1/9/13

You pay for sin... and pay and pay and pay

I found this little article on the blog "right truth" and thought it might be something to think about...

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451c49a69e2017c35766743970b
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If I have learned anything at all during my 63 years upon this Earth, it is that you pay for the sin that you do-- and then you CONTINUE TO PAY AND PAY AND PAY!!!

I tend to think that problems with sex began with the sexual revolution of the 60's-- NOT SO!!!  This passage from Matthew shows that it has always been a problem!!!!

Matthew, Chapter 19
 1 When Jesus had finished these words, he departed from Galilee, and came into the borders of Judea beyond the Jordan.  2 Great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there.  3 Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” 

  4  He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,   5  and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’   6  So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.” 

  7  They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a bill of divorce, and divorce her?” 

  8  He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.   9  I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.” 

  10  His disciples said to him, “If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” 

  11  But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given.  12  For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.”

Jesus held marriage in high regard; so should we!!!  Any physical relationship outside the bonds of that blessed commitment is wrong!!!  As the article from the blog mentions, people can carry diseases and you may or may not be able to recover from them.  So, BE SAFE; find someone to love and marry;commit your life to THEM!!!  Just one of the many benefits of being a Christian!!!!

Unhappy birthday to you by Jim McGuiggan


Spending Time with Jim McGuiggan


UNHAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

I'm pretty sure it was last year [or perhaps the year before] that a large gathering of atheists had their anti-Christmas celebration. There were all kinds of entertainment and some preaching of the glory of atheism. In a politically “free” society this is perfectly in order, of course, and if Christians have the political freedom to celebrate the meaning of Christmas [putting the best face on it] then why should anyone begrudge atheists their faith and celebrations?
You understand, certainly, that if their faith is “true” then there is no “political freedom” (or any other kind for that matter). Everything that exists is chemical reactions (as atheist activists like Weinberg, Harris, Hitchens, Dawkins and others insist). Even the thought that they are “freely” choosing to celebrate is a determined chemical reaction. "Freedom" is only a word that chemistry determines will be used [or not]. They sense something that feels like they are making choices but that feeling and sense is a chemical reaction to which the name "freedom" or "choice" is given.
I didn't myself hear him say it but I understand that Dawkins recently admitted that words like "praise" and "blame" have no rational basis but that we "can't live without using them." It's what he should say because it's true (if the word "truth" can have meaning in an atheistic world). Others like Bertran Russell have said it before him.
I always find that a little amusing; especially when I hear Dawkins or Harris rant about “truth” and the moral high ground and the abuse that Christians and other religious people have heaped on the world. They simply don’t get it! For the consistent atheist there is no truth or moral high ground or choice. There only is what is. “Truth” can’t exist. You don’t say a stone is “true”; that makes no sense. You say a stone is. In atheism a stone like everything else in existence simply is. An opinion, a conviction, a tree, a sermon, a piece of demagoguery, an act of cruelty or compassion, a dog or a mountain, a book or a physicist’s theorizing—in atheism these are all the end products of purposeless carbon. Weinberg said it’s hard to convince people that their highest thoughts are nothing but chemical reactions. He seems to forget it’s just as hard for them to think his brilliant thoughts are nothing but chemical reactions. He is like a firecracker exploding and has no more control over what he thinks than he had over his beginning to exist. That’s not my view of Weinberg—that’s Weinberg’s view of Weinberg (and Dawkins and Harris and the rest of us).
So when you watch and listen to these people talk they really give you the impression that they are really choosing to say something when on their own view they are nothing but a bag of bio-chemicals reacting to a causal network of chemical reactions.
But though that always makes me shake my head (an unchosen chemical reaction, no doubt!) it isn’t what affects me most these days.
What affects me most is how people in a world as filled with pain and injustice as this one can celebrate the non-existence of someone who could right all wrongs.
Yes, I know the God of Christians and others is rejected. There are some gods and some claims about the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that I’m vehemently opposed to myself. That’s not quite the point I want to make.
I find it distressing that several thousand healthy, well-off and “free” people can gather to celebrate the fact that rolling centuries of injustice, wickedness, selfishness and abuse that have engulfed tens of billions and that this will never be dealt with. Celebrate that?
Here’s what I mean. A Nazi commandant (name your poison, Pol Pot, Mugabe, Vlad the Impaler, Stalin or whoever) delights in torturing little children before butchering or burning them, after the war goes to South America, lives in luxury and dies peacefully in old age. Atheists shrug—it is what it is! Nothing can be done about it. We should do something about it now because it’s “wrong” (?) but there’s nothing to be done for the billions in the past, the hundreds of millions in the present and who know how many in the future. That’s the faith of atheists (though some may not like it).
To celebrate atheism is to celebrate that! There will be no justice for the teeming millions, there will be no “making it up to” the pillaged innocents. If you’re “lucky” you’re among those who can go to big parties to celebrate that there is no one who will take care of all that.
Putting the best face on it, at Christmas, Christians say “happy birthday” to Jesus believing that he has claimed that all wrongs will be righted and that he signed his claims with his glorious life and atoning death and that God vindicated him in resurrection and glorification. Maybe that’s all nonsense but at least there’s something to celebrate. That is, it’s the kind of faith that warrants dancing and singing and proclamation. If it is true, all that is false about Christianity will be judged and obliterated and all wrongs will be righted and an innumerable host of ravaged innocents and righteous will come walking out of the shadows and loneliness into the warm light of welcome and fullness of life.
Atheism, as one of its chief proponents (Blackham) said years ago, “Is too bad to be true!”
The recent atheist party was a big crowd of people singing “unhappy birthday to you.”

