Church of Christ Articles

A Devout Christian

Walking in Hope

There are many ways to describe what it takes to be a devout Christian, but perhaps one of the most succinct answers is supplied by the apostle Paul, who wrote, “Now there remains faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Are you devout in your Christian walk?

While Paul reminds us that the greatest of the three characteristics is Love, he does so to stress the importance of Love, not to downplay the importance of either faith and hope. When we consider that without faith it is not just difficult, but downright impossible to be pleasing to God, we may begin to understand just how grand love must truly be (cf. Hebrew 11:6).

However, while Faith certainly gets a lot of favorable press, and Love is most certainly admired, it is frequently true that we tend to hear less spoken concerningthe vital part Hope has to play in the Christian scheme of things.

The goal of the Scriptures, we are told, is to point the world to Hope. “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4; NKJV) This Hope spoken of by God in His word is not some nebulous, unspecified aspiration or dream. Rather, it is quite a specific Hope, so that we read that there is “one Hope of our calling” (Ephesians 4:4).

When the Bible talks about a Christian’s Hope, it is referring to concrete ideas and specific promises, which God, who cannot lie, promised to His children. (cf. Titus 1:2) Chief among these promises God has made is the promise of eternal life through Christ Jesus His Son, and the closely related promise concerning the resurrection of the dead. This is the Hope which anchors the Christian soul, an anchor sure and steadfast. (cf. Hebrews 6:18-19) Just as Jesus was risen from the dead, so too those who have put on Christ in baptism, dying to their old self, have the concrete Hope that they too will share in the resurrection of the righteous (cf. Romans 6:3-5).

True Hope, likewise, is not without concrete consequences. Just as true Faith demands that a person act in accordance with their Faith, if that faith is to have value (cf. James 2:14-26), and just as true love demands that a person act in accordance with their professed love, with kindness (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:4-6), so too does true, scriptural Hope make certain demands upon a person.

Christian Hope precludes worldly sorrow and worry (cf. Matthew 6:32-33; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). If we truly believe in the promises of God, we continue forward doggedly in our faith, certain that God will work things to our good, confident that the “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18; NKJV) It is this Hope that gives Christians the confidence which knows that in all things, even peril and distress, they are more than conquerors in Christ. (cf. Romans 8:37)

Christian Hope encourages boldness in our speech and Christian confession. (2 Corinthians 3:12) With worry precluded, we do not fear what man might do to us when we speak (cf. Matthew 10:27-28) Likewise, because of the awesome nature of the message, we are stirred to boldness. We have the gift of eternal life, and it is promised to any and all who will obey the Gospel of Christ! If we are eager to share good news about such mundane matters as births, weddings, and sport-related-victories, should we not be much more excited to talk about the fact that we can be raised from the dead.

Christian Hope encourages faithfulness and self-sacrifice. Understanding what is offered, we are willing to count all things loss for Christ, so that we might know Him, if by any means we might obtain to the resurrection of the dead (cf. Philippians 3:7-11). When the going gets tough, it is Hope that keeps us going, steadfastly putting one spiritual foot in front of the other, in our service to the Lord.

Christians are to walk in faith, living loving lives… but those lives should also be lives full of Hope. Lives of joyful optimism, trusting unwaveringly in the promises of God. Lives which fail to contain this Hope are lives which are failing to truly follow the road Christ walked. Let us rejoice in Faith. Let us rejoice in Love. But let us also, always, rejoice in Hope.

Posted in Jonathan McAnulty | Tagged christian, devout, Faith, hope, love | Comments Off

Look at the Soul

What Do You See?

There was that day when Samuel learned a lesson so many of us never learn. The prophet had been sent by God to the house of Jesse to anoint the new king who was to replace Saul. When Samuel looked at the sons of Jesse, he immediately decided that the new king would be Eliab, the firstborn son, but he was so wrong. One by one, each of the sons came before Samuel and each was rejected. Why? God told Samuel, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). The heart that God sees is the inward soul of a person. The body is simply the house of clay where that soul resides for a few years.

What do you see?

Jesus Saw Souls

When God became flesh, He did not look at the outward appearance of men. He saw their souls! He chose twelve of the most unlikely individuals to be those who would continue the work He began. He chose ignorant and unlearned fisherman (Acts 4:13); He chose a despised tax collector; He chose a Zealot, the “terrorists” of the first century. Why? Because our Lord looks at the heart.

