Understand the Bible?

Can We Understand the Bible Alike?

We can understand the Bible alike.

We can understand the Bible alike.

The title is an understandable question, especially in light of the religious division and confusion that exists in Christendom today.  Of the counted minimum of two thousand different sects and faiths which proclaim to be Christian, all have great regard for the Bible and claim to follow it.  However, common sense suggests that such is not the case when all proclaim to follow the Bible and yet believe and practice different ideas and doctrines.

Jesus knew that we could understand his Word in the same way and follow it with complete unity (John 17:20-23).  So did Paul (Phil. 2:2).  After Christianity started on the day of Pentecost after Christ’s death, the first converts “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42) and “the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32).  Quite a contrast from today!  The saints in Rome were instructed to be on the lookout for those who caused “divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine” they had learned, and avoid them (Rom. 16:17)  How could they have obeyed that command without being taught to agree upon the doctrine that they had been taught?  When a congregation was divided, Paul by divine inspiration wrote them that there should be no divisions among them and commanded them to speak the same thing (1 Cor. 1:10).  How could this divine order be carried out if people are unable to understand the Word of God alike?

The reasons there are divisions about what the Bible says are many.  First, all of us and our judgments are not perfect.  Either by failing to study diligently or by failing to practice proper, consistent interpretive principles, we misunderstand biblical teaching and divide over it.  Secondly, some believe that the Holy Spirit directs us in our study of Scripture and leads us to the truth, but such an idea is proven incorrect time and time again when two men both claim that the Spirit guided them to different conclusions about the same biblical passage.  Thirdly, efforts to accurately interpret the Bible are often hindered by an absence of complete, 100% open-minded objectivity.  Some subconsciously try to avoid dealing with the guilt of their sin and so twist the Scriptures to suit their ungodly lifestyles, while others are too loyal to family, peers, or their own religion and habits and thus approach the Bible with a closed mind.

When someone says that we can’t understand God’s will alike, that person has either never really engaged in a diligent, systematic study of the Bible or he is somehow seeking to justify a religious view or practice that is not according to the Bible.  Therefore he attacks the Bible as being a book that no one can understand rather than admitting that he believes something that God does not teach.  However, we all can understand Scripture alike.

We just choose not to.

Posted in Jon Mitchell | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Understand the Bible?

Alive for Christ

Alive for Christ

While Paul is in prison he writes an impassioned plea to his beloved brothers and sisters in Philippi. He says that while dying would be most beneficial for him it was more needful for them that he remains alive: and that remaining alive, for him, is Christ (1:21–24). He desires that they also live their lives together as “worthy of the gospel of Christ” and that they “stand fast in one spirit” and strive together with “one mind” for “the faith of the gospel” (1:27). What does a life like that look like?

Great is the day when we are alive for Christ.

Great is the day when we are alive for Christ.

It suggests humbling ourselves and having the mind of Christ (2:2–8). I believe that one of the greatest downfalls of our society as well as the church is an abundance of arrogance and pride. People do not respond to the gospel message, repent and confess sins, or ask for prayers of strength and encouragement because they are simply too proud to do so. James and Peter both state that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). But “humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10).

It indicates being obedient and working out our own salvation (2:12). I have heard it said that grace didn’t save Noah, obedience did. Well, that is not entirely true. He was saved by both grace and obedience. Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” God didn’t have to tell Noah what He was planning, and had he not Noah and his family would have died like everyone else. But He did tell Him, that’s grace! And if Noah had not believed and obeyed he would have died. But he did, and live. The same thing is true for us today (1 Peter 3:18–22).

It points to doing all things without griping or complaining (2:14). Few things are uglier than an 8-year-old throwing a temper tantrum: except for a 48-year-old Christian! Obedience and submission are glowing characteristics of faithful Christians. Do not “complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10:10).

It implies rejoicing (3:1; 4:4). There is no more joyful life than that of the faithful, hopeful, and peaceful child of God. We can rejoice “in hope” (Romans 12:12); “in truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6); “in the Lord; “in suffering” (Colossians 1:24). Not other life than the obedient and faithful Christian life gives you as much reason to rejoice.

