Cornelius

Cornelius

Many think morality will save them.  But, we read of the good man, Cornelius, who was morally good, but he was not a Christian and therefore, not saved.  Cornelius was a Roman centurion of Caesarea in Palestine and one of the class of Gentiles known as “God fearers” because of their attachment to Jewish religious practices, such as alms giving and prayer.  In Acts 10, we read of this man who was the first Gentile to convert to Christianity.  But as we read of how he and his household and friends all listened to Peter’s preaching, we ought to ask ourselves, how do our lives compare to the life of Cornelius?  How do our deeds, prayer life, and attitude compare to his?

cornelius was not saved by being good

Cornelius was not saved by being good.

For example, Cornelius was a devout man meaning that, he was a dedicated man.  He knew what he stood for and therefore, he did not fall for everything.  Yet, are we wholly dedicated and consecrated to the cause of Christ?  Solomon once wrote, “There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.” (Eccl. 9:14-15).  The righteous need not be concerned over their good deeds being forgotten, for while man may take little notice, God is sure to remember (Heb. 6:10).  But, do we present our bodies a living sacrifice and do we make and keep them holy and acceptable to God (Rom. 12:1)?

Cornelius also was a God-fearing man.  But, do we fear God like Cornelius?  Now, we should not fear Him with a cringing, slavish fear, but with a fear mingled with awe and profound respect.  The Hebrew writer said, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:” (Heb. 12:28).  This fear is a fear that trembles at the thought of offending a just and holy God. To “fear God and keep His commandments is the whole duty of man (Eccl. 12:13-14) and to “fear God and work righteousness” is the same thing (Acts 10:34-35; Psa. 119:172).  But, are we as Cornelius–God fearing?

Cornelius was a good influence in his home.  It says that he feared God with all of his house.  He was a lot like Joshua choosing for him and his household to serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15).  Now, not every Christian could say this.  But, if we are dedicated to the Lord and if we are God fearing, we ought to have a good influence over our families.  And, having our homes filled with good influences for the Lord, we become more like Cornelius in our faith by which, we will also become more like Cornelius in our giving for he was a very generous man who gave much alms to the people.  And, then our homes should be seen as a prayerful home, offering our hearts before God as Cornelius did.

Cornelius was indeed a good man.  He is a man that we can learn a great deal about.  But, listen to what Christ said in Matt. 5:47, “. . . what do ye more than others? . . .”  What do we do more than Cornelius?  You know, he did all this and was not even saved yet.  Christians should do more; we should show that we have a different spirit and we should have a genuine love of God and truth which is accompanied by love for all men and not just a select circle of friends.  We should show like Peter learned here that religion is not selfish, and is superior to all other principles of action.  Let us therefore, be like Cornelius, but, let us also be greater than he as Christians.

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Rolled Forward

Were Sins of Those Under the Old Covenant “ rolled forward ”?

I have heard it said all my Christian life that the sins of Israel were ” rolled forward ” to Christ. But I read in Leviticus 4, 5, and 16 that a person bringing a sin offering will be forgiven (Lev.4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:10, 16, 18; 16:30). Where in the Bible do we read that the sins of Israel were “rolled forward” when Leviticus says their sins were forgiven?

was old testament sin rolled forward

Was Old Testament Sin Rolled Forward?

But were their sins actually forgiven at the time that they offered their animal sacrifice? I think that this is the question that we need to think about in relationship to the sacrifices that were offered under the Old Covenant. The book of Hebrews weighs in heavily in answering this question.

In Hebrews 10:1, the writer of that book as inspired of the Holy Spirit makes the case that the sins under the Old Covenant were not actually forgiven. The first point he makes in this regard is that those who offered sacrifices under the Old Law were not made perfect/complete. If they were, then they would have ceased to offer the sacrifices and they would have no more consciousness of sins. That is, they would not have to continually be reminded of their sins with their sacrifices. He then says that with every year those sacrifices brought to their consciousness a remembrance of sins. That is, every year, they were reminded of their sins. Why is that? They were reminded of their sins every year because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins.