Bible Reading, Jan. 9


Jan. 9
Genesis 9

Gen 9:1 God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Gen 9:2 The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that the ground teems with, and all the fish of the sea are delivered into your hand.
Gen 9:3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As the green herb, I have given everything to you.
Gen 9:4 But flesh with its life, its blood, you shall not eat.
Gen 9:5 I will surely require your blood of your lives. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man.
Gen 9:6 Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image.
Gen 9:7 Be fruitful and multiply. Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it."
Gen 9:8 God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9 "As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you,
Gen 9:10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ship, even every animal of the earth.
Gen 9:11 I will establish my covenant with you: all flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood, neither will there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth."
Gen 9:12 God said, "This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
Gen 9:13 I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.
Gen 9:14 It will happen, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,
Gen 9:15 and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
Gen 9:16 The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
Gen 9:17 God said to Noah, "This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
Gen 9:18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan.
Gen 9:19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the whole earth was populated.
Gen 9:20 Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard.
Gen 9:21 He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent.
Gen 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
Gen 9:23 Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn't see their father's nakedness.
Gen 9:24 Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him.
Gen 9:25 He said, "Canaan is cursed. He will be servant of servants to his brothers."
Gen 9:26 He said, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant.
Gen 9:27 May God enlarge Japheth. Let him dwell in the tents of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant."
Gen 9:28 Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood.
Gen 9:29 All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years, then he died.



Jan. 9,10
Matthew 5

Mat 5:1 Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
Mat 5:2 He opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mat 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5 Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
Mat 5:10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mat 5:11 "Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Mat 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.
Mat 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can't be hidden.
Mat 5:15 Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Mat 5:17 "Don't think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill.
Mat 5:18 For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.
Mat 5:19 Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mat 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mat 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, 'You shall not murder;' and 'Whoever shall murder shall be in danger of the judgment.'
Mat 5:22 But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council; and whoever shall say, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
Mat 5:23 "If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you,
Mat 5:24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Mat 5:25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are with him in the way; lest perhaps the prosecutor deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison.
Mat 5:26 Most certainly I tell you, you shall by no means get out of there, until you have paid the last penny.
Mat 5:27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery;'
Mat 5:28 but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Mat 5:29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.
Mat 5:30 If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.
Mat 5:31 "It was also said, 'Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,'
Mat 5:32 but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
Mat 5:33 "Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, 'You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,'
Mat 5:34 but I tell you, don't swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God;
Mat 5:35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can't make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No.' Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.
Mat 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'
Mat 5:39 But I tell you, don't resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40 If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.
Mat 5:41 Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
Mat 5:42 Give to him who asks you, and don't turn away him who desires to borrow from you.
Mat 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.'
Mat 5:44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,
Mat 5:45 that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
Mat 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?
Mat 5:47 If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?
Mat 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Daniel, The Kingdom That Shall Never Be Destroyed, Mark Copeland

