Tag Archives: Bible

How Do You “Feel” About That?

Posted on by under Doctrine

2269421     I recently read a blog article by someone who claims to be a Christian about what it takes to be a Christian.  I am sure that there are many blogs out there that address this issue in one way or another, but what was interesting about this particular post is what the author claimed he believed.  Or, to be more accurate, what he claimed to not believe.  The author stated that he does not believe that Jesus is God.  He does not believe that Jesus walked on water, healed the sick, raised Lazarus from the grave, was born of a virgin, was raised Himself after three days in the grave, or that He died for the sins of mankind.  So we may ask the question, why does he consider himself to be a Christian?  Reading on in the article, the author’s beliefs were based purely on what he “feels” about God.

     If the basis of religious truth is nothing more than how we feel about something, how could you ever prove what is true?  I may feel that one thing is true and someone else may feel that the opposite is true, so which one is correct?  Truth has to be based on facts.  I may feel that the water is cold.  Someone else may feel that the water is hot.  But if we take a thermometer and measure the temperature of the water, now we have established the facts.  Now we can know if the water is really cold or hot.

     If we are going to follow Jesus.  If we are going to be one of His.  If we are going to call ourselves Christians (meaning that we belong to Christ).  Then we need to pay attention to what He said and what He did.  Jesus established the basis of truth in His prayer to the Father, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17, NKJV).  What are the facts in this case?  What is it that we are to believe?  Let us look into the truth of God’s word for that answer, for without God’s word we would have no facts at all about who God is, what He is like, or what He desires for us to do.

     Jesus said that He was God. “And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins’” (John 8:23-24).  In this particular passage Jesus says that unless you believe that “I am” you will die in your sins.  That “I am” statement should take us back to Moses and the burning bush, where God told Moses to tell the Israelites that I AM had sent him (Exodus 3:14).  If we are going to claim to be followers of Jesus, should we not believe what He said?

     Why claim to follow Jesus if He was not raised from the dead?  This does not make any logical sense.  If He was not raised from the dead then there is no basis for the Christian religion.  Without the resurrection of Christ, there is no foundation for Christianity.  Consider what the apostle Paul wrote by inspiration:

Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.  And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.  Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.  For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.  And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!  Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable (1 Corinthians 15:12-19, emphasis added).

If Jesus was just another man, why follow Him rather than anyone else?

     The reason that Christians follow Jesus Christ is because He was not just a man.  Jesus is God (John 1:1-5, 14).  Jesus arose from the dead and was seen by many witnesses, which the people in that day and age were unable to discredit (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).  Because He rose from the grave, His apostles and disciples had a newfound courage to be able to go to martyrdom and not worry about losing their physical lives.  Now they understood that there was something more beyond the grave, and so they no longer turned away or deserted their Savior in times of trouble.  If Jesus had not been resurrected, this would not have been the case.

     If we are going to call ourselves Christians, it would seem logical to suppose that we are going to believe what Jesus said, and that we are going to do what Jesus said to do.  We can claim all day long to be one of His, but if we are not doing what He said, then that claim is false.  I can claim to be the King of Morocco, but claiming it does not make it so.  What is the truth of the matter?  Jesus said,

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.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23).

We had better know what the will of the Lord is, which is based upon the truth of His word and not upon our feelings.  “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).  You cannot prove it, if you do not know it!  However, we can know for sure what the Lord requires of us.  Paul wrote in Ephesians, “how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)” (Ephesians 3:3-4).  When we read God’s word, we can understand what He requires.  We can know what His will is.  Come and see what God’s word has to say on this subject and many others.  The Holy Bible can help us to cut through the fog of confusion and see the truth for what it really is!

The Paths of the Sea

Posted on by under Christian Evidences
Matthew_Fontaine_Maury-wmm6

   Matthew Fontaine Maury

     Have you ever taken a canoe trip?  Perhaps you were put into the river at one point and were later picked up at another point downstream.  If you want to take a leisurely trip, you do not even have to paddle other than to steer the canoe away from rocks or the bank.  The current of the water will carry you along to your destination.  If you have ever dropped anything out of your canoe, then you know how hard it can be to row against the current to go back upriver to retrieve it!

