORN IN OURSELVES...

William Glasser (psychologist) said that we learn:

10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we discuss with others
80% of what we experience personally
95% of what we teach others

Thus we benefit...

Not just by the study required to teach
But by the actual process of teaching to others!

The blessedness of teaching comes from:

First, meditating on God's Word - cf. Ps 1:1-3
Second, doing God's Word - cf. Jn 13:17; Jm 1:25
Finally, teaching itself, especially when we see the fruit that comes (see next)

-- Who benefits most from teaching? The teacher!

THE FRUIT BORN IN OTHERS...

Note the great joy experienced by John - 3Jn 3-4

He had heard of those he taught walking in truth
Hearing that was his greatest joy

Note the joy and comfort experienced by the aged Paul - Phm 4-7

He heard of Philemon's love and faith
Which refreshed his heart and the hearts of others

Note the hope, joy, and crown of rejoicing - 1Th 1:3; 2:19

He remembered their faith, love and hope
It gave him great anticipation regarding the Lord's coming

Thus there is great joy from seeing the fruit of our teaching

Seeing people respond to the gospel in faith, repentance, and baptism!
Seeing people grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ!

-- Many will never experience such joy because they do not teach!

[Finally, some thoughts on developing...]

THE DISCIPLINE OF TEACHING

FIRST, BECOME A STUDENT...

Notice the example of Ezra, the young priest - Ezr 7:6,10

He was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses
He began by preparing his heart to seek God's Word

Remain a student

A good teacher never stops learning
Just as Paul never stopped striving for perfection - Php 3:13-15

-- Are we truly students of the Word?

SECOND, BECOME A DOER...

Again, notice the example of Ezra - Ezr 7:10

He prepared his heart not only to seek God's Word
But also to do God's Word!

Practice what we teach

Otherwise we are simply hypocrites like the Pharisees - Mt 23:2-3
Our example will reinforce the validity of what we teach

-- Are we putting into practice God's Word?

THIRD, BECOME A TEACHER...

The example of Ezra - Ezr 7:10,11,25; Neh 8:1-9

Having first become a student and a doer of the Word
He became an "expert" and was given the opportunity to teach

When first starting to teach...

Find a mentor, someone whose example you can follow
Be willing to assist, like Timothy did for Paul

-- Whether formally, or informally, are we becoming teachers of God's Word?

CONCLUSION

Spiritual growth begins by learning, it continues by teaching...

The babe in Christ starts on milk - cf. He 5:13
But as one grows in Christ, they are able to handle solid food - cf. He 5:14

As we grow in spiritual maturity...

Do we just keep the blessings of grace and knowledge to ourselves?
Would that not be selfish, a step backward toward spiritual immaturity?

When we grow by exercising ourselves through such disciplines as...

Prayer, meditation, and fasting
Singing, fellowship, and giving

...then let's be sure to take it to the next level: the discipline of teaching! As disciples of Christ, seeking to become more and more like Him, can we do any less...?

Lift up your eyes! What are Biblical Principles for Effective Evangelism? by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/Liftupyoureyes.html

Lift up your eyes!
What are Biblical Principles for Effective Evangelism? What is evangelism?

Although the noun “evangelism” is not found in the Bible, “evangelist” appears three times and has the same root in Greek as “gospel” which means “good news.” Thus, an evangelist is a “gospel preacher.”

The verb form of this Greek word (“evangelize”) is used 53 times, and is correctly translated as “preach the gospel” for which there is also a separate Greek phrase of three words “preach the gospel” which is found 11 times. Thus “evangelism” is gospel preaching. “Preach” means to “proclaim publically,” so evangelism is public proclamation of the gospel.

Benevolent work is not evangelism. Paul did not go to Corinth and set up a soup kitchen to feed the poor. Christians should of course do good works, but that is not evangelism. Evangelism is the preaching of the gospel.

What is effective evangelism?

Gospel preaching is effective when people hear the word of God. “Preach the word” is another phrase found many times in the N.T. in addition to “preach the gospel.”

Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Evangelism is effective when people hear the word.

Notice what happened when Paul preached at Ephesus: “And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:8-10).

Paul taught daily, not just one day each week. We need to find ways to teach daily, for example by conducting Bible studies in the homes of non-Christians. The Internet is another way, since Internet material can be consulted any time of the day or night.

What were the results of Paul’s teaching? All who dwelt in Asia (which we now call Asia Minor) heard the word of the Lord! Did they all become Christians? No, but they heard the word. As Demetrius the silversmith complained, “Throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands” (Acts 19:26). So Demeterius had also heard the message. He did not like it. But he knew what Paul was preaching.

We want people to be saved, but the effectiveness of evangelism does not depend on how many become Christians but on how many hear the word. In the parable of the sower, the seed was broadcast, but only those with “a noble and good heart” bore fruit (Luke 8:15). The response is not our job. That depends on the heart of the hearer and on God who gives the increase. As Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6, 7).