Well, what can take away sins, then? Certainly not the sacrifices and offerings that were made under the Old Covenant. Those could never take them away. But some other sacrifice could. That is why Jesus took on a body and came to the world. To be able to offer a sacrifice to God that would take away sins. He shed his blood for the New Covenant under which God promises to take away sins and remember them no more. Hebrews 10:18 is really key to understanding this. The King James Version says, “Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” Notice also some of the other modern versions. NIV, “And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.” NASB, “Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.” The Message (MSG), “Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.” Amplified Bible (AMP), “Now where there is absolute remission (forgiveness and cancellation of the penalty) of these [sins and lawbreaking], there is no longer any offering made to atone for sin.” New Living Translation (NLT), “Now when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.” ESV, “Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” Contemporary English Version (CEV), “When sins are forgiven, there is no more need to offer sacrifices.” NJKV, “Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.” Worldwide English (New Testament) (WE), “When these wrong things have been forgiven, a sacrifice is not needed for them again.” Young’s Literal Translation (YLT), “and where forgiveness of these [is], there is no more offering for sin.” Under the Old Covenant there were still sacrifices made for sins. So it should be evident from Hebrews 11:18 that those sins were not forgiven.

So what do we do with the passages in Leviticus that say they would be forgiven? First, let us recognize that when dealing with the Old Covenant, we have to understand it through the New. In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul compares and contrasts these two covenants. In verse six (6) he speaks of being a minister of the New Covenant. This New Covenant is not of the letter, but of the Spirit. In comparing this New Covenant with the Old, he states that the Old had some glory. But that it was a glory that was going to end. He asks, “If the Old Covenant, which is ending, had some glory, will not the New Covenant have a greater glory?” In fact, he says in verse 10 that what once had glory (the Old Covenant), now has no glory at all. Why is that? It is because of the glory that surpasses it in the New Covenant. He illustrates this point further by discussing the veil that was over Moses face when he came down from receiving the Old Law in Mt. Sinai. The veil in this context represents the hiding of the glory of the Old Law. What was the ultimate glory of the Old Law? It was Christ. Galatians 3:24 states that the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. And in Romans 10:4 we read that Christ is the end of the law to everyone that believes. Coming back to 2 Corinthians 3 we see that once Christ has been revealed through the New Covenant as the glory of the Law, then the New Covenant becomes the lasting glory, not the Old. Can one then understand the purpose of the Old Covenant without the New? Paul says that is not possible. This veil that represents the hiding of the ultimate purpose of the Old Covenant can only be taken away in Christ. That means that one cannot understand the purpose of the Old Covenant without Christ. That is why Paul talks about those whose minds are hardened when they read the Old Covenant. The veil is not lifted for them; that is, they don’t understand what it was really about. But, says verse 16, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed and they can understand what the Old Covenant was about. Thus the whole point that Paul is getting across to us is that we can’t fully understand what was really going on under the Old Covenant, without it being filtered and interpreted through the New Covenant. The Old Covenant contained the types, shadows, and figures. The New Covenant contains what is real and abiding.

Having that in mind, how ought we to view those passages in the Old Covenant that say that God would forgive their sins in offering up those sacrifices of bulls and goats? Well, if we interpret it through the New Covenant and what is revealed to us in the book of Hebrews, then it seems that God did not actually forgive their sins. What does it mean, then, that God would forgive their sins? If we recognize Christ as the one and only sacrifice to forgive sin for all times, then the offering of sacrifice under that Old Law represented potential forgiveness. That is, they would be potentially forgiven of their sins until Christ came and shed his blood on the cross. Then they could have actual forgiveness. All of the sacrifices that they made in obedience to God were part of fulfilling the obligations that they had under their covenant to be in a right relationship with God. Jesus died for those under Old Covenant as well as those who would be under the New (Hebrews 9:15). The difference between them and us is that they looked potentially to the sacrifice of Christ and we look back at the actual sacrifice itself.

