Signs of the End of the World

Signs of the End of the World

So many think that the signs of “the end of the world” given by Jesus the week before He died show that it won’t be very long until Jesus shall appear. It is true that Jesus gave signs when the “end of the world” would come, but what “world” did He have in mind? When the disciples asked for these signs given in Matthew 24, what were they asking about?

Look at the context. Jesus had taught the parable of those who had refused to pay the owner for the use of his vineyard. He sent servants to ask for the payment and all of them were abused. He finally sent his son and they laid out plans to kill him. Read the parable of God sending His Son to the Jews in God’s vineyard. What was the expected response on these wicked men? “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers” (Matt. 21:41). Jesus further then amplified the application of the parable when He said, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (Matt. 21:43).

Look closer at the context of the signs. In Matthew 23, He told these same Jewish leaders that God’s plan was to bring judgment on the Jewish nation who had killed all the prophets sent to them and would soon to kill the prophets Jesus was sending to them. He said that wrath and judgment was to come on the generation then living (Matt. 23:34-36). God’s judgment was to come on those who had killed God’s messengers/prophets and were at that moment planning to kill His Son. It was to happen in that generation. God was no longer with them and their “house was left…desolate” (Matt. 23:38).

He then walked out of that desolate house, and they showed to Him the beauty of that house, that temple. Jesus’ response was that the time was coming when not one stone of the temple would be left on another. He left the city and Peter, James, John and Andrew said to Him, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?” (Mark 13:3-4). The house was desolate. God was about to destroy it, and the disciples wanted signs it was about to happen.

Jesus gave the signs and then said, “When you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matt. 24:33-34). He had told them the Jewish nation was to be removed, its temple destroyed and these disciples would see all these signs! It was to all happen in the generation then living on the earth.

There is more to be said about the signs of “the end of the world” in next week’s article.

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The Secret of Happiness

The Secret of Happiness

If you were asked to give a simple answer to the question about the secret of happiness on this earth, what would you say? The best response might be found in an acronym which has been around for decades. It deserves to be repeated because some may have forgotten it; others who have not grown up in the church may have never heard it; and parents need to be reminded to teach it to their small children. It is based on using every letter of the word JOY to give the order of priority of true happiness: Jesus first; Others second and Yourself last.

Jesus first. We must never forget these words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” (Matt. 6:33). Nor should we forget that the greatest commandment of the Old Testament was, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Paul says it this way, “This one thing I do…I press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). There is no joy until we put first things first.

Others second. Unless we train ourselves otherwise, we will embrace the social norm of nature—survival of the fittest and all that matters is me and my happiness. That second greatest commandment still says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The reality is that in one sense we are to love them more than ourselves. The Scriptures say, “Let each esteem others better than himself” (Phil. 2:3). The example of Paul’s willingness to humble himself and put others first is clearly seen. Paul teaches that one can freely eat any kind of meat but was aware that some did not share this knowledge. What was his response? “If food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble” (1 Cor. 8:13). See that same attitude toward his actions in teaching the lost, “I have made myself a servant to all that I might win the more…to the Jew I became…to those without law I became… to the weak I became…” (1 Cor. 9:19-22).

Yourself last. Dealing with others who are so selfish is not easy, but each of them has a soul which we must seek to save. David describes winning the souls of others in terms of planting a crop and harvesting it. “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psa. 126:5-6). Beyond a shadow of a doubt, we shall sow and reap in joy. This will never happen until we put ourselves last.

Remember that the secret of true joy in this is so simple. Jesus first, others second and yourself last.

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Translation of God’s Words

Translation of God’s Words

To translate the words spoken or written in one language into another language is difficult. It may be because there are no specific words in the second language which fully represent the precise meaning of the words in the first text. Or it may be because the number of tenses in the first language is different from the number in the second. Or it may be because the precise meaning of a phrase, especially in figurative language, if literally brought into the second language, would confuse the person reading the translation.translate english

Let me illustrate using information readily available on the internet. The translation of the Bible into English in the original King James Version in 1611 contained 788,280 words. The King James Bible we use today has 783,137 words. The New American Standard Version has 782,815 words, while the English Standard Version has 757,439 words. This variation reflects the emphasis and techniques of translation used in bringing the Hebrew or Greek into the English. It is not a major concern to those who understand the difficulty of translating from one version to another.