Jesus said, “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors” (John 4:35-38).

Crops do not pop out of the ground and bear fruit the moment seeds are planted! We may not get discouraged when there is little immediate response. Our job is to let everyone hear the gospel.

Jesus tells us, “Lift up your eyes!” Are we preaching the gospel to people who live close to our meeting place? That is good. But we need to lift up our eyes! Are we preaching to the whole city? That is better.

In 1964 an evangelistic campaign was held in The Hague. Former missionary, Bill Richardson, came from the U.S. to preach every night for two weeks. During the week before the meeting and during the two weeks, workers from all congregations in Holland plus two brethren from Belgium made about 9000 door-
to-door visits inviting people to attend. Two-hundred thousand folders were distributed. A three-
week series of newspaper ads was run in the city’s three major newspapers. Large posters were placed throughout the city and large banners were placed at strategic locations.

The first evening 44 were present including 26 visitors. Attendance built up until it reached a high of 60 on the last night. Many visitors returned night after night. About 100 different visitors attended and 50 were enrolled in a Bible correspondence course. Eleven were baptized and two placed membership¹. The congregation, that had 13 members before the campaign, doubled in size.

This is a good example of preaching to a whole city. But if our eyes see only our own city, we are still not looking high enough. Are we preaching to the whole country? That is better.

How can this be done? Going is required. Jesus and his disciples went from village to village preaching the word. In our time mass media are available for sowing the seed, but going is still required to do essential in-depth study with those who respond.

In a men’s meeting at Roeselare, Belgium in 1970 we discussed how we could preach the gospel to all of Flanders. At that time there were two chains of advertising papers that were placed free of charge in every mailbox in Flanders. To advertise a Bible correspondence course, we decided to place a want-ad each month in one and a quarter million papers that went into every home in Flanders. With outside financial help, we placed the ad every week for several months.

For follow-up we agreed that since I worked full time and could drive longer distances, I would take care of visiting people who responded in distant places and other brethren would study with people closer. From those ads I was able to set up home Bible studies almost every night of the week, sometimes driving from two to four hours each way. New congregations in Antwerp and Boortmeerbeek resulted from newspaper ads.

Each summer for five years, about two-hundred thousand enrolment cards for a Bible correspondence course were distributed door-to-door throughout Flanders by groups of students who came from Canada. The congregation in Hasselt resulted from card distribution.

Although mass media gets the message to many people, personal acquaintance is always the best source of contacts. Hans and Ans van Erp first learned about the church from friends in Germany who had recently become Christians. Hans and Ans contacted Jim Krumrei and attended some gospel meetings in Amsterdam. Because we lived closer (at Wellen, Belgium), Jim introduced them to us and we started studying the Scriptures together. They were baptized in November of 1976 and started worshiping in their home at Asten. They taught the gospel to their neighbor, and in time they formed the core of a new congregation at Eindhoven.

When it had been several years since ads had been placed in all of Flanders, and since I did not have funds to do it myself, I asked various congregations in Flanders if they would help bear the expense. Want-ads were placed again in one and a quarter million homes throughout Flanders, once in October of 1978 and three times in January of 1979. Three people were baptized who responded to those ads, including Willy de Groote.

But is the whole country enough? Are we preaching the gospel to the whole world? Now, we have lifted our eyes high enough! That is what Jesus tells us to do! Preach to everyone in the whole world!

Impossible? Not with God’s help! We need to think of ways to do our share. Some need to go and others need to send. Each person and each congregation must help according to ability.

Now with the European Union we can preach to 500 million people in countries, many of which were closed to evangelism just a few years ago! People can go as missionaries. Groups can go to help small congregations in other countries conduct evangelistic campaigns.

Ghanaian Christians who have emigrated have formed new congregations and have joined existing congregations in many countries.

Internet teaching goes to all the world. I preach each month to less than 100 people, divided into four small congregations in Belgium and Holland. I prepare my lessons, however, with the same care as though I were preaching to 20,000 people, the number who read or listen to my sermons on the Internet each year. Each day about 1000 people from all parts of the world read lessons by various brethren in the Old Paths Archive. I publish websites in English, Dutch, French, German and Russian. All together, they get about a million visits each year. This is a very small part of what is being done. Thousands of Christians and churches of Christ are using the Internet to preach the gospel to the whole world!

These are just a few examples to help us lift up our eyes. Evangelism is effective when we preach the word to our neighborhood, our city, our country and to the whole world. God will give the increase.

What Biblical principles apply to evangelism?

We can learn by examining how Jesus and His apostles preached in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts. In this lesson only a few points can be mentioned.

We must preach the word (2 Timothy 4:2).

The true gospel of Christ must be preached, not a perverted gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Savior of the world. He died for our sins and rose from the dead. There is salvation in no other name (Acts 4:10-12). We preach “Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2), God’s gift of grace for the salvation of mankind.

