Faithful Commitment

Jesus, the messiah of mankind, lived a life in the flesh like no other man.  His words and his actions perfectly fit the pattern prescribed by God the Father (John 5:30, John 12:49-50).  That all men save Jesus fall short of the Glory of God is factual (Romans 3:23).  Yet, many who declare themselves prepared for faithful commitment to God soon find themselves transgressing against their vows to serve him.  Their declaration of service comes before considering the cost – their life (Galatians 2:20).  Jesus spoke about this in the parable of the sower.

Matthew 13:20-21 – And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth.

How many souls have walked the path of those words?  Hearts praise God every time a sinner comes to Him and humbly calls upon him for forgiveness.  The sinner dedicates his service to Jesus as Lord and buries himself in the waters of baptism so he can walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:4).   Then, sadly, within a short time he sets aside his vow of faithful commitment and returns to the world.  It is much like an individual who swears off addictions.  His earnestness appears obvious to all.  Yet, he cannot bear the weight of his choice and returns once again to a lack of self control.

The path of those who hastily agree to faithful commitment to God is broad.  The people of Israel left Egypt, a firstborn nation of God.  When Moses shared with them the ordinances of God, “all the people answered with one voice, and said all the words which Jehovah hath spoken will we do.” (Exodus 24:3)  Shortly thereafter (forty days and forty nights), when Moses would come down Mt. Sinai with the ten commandments etched in stone by the finger of God, he would find the children of Israel already engaged in sins against Him whom they swore to obey.  Israel was the bride of God and yet, they chose to be unfaithful.  A marriage of 40 days resulting in infidelity demonstrates a lack of dedication to vows.  That sinful body of people save those twenty years old and under as well as Joshua and Caleb would not make it out of the wilderness.  They would spend 40 years meeting their death.

The feet of the descendants of that people would make it to the Promised Land, Canaan.  After establishing themselves in the land, Joshua would speak to them about their renewed vows to God in Joshua 24:19-22:

“ … Ye cannot serve Jehovah; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgression nor your sins.  If ye forsake Jehovah, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve Jehovah.  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you Jehovah, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.”

 Joshua was critical of their dedication to the Lord.  He warned them of unfaithfulness.  Still they declared they would serve God.  Following the death of Joshua, the people faltered in their obedience to God their Head and Master.  They did not drive the inhabitants of Canaan out of the land.  They became idolatrous.  They turned their back on the One to whom they had been betrothed.  They broke their vows to walk the broad way of their forefathers.  They had truly not committed themselves to the Lord.  God punished them often for their continued disobedience.

Centuries later, beyond the time of judges and toward the end of the Kings of Israel, the prophet Jeremiah would prophecy of the coming terror of Babylon.  He would tell the people of Judah and Jerusalem that they would be disciplined for their infidelity.  The people called upon Jeremiah to beseech the Lord in prayer for their safety: “Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God” (Jeremiah 42:6).  The word of God came to Jeremiah telling the people to stand strong in the land which He had given them.  Not to run in fear back to the land of Egypt.  If they would remain, He would turn away Babylon.  Yet, the people did run to Egypt.  They did not obey God, once again going against their own words.  Thus, Babylon destroyed them by the hand of God.

Those things recorded of Israel serve as a guide to the actions of man today (Romans 15:4).  God is a faithful God (Deuteronomy 7:9), but Israel did not put their trust in Him.  They had received him initially with joy, but they did not have depth to their embracing of Him.  He therefore disciplined them for their lack of faithful commitment.

Seeing that man has often jumped into the service of God without a deep commitment, soon turning away from Him, what can be done to reduce the occurrence of this?

First, adequate instruction should be given to those who would come to Christ.  So frequently, the demands of discipleship are not explained thoroughly to the potential Christian.  Individuals readily clothe themselves in Him through baptism, only to realize their hearts were not ready to repent of their worldly lifestyles.  The trials and persecutions which arise immediately overcome the unprepared and weak soul.  Great care must be taken with those who have an infantile knowledge of Christ.  They must be nourished and fed His Word with the understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

Luke 14:27-33 – Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it? Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace.  So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Second, those considering Christ must understand the world and its vices are not their friend, but an enemy to be put away with the birth of a new creature (John 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17).  So many believe they can still be a part of the world around them and serve Christ in faithful commitment.  Yet, this was the failure of Israel before them.  Israel was not to dwell with the people of the land (Deuteronomy 7:1-3).  They were not to marry with them.  They were not to make covenants with them.  They were to utterly destroy them since their time of disobedience was over (Genesis 15:16).  While God does not call His people to discipline by war as He did in the time of Israel (Vengeance is the Lord’s – Romans 12:19), He does still call upon His people to be separate from the world (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

Finally, consider Jesus Words in Matthew 12:43-45:

“ But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation.”