It signifies never giving up (3:13–14; 4:1). The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint! It takes patience, longsuffering, and tenacity. It means pressing ahead one step at a time on those uphill, wind in your face, last mile of the way, climbs. It also means a steady, careful, and vigilant pace on those easy downhill reprieves. Be faithful (Revelation 2:10) in order to hear the words “well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, 23).

It means being thankful and thinking on the things that come from above (4:6–8).

What does continuing to live here on earth mean to you? Would you consider death to be gain? These two questions are inseparable.

Posted in Tim Dooley | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Alive for Christ

Mountaintop Experiences

Mountaintop Experiences

Life is not always going to be a mountaintop experience.

Life is not always going to be a mountaintop experience.

Spiritual lives are not always characterized by “ mountaintop experiences. ” It was wonderful for Moses to be in the presence of God on Mount Sinai, but eventually he had to leave the mountain and return to the reality of dealing with the Jewish rebellion in worshiping the golden calf.

In the same way, Peter, James and John were at the Mount of Transfiguration and saw Moses, Elijah and the transformation of Jesus, but they eventually had to leave that mountain and confront their failure to cast out the demon in the child.

Elijah experienced this same problem in the contest he had with 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. The fire from heaven totally consumed the prophet’s sacrifice and shortly afterwards there was the slaughter of all the false prophets. Yet, when Elijah descended from that mount, he was so overwhelmed with the sinfulness of Israel, he asked God to take him, for he thought he was the only person in Israel who faithfully served Jehovah.

“Mountaintop experiences” are so wonderful. There are those times when we see great spiritual victories and figuratively are on top of the world. You may remember in great detail that day when you obeyed the Gospel and how exhilarated you were. It may have been that day when some loved one of yours became a Christian. It may have been one of the unexpected times when you were worshiping, and you were so enthralled that you forgot about all those distractions from daily life. Thank God for “mountaintop experiences.”

However, the reality is that life always has deep “valleys” when we must leave the mountaintop. Life probably has more valleys than it has mountaintops. Situations develop and doubts and fears seem to threaten our faith. Do not despair. Look at those heroes who were in that same situation. Abraham (Gen. 15:1; 20:10-11), Isaac (Gen. 26:24), Moses (Num. 21:34), Joshua (Josh. 1:9; 8:1), David (1 Sam. 23:17), Elijah (2 Kgs. 1:15), Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20:15) and Daniel (Dan. 10:12) are just a few of those individuals who were fearful when in the valleys of life.

There is a great principle of life to be learned when we look deeply into the lives of our Biblical heroes. Godly people have always had clouds of adversity around them. Their response was often like ours, but this does not mean they were not approved by God. All mankind has valleys, but Christians have something others do not have. When we are walking in valley of death may our hearts proclaim, “I will fear not evil for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Thank God for those “mountaintop experiences,” but let us thank God for the blessings of His help in the valleys!

Posted in Dan Jenkins | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Mountaintop Experiences

The First Day of the Week

The First Day of the Week

Christians worship God on the First Day of the Week.

Christians worship God on the First Day of the Week.

When I was a small boy, I remember going to worship services upon the first day of the week.  As we got dressed, ate cereal and got in the car, I noticed that there was hardly anyone in sight.  There were very few neighbors out, or at least I did not think they were out and there was not many people on the roads.  Now, we had to drive about 14 miles or so to the church building and even on the highways there was hardly anybody there.  Most of the businesses were closed except gas stations and it was because business owner knew the importance of the first day of the week.  Today, it seems that every business is open and the earlier the better.

A couple of months ago, during the week, we stopped into a fast food restaurant and I noticed how beautifully decorated it was.  There were fresh flowers on the tables, nice pictures on the wall and it sem like some kind of mural all across one wall.  As I went in for a closer observation, I noticed that it was about the history of their business.  But, there was something that else.  There was an old fashion looking door and next to it, it said, “People always ask us, “Why you are closed on Sunday?”  We respect the hard work of our employees.  As a result, we believe in giving them the day off to worship, if they choose, or spend time with family and friends.”  Now, under that old fashion door, it says, “NEVER ON SUNDAYS” and it reminded me of the days of my youth.  But, what has happened that most people no longer see the first day of the week as nothing important?