We must please God not man.

Paul said, “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4). God has told us to preach. He is the one we must please, not man. We must tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:32). A call to repentance involves the condemnation of sin, and most people do not like to have their sins condemned! When Paul “reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you’” (Acts 24:25).

Clear preaching makes many people angry. At Lystra they praised Barnabas and Paul when they thought they were their own gods, but after Paul told them, we “preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God” (Acts 14:15) they stoned him and left him for dead.

Most people have a wrong idea about how one can be saved. So, in addition to faith, we need to emphasize repentance, confession and baptism.

Most people think they have been baptized, when they have not been baptized. Thus the nature and purpose of Biblical baptism must be emphasized.

Most people worship in vain “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9), so we must emphasize Scriptural worship.

Most people have a wrong idea about the church. They think they may belong to a denomination. Thus, the evils of denominationalism and the identity of the Lord’s church must be emphasized. This will make people angry, but God will be glorified, and those who love the truth will be saved.

Although our preaching is addressed to everyone, it is designed for the few truth seekers who want to please God and are willing to repent.

A want-ad that received much response in Flanders said, “Being a Christian means to follow Christ, not to be bound to a human church organization. Request 8 lessons by correspondence.” (In your advertising, by the way, it is good to offer something people can request, such as a tract or a course, so you can get the names and addresses of people who are interested.)

We must adjust ourselves to those we teach.

Paul said, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Paul adjusted himself culturally to his hearers. Of course he does not mean that we should compromise with cultural evils. But if things in our own culture form a barrier to preaching, we should give them up. And if adopting certain aspects of the culture of our hearers will help them accept the message, we should do so.

Yet we must understand that the gospel, by its very nature, will cause culture-based opposition. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:21-24).

We need to learn languages.

Since we must preach to everyone in the whole world, we must learn languages. If we have immigrated from another country, we need to learn the local language so we can teach our neighbors. If we go to another country as a missionary, we need to learn the language.

That being said, in the same way that Greek was widely known in N.T. times and could be used to spread the gospel throughout the Roman Empire, English is widely known today and can be used to spread the gospel throughout the world. But that is no excuse for not learning local languages!

We must teach faithful men who can teach others.

Paul told Timothy, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

The spread of the gospel in Ghana is a wonderful example of this.

Missionaries from Nigeria visited Ghana around 1957. John Gaidoo took a correspondence course and became a Christian. He started teaching others and went to Nigeria for Bible study. Traveling and working at his own expense, he baptized fifty-five people and established three congregations before his death in 1961.

In August of 1961 two missionaries went to Ghana, Jerry Reynolds and Dewayne Davenport. When they left in 1964, just three years later, fifteen congregations had been established. Samuel Obeng, who translated for them, became a Christian and began preaching the gospel. At Kumasi the Ghana Bible College was established to train men to preach. At least four other schools have been established since. Ghanaian preachers have taken the word to the whole country. World Bible School correspondence courses have contributed to growth. By 1984 the church of Christ was the fastest growing religious group in Ghana. Now there are more than 300 preachers and 2000 congregations. Total membership exceeds 100,000. There is a church of Christ in most villages.

The Nsawam Road church in Accra, with 1200 members, has established more than 40 congregations in the last 20 years and has sent missionaries to Mali, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Senegal and Togo. I had the privilege of presenting five lectures there in 1988.

We must pray.

We need God’s help. We are weak. He is all-powerful. Jesus tells us: “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2)².

What have we learned?

Evangelism is gospel preaching. It is effective when everyone hears the word. We must preach daily. We must lift up our eyes and preach to our neighbors, our city, our country and the whole world. We must preach the word, calling people to repentance so they can be saved by the grace of God. Our aim must be to please God, not man. We can learn how to preach from the N.T. We must adjust ourselves to those we teach, including learning their language. We must teach faithful men who can teach others. And we must pray. Amen.

Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Footnotes:

¹ Dutch evangelist Henk Rog was one of those baptized.

² Paul asked the brethren: Pray “for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19).

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

“Let us walk in the light of the LORD” Isaiah 2:5 by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/lampuk.html

“Let us walk in the light of the LORD”
Isaiah 2:5

What if you had to find your way alone in a dark forest at night without any light? What would you think of someone who had a light, but failed to use it? In the spiritual realm that is what most people do.

We need the light of God’s word.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my pathway” (Psalm 119:105 ISV).

Deep darkness covered the earth until God said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). The Creator of physical light is also the source of spiritual light. “Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me” (Psalm 43:3).

We need the light of God’s word to guide our steps along a safe path in a dark and dangerous world. Without this light we cannot find the good way.

Jesus, the Word of God (John 1:14), is “the true light, who gives light to everyone” (John 1:9 NET). He said: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Millions walk in spiritual darkness.