                          "THE BOOK OF DANIEL"

           The Kingdom That Shall Never Be Destroyed (2:1-49)

INTRODUCTION

1. In Dan 2, we read about Nebuchadnezzar's dream and Daniel's
   interpretation...
   a. Nebuchadnezzar challenges his magicians, sorcerers, et al, to
      tell him both the dream and its interpretation, and they are
      unable - Dan 2:1-13
   b. God reveals the secret of the dream to Daniel in a night vision
      - Dan 2:14-23
   c. Daniel approaches the king and explains that God has made known
      to him both the dream and its interpretation - Dan 2:24-30
   d. Daniel then tells the dream, and gives the interpretation of it,
      to the amazement of Nebuchadnezzar - Dan 2:31-49 (read)
      1) The king had seen a great image
         a) With head of gold
         b) With chest and arms of silver
         c) With belly and thighs of bronze
         d) With legs of iron, and feet mixed with iron and clay
      2) The great image was destroyed by a small stone made without
         hands
         a) The image representing the rise and fall of four world
            empires
         b) The stone representing a kingdom that God would set up
      3) The king praises God, and exalts Daniel along with his three
         friends

2. There are certainly two key thoughts expressed in this chapter...
   a. God is a revealer of secrets - Dan 2:19,22,28-29,47
   b. God can make known the future and bring it pass - Dan 2:28-29,21

3. But of particular interest to us ought to be the "kingdom" in verse
   44...
   a. Which the God of heaven Himself shall set up
   b. Which shall never be destroyed, but consume other kingdoms and
      stand forever

4. Several questions naturally come to mind concerning this
   "kingdom"...
   a. When would God set it up?
   b. Has it been set up as foretold?
   c. If it has, and if it shall never be destroyed...
      1) Where is it now?
      2) What is the future of this kingdom?
      3) Can we be a part of this indestructible kingdom?

[In this lesson, we shall endeavor to provide the answers to these
questions.  Let's start with the first:  When would this "kingdom" be
set up...?]

I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE INDESTRUCTIBLE KINGDOM

   A. "IN THE DAYS OF THESE KINGS..." (44)
      1. Daniel describes the image as depicting four kingdoms which
         shall rise and fall
      2. The first one is definitely Babylon - Dan 2:37-38
      3. With Babylon as the starting point, world history confirms
         that the next three kingdoms would be:
         a. The Medo-Persian empire, represented by the chest and arms
            of silver
         b. The Grecian empire, represented by the belly and thighs of
            bronze
         c. The Roman empire, represented by the legs of iron, with
            feet mixed with iron and clay
      4. Thus one could look for the establishment of the
         "indestructible kingdom" in the days of the Roman empire

   B. WHEN "THE TIME IS FULFILLED"...
      1. Notice what John the Baptist began preaching during the days
         of the Roman empire ("the kingdom of heaven is at hand")
         - Mt 3:1-2
      2. Jesus proclaimed this also, adding "the time is fulfilled"
         - Mk 1:14-15
         a. What "time" was fulfilled?
         b. The time described by Daniel!

[So the "indestructible kingdom" was to be set up in the days of the
Roman empire.  During Roman empire both John and Jesus anticipated its
establishment.  This leads to our next question:  Has it been set up as
foretold...?]

II. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INDESTRUCTIBLE KINGDOM

   A. DURING JESUS' EARTHLY MINISTRY, IT WAS "AT HAND"...
      1. This is what both John and Jesus proclaimed - Mt 3:1-2; Mk 1:
         14-15
      2. Yet after Jesus' death, there were those who were still
         waiting for the kingdom - e.g., Joseph of Arimathea, Lk 23:
         50-51

   B. BUT FOLLOWING THE ASCENSION OF JESUS...
      1. He is far above all principality, power, might, dominion - Ep 1:20-21
      2. All has been made subject to Him - 1Pe 3:22
      3. He is ruler over the kings of the earth - Re 1:5
      4. He rules the nations with a rod of iron - Re 2:26-27
      -- He truly has all authority in heaven and on earth! - cf. Mt28:18

   C. THIS SUPPORTS WHAT IS REVEALED LATER IN DANIEL...
      1. Consider Dan 7:13-14
         a. Where one like the Son of Man approaches the Ancient of
            Days (God)
         b. And is given dominion, glory, and a kingdom which shall not
            be destroyed
      2. Compare this with Ac 1:9
         a. Daniel describes the ascension from a heavenly perspective
         b. Whereas Luke describes it from an earthly perspective!