The responsibility of accurate translation lies in the hands of those who make the translation. Their work is to place the reader of the translation in the precise place of those who read the words when they were first written. Some say that such cannot happen, but it happens every day at the United Nations. When one addresses an assembly in that place, his words are immediately delivered in multitudes of languages to those from around the world in their native language. The translator must avoid placing any personal ideas of his own as he translates. A world leader speaks and immediately, because of the accuracy of translation, his precise thoughts are delivered to many nations. The translator does not add to the original messages any personal reflection of what he thought the world leader meant to say.

The importance of all of this is to urge those who want to do deep Bible study in English to use a Bible that by design is a word-for-word translation in every possible instance. However, in recent years many of the modern translations published have taken the approach of giving a thought-for-thought translation instead of a word-for-word translation. This approach opens the door for subjectivity in translation and results in a paraphrase instead of a translation. This can be seen by looking at a very popular version of the Bible—the New International Version (the NIV). How many words does this version have? It has 727,969 words. That is a difference of over 50,000 words and makes deep Bible study of Bible words impossible. It is vital we know the words God gave, not what a translator thought God meant. We need God’s words, not a translator’s thoughts.

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On Thing Leads to Another

On Thing Leads to Another

This morning when I got into work, I set about on the task of trying to get my plastic carpet protector under my office chair to quit scooting across the floor. This led me to a local hardware store for some Velcro, but the Velcro wouldn’t stick to the carpet, so I opted for a big strip of shelving liner that has non-skid properties. After lifting the large plastic carpet protector, the obviously dirty carpet beneath needed to be vacuumed, so I got the vacuum, cleaned the carpet, and then vacuumed the whole office afterward. This led to straightening up the office in other ways: shelving books, storing papers, trashing empty cardboard boxes, removing some equipment that was no longer needed – all from just trying to get my carpet protector to stay in place! It was a full morning’s work. Sometimes, one thing just leads to another.

This story has a spiritual application. There are some small things that you can do to get involved in the Lord’s work, and then, one thing will lead to another in a good way! You will find yourself more connected to your brothers and sisters in Christ. You will be less interested in the things of the world. You will be more concerned about the church and its work of evangelism. Your relationship with God will grow! Your love, joy, and contentment will increase, and you will feel good about yourself. It just takes one little step to get started. Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Let’s let one spiritual thing lead to another for Christ and the church!

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Lip-Service to God?

Lip-Service to God?

In both Matthew 15:3-9 and Mark 7:1-13, it is recorded how Jesus resolutely condemned the worship of a couple of the most highly religious groups of His day. The reason? They were honoring God with their lips – claiming to honor, follow, and glorify Him and His edicts and authority with their worship – but who were, in reality, only honoring the standards and traditions of men with their worship practices instead. While thus paying God ‘lip-service’ when it came to their worship – perhaps proclaiming to both themselves and to others that they were worshipping and submitting to almighty God as almighty God – the fact is,that their worship was not at all in accordance with,or obedience to, His commandments;but was instead, in accordance with, and obedience to, the doctrines and commandments of mere men.

Thus, Jesus pronounced their worship: null, vain, void, futile, useless, worthless, and/or pointless. In other words, they might as well have not even bothered as far as God was concerned. He wasn’t going to honor, accept, or even recognize their worship as ever having happened!Why? Because they had given God the standard by which He would judge their worship: As they did not honor Him with it, He would not honor them for it. Simple as that.

While we in the Lord’s church often cite these texts in reference to the vain, futile, man-made and demonic doctrines (1 Tim. 4:1-6; 2 Tim. 4:1-4; 2 Ptr. 2:1-3) of the man-made and named denominations all around us who practice them, the fact is, that this same truth, both can, and sometimes might apply to us, only on a different topic. Take for instance, the God-demanded practice of forgiveness.

We all know that we absolutely will not get to heaven unless we forgive others. Period. Jesus made that point perfectly, abundantly, and repeatedly clear, both in person and through His hand-picked apostles (Matt. 6:14-15; Eph. 4:31-32; Col. 3:12-13; and etc.). We also know that in order to be acceptable to God, our forgiveness of our brethren’s trespasses – just like the acceptable worship indicated by Matthew 15:3-9 and Mark 7:1-13 – must also come from the heart (Matt. 18:21-35 – see verse 35 in particular). In other words, it must be more than just simply paying forgiveness ‘lip-service.” It must be backed up by obedient, Biblical, practice.