It is sad that most people make no use of this “light of life.” They are like people driving their car at night without turning the headlights on.

And what about someone who goes into a forest at night, takes a light, but without batteries? These are people who have a Bible, but never read it. Of what value is a lamp without oil or a pocket light without batteries?

For a long walk, we need spare batteries!

Jesus told about ten virgins who took their lamps to meet the bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13). Five were wise. They had extra oil. Five were foolish. They had oil in their lamps, but no reserves. As the bridegroom approached, their lamps started flickering out. These people have some light from God’s word but not enough.

The light of life must enlighten our heart.

The word of God must dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16).

Before the word can reside in our heart it must enter our mind through our eyes and ears. We do not have a slot for a Bible memory card on the top of our head. To have God’s word in our heart we must listen to the word being preached, participate in Bible studies, and read the Scriptures. Human memory must be refreshed and strengthened by repetition.

We must know what the Bible says, but that is not sufficient. We must also understand the word of God. His word must enlighten the eyes of our understanding (Ephesians 1:17, 18).

We must walk in the light (1 John 1:6, 7).

This spiritual enlightenment must guide our lives: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:16, 17).

When we walk in the light we do everything “in the name of the Lord” which means “under His authority.”

Some people misuse this passage. They think they can do whatever they want as long as they say they are doing it in the name of the Lord! But Jesus warned: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

To be done in the name of the Lord, our words and deeds must be based on the word of God! That is why His word must dwell in us richly, so we can know what to do and what to say! Only then can we walk in the light and do all in the name of the Lord.

To walk in the light, we need a good supply of extra oil! God’s word must dwell in us richly and that word must guide our lives.

“We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).

By heeding this word, we follow Christ “the Bright and Morning Star” (Revelation 22:16). He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). We follow His example “by patient continuance in doing good” (Romans 2:7).

When we walk in the light we follow God’s pattern for our lives. Paul charged Timothy: “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me” (2 Timothy 1:13).

A pattern is a binding example. What happens if a pattern is not followed carefully? If someone cuts out a dress haphazardly, without closely following the pattern, it will not be a presentable dress.

In explaining salvation by grace to the saints at Rome, Paul said: “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered” (Romans 6:17).

The word translated “form” has the basic meaning of “mould” and refers to the prescribed form or pattern of something.

Thus, God has subjected us to a prescribed form of doctrine that we must gladly obey.

To walk in the light we must follow God’s pattern for our lives. The light does not follow us, we must follow the light. We must walk in the light!

We must avoid darkness.

To walk in the light we must refrain from walking where there is no light! What if we leave the well-lit pathway and wander off in the dark?

To walk in the light we must enter the small gate and stay on the narrow path: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13, 14 NASB).

Avoiding darkness involves the daily choices of our lives. It is not stepping into the darkness of sinful ways, being careful what we allow our eyes to see, what TV shows we watch, what websites we visit, what books we read, what words we speak, what thoughts we nourish. Such choices determine whether we are walking in the light where God is or in the darkness where Satan is.

Avoiding darkness also requires the avoidance of religious practices that God has not prescribed.

Paul wanted the Corinthians to learn “not to go beyond what is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6 NET). “Any one who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God” (2 John 9 RSV). In Isaiah 8:20 we read: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Peter commanded: “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11).

What we do and say, both religiously and in our daily lives, must be based on the word of God. Otherwise we are walking where the light is not shining.

The blind cannot see the light.

Light has no value for someone who is blind. He cannot recognize light and he does not benefit from light.

This also applies to the spiritually blind. Jesus said of the hypocritical religious leaders of His time: “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14).

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (words of Jesus in Matthew 6:22, 23).

Rather than having the eyes of their understanding enlightened (Ephesians 1:18), the spiritually blind have “their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:17, 18).

Spiritual blindness can result from hatred. John warns: “But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:11). Eyes that lack love are blind to the light of God’s word.

Spiritual blindness can result from rebelliousness. Ezekiel was told: “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 12:2).

The eyes of the rebellious are blind to the light of God’s word. Rebellious people do not want to submit to the authority of God.

Rebellion is a fundamental cause of the apostasy of Christendom. Denominations are rebellious. They walk in darkness because they do not submit to God’s word. They do many things that are not prescribed in the New Testament - even things that are specifically forbidden, and they neglect to do what is prescribed. They just do what they want to do, or follow their own traditions.

People who do not want to practice the truth shun the light: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (John 3:19-21).

They who are spiritually blind because of hatred, rebelliousness, or rejection of the truth cannot see the light.

What have we learned?

We need the light of God’s word. His word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. Millions walk in spiritual darkness. The light of life must enlighten our heart. To walk in the light, we must know the Scriptures, understand the word, and do the will of God. We follow Jesus Christ, the light of the world. We do not walk where there is no light. The spiritually blind cannot see the light.

They who walk in the light have fellowship with God.

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).