[It is clear, then, that the King (Jesus) has received a kingdom, that
the indestructible kingdom was set up when He returned to heaven!  But
one might naturally ask:  Where is it now?  The answer is found when we
consider...]

III. THE NATURE OF THE INDESTRUCTIBLE KINGDOM

   A. THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT THIS KINGDOM...
      1. It was described by Daniel as a "stone cut...without hands
         which became a great mountain and filled the whole earth"
         - Dan 2:34-35
         a. "without hands" suggests it is not your ordinary kingdom
         b. Also, it would start small and then grow larger
      2. Compare this with what Jesus taught about the nature of His
         kingdom
         a. His kingdom is not of this world - Jn 18:36; cf. Ro 14:17
         b. It would start small, and grow to encompass the earth - Mt13:31-33
      -- Thus this "indestructible kingdom" would start small, and be
         spiritual in nature

   B. THIS KINGDOM THEREFORE INVOLVES THOSE IN THE CHURCH...
      1. The Christians at Colosse were in the kingdom - Col 1:12-13
      2. Those at Thessalonica likewise - 1Th 2:12
      3. Along with the seven churches in Asia - Re 1:6,9
      4. Indeed, all Christians receive their part in this
         "indestructible kingdom" - He 12:28
         a. Including us gathered here this day!
         b. Fulfilling the statement that this kingdom would fill the
            whole earth!
         c. For here we are, on the other side of the planet from
            Jerusalem, yet citizens of this kingdom foretold by Daniel!

[Whoever is willing to "repent and believe in the gospel" (Mk 1:15) can
be a part of the kingdom Jesus established when He sat down at the
right hand of God following His ascension to heaven.  This leads us to
yet another question:  What is the future of this kingdom...?]

IV. THE FUTURE OF THIS INDESTRUCTIBLE KINGDOM

   A. IT WILL LAST FOREVER...
      1. As Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar - Dan 2:44
         a. "which shall never be destroyed"
         b. "it shall stand forever"
      2. As the writer to the Hebrews stated:  "a kingdom which cannot
         be shaken" - He 12:28
      3. As the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary:  "of His kingdom there
         will be no end" - Lk 1:31-33

   B. AT CHRIST'S COMING, IT WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE FATHER...
      1. As taught by Paul to the Corinthians - 1Co 15:23-26
         a. When Christ comes, He shall deliver the kingdom to God the
            Father, having put an end to all rule, authority and power
         b. Until then, Christ shall reign until all enemies are placed
            under His feet, the last enemy being death
      2. As Jesus taught in the parable of the tares - Mt 13:40-43
         a. At the end of the age, His angels will gather out of the
            kingdom those that offend and practice lawlessness
         b. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the
            kingdom of their Father

CONCLUSION

1. And so this kingdom...
   a. Foretold by Daniel, proclaimed by John the Baptist and Jesus
      Himself
   b. Was begun in the days of the Roman empire, with Christ as its
      king and His disciples as its citizens

2. It is an indestructible kingdom...
   a. That continues on, ever growing
   b. With the hope of a glorious future in eternity

3. But let us not forget the last question raised in our introduction:
   Can we be a part of this indestructible kingdom?
   a. Yes!  For Jesus and His apostles tell us how
      1) We must be born again of water and the Spirit - Jn 3:5; cf.
         Tit 3:5
      2) An allusion to baptism, commanded of penitent believers - Mt 28:19; Mk 16:16; Ac 2:38
   b. But beware, some in the kingdom may one day be cast out!
      1) As Jesus warned in the parable of the tares - Mt 13:41-43
      2) Telling us later of the necessity of an enduring faith - Re 2:10

Therefore, once we have been obedient to the gospel (cf. Ro 6:17-18) we
must remain diligent in our faith, if we wish to experience the future
glories of "The Kingdom That Shall Never Be Destroyed"!