     Matthew Fontaine Maury is credited with the discovery of ocean currents, which make shipping and travel upon the seas much more efficient than they would otherwise be.  By using the paths of the sea, shipping vessels can use less energy and travel faster than they would if they had to struggle against the current.  Just how did Maury discover these paths?  How is it that he became known as the “Pathfinder of the Seas?”

     Matthew Maury was a member of the United States Navy in the mid 1800’s.  The story is told of how he was bed ridden with illness, and thus had one of his children read to him from the Psalms of the Old Testament.  As he listened to the eighth Psalm, he was intrigued by the phrase “paths of the sea.”  He was determined that if God’s word mentioned paths in the sea, then they must be there.  Thus it was because of the Scriptures that Maury went in search of ocean currents.

     In looking at the Psalm we find these words written about man, “You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen — Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas” (Psalm 8:6-8 NKJV).  Just how is it that a shepherd, who became the King of Israel, could know about ocean currents?  David never sailed the high seas.  Yet David writes of the paths of the sea almost 3,000 years before man made this scientific discovery.

     This is yet further proof of the inspiration of the scriptures.  This shows us that the only way David could have had this information so long ago, was that God revealed it to him.  Maury heard the phrase “paths of the seas,” he believed God’s word to be true, and he went out and discovered what God’s word already knew was there.  Perhaps you would like to know more about other scientific knowledge that has been revealed in God’s word long before man discovered it.  If so, come and see what God’s word has to say about this and many other subjects!

Failure To Warn

Posted on by under Current Events

Sound the Alarm   Recently a story was in the news that the German government may have had a warning about commercial airlines flying over Ukraine and Russia, prior to an airliner being shot down in that region. If proved to be true, it would mean that the Germans did not sound the alarm and warn others of impending doom. Many become upset when they hear news such as this, and rightfully so. We do not tend to think much of others when they know of potential disaster, but refuse to warn others.

   God’s word has something to say about this principle as well. God instructed His prophet Ezekiel,

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul (Ezekiel 3:17-19 NKJV).

Ezekiel was God’s watchman. He was to point out wickedness when he saw it. He was to warn others of their impending doom. If he did not give the warning, then he would be held responsible by God.

   Today, we no longer have prophets, but we do have the completed word of God that we can read and study and use as our standard. When we see things that are morally wrong according to that standard, we have an obligation and a duty to point those things out to others in order to give them fair warning. If we do not give the warning, God will hold us responsible. It is not an easy thing to tell others that they are wrong. For most it is a no win situation.

    However, it is not by our own rules or desires that we are to call someone’s actions wicked. We are to make the comparison and issue the warning in accordance with God’s holy standard, the Bible. Therefore, let us be good students of His word and continue to sound the alarm and show others the way God would have them go.

The Impossible Dream?

Posted on by under Doctrine

Fergusonhug-v2     Unity.  Too often today we look for unity, only to find division and strife.  Whether in regards to race relations, politics, sports, or our outlook on life, we as a people seem to have gravitated towards focusing on what divides us rather than what unites us.  But how do we achieve unity?  Is it achievable?  How do we begin?

     First we need to realize that unity is only achievable if we are all using the same standard to measure our beliefs and behaviors.  That standard is the Word of God.  If we would all go to the Bible for the foundation of our beliefs, our behavior, our religious practices, and what we say and do, then we would have unity.  Not possible, you say?  Well, just look at Jesus’ own Apostles.  One of them was Simon, a zealot (Luke 6:15).  The zealots were known for political assassinations of Romans and for stirring the people up in revolt.  Another of the Apostles was Matthew, who was a tax collector for the Romans (Matthew 10:3).  Yet, the two of them worked together in unity as Apostles, because they were united in Christ, the Word of God (John 1:1-2, 14).