“Let us walk in the light of the Lord!” (Isaiah 2:5). Amen.

Roy Davison

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

The Lord your God is testing you by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/test.html

The Lord your God is testing you

“The LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 13:3).

Our life is a testing-ground for eternity. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

We need to examine ourselves.

In preparation for a test, students review their work and check their knowledge. We must examine ourselves to see whether we are meeting God’s expectations. “Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD” (Lamentations 3:40). “Let each one examine his own work” (Galatians 6:4). “Let a man examine himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28). “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.¹ Test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

To effectively examine ourselves, it is helpful to know how God has tested mankind through the ages so we can understand how He is testing us now.

God tests everyone, including the righteous.

“His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous” (Psalm 11:4, 5).

Belshazzar, king of Babylon, was terrified when he saw the handwriting on the wall: “Mene, mene, tekel, uphasin.” Daniel explained that “tekel” meant, “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting” (see Daniel 5:25-28).

The most severe tests in the Bible were experienced by men of faith. Abraham was asked to offer his son;² Job lost his children, lost his possessions, and his body was covered “with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head”;³ Joseph⁴ was sold into slavery by his own brothers and was imprisoned unjustly because of his integrity; Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den for faithfully praying to God.

These servants of God were strengthened by the trials they endured, and became examples of faith for others to follow down through the ages.

God tests our hearts and minds.

“The righteous God tests the hearts and minds” (Psalm 7:9). “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the hearts” (Proverbs 17:3).⁵

God explains: “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10).

God tests our faith and love.

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (James 1:2, 3 NASB). When we remain faithful in spite of “various trials” it proves “the genuineness” of our faith (1 Peter 1:6, 7).

“The LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 13:3).

Faith and love are tested by obedience.

Abraham was tested to know whether he feared God. “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham” (Genesis 22:1). After Abraham showed his willingness to offer Isaac, God said: “Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Genesis 22:12).

God gave the Sabbath command to test Israel. They were to gather manna on six days, but not on the seventh, “that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not” (Exodus 16:4).

Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

Faith and love are tested by hardship.

Israel was tested in the wilderness: “You shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:2, 3).⁶

Going through the Red Sea prefigured our baptism (1 Corinthians 10:1, 2). Entering the promised land prefigured our final rest (Hebrews 4:8-11). God tests us during our wanderings through the wilderness of this life.

God sometimes withdraws to test us.

Hezekiah, one of the most faithful kings of Judah, was tested in this way: “God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart” (2 Chronicles 32:31).

Do you sometimes feel that God has forsaken you? He may be testing your faith and love. Remember that Jesus also felt forsaken by God when He was hanging on the cross for you (Matthew 27:46).

The Messiah refines His people by fire.

Referring to the promised Christ, God warned: “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap.⁷ He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver” (Malachi 3:2, 3).⁸

Metals are purged and refined by fire to remove impurities. Silver melts at 962°C. Gold melts at 1064°C.

When I was thirteen our class visited the Kaiser Steel Mill at Fontana, California. I vividly remember the white-hot liquid metal flowing from the bottom of the blast furnace into moulds. Huge hammers pounded large, red-hot ingots into glowing flat slabs of steel that were then rolled under great pressure into sheets. Heat and pressure are required to produce steel sheeting from iron ore.

Heat and pressure of a different kind refine the people of God. “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10).

Jesus himself “learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8) and His followers share in His suffering. “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12, 13).

Jesus comforted the believers at Smyrna: “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

The fruitfulness of our faith is tested.

Jesus said: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1, 2).

Notice that all branches are cut. The fruitless are chopped off, the fruitful are pruned.

Our work will be tested by fire.

Paul writes: “I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is” (1 Corinthians 3:10-13).

This does not refer to our own salvation⁹ but to God’s testing those we teach. How we preach and worship can influence the type of people we attract and whether we build with straw or with precious stones.

Apostate churches use worldly means to entice people, such as imposing buildings, pageantry with colorful costumes, and instrumental music.

Some congregations build with straw by using worldly attractions to entice people, for example, with what they call a “contemporary service” with loud instrumental music. One young woman, who had attended such a service at what once had been a church of Christ, said, “It was great! We were up dancing¹⁰ on the tables!”

Some use worldly allurements to attract people in the hope that eventually their attention might be redirected to spiritual things. But how spiritual is this approach? Can we picture Paul and Barnabas playing “Christian rock” to draw a crowd?

Jesus said: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32). Paul declared: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

They who resort to worldly attractions lack faith in the drawing power of Christ and the gospel!

Entertainment attracts straw. Gold, silver and precious stones are harder to find, but they can withstand the fire. Hearts of gold are won when we exalt Christ and give them what they cannot find elsewhere, the undiluted and unadulterated doctrine of Christ.

False religions test us.

God allowed the surrounding heathen nations to test Israel: “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not” (Judges 2:20-22).

