From Jim McGuiggan... Close the Church shop? (1)

Close the Church shop? (1)

Who cares that Solomon built a glorious temple for God (and a more glorious house for himself)? Who cares that Judah's most powerful king, despite his upright life, ended it as a leper? What difference does it make that some old-timer called Abraham and his childless wife moved from the centre of civilization to half a dozen locations in the middle of nowhere? Why bother reading up on, or listening to, titbits of geography and history—even presuming they're true? Who cares what Nebuchadnezzar did or didn't do or that Rome established a system of "client kings" to govern their territory? Why bother? What difference does any of it make to how I treat my wife and children, whether I'm honest in business and generous in sharing what I have with the less fortunate or genuinely interested in the freedom and prosperity of my fellow-humans? We already know enough about decency and uprightness—who needs Bible study?

I wonder about that a fair bit. Harry E Fosdick was right when he said that people were no longer interested in what happened to the Hittites. Why don't we just close up the church shop and encourage everyone to live up to the moral standard they've accepted since childhood? Who cares if we can go through an ancient book verse by verse and get a reasonable understanding of what the ancient writer of those ancient verses meant when he said them?

Okay, so we can go to one of the 31,000+ verses that tells us we should be good to one another or to one of the stories that would illustrate the point; we can go just about anywhere to find that kind of thing. The Reader's Digest has plenty of that; so why rant and rave about the Bible and look down our noses at those who miss Bible class too often or don't bother at all?

Does Isaiah, nearly eight hundred years before Jesus, condemn empty religion and crooked dealings? Big deal—so do many modern people who've never darkened a church door! Who needs Isaiah or Amos?

Non-church-