Not only must those who would come to Christ be truly taught what it means to be a disciple and separate from the world, they must understand the need to fill their lives with the things of God (Philippians 4:8).  There is a term often used “Nature abhors a vacuum” carrying the meaning that emptiness will be filled.  The question is what shall fill the life of one coming to Christ?  They may indeed cleanse themselves of sin, but if they do not fill their lives in the service and knowledge of their God through faithful commitment, they will once again fill it in service to the god of the world (2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Peter 3:18).

Take a moment to consider all those who you have seen baptized into Christ.  Whether young or old, how many of them fully understood before their conversion what was expected from discipleship?  Did they separate themselves from the world or did they continue to try and balance the world with their life?  Did they fill themselves with the Words which Jehovah spoke or did they once again live a life stained by the filth of the world?  Christians, be vigilant to remain faithful (I Corinthians 10:12, 16:13) and take great care with those who espouse themselves to Christ (2 Timothy 2:24-26, Jude 1:20-23).

Our relationship with God is a deep matter in which we should be fully prepared to trust our God and exercise faithful commitment to our vows to Him while training others to observe the same.  While souls will still be lost who did not fully consider the costs of discipleship, by taking the steps discussed, more will be prepared.

Matthew 26:41 – “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Posted in Travis Main | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Faithful Commitment

The Lust of the Eyes

The student of the Bible understands that one way our adversary, Satan, allures us is through the lust of the eyes: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16). He did so through the appeal concerning the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil—“it was pleasant to the eyes” (Gen. 3:6), and he continues to do so today.

The eyes of humanity have certainly gotten us into much trouble. In the antediluvian world, the Bible records, “…the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose” (Gen. 6:2). Certainly, this was directly related to the fact that “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Thus, note the difference in what these men saw and what God saw. Praise God that he was able to see integrity and faithfulness in Noah (Gen. 6:9).

Many individuals in the Bible point out the correlation of our eyes to temptation. In Joshua 7, Achan disobeyed God in stealing things that God specifically announced through Joshua were devoted. His single wicked act was directly responsible for the defeat of Israel at the hands of the citizens of Ai, resulting in the loss of thirty-six men (Josh. 7:5). This disturbs Joshua greatly, and he begins searching throughout the Israelite camp for the one responsible. He whittles down his search through tribe, clan and family to the guilty party—Achan. Only after they discover him does he admit, “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it” (Josh. 7:21). Please note the progression of sin—he saw, he coveted, he took and he hid. In other words, it all began with the lust of his eyes. Can we not see this same digression within David concerning his sin with Bathsheba? It all began when “David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon” (2 Sam. 11:2). He saw Bathsheba, coveted Bathsheba, took Bathsheba and then tried to hide his sin with Bathsheba—it all began with a lustful look!

Through such, the temptation and allurement of the lust of the eyes is not unique, but is quite common from one generation to the next. It may be the “goodly Babylonish garment” and money that Achan saw or it may be the bathing beautiful woman that David saw. It may be seeing an opportunity to steal the coveted blouse at Wal-Mart or it may be seeing pornography on an isolated computer screen (cf. Matt. 5:28). It may be seeing an opportunity to illegally trade on Wall Street or it may be seeing an opportunity to cheat the IRS on our taxes. It is all the same!

In conclusion, rather than utilizing our eyes to see that which we ought not to view/look, we ought rather to do as Job stated: “I made a covenant with mine eyes…” (Job 31:1). Everyone ought to make a covenant with their eyes against that which is lustful. Rather than using our eyes to see that which is lustful, we ought to use our eyes to see that way of escape from this dangerous mode of temptation: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). Let us train our eyes to look for the way out!

Posted in Sam Willcut | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Lust of the Eyes

Contradictions in the Bible (Part 2)

As we seek to educate our children in biblical matters, we need to be aware of tactics used by the enemy. For instance, one popular method used to plant seeds of doubt is Web sites that proclaim hundreds of errors or contradictions in the Bible. Consider the difference in a teen’s spiritual foundation if he or she is taught beforehand that atheists will do their best to point out alleged contradictions—versus a young person stumbling across a Web site of alleged contradictions, without any preparation.

One of the favorite alleged contradictions that Web sites like to use is the death of Judas. In Matthew 27:5 we find: “He [Judas] threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5). But what about Acts 1:18 that reads, “Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out” (Acts 1:18). So which was it? Did Judas hang himself, or did he fall headlong and burst in the middle? Atheists point at these two different scenarios and boldly proclaim that the Bible is not inspired. However, a closer look reveals that both instances could (and did) occur.