In our time God allows denominations with their confusing, contradictory and unscriptural doctrines and practices to test our faith and love. Will we serve God simply as Christians, members of the one body, the church of Christ?¹¹ Or do we prefer a denomination of human origin?

Miracles of false teachers test us.

To test people, God sometimes allows false teachers to perform wonders: “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’ - which you have not known - ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him” (Deuteronomy 13:1-4).

People are tested now the same way. Jesus warned: “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Mark 13:22).¹²

Certain denominations use apparitions, wonders and signs to lead people astray. Two examples:

In 1858 a girl of 14 in Lourdes, France claimed that Mary had appeared to her in a cave. Since then this has been used to encourage people to worship an image, which is contrary to God’s word (Exodus 20:4; 1 Corinthians 10:14).

There are people who claim to speak in tongues, yet women lead in their assemblies, something forbidden by God (1 Corinthians 14:34, 37).

By signs and wonders people are tested to see whether they want to obey God’s word or follow their own feelings and emotions.

We are tested by division.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “First of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you” (1 Corinthians 11:18, 19).

Jesus prayed for unity (John 17:20-23) but not for unity at the expense of truth. He prayed for unity based on God’s word (John 17:14, 17). When division comes - caused by people who depart from the truth - this “parting of the ways” purges and purifies the church. The unfaithful are chopped off, the faithful are pruned, and those who are approved can be recognized.

What have we learned?

“The LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 13:3).

We need to examine ourselves. God tests the hearts and minds of the righteous. He tests our faith and love by means of obedience and hardship. He sometimes withdraws to test us. The Messiah refines His people by fire. The fruitfulness of our faith and the quality of our work are tested. False religions, lying wonders and division test our respect for God’s word.

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God” (2 Timothy 2:15). Amen.

Roy Davison

Endnotes

¹ To be “in the faith” is much more than merely believing that God exists. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6, 7). We are “in the faith” if we serve God according to the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 4).

² “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (Hebrews 11:17-19).

³ Job 2:7.

⁴ Referring to the trials of Joseph it is said, “The word of the LORD tested him” (Psalm 105:19; see verses 16-21).

⁵ David prayed: “I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness” (1 Chronicles 29:17). “Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my mind and my heart” (Psalm 26:2). Paul wrote: “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4).

⁶ Moses warned Israel not to forsake the Lord, “who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end” (Deuteronomy 8:15, 16).

⁷ Or “the lye soap of the fuller” referring to the cleansing and whitening of wool in preparation for cloth making.

⁸ “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones. And it shall come to pass in all the land,” says the LORD, “that two- thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God’” (Zechariah 13:7-9).

⁹ “If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:14, 15).

¹⁰ This was said several years ago. Recently, on February 27 & 28, 2015, this congregation held “Daddy Daughter” dances costing $25 per dad and $5 per daughter (ages 4 through 12). “Come for dancing, dinner, dessert, carriage ride, photo booth, and crafts!” (downloaded on February 28, 2015 from http://www.thehills.org).

¹¹ The church is the body of Christ (Colossians 1:24) and there is only “one body” (Ephesians 4:4).

¹² Paul explained: “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10).

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers, unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

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

The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin! 1 John 1:5 -- 2:1 by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/blood.html

The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin!
1 John 1:5 -- 2:1

“If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

To understand this verse, we must know what sin is, what its consequences are, how the blood of Christ can cleanse us from sin, and what it means to walk in the light.

What is sin?

Sin is a thought, attitude, action or inaction contrary to the will of God. “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Such statements are not popular! Most people tend to think that sin is actually not all that bad, especially their own sin!

How often is the word “sin” found in magazines and newspapers? The bad consequences of sin are described in great detail, but (except in churches) sin is almost never acknowledged as a cause of human suffering. Sin has to do with one’s responsibility to God, and people prefer not to think about that.

A man went to church alone because his wife was ill. When he came home, she asked: “What did the preacher talk about today?” “Sin,” he replied. “And, what did he say about it?” “Well, he was against it!”

Although there is a conspiracy of silence in the press about sin, God has much to say about sin. When we study the Scriptures we discover how sinful we are!

Jesus teaches us to look at the inner causes of sin: “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:20-23).

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus emphasized that external sins begin with internal sins, for example, when He said: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).

In a popular song in the fifties there was a line, “You can’t go to jail for what you’re thinking.” On hearing the song my father commented, “But you can go to hell for what you’re thinking!”

In the New Testament there are several lists of sins that show us how sinful we are.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like” (Galatians 5:19-21).

“Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful” (Romans 1:29-31).

“For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2-4).

“If you show partiality, you commit sin” (James 2:9). This means that looking down on poor people, racism, and all forms of prejudice and discrimination are sin, including favoritism, cronyism, tribalism, and blind patriotism.

And what about sins of neglect? “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). There are so many good things that we ought to do that we fail to do!