     If we were to use the Bible as our guide, not our own understanding or our own thoughts and ideas, then we could fulfill Jesus’ prayer in the garden.  Jesus said, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21 NKJV).  Jesus wanted His followers to be one, to all be on the same page, to be united, so that the world would believe.  Many point to divisions between religious groups as proof that there is no God.  They are right about the divisions, but not about atheism.

     The Scriptures often speak of unity.  We are to be of the same mind (Rom. 12:16; 1 Cor. 1:10; Phil. 2:2; 3:16; 4:2; 1 Peter 4:1).  We are to speak the same things (1 Cor. 1:10; 2 Cor. 4:13).  We are to have the same foundation (1 Cor. 3:10-11; Eph. 2:19-20).  Paul wrote, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3 emphasis added).

     We are to have unity, but not a unity where we water down God’s word to the point that it is no longer recognizable.  We can preach tolerance for others and diversity to the point where we accept two mutually opposite points as both being true.  How can that be?  No, if we are to have unity, then that unity must be based upon the same standard.  It must be based upon the truth of God’s Word.  We do not achieve unity by capitulating on the truth or by trying to make truth relative.

     You may not believe that we can have unity.  However, in looking at how much the Bible speaks of unity ask yourself one question.  Would God ask us to do something that is not possible?  God as told us to be unified.  He has given us His standard to guide us in that unity.  His Son prayed for that unity.  Why do that if it is not achievable?  If we would just go to His Word, study what it really says, and then do that, we could have unity.  We could be one in Christ like as the Apostles.  That would be a better way!

How Did They Know That?

Posted on by under Christian Evidences

The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17      Have you ever been amazed by a child, perhaps your own, who shows that they have been paying attention to something that was said? Maybe they show a grasp of a new idea, and you can see that light bulb going off in their head for the first time. Sometimes we may wonder, “How did they know that,” or “how did they pick up on that idea.”

    In the Bible there are many examples that can be studied where the writers of the Holy Scriptures had a knowledge of scientific facts that would not be discovered by man for many, many years. This should lead us to the same question that we have with the child. Just how did they know that? For instance, consider what we read in the book of Isaiah. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in” (Isaiah 40:21-22 NKJV).

      Notice that as Isaiah is speaking about our God, the Creator of the universe, he mentions that God sits above the circle of the earth. Isaiah is writing this sometime around 750 B.C., and he knows that the earth is round – it is a circle. Today we take this knowledge for granted, but it took a long time for man to come to the realization that the earth is round. We no longer worry about sailing over the edge of the earth. But how did Isaiah know this? He had never circumvented the globe or traveled into space to see this for himself.

       Furthermore, Job states “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing” (Job 26:7). Job had never traveled into outer space either, so how does he know that the earth hangs on nothing? The ancients had all sorts of theories about what the earth was like and how it was held up. One theory was that Atlas held the world on his shoulders. Another was that the earth was on the back of some great tortoise. Now that we have traveled beyond our atmosphere, man can see that the earth indeed hangs on nothing.

       Did these men just get lucky with their knowledge of scientific facts that would not be discovered for a long, long time? That is unlikely. The only way these men could have known this information to be true is that God revealed this to them. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21). This is just one small proof that the Bible is not from man, but indeed has been penned by God through His Holy Spirit!

God’s Path to Salvation – Step One — HEAR

Posted on by under Doctrine

John 1717 [widescreen]It is important for us to realize that God has a path to salvation for mankind.  It is not my path to salvation.  It is not some board or council’s path to salvation.  It is not the path to salvation of some college of titled officials.  It is not the entrance requirements for some church or religious institution.  It is God’s path, and as such He calls all men to come out of the world and be a part of His ekklesia, His church, those who have been ‘called out’ of the world, His own special people (1 Peter 2:9).