What does God do with the sins of the people under the Old Law until Jesus comes to die for their forgiveness? God remembers those sins. God can’t actually forgive those sins because the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins and since they continued to offer sacrifices for those sins, they were not forgiven according to Hebrews 10:18. So God remembered their sins year after year after year after year and when Jesus died on the cross, all of those sins from the lives of those who lived under the Old Covenant were heaped upon Jesus vicarious sacrifice. So while the Bible does not specifically say they were ” rolled forward, ” they could not be actually forgiven until Christ died on the cross. So they were “rolled forward” because they remained unforgiven until Christ died.

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Only a Masquerade

Masquerading

is your life a masquerade

Is your life a masquerade?

New Webster’s Dictionary & Thesaurus of the English Language define “masquerading” as “to wear a disguise, to put on a false outward show.” This word, along with the closely related word “mask,” both etymologically descend from Spanish derivatives. Thus, the familiar “masquerade ball” is an event where the participants all wear masks, such as became a popular scene in the infamous musical, “Phantom of the Opera.” For practical meaning, it alludes to “a false show for pretense or concealment of the truth” (p. 614). While masquerading might be fun recreationally, it becomes a serious problem when it enters the spiritual realm. The Bible describes those who spiritually masquerade, which causes terrible problems. Let us identify several cases.

Sinners masquerade as saints. It is very unfortunate that so many use the word “Christian” so loosely today. The term initially given to the saints at Antioch (Acts 11:26) was to describe those who followed the teachings of Jesus Christ and threw off the shackles of Judaism and Gentile heathenism. Yet, today so many sinners masquerade themselves as saints by wearing the divine name given to those who solely obey God and his word. Jesus said,

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matt. 7:22-23) The difference between the true Christian and the masquerading Christian is in obedience (Matt. 7:21, 24-27).

The Old Testament taught in principle that unless a Gentile conformed in every way to the one true and living God, the Israelites were not to act as if they were one of the chosen people of God with all of the blessings and benefits found therein. They were to treat them with kindness and generosity, as they would have liked Pharaoh and the Egyptians to treat them when they were slaves in Egypt. Yet, at the same time, conversion was necessary before God gave privileges. The same thing is true today. Sinners must be converted to become saints—they should not simply masquerade as such by wearing names and worshipping falsely. Therefore, we are not to treat masquerading sinners as if they were saints. Only when they obey the gospel of Jesus Christ do we treat them as fellow saints.

False teachers masquerade as innocent lambs. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:15-16). “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:30). They “have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray” (2 Pet. 2:15). Through deception (Matt. 24:4-5), they masquerade innocently with the motive of destroying the flock. This is one reason Christ left elders to oversee and protect His flock, the church.

Hypocrites masquerade as righteous children of God. They pretend to worship God righteously, but instead put forth religious performances (Matt. 6:2-5, 16-18). Such worship was vain (Matt. 15:7-9). Jesus did not hesitate to pull the masquerading mask from the scribes and Pharisees of His day (Matt. 23:13-29), knowing how destructive they were to the people.

Lukewarm Christians masquerade as hot Christians. Jesus sternly rebuked the church of Laodicea for masquerading as hot Christians, when they were nothing more than lukewarm (Rev. 3:14-22). Such a position made Christ utterly sick. He would rather His people be either hot or cold, but not lukewarm, and urges them to repent. We need to throw off this mask concealing apathy for souls and our work for the Lord and become a people once again described as “zealous of good works” (Titus 2:15). There is no greater work than the work of our Lord in evangelizing precious souls. Therefore, let us all seek to refrain from any form of masquerading!

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Drive Thru Communion

Drive Thru Communion

communion is a sharing in the remembrance of christ

Communion is a sharing in the remembrance of Christ.