Even our good deeds are tainted by our sins: “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).

Even those who sincerely want to do what is right, fall far short in actual practice, as Paul says: “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do” (Romans 7:15).

The Bible is a spiritual mirror that shows us our sins (James 1:23, 24).

What are the consequences of sin?

“The righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5) requires the death penalty for sin. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). After listing a series of sins, Paul says that “the righteous judgment of God” is “that those who practice such things are deserving of death” (Romans 1:32).

In addition to bringing dishonor to God, our sin causes immeasurable pain, heartache and suffering to others. Only God knows how much harm is done by our sins and “each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

Jesus warns us about eternal punishment in hell as the ultimate consequence of sin: “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire - where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched’” (Mark 9:47, 48).

God provides salvation through the blood of Christ.

When we realize how sinful man is, and how destructive sin is, we could easily conclude that there is no hope for mankind.

But there is hope because God, in His great love and mercy, has provided the blood of Christ as the means of salvation. God is willing to forgive: “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land’” (Isaiah 1:18, 19).

Water and many other solvents are used to wash away physical dirt, but only the blood of Christ can cleanse us from sin.

Many people do not understand how blood can take away sins. Briefly stated: Since death is the just penalty for sin, the only way God can preserve His righteousness when He forgives sin is if someone else, who is without sin, bears this punishment in the place of the one forgiven (see Romans 3:24-26).

Thus, God has given blood as the means of atonement by which sins are forgiven. In Leviticus 17:11 He explains: “The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” Atonement is satisfaction for an offense, resulting in the restoration of a broken relationship.

“According to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

Under the Old Covenant there was atonement through the blood of sacrificial animals. This prefigured the blood of Christ, who would bring the ultimate sacrifice for sin. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).

High priests in the Old Testament offered the blood of animals. Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, gave His own life as a sacrifice for sin: “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. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:12-14).

Christ could pay the penalty for our sin because He was without sin. Since He was not under the same condemnation, He could voluntarily take our place, He “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).

Thus God’s grace is granted through the blood of Christ. We are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:24, 25). “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

The blood of Christ is the blood of the New Covenant.

Jesus said something that was hard for His hearers to comprehend: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:54).

This mystery was unveiled when Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins’” (Matthew 26:26-28).

The blood of Christ shows God’s love.

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:8, 9). Jesus “loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5).

God proves His love by the high price He was willing to pay for our salvation. “Conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:17-19).

As John the Baptist testified of Jesus: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Cleansing by the blood of Christ is offered to all.

The Old Covenant was given to the people of Israel. The New Covenant is for the whole world. To non-Jewish Christians Paul wrote: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).

The blood of Christ is for everyone: “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation’” (Revelation 5:9).

The blood of Christ enables us to stand before God’s throne in white.

“Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?’ And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’” (Revelation 7:13, 14).

Now we can better understand John’s statement: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

How do we walk in the light?

“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Through the blood of Christ, God has freed us from the power of darkness so we can walk in the light: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13, 14).

We begin our walk “in the light of the gospel” (2 Corinthians 4:4) when we believe in Jesus (Mark 16:16), repent of our sins (Luke 24:47), confess our faith in Christ (Romans 10:10) and are baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). We then rise from baptism to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). We strive not to sin, but when we fall short “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

Thus, to walk in the light does not mean “that we have no sin” (1 John 1:8) because then a continual cleansing by the blood of Christ would not be necessary. It does mean, however, that we are not walking in darkness!

We walk in the light by following Christ day after day and by coming together on the first day of the week to commune with the body and blood of Christ at the Lord’s table.

Let us walk in the light!

“If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Amen.

Roy Davison

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

How Many Women, Men, and Angels Were at the Tomb of Jesus? by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

https://apologeticspress.org/how-many-were-at-the-tomb-of-jesus/

How Many Women, Men, and Angels Were at the Tomb of Jesus?

Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Alleged Discrepancies

From Issue: R&R – September 2021

In his debate with Michael Horner on “Did Jesus Really Rise From the Dead?” atheist Dan Barker asked:

Who were the women who came to the tomb? Matthew said it was Mary Magdalen and the other Mary. Mark said it was Mary Magdalen, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Luke said it was Mary Magdalen, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women. John said Mary Magdalen….
Who was at the tomb when they arrived? Mark said there was one “young man.”… Luke said there was [sic] two men. Matthew said there was one angel, and John, the last writer, said, there’s two angels. See what’s happening here? See how the myth is growing and getting more exaggerated?¹

Indeed, two of the most frequently cited reasons for questioning (and perhaps rejecting, as in the case of Barker) the four resurrection accounts have to do with the identity and number of women who went to the empty tomb of Jesus, as well as who (and how many) they actually found there.