For the first step in God’s Path, Hearing God’s Word, click here to go to the lesson.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Wise Men

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CrystalBall_thumb      Perhaps you have heard of or seen a magician, who as part of their act reads the mind of a member of the audience.  If so, you know how impressive this seems on the surface.  Just how is it that a man can read the thoughts of another human being?  Later, when you find that there is some sort of trick or gimmick to explain the ‘magic,’ you realize that man just does not have the ability to read minds.  This, however, is not a new discovery.

     In the second chapter of the book of Daniel, we have recorded for us that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had a most troubling dream.  He called for all of his wise men to come to him and tell him what the dream was and what it meant.  The wise men of Babylon were perplexed.  Without any sort of clues, or without Nebuchadnezzar telling them about the dream, there was no way for them to determine what the dream even was, not to mention what it might have meant.  They correctly stated that, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.  It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh” (Daniel 2:10b-11 NKJV).  They understood that the power to know what was in the mind of a man was not something that another man had the ability to discern.

     This same truth holds today as well.  We are told in the New Testament, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).  Man cannot read the thoughts of another man.  That is what makes Daniel’s description and interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that much more impressive.  Daniel was only able to tell the king of his dream and what it meant, because God made that information known to Daniel in the first place (Daniel 2:19-23).

     This event should prove to us that there is a God who knows all things.  Only such a God could be able to tell Nebuchadnezzar through His servant Daniel the details of his dream.  Likewise, there are things about God Himself that man can only know because God has revealed those things to us.  It is in God’s word, the Holy Bible that we can find out about who God is and what He is like.  Let us not neglect the great volume of information that we have at our fingertips about our God and about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

A Religion of Peace?

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niger-church-protest-hebdo     This week in the West African country of Niger, there has been an uprising of Muslims against churches of other faiths.  In the uprising, it has been reported that 45 church buildings have been set afire and many people have been injured or killed as a result of the activity.  All of this was brought on by a French cartoon published by Charlie Hebdo.  It is amazing that all of this violence could be brought about by a cartoon in another country.

     Just what is to be accomplished in attacking those who have no connection to Charlie Hebdo and burning their buildings?  How could anyone call this a normal reaction to a cartoon depicting Mohammed?  Some of those who are calling for calmer heads to prevail are saying that this response does not fit with Islam, since it is a religion of peace.  Is that so?

      According to the beliefs of Islam, the world is divided into two camps.  Those who are in submission to Islam are Dar-al-Salaam (the House of Peace).  Those who are not in submission are Dar-al-Harb (the House of War).  Those who will not submit to Islam are subject to jihad, or holy war, to either convert them at the point of a sword, or to kill them (Sura 2:191; 8:39; 9:123; 47:4).  This hardly sounds like a religion of peace.

     By contrast, the God of the Bible calls on His followers to live at peace with all of mankind.  “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14 NKJV, emphasis added).  Over and over again we are reminded that God is a God of peace (Romans 14:17; 15:33; 16:20; 1 Cor. 14:33).  Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “God has called us to peace” (1 Cor. 7:15b) and that they should, “Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Cor. 13:11).  In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus said that the peacemakers were blessed, because they shall be called the sons of God.

     We should strive to call things as they truly are, and not as we would wish them to be.  We may want for Islam to be a religion of peace.  We may wish for the fundamentalist adherents to the writings of Muhammed to want to live at peace with the rest of mankind and to show tolerance to others.  However, that is not the reality of the situation.  It is our wish that all men would come to God, recognize their sinful nature, realize their lost condition, see the need for Christ, and obey the Gospel and live at peace with all of mankind.  Then, and only then, will we have a peace that transcends all human creeds.  Then, and only then, can we have peace with God.

Speaking in Tongues – Part II

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026_la_times       In lesson one of this series we examined the purpose of speaking in tongues.  It was observed that the apostles spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost in order to confirm the word of God and to allow each man to hear the word in his native language so he could hear and understand.  Having covered the purpose for tongues let us now move on to the duration of spiritual gifts, most especially the gift of speaking in tongues.  In this lesson, we will answer the question of whether men still speak in tongues today.

      For the answer to this question, we turn back to Paul’s first epistle to the church in Corinth.  In dealing with the importance and longevity of love, Paul states that prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge will vanish away (1 Cor. 13:8).  This is all in reference to miraculous gifts of the spirit that were given to the first century Christians to guide them.  These gifts guided them in part, for each prophecy or tongue spoken or gift of miraculous knowledge imparted to them a part of God’s will, but not the full and complete will of God.  These gifts of partial knowledge were to continue until that which is perfect or complete would come, and then they would be done away with (1 Cor. 13:9-10).  Thus, we must consider what is meant by that which is perfect/complete.

       There are some who claim that Jesus is that which is perfect, and that these gifts, which include speaking in tongues, will continue until the second coming of Christ.  How does that idea stand up to the context of the passage?  Paul goes on to give several illustrations to clarify his message of the temporary nature of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 13:11-12).  The first is the comparison of a child and an adult.  A child knows some things, but does not have the more complete knowledge of an adult.  It is difficult to see how this illustration relates to the coming of Christ.  The second illustration refers to a mirror, which in Paul’s day was a polished piece of metal that did not reflect much detail, and being able to see one’s appearance as if seeing face to face.  The third illustration has to do with having partial knowledge now, but when that which is perfect has come that knowledge will be complete.  Again these illustrations do not make sense if this is the second coming of Christ, because why would we need a more complete knowledge of God’s will after the end of time and the second coming of Jesus?  We need that perfect or complete knowledge of God’s will while we are still alive and able to repent.

       However, the illustrations given by Paul make perfect sense if that which is complete refers to the complete revelation of God’s will in the written New Testament.  These first century Christians did not have the complete written revelation of God, but needed prophecy, tongues, and miraculous knowledge in order to know God’s will in the interim period before the completion of the scriptures.  Once the completed word of God was available in its written form, those things that were done in part were no longer needed.  In Paul’s later writing to Timothy, he tells him that all scripture is given by God so that man may complete, thoroughly furnished for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  For man to be complete and thoroughly furnished there can be nothing that he still lacks.  Therefore, that which is perfect or complete, which will bring about the end of the partial miraculous gifts including tongue speaking, was the completed revelation of scripture, which we have in the New Testament.

       Because that which is perfect or complete has come in the writing of the New Testament scriptures, that which was done in part was done away with.  Therefore we can know for sure that miraculous prophecy, speaking in tongues, and miraculous knowledge have been done away with since the early part of the second century when the scriptures were completed.  In the third and final part of this series, we will consider God’s rules for the use of speaking in tongues.

Great Discoveries

Posted on by under Christian Evidences

Christopher_Columbus_on_Santa_Maria_in_1492     In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue with three ships from Spain.  It was his plan to prove that the earth was round, and to find a better trade route to the East Indies than traveling overland through Asia.  We all know what happened. Columbus landed in the Americas, discovered the New World, and the rest, as they say, is history.

   While this was an important discovery, and one that has had a profound effect on modern history, there was another discovery made almost 500 years later that is even more profound.  In 1947 a young shepherd boy stumbled into a cave in Qumran on the NW shores of the Dead Sea and discovered jars full of ancient manuscripts.  Among these manuscripts there were found to be copies of the Hebrew Old Testament.

      What makes the discovery of such importance?  Prior to this time, the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament were dated from the 10th century A.D.  These manuscripts found in the caves of Qumran were dated from the 2nd century B.C. to the 1st century A.D.  That makes them about 1,000 years older than any known Old Testament manuscripts at the time.  Many of those who do not believe in the inspiration of the scriptures had made the argument that the Bible was corrupted by man over time and could not be relied upon to be accurate in our modern age.  However, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls showed just the opposite.  The modern Hebrew text was shown to be extremely accurate in comparison with these much older manuscripts.

      This discovery in Qumran is important because it shows that God’s word has been preserved and has not been contaminated by man.  Therefore, we can trust that the Bible today is still the word of God that He intended for man to have and obey.