Profound and Eternal Truths

Profound and Eternal Truths

One of the marks of the inspiration of the Bible is how such profound and eternal truths can be stated in such simple terms. This is not to say that it does not contain teachings that are like milk and other teachings like meat (Heb. 5:12-14), but God has made truth so that even one who has limited education can understand deep truth in simple words. Consider the following truth contained in just four words.

God

The opening verses of the Bible set the tone for all that follows. “In the beginning God…” How can one look at the world around us without seeing that it was not caused by a massive, randomly uncontrolled explosion? “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psa. 19:1). There is an intricate design to the universe, and its origin, and ours, is found in one word—God.eternal truths

God Loves

Every attribute of God is infinite. There are no limits to measure the height, depth or width of any of them. His very nature is to love His creation. His care is seen in the feeding of every bird and the glorious beauty given to every flower. Do you want to see His love? Then do what Emmanuel said when He was on the earth, “Look at the birds in the air…your Father feeds them” (Matt. 6:26). His love is seen in the showers which water the earth and in light and warmth of our sun. “For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). He shows His love every day to even those who curse Him. God loves!

God Loves You

So many are ridden with guilt about the mistakes and blunders they have made. They feel that they have done so much wrong that God has no place for them. Think again about those words about the sun and rain. They come equally on the just and the unjust. After Jesus told us to look at how God feeds the birds, He asks, “Are you not of more value than they?” You may not see your value because of all of your mistakes, but He still does! Remember His prayer about forgiveness for those who were crucifying Him, yet He still loved them! In spite of all we have done in the past, He still loves us and gave His son to prove it!

God Loves You Always

Finally, remember that His love is unchanging. Think of the worst day you every lived and know He still loved you at the end of that day. Find the joy that awaits you today when you remember that “…nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ” (Rom. 8:39). Remember these four simple words about eternal truth: God loves you always.

Posted in Dan Jenkins | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Profound and Eternal Truths

Vengeance: Avenge Not Yourselves

Vengeance: Avenge Not Yourselves

The greatest test of a Christian within the New Testament is how he treats his enemies. When we are wronged, we lash out in response to “defend” ourselves.  We demand what is “equitable” in relationship to the harm that has been done to us.  Vengeance is that demanding attitude that what was done to me ought to also be done to my enemy.  Christians are directed not to harbor such thoughts in their sanctified minds.  vengeance

Romans 12:19-21 says, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”  Peter wrote, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:21-23).

When pursued by our enemies, how do we respond?  Do we avenge or “give place unto wrath?”  Do we revile or revile not?  Do we threaten or threaten not?  Do render our own verdict, or commit ourselves to the righteous judge?  Do overcome evil with evil or do we overcome evil with good?  Our enemies deserve our mercy and love because we were once God’s enemy and that is how God looked upon us.  To treat them otherwise, is to invite the same judgment that we mete out upon them upon ourselves (Matthew 7:1).

Posted in Kevin Cauley | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Vengeance: Avenge Not Yourselves

Death by Suicide

Death by Suicide

“Suicide is defined as death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with intent to die as a result of the behavior.”  From the CDC, the statistics of death by suicide (2020) in the United States can be seen:

  • Suicide was the 12th leading cause of death overall in the United States…
  • Suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10-14 and 25-34 , the third leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 15-24, and the fourth leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 35 and 44.
  • There were nearly two times as many suicides (45,979) in the United States as there were homicides (24,576).

The numbers regarding this topic are horrifying.  The reality behind them is far worse.  Husbands and wives, widowed.  Fathers and mothers, heart broken and shell shocked.  Families weeping over their loss.  Children alone or left with only a single parent.  While communities attempt to do their best to pick up the pieces, the wounds left upon the living from those who commit death by suicide often persist for a lifetime.

God created life in His image (Genesis 1:26).  He created mankind desiring that they be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28).  His direction to mankind is that they be kind, loving, comforting, and walk in a righteous manner serving one another.  He called upon mankind to avoid that which was not good.  His desire was that the union between man and woman that He created would create godly offspring (Malachi 2:15).  To be godly, one works to mold oneself in the image of the creator which I John 4:8 defines as “love” itself.

What leads most individuals to suicide is a lack of loving righteousness.  The individual suffers at the hand of that which is not godly.  They are introduced to that which harms their physical person and their soul.  Mental and physical abuse, mind altering substances, violence, teachings causing the individual to rely upon the judgment of mankind rather than God, jealousy, selfishness, immorality, greed, self-loathing, and a countless parade of influences introduced by the world create chaos within the mind and life of the individual.  The sources are wide ranging, but all have a commonality – ungodly influence – which causes damage to all who encounter it.

As a final thought regarding death by suicide, consider the religious body that you attend.  Are the individual members causing pain and suffering upon one another or are they working together to strengthen and build up? (I Corinthians 12:12-27)  Many congregations today have figuratively slit their wrists and are slowly bleeding to death.  Their actions are those of suicide.  They show up to appointed times, but their actions are political, backbiting, selfish, jealous, uncaring, unsupportive, unloving, and ungodly.  Rather than support one another and give life to other congregations trying to serve God, they demean one another and become a hindrance to righteousness.  Their time is spent fighting and being divisive within the expressed brotherhood of saints, rather than doing good to the household of faith.  If those claiming Christ are engaged in this behavior, they will only find destruction.  Let each one of us honestly examine ourselves, work to strengthen that which remains, and then reach out to the world with a proper shine of a chosen people.  Let us be a people who desire to be fruitful and see godly offspring born into Christ.  If the many do not turn from their ways, their death can only be attributed to their own “self-directed injurious behavior”.