I was recently asked a question by a brother from another congregation regarding communion. Apparently, he has been witness to what seems to be an ever-increasing practice on the part of some of today’s saints, to just arbitrarily show up at the worship service long enough to take communion, and then to depart, apparently for other, more worldly pursuits. In part, he wrote:

“I know it says to come together and break bread on the first day of the week. Where I’m having a problem is when people come to church just to take communion and then leave. This concerns me. I’m left wondering, ‘Do these people think as long as they’ve taken communion on the first day [of the week – Acts 20:7], everything is okay?’ It tells us to worship together, not just take communion together. As important as it is to take communion, am I wrong to think that it’s bad for a person to come to church just for communion?”

To begin with, please let me say that to me at least, the single most important, incomparable, and incredibly spiritually intimate moment of the entire worship service itself, is when we gather around the Lord’s table to meet and commune with Him; He being present in accordance with His promise; our faithfully and obediently observing this in remembrance of Him (Lk. 22:14-20). Without this, and what it signifies, nothing else we do in worship would matter; not the singing, the sermon, or the prayers of the saints – nothing. If it were not for Jesus Christ’s blood sacrifice on that cross for my sins – the very personal and spiritually intimate meaning behind the very practice of communion as expressed in that passage by our beloved Savior Himself – then nothing else I could do in worship would ever, or could ever, amount to anything whatsoever. I can’t sing, or serve, or pray, or preach my way into His presence, and neither can you. Only His blood sacrifice completely accomplishes that. And only communion obediently celebrates that.

But, having established communion as being the single most important item and the spiritual centerpiece around which everything else in the worship service revolves as far as I can see, it is still indeed extremely sad when the saints of God come only for that alone and then leave. Remember, even though the hub which connects a wagon wheel or bicycle tire to the wagon or bicycle itself may be the weight bearing and therefore the most highly important and significant centerpiece around which everything else revolves in the entire wheel apparatus, the hub alone, without the spokes, gets one nowhere at all, and certainly not to their hoped-for destination!

And the same is true with communion. The night Jesus instituted it, he spent several hours both before and after its institution, teaching His disciples (Matt. 26:17-46; Mk.12-42; Lk. 22:1-46; Jn. 13:1-18:13). And as I read through those accounts I see only one who left immediately after breaking bread’… and that was Judas… His bitter, disloyal, and self-absorbed betrayer. The faithful disciples stayed, and lingered, and listened, and learned. They benefitted and grew from the things which their Lord and Savior then taught, and said, and did. By staying, they were being strengthened for their battle against Satan. While Judas – a disciple too I might add – simply left; and then lacking the benefit of such things as he could have gained if he’d been listening and learning from Jesus at each and every such opportunity, simply self-destructed instead, in his pursuit of personal gain.

This is one reason why I love how the ESV translates what the Apostle Peter (who was one of the ones who obviously didn’t leave that evening right after the communion) later wrote in 2 Ptr. 1:2-11:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him  who called us to  his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

While communion is crucial, please note that the accumulation and even acceleration of all of the above-mentioned elements are also essential! It seems pretty clear (at least to me) that one who is consistently “coming only for communion and then leaving,” is violating this passage completely. They are not making it their main priority to gain that essential greater knowledge, nor are they making every effort they possibly can to continually increase in that knowledge, nor are they being as diligent as they possibly can to make their calling and election sure… are they? And if they are consistently putting other things first on Sunday by only coming to worship, partaking of communion and then leaving to go do something else, it would seem to me that they have also missed the first and second greatest commandments… wouldn’t it to you (Matt. 22:34-40)?

And besides, speaking of due diligence in the acquisition, accumulation, and acceleration of all of those essential items, what about Acts 2:42 wherein we see the four elements that the new church members there in Jerusalem DEVOTED themselves to? It wasn’t just “the breaking of bread,” but they were just as diligently and equally devoted to prayer, fellowship, and the apostle’s teaching as they were to communion… and those are all equally essential elements that one sacrifices instead of devoting themselves to during our worship assemblies, when they show up only for communion and then leave as well.