When the body dies, bacteria that are normally kept in check inside the body begin to immediately multiply and produce gases which cause the body to swell up. [Today we don’t worry about this much thanks to preparations made at funeral homes.] When Judas hung himself, his body experienced this same phenomena, with bacteria producing gases as his body was suspended in the Sun. While we are not told how he was brought down, two very good possibilities exist: (1) either he was cut down prior to the observance of special religious days (e.g., Sabbath); or (2) the rope he used eventually broke due to the weight. In either case we can see how his body would fall—headfirst, since the torso is heavier than the legs—and then the bloated body burst open to reveal his entrails. Did Judas hang himself? Yes. Did his body burst after hitting the ground? Definitely. Are these contradictory, leaving the Bible in question? Absolutely not! Rather than focusing on this alleged contradiction, skeptics would do better to realize the result of a man who walked with Jesus Christ and eventually sold out, giving in to temptation.

Posted in Brad Harrub | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Contradictions in the Bible (Part 2)

Contradictions in the Bible? (Part 1)

Steve Wells, author of The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible, claimed that the Bible is “unworthy of belief” because of its numerous contradictions and false prophecies.  He is not alone. Dan Barker, in his book Losing Faith In Faith—From Preacher to Atheist, noted “People who are free of theological bias notice that the bible contains hundreds of discrepancies…. The bible is a flawed book.” Dennis McKinsey wrote The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy, in which he claimed:

“Every analyst of the Bible should realize that the Book is a veritable miasma of contradictions, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, poor science, bad math, inaccurate geography, immoralities, degenerate heroes, false prophecies, boring repetitions, childish superstitions, silly miracles, and dry-as-dust discourse. But contradictions remain the most obvious, the most potent, the most easily proven, and the most common problem to plague the Book.”

Parents and grandparents must realize that one of the ways atheists and skeptics recruit our children is by convincing them the Bible is full of contradictions. Over the next few weeks I want to turn our attention to some of these alleged “discrepancies.” It will become very apparent that with a little research and serious study, every single alleged contradiction can be explained. We need to reassure our children that the Bible can withstand the skeptics’ innocuous charges—indeed, the Bible is inspired.

A good example of an alleged contradiction can be found in 1 Corinthians 15:4-5. Regarding Jesus Paul wrote: “and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.” However, Bible students recognize that in Matthew 27:5 we learn that “He [Judas] threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself” (before Jesus’ resurrection).  And we know that Acts 1:26 informs us that Judas’ replacement came after Jesus ascension into heaven: “He [Matthias] was numbered with the eleven apostles.” So why did Paul say He was seen by twelve when there were only eleven living at the time?

Can this discrepancy be explained? Certainly! Consider for a moment how many teams are in the Big Ten conference. Or how about the actual measurements of a 2 X 4. Those familiar with the Big Ten conference know that there are actually more than 10 teams in that conference. Furthermore, carpenters know that a “2 X 4” does not actually measure 2 X 4. While we recognize these items by descriptive terms, the terms do not accurately define their present numbers. The term for this is prolepsis. It is the assignment of something, such as an event or name, to a time that precedes it. There once was a time that the Big 10 conference had ten teams, and a 2X 4 was precisely that. In Paul’s letter to the Christians in Corinth he was simply referring to the group commonly known as the twelve apostles.

Posted in Brad Harrub | Tagged , | Comments Off on Contradictions in the Bible? (Part 1)

Secrets About Christian Men and Immodesty

Women’s magazines make a living off of disclosing secrets about women and men. Today, another secret will be revealed that may open the eyes of many Christian women and help arm them with knowledge and empathy.

The refrain we often hear from Christian women who dress immodestly is that men aren’t supposed to be looking anyway because of their commitment to God. This logic is dangerously naive.

When a man becomes a Christian he does not cease to be a man with all the passions and sexual drive God gave him. The desire to look at attractive women is still instilled deep in his being and that will not go away when he exits the baptistery. This makes him a male, not a pervert.

The secret that needs to be revealed, to help Christian women, can also help the guilt of Christian men giving them the power to grow in these matters.

Ladies, Christian men have a love/hate relationship with immodesty.

As fleshly men with inherent passions, they desire women sexually and love attractive, immodest women because sex is on their minds all the time.

In our sex-saturated society, men deserve a respite from immodesty when they are among their sisters in Christ. When women in the kingdom are also immodest, men can’t get away from it. It would be like a woman on a strict diet being surrounded by chocolate every where she went.

While men crave beautiful women, Christian men also hate immodesty because it threatens them spiritually. They know lust is sinful (Matthew 5:27-28; Job 31:1) and they wish all women would dress modestly while desiring otherwise. The conflict can be intense.

Christian women often do not know the battles that men face. The fleshly and the spiritual are in constant warfare for dominance in their hearts. Fleshly men just surrender and indulge whenever possible. Yet, Christian men must keep fighting the dragon. They don’t win all the battles, either, and the wounds can be painful.

When will Christian women understand and empathize? When will they start helping men in their struggles? When will they stop fighting against the hearts of godly men?

Do Christian women love Christian men? If so, please express that love by being modest. The enemy is Satan and if we can help each other go to heaven, it will all be worth it.

by Richard Mansel

Posted in Guest Authors | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Secrets About Christian Men and Immodesty