Posted in Travis Main | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Death by Suicide

Faith in His Name

Faith in His Name

The miraculous confirmation of the authority and prophetic message which the apostles delivered in the first century provided wonders which men today long to see.  Some preachers and Christians in this modern era have failed to comprehend such occurrences ended with those upon whom the apostles laid their hands.  Much like the Jews reading the Old Testament should have realized Jesus was the promised Christ, groups of believers today overlook/misinterpret passages such as Zechariah 13:1-6, I Corinthians 13:8-12, Ephesians 4:7-16, Ephesians 1:13-14, and others which together establish the miraculous would end with the full revelation of scripture and unity of the Church bringing Jewish and Gentile Christians together with the destruction of Judaism.  Instead, their claim for the failure of knowledge, prophecy, and wonders is that the believer does not have enough “faith in His name”.Faith in his name

Faith and the miraculous are tied together in a number of passages.  In Matthew 17:14-20, Jesus is approached by a man whose son suffered seizures due to the presence of a demon.  He removes the demon, however, He comments about that generation’s faithlessness.  Afterward, He explained to the disciples their little faith limited their ability to wield the power of God and was the reason for their failure.  With proper faith, they could move mountains.  In Matthew 21:18-22, Jesus declared to His disciples again, that faith not limited by doubt will enable them to fully exercise the power of God and again, even to the extent of moving mountains.  In the context of both, the powers exercised are to those endowed with them within the first century.

The apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians states the following: 1 Corinthians 13:2 – “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”  Paul as an apostle and one who had the prophetic abilities endowed by God also ties the existence of faith to employing the miraculous/prophetic.  In context, he was applying this fact to not just himself, but all who had received the gift of the Spirit as given by God and only able to be imparted to others by the hands of the apostles (Acts 8:14-18).

The previous passages now being laid out for our understanding consider Acts 3:16:

“And his name–by faith in his name–has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.”

Peter with the power of God by the faith in the name (authority) of Christ had just enabled a lame man to walk.  The faith spoken of is the faith of Peter.  It is not due to any semblance of faith to receive soundness in his legs that the lame man walked.  That man simply wanted something to enable him to eat or help his station in life.  Sadly, many try to approach this passage as if the faith were that of the lame man.  Thus, they declare in their modern teachings that if the lame man by his faith was able to walk, those who are not able to walk today when visited by supposed “faith healers” or by constant prayer, must not have enough faith.  This teaching is a cloud without rain, a fruitless tree, an utterly worthless and false interpretation of scripture.  Again, the faith required is on the part of the one possessing the ability to heal not the one receiving the benefit.  This fact bore itself out in all of the passages examined in this article where faith was a necessity.

Modern day application of scripture to the Christian life is imperative; however, not all applications are proper or factual.  Context, audience, and potential limitations based on factors such as the age, prophecy, and others must be considered.  It would indeed be fantastic to see the abilities given by God in the first century exercised today.  However, this is not possible.  The individual can have full faith in God, but when God binds limitations upon His Will, He is true to His revelation of it.  Have faith in His name based upon the evidence provided in His Word.  Allow that to be the foundation of your life, but do not go beyond what he has brought forth.

Posted in Travis Main | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Faith in His Name

After Three Days

After Three Days

This article will be more easily understood by first reading the previous one.  Our problem is that in the English language there is no way to harmonize three Jewish expressions—“after three days;” “three days and three nights” and “on the third day.” There is no way to harmonize on and after.

However, the Jews used these three expressions to refer to the same period of time.  Even Jesus used these three phrases to refer to the time He was in the grave. If we spoke of time as the Jews did, using their language, there would be no problem. Consider the following to see how the Hebrews had no problem using these phrases interchangeably.

The peace offering could be eaten on the same day it was offered or on the next day, but none could be eaten “on the third day” (Lev. 19:6-7). David made a plan with Jonathan that involved the day of his conversation, “tomorrow” and the “third day at evening” (1 Sam. 20:5). When Rehoboam became king, he instructed men to come back to him “after three days,” but they came back to him “on the third day, as the king had directed” (2 Chron. 10:5-6). They understood that what happened on the third day was precisely what the king meant when he said “after three days.” Consider the same kind of language used by Esther (Esther 4:16; 5:1). The Jews spoke of time differently from Americans!

Jesus was buried on the Preparation day, the day before the Sabbath (Luke 23:53-54). This day of preparation is mentioned in connection with Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus died on the day before the Sabbath (hence on the Preparation day) because the Jews did not want Him to remain that special sabbath (a great, high day that coincided with the Passover sabbath, John 19:31). He was buried before evening of the Sabbath. Then, on the day after the day of preparation, the priests came to Pilate and told the governor that Jesus had said He was to be raise “after three days.” The tomb was guarded “until the third day” (Matt. 27:62, 64). The Jews, unlike Americans, saw all of these terms equally.

Follow the women from the tomb and before the Sabbath began. They quickly prepared burial spice and fragrant oils; rested on the Sabbath; and then early on the next day, Sunday, they went to the tomb (Luke 23:55-24:1). He was buried on Friday, they rested on Saturday, and they went to the tomb on the third day. Remember that Jesus referred to the day of His death as “today” to the thief and earlier had sent a message to Herod about “today, tomorrow and the third day He would be perfected” (Luke 13:32).  There is NO problem in the Jewish language; it is only in our language. He was raised on the third day (Luke 24:21)!

Posted in Dan Jenkins | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on After Three Days