People forget that this is the Lord’s day.  It is called the Lord’s day because the Lord was raised upon the first day (Matthew 28:31).  The Church of the Lord was established upon the first day (Acts 2).  Christians in the first century as well as today meet to worship God and to remember the Lord’s death, burial and resurrection in a memorial supper upon the first day (Acts 20:7).  We give of ourselves out of that which God has prospered us, upon the first day (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).

It is pleasant to see signs that say NEVER ON SUNDAYS, who reminds not only the worldly people, but godly as well, that there are more important things to do on Sunday, than make money or rest.  Sunday is a time off.  It is a time to focus on our Lord.  It is a time to focus on the Church.  It is a time to focus on God and our worship to Him.  It is a time to focus on the great sacrifice of our Lord’s body.  It is a time to focus on giving richly as God has richly given us.  But, we cannot do this if we do not have in our minds and in our hearts that the Lord’s day is called the Lord’s day for a reason.  It belongs to Him.  May we remember this when we choose to not see its importance.  May we remember that if someone in the world can say, NEVER ON SUNDAY, how much more should a Christian say these words?  May we always remember, upon the first day.

Posted in Robert Notgrass | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The First Day of the Week

Parents and Children

Children: Parents Blessings, not Burdens

Children are drops of innocence to blessed parents!

Children are drops of innocence to blessed parents!

The difference is palpable—and tragic. Watch a visiting family with two young children enter a church building and the response you witness is overwhelming. People go out of their way (literally) to meet these new visitors and share with them what their congregation has to offer children.

But consider for a moment the response to a family who has more than five children. The response is not as overwhelming. In fact, they are is often viewed as odd, irresponsible, not financially wise, lower class, or socially ignorant. More often than not, Christians steer very clear of extremely large families. After all, society has successfully convinced us that “two” is the magic number for children.

Even from the pulpit we hear a preacher joking about “narrow escape” of he and his wife thinking they might be pregnant. The fact of the matter is, this is not a joking subject. How sad is it to hear a preacher teach a powerful lesson on children and the home only to realize that his actions are teaching a totally different lesson? I have listened firsthand to a preacher give counsel about the “wisdom” of only having one or two children—and that anything more than that is “foolish.” This same preacher would then mount the pulpit and preach a tear-jerking lesson on Psalm 127 and children. While his voice spoke one message, his life and his actions spoke an entirely different message.

There are some Christians who need to really re-evaluate their view of children in the light of God’s Word.

Here’s what I intend on teaching my children about the blessings of children.

Not a morning passes by in our house when your mom and I are not thankful for the sounds of little feet and tender young voices. We feel incredibly blessed by God to have children, and we pray that you will be able to experience the same joys of parenthood.

I’m not exactly sure of the precise date of when children went from being considered a blessing to being considered baggage, but unfortunately I have witnessed it countless times. Parents oftentimes view the existence of their children as competition for their own personal desires and wishes. At some point along the way, parents began to value prosperity more than posterity.  I hope that you will boldly reject society’s view  of children. Never look upon children as a burden or an expense. Sure, we need to be financially responsible—but children are not a tally mark we put under the “expense” column.

Sadly, some parents today do not even like their children. The responsibility for rearing these children is given to anyone and everyone—except their own parents (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9—a passage directed toward parents). In some homes, children are treated as just another piece of property, a commodity, or a showpiece to be trotted out when guests visit. Parents have forgotten that they are responsible to return the souls of their children to God, and that every soul is precious (Matthew 16:24-26).

Every time you see a child’s face, I hope that the first thought that enters your mind will be “a blessing from God.” The inspired psalmist observed, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward” (Psalm 127:3). It then continues by saying, “Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.” When you see a family enter a church building with many children, I hope you will remind yourself and that mother how blessed she truly is. Solomon wrote, “Children’s children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their father” (Proverbs 17:6). I’m looking forward to that crown!

While I don’t know God’s plan for each one of you, I do pray you enjoy parenthood— whether it be you physically having children or adopting little ones into your family. I wish for you a full quiver so that you too can experience the love, joys, and happiness that you have brought your mother and me.

Love,

Dad

Posted in Brad Harrub | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Parents and Children