The Women

Many fail to recognize in their critique of the Bible that additional information is not necessarily contradictory information. Was it essential for the apostle John to mention every woman who came to the tomb of Jesus on the morning of His resurrection, or was he at liberty to mention as few as he wanted (John 20:1)? If Mary Magdalene was at the tomb on that Sunday morning, and John recorded that she was there, without ever denying the presence of others (some of whom were mentioned by Matthew, Mark, and Luke), could his record of the events be truthful? Of course. Differences exist among the Gospel writers’ accounts, but no one has proven that they are discrepant. Just as a person might say, “I went to the ball game with Bill, Bob, and Bubba,” he might also truthfully say, “I went to the game with Bill and Betty.” These statements are not necessarily contradictory. One can easily (and honestly) supplement the other. A person may only mention Bill and Betty in one setting when talking to one group (e.g., at worship where the church knows the married couple), while at another setting when talking to a different group (e.g., at the office where only the men are known), he may truthfully just mention the men. We must keep in mind that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote at different times, to different people, for different reasons.

Consider the scenario where four different newspaper reporters are covering the 2021 NBA finals (between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks). All four writers are from different cities, including Phoenix, Milwaukee, Charleston, South Carolina, and Athens, Greece. Here are the four different headlines from the Bucks’ third win in the series:

From Phoenix: “Timely Team Effort Lifts Bucks Over Suns”
From Milwaukee: “Jrue Holiday’s Big Night on Offense and Defense Leads to W”
From Charleston: “Hometown Hero Kris Middleton Shoots Lights Out in Win”
From Athens: “Greece’s Giannis Leads the Way for Another Bucks Win”

All four reporters focused on different people in their headlines (and stories) for different reasons for their different audiences. Yet, all four reports were truthful. No reasonable person would accuse the writers of contradicting one another. Similarly, no rational, fair-minded individual should assume the Bible writers were errant in their accounts of the events on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection.

Furthermore, if the Bible writers always told every detail of every account the same way (mentioning the same people, places, things, and events exactly alike), the criticism would then be, “They all copied each other’s accounts. They conspired with one another!” When an experienced detective interviews various suspects regarding a crime, and all four suspects have the exact same alibi (down to the smallest details), the detective will be highly suspicious of such “perfect” repetitiveness—wondering if collusion has taken place to cover up a crime.

One of the many marvels of the Gospel accounts is how similar they are so as not to be contradictory, yet how different they are so as not to be guilty of collusion. This perfect balance of various truthful differences is what should be expected by independent truth-tellers, especially those who were inspired by God.

The Number and Nature of Those Already at the Tomb

The Gospel writers also differ in their accounts of who was at the tomb of Jesus when the women arrived. Regarding the number of individuals present, if there were “two” (as Luke and John specify), then there was at least one (on whom Matthew and Mark focus). Matthew and Mark do not say “there was only one,” but they do mention one individual. As with the number of women who came to the tomb, the number of individuals who were already at the tomb is not contradictory but supplementary. If I tell someone, “I have an old car with a lot of miles on it,” and I tell someone else, “I own two old cars you should check out,” I have not contradicted myself. Both statements are factual. Simply because I did not mention both cars in the first conversation is not a denial of owning more than one older car. It’s quite telling how easily skeptics can understand the legitimacy of supplementation not being equivalent to a contradiction in their own everyday-life scenarios, yet not give the Bible writers the same fair treatment.

Still, what about the nature of the individuals at the tomb of Jesus? Were they men or angels? The answer is simply, “They were both.” Lest someone scoff at such an answer, pause for a moment to consider how versatile certain things are (as well as the description of those items). In one setting, a person may refer to his handheld device as a “phone,” and in another setting, his “flashlight.” He may take out this device at a meeting to check his “calendar,” while later on that night he uses it as an “alarm clock.” (Imagine telling someone in 1950 that his “phone” would one day also be his flashlight, calendar, alarm clock, camera, directory, etc. He would have thought you had gone mad. Yet, to those in the 21^st century, it all makes perfect sense.) Many things are not either/or; they are both/and.

Similar to how Jesus was both God and man (John 1:15,14; Philippians 2:5-11), the individuals at the tomb of Jesus on the day of His resurrection were both angels and men. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were all correct in their accounts. The angels were in human form. Mark and Luke referred to their humanity (in their appearance), while Matthew and John referred to their angelic nature. Consistent with what Scripture teaches elsewhere (e.g., Genesis 18:1-33; 19:1,5,15), in the past, both God and angels have come to Earth in the form of human beings.

The four Gospel accounts independently testify that various women arrived at the tomb of Jesus on the morning of His resurrection and were greeted by angels who were in the form of men. Such differently worded statements are without contradiction. In truth, they stand as perfectly harmonious accounts with different, supplemental material from four different independent writers.

Endnotes

Dan Barker (1996), “Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?” Debate with Michael Horner at the University of Northern Iowa, April 2, http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/dan_barker/barker_horner.html.

Published September 9, 2021