Now please let me say also, that I can understand where once in a great, great while, and under definitely distasteful and/or unavoidable circumstances (such as perhaps being sick or something), one has to leave right after communion. I get that. And I believe God certainly does too. That’s not what we’re discussing here.

What we are discussing, is when one continually, consistently, persistently and premeditatedly makes this a preferred habit or practice. And God’s word addresses that pretty well (See Hebrews 10:24-31). One does not need to willfully miss the assembly altogether in order to be considered by God as having “forsaken” it. After all, consider that a person who abandons their lawfully wedded spouse, having actually been “in the marriage,” is also said to have “forsaken” their spouse and the marriage which they were already invested and involved in at the time. Likewise, to continually and willfully leave the worship assembly one is already involved in while it’s still in session because one has “better things to do,” would also fit into the category of “forsaking” the assembly as well, and subsequently fall under the condemnation of Hebrews 10:24-31. It’s just that one way you don’t attend at all, while the other way you do, but then “forsake,” or leave it, before its finished… dangerous stuff. Solomon additionally addressed just such as applies to either scenario, and at least one reason why those who depart and forsake them so often do in Proverbs 18:1 (which see).

The apostle Paul also addressed the practice of those people who were apparently placing approximately the same priority on the pursuit of the things of the world as they were on the partaking of communion in the very passage from whence we get the word “communion” – and it wasn’t pretty for the people who practiced it (please see: 1 Cor. 10:14-22)!

In closing, let us not forget our favorite illustration when it comes to presumptuous, selfish, self-serving “checklist religion” which never reaches the heart, and which therefore nauseates and disgusts God (Rev. 3:14-20): the Pharisees (Matthew 23). Those who willfully, continually, and premeditatedly make it their practice to come to worship only to take communion because it’s “on the list” (Acts 20:7) and then leave, really need go back and re-read and re-consider Matthew 23, and exactly what Jesus had to say to the “checklist” religious people of His day… (Hebrews 13:8).

 

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Lessons in Psalms

Lessons in Psalms

The words of the psalmist are so remarkable, for they allow us to see the heart of David. One can write historical narratives or present intellectual reasons for some aspect of truth without his soul being involved. However, the very nature of writing psalms and other songs demands that the author opened his heart and the words and music come from the depths of his soul.

the oceans are mighty and they are his

The oceans are mighty and they are His.

Remember that David’s heart was like God’s heart. In the psalms, David removes all pretense, and we are able to see his heart by looking at his words. Now, take this a step further and it becomes apparent that if the words of David become our words, then our heart can also be like God’s heart.

Even the short phrases in the psalms are filled with meaning which can change our heart. Look at this short phrase from Psalm 95:5. “The sea is His, for He made it.” It takes just seconds to read these eight words, but they can become a source of spiritual strength if we take time to meditate on them.

The sea is His. The next time you stand on the beach, look at all that is around you. There is the grandeur of the beauty of His creation, for it shows the handiwork of God (Psa. 19:2). There is the evidence of the Almighty, for every man is helpless before its mighty waves and is driven to his knees when tropical storms devastate the earth. There is His compassion and concern for all of His creation, as the psalmist said, “This great and wide sea, in which are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great…These all wait for You that You may give them their food in due season…You open your hand, they are filled with good” (Psa. 104:25-28). So much of the nature of God is seen in the sea. It is His, for He made it and gave it to us!

“The sea is His, for He made it.” As you literally stand by the sea or stand there right now in your imagination, think about what these words mean to us. He owns the sea for He made it. What about us? Did He not also make us? Because He did (evolution just cannot happen), we belong to Him.

Paul showed that He did not just purchase our souls, He purchased our bodies! He then said, “Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). He made us and gave us dominion over all of His creation. He made us, and we are His! All that He asks is that we return the honor that is due him for all that He has done. In John’s vision, He saw “…every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and such as are in the sea” praising God (Rev. 5:13). If you are not praising Him, you stand alone among all His creation. He made you and ____ ___ ___ (fill in the blanks).

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