To tell someone “I forgive you, …but…” – “BUT, I can no longer fellowship with you,” “BUT, I can no longer worship in the same building as you,” or, “BUT, I can no longer work together with you in the kingdom” – is not true, God-honoring, and God-imitating forgiveness. It is not forgiveness “as,” or in the same way, in which God has forgiven us (Again: Matt. 18:21-35; Eph. 4:31-32; Col. 3:12-13; and etc.). It is merely paying God’s demand and standard of forgiveness ‘lip-service,’ while honoring and adhering to the world’s standard of ‘forgiveness’ instead, isn’t it? Tell me, when God forgave you(Acts 2:38, 22:16), did He in any way include or indicate, that even though He had forgiven you, that He still would not fellowship with you? Or that He would not want you in worship with Him? Or that He would not want to work with you in His kingdom? Of course not! That’s absurd! (See: Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:1-4; Matt. 26:27-29; Phil. 1:6, 2:13!)

You see, God-honoring, imitating, and required forgiveness:

  • Refuses to stay angry with the offender; it forgets the trespass and removes it totally from the record; it’s as if it never happened (Psa. 103:9-12; 1 Cor. 13:4-7).
  • Doesn’t just simply say “I forgive you,” or even just immediately restore the relationship back to its former state which it had before the trespass occurred; but it actually and in reality, takes the relationship to a whole, new, better and higher level than it has ever enjoyed before (Lk. 15:20-32; Acts 2:37-47;Gal. 3:22-27; Hebs. 7:7-10:25)!

To do anything else, or less, when it comes to forgiveness, is to only pay ‘lip-service’ to God’s commandment that we must forgive– and must do so “as” we ourselves have been forgiven by God.To do anything else, or less, when it comes to forgiveness, is to honor God with our lips, while proving that our hearts are far from Him.To do anything else, or less, when it comes to forgiveness, is to honor and adhere to man’s standard and definition of forgiveness, over and against what God’s standard, definition, and exampleof forgiveness is.

Similarly, just like those who deceived themselves into thinking that their ‘worship’ was pleasing and acceptable to God even when it wasn’t – because they were honoring and adhering to men’s standards of worship rather than His – we, too, can easily deceive ourselves into thinking that our ‘forgiveness’ is pleasing and acceptable to God, when it isn’t either – and for the same reason. When we claim to forgive, only paying it ‘lip-service,’ but don’t truly forgive from the heart in accordance with God’s instructions and definition, then just like the worship mentioned in Matthew 15 and Mark 7, doesn’t that demand that our humanly-devised and defended brand of ‘forgiveness,’ is likewise,viewed and branded by God, as:null, vain, void, futile, useless, worthless, and pointless?Doesn’t it mean that God isn’t going to honor, accept, or even recognize it as ever having happened in the first place? And if He refuses to recognize what we choose to call ‘forgiveness,’ because it is carried out in accordance with man’s standards instead of His,then He has made it clear that he will not forgive us either – because in His eyes we have still not truly and legitimately forgiven.

Some might surely say, “But it’s so hard to forgive like that!” Yes. That’s right. It is. If you don’t think so, just ask Jesus (Matt. 26:27-29; Mk. 2:1-12; Lk. 23:34). He knows. Maybe that’s why He also gives us the help and power to complete it (Phil. 4:13; 2 Tim. 1:7; Heb. 13:20-21).

In Luke 6:38, Jesus said “For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Accordingly,if the ‘lip-service’ measure of ‘forgiveness’that we sometimes fatally choose to levy on our brethren, includes the fact that we will still neither work, worship, fellowship,or have anything to do with them – and that, at the very least as much as we used to – then do we not force God’s measure of ‘forgiveness’ of us on Judgment Day to consist of the very same conditions according to that verse? And certainly none of us can afford that, can we?

Remember: God has shown us exactly how He wants us to forgive while we’re here. And we show God by the way we do that, exactly how we want Him to forgive us when we get there. Now, who do you need to go forgive … fully … from the heart …  today … “even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32)?

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