Paul Saw Souls

On the day of Paul’s salvation, he could have so easily learned the lesson about how readily godly men fail to see the heart and look at the outward appearance. God’s message to Ananias was clearly understandable, but this disciple was so hesitant to go. Why? Because he only saw Paul as an enemy of God, but God looked at the same man’s soul and saw him as the great apostle.

Look at the rest of Paul’s life. Though opposed and often beaten, he continued to enter the synagogues for occasionally there were a few who might become believers. He never stopped “touching the hot stove” of the synagogues for he saw souls in them.

When he was brought before Felix, Festus and Agrippa, he saw the souls of these ungodly, immoral rulers. This is why he openly taught them about Christ. He saw them not as an enemy, those who would not obey the Lord. He saw their souls!

Who Do You See?

God help us to learn this lesson so many righteous men have struggled to learn. God has not spoken to us directly as He did to Ananias, but He has directly spoken to us with the great commission. He first gave it to the apostles, and they have by their works given this same commission to us—go preach the gospel to every creature. Opportunities abound for us to teach are all around us.

God help us all to look and see the souls of others!

Posted in Dan Jenkins | Tagged samuel, Saul, sight, soul, souls | Comments Off

The Holy Spirit on Pentecost

Here are the first nine times Luke refers to the work of the Holy Spirit after the resurrection of Jesus.

Consider the scriptures regarding the work of the Holy Spirit

It does not require an expositional savant to understand that all nine references point to the prophetic, inspiring, and/or miraculous power of the Spirit. Just read the following list:

Luke 24:49 – And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

Acts 1:2 – [U]ntil the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

Acts 1:5 – [F]or John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Acts 1:16 – Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

Acts 2:4 – And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:17 -And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams . . .

Acts 2:18 – [E]ven on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Acts 2:33 – Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Under normal expositional principles when 9 references are all the same, one should expect for the 10^th to have the same meaning. It would require some incredible textual changes to insert a new meaning into the passage. Surely, there would be some emphatic statement from God to let the inquiring Bible student to know that the 10^th reference was not only different than the preceding nine, but that going forward the phrase used in the 10^th reference would positively and completely exclude the author’s established meaning from the first nine. If Luke were going pivot so strongly in the middle of a continuous context, he owes his reader some explanation. By the way, he does not provide any such notice.

For the record, here is the 10^th reference from Luke after the resurrection, which I am told has and cannot have any connection to the first nine:

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38)

Posted in Jonathan Jenkins | Tagged acts 2, Holy Spirit, pentecost, Resurrection, Work of the Holy Spirit | Comments Off

LA MUERTE DEL TRAIDOR

LA MUERTE DEL TRAIDOR

Mucho se ha dicho con respecto a la muerte del traidor más grande de todos los tiempos (Judas). El N.T cita unas 15 veces aproximadamente el nombre Judas Iscariote sin embargo también podemos leer indirectamente en el A.T a manera de profecía varias veces la obra de este individuo quien llegó a ser el traidor. En internet en una búsqueda rápida bajo este personaje usted se sorprenderá la cantidad de discusión con preguntas incluso un tanto escépticas tales como: ¿Fue Judas creado para Traicionar a Jesús?, ¿Si Dios sabía que Judas iba a traicionar al Señor, porqué Jesús mismo lo escogió como discípulo?. De cierta manera hay un grado de curiosidad en las preguntas, aunque no negamos que la intención de aquellos críticos de la Biblia es malvada y siempre buscará desacreditar al santo libro, la Biblia. Observaremos de cerca el pasaje contenido en Hechos 1:18 y 19 para determinar con más precisión la muerte del traidor y la controversia alrededor de este acontecimiento.

¿Fue Judas creado para Traicionar a Jesús?

Antes de avanzar un poco más, la primera pregunta necesita una respuesta concreta. ¿Fue Judas creado para traicionar a Jesús? La respuesta es NO. La intención detrás de la pregunta cuestiona a la persona misma Dios. Amigo lector, Dios jamás hace nada incoherente, injusto, arbitrario o a “obligadas”. Dios en su omnisciencia (todo lo sabe) observó que el Maestro sería vendido por 30 piezas de plata. Esa cantidad (30 piezas de plata) en el tiempo de Zacarías era el salario de un día de trabajo para un jornalero, un precio muy bajo (Zc.11:12-13). En tiempos del Exodo era el precio de un esclavo al que se le daba muerte (Ex.21:32). Dentro de la simbología en representación al Señor Jesús esto es significativo, pero también son profecías indirectas de lo que en realidad sucedería. Dios no está limitado por tiempo o espacio, siendo El Creador del universo debe de estar fuera de todas las leyes que rigen al mismo, por lo tanto puede observar con anticipación (esta palabra es clave y es usada por Pedro en Hechos 2:23) lo que sucederá en el futuro sin ser, El mismo El causante de ello. Durante este año visité la ciudad de Guanajuato Mexico, y en un monumento esculpido en honor al “Pípila”( Héroe de la Independencia de México) se puede observar toda la ciudad desde ese punto. Mientras conversábamos el hermano Wade Webster hizo un comentario que realmente explica de manera sencilla y correcta como funciona el anticipado conocimiento de Dios, él dijo: “ Dios está igual que nosotros en este momento, usted puede ver aquel carro que viene del lado Izquierdo de la ciudad y puede ver los lugares por done va a pasar ese carro sin moverse usted del mismo lugar y puede observar que más adelante hay huecos en la calle donde pasará y que aquel carro sufrirá eso, puede ver aquellos niños jugando en la misma calle, mientras el carro acelera la velocidad… es completamente inevitable pensar que ahí ocurrirá una tragedia si aquel vehículo continua sin disminuir la velocidad, pero las personas que están abajo no están viendo la misma imagen que nosotros desde aquí estamos viendo”. Así, de igual forma trabaja la omnisciencia de Dios, El está observando la escena completa sin embargo y al mismo tiempo está fuera de la escena. En Hechos 1:18 el escritor Lucas es claro en decirnos que Judas por su propia iniquidad… Dios no lo creó para traicionar al Señor, aunque inevitablemente el Señor observó la escena completa y la traición de este hombre anticipadamente por el peso de su propia iniquidad. Dicho esto, tornaremos nuestra mirada al texto en cuestión: “Este, pues, con el salario de su iniquidad adquirió un campo, y cayendo de cabeza, se reventó por la mitad, y todas sus entrañas se derramaron. Y fue notorio a todos los habitantes de Jerusalén, de tal manera que aquel campo se llama en su propia lengua, Acéldama, que quiere decir, Campo de sangre.” (Hechos 1:18-19).

Una de las razones principales que dio ánimo a este artículo, que precisamente usted está leyendo es la supuesta contradicción en la muerte del traidor. Aquí Lucas dice que “cayendo de cabeza, se reventó por la mitad…”, mientras que Mateo escribe que “saliendo fue y se ahorcó” (Mt.27:5). No existe contradicción alguna entre las dos narraciones, sino que se complementan, puesto que lo más probable es que haya salido corriendo a colgarse y después de ahorcado su cadáver haya caído de cabeza y reventado por la mitad como lo narra Lucas. Al Inicio de Hechos leemos que Lucas fue e indagó con más detalle y más profundidad los Hechos… y precisamente es lo que está narrando aquí en el 1:18-19, en más detalle lo que sucedió con el cuerpo de Judas. El hermano H.Leo Boles en su comentario del libro de los Hechos describe lo siguiente:

Judas obtuvo o adquirió este campo indirectamente con el dinero que recibió cuando traicionó a Jesús (Mt.26:14-26; 14-26; 27:3-8). Los versículos 18 y 19 no son parte del discurso de Pedro, sino que parecen haber sido incluidos por Lucas a manera de paréntesis. El campo fue comprado con dinero que Judas recibió como recompensa por haber traicionado a Jesús y que había tratado de devolver tirándolo a los pies de los sacerdotes.Estos no quisieron poner el dinero en el tesoro, sino que lo usaron para comprar esa propiedad (Mt.27:5-8). Este campo fue comprado por el sumo sacerdote para ser usado como cementerio para los indigentes y forasteros. Mateo dice que ese terreno se llamó campo de Sangre (Mt.27:3-8). (Gospel Advocate, comentario de Hechos por Leo Boles, 1964, pg.29).

Una historia bastante triste con un final perturbador, aunque todos nosotros sabemos que ese no es el final. Dos lección sobresalientes a aprender con respecto a la muerte del traidor Judas son: 1) La Biblia no se contradice, a como el carácter de Dios es imparcial y siempre justo para con todos. Realmente algunas traducciones del sagrado libro no son las más adecuadas pero el mensaje original como tal, no posee ni una sola contradicción por más alto que lo griten los ateos y los escépticos. ¡Hay 101 contracciones en la Biblia! alegó un ateo en cierta ocasión, nosotros tenemos 102 explicaciones para cada una de esas “supuestas” contracciones que no son nada más que ignorancia pura, disfrazada de inteligencia y 2). Todos los traidores tienen un final trágico al igual que Judas. Si alguien no conoce a Dios y si alguien abiertamente niega conocer a Dios, eso es traición de la creación para con su creador. Peor aún alguien quien alegue conocer a Jesús, caminar con Jesús, cenar con Jesús pero en su interior es un traidor el final no será menor al de Judas. Mateo 7:21-23 “no todo el que dice Señor, señor entrará…” Serán muchas personas las que clamarán conocer al Señor, pero la pregunta es ¿Lo reconoce el Señor a Usted? Tantas personas alegan ser cristianos… 40, 50 años en el cristianismo… apelan ellos, sin embargo, han pertenecido a una secta hecha por hombres y nunca han estado realmente en el cristianismo que ellos con tanto entusiasmo proclaman. Amigo de acuerdo al Señor, en el futuro eso pasará. Realmente espero que su fin y el mío no sea como el de Judas, traicionando al Señor, sino que sea un final feliz como el del resto de los apóstoles. Ellos murieron con y en Cristo y no contra y sin Cristo. ¡Dios le bendiga!.

Posted in Heiner Montealto | Tagged judas, muerte, traidor | Comments Off

Checking the Obituaries

We’ve all heard the jokes and comments – maybe even made a few of them ourselves. “The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is to check the obituaries. As long as I’m not listed, I know it’s going to be a good day,” or, “Any day above ground is a good one,” or some other, similar comment which is often heard to emanate from the lips of a Christian. But is such really the case? Do we as Christians truly believe that a day spent within the reach of sin, evil, sickness, death, and the devil, is ultimately better than one spent with and amongst the saints in paradise (Lk. 16:22-25); or even face to face with, and around the throne of the God who promised to wipe away every tear from our eyes in a place where death, sorrow, pain and crying have ceased to exist (Revelation 21:4)? The apostle Paul certainly didn’t think so (Philippians 1:21-23).

Where do you want to spend eternity?

You see, the fact is that none of us ever know exactly when that final day is going to arrive in which we won’t wake up to experience another. We never know when the doctor is going to deliver the devastating news that, “There’s nothing we can do,” or, when some totally unexpected and instantaneous death stroke may suddenly strike us during some earthly accident we never saw coming. And so, what each new day actually is, is another God-given and grace-laden chance to better prepare for our last day here, and the inescapable meeting with the Lord God almighty which we all – young and old, rich and poor, healthy and sick – will eventually, inevitably, and individually then be forced to face. What each new day is, is a divine gift and loving investment in you and your eternity, by the grace and mercy of the Lord God almighty. It is yet another much-needed (and hopefully enough appreciated) opportunity for each of us who is blessed enough to receive one, to use it wisely by getting to know the Lord and His word better; to draw ever closer to and become ever more like Him; and to serve Him and His cause even more deeply and sacrificially than we did the day before.

Conversely, it is a complete and total waste of God’s incredible investment of providing us with another day to thus prepare for the time when we won’t be given another one here, to spend it totally in pursuit of those worldly things which will mean absolutely nothing to us when our final day does arrive. Someone once said something akin to: “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow may never be. Today is a gift. That’s why they call it ‘the present.’” If and whenever, you may be blessed enough by God, to be given the gift of another day from now on, don’t waste it – ever (Hebrews 3:1-4:16)! It just possibly might be the last one you ever receive…

Posted in Doug Dingley | Tagged death, eternity, obituaries, obituary | Comments Off

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A Devout Christian

Walking in Hope

Look at the Soul

What Do You See?

The Holy Spirit on Pentecost

The Holy Spirit on Pentecost

LA MUERTE DEL TRAIDOR

Checking the Obituaries

Checking the Obituaries

Authors

Latest Articles

Meta

A Devout Christian

Walking in Hope

Look at the Soul

What Do You See?

The Holy Spirit on Pentecost

The Holy Spirit on Pentecost

LA MUERTE DEL TRAIDOR

Checking the Obituaries

Checking the Obituaries

Authors

Latest Articles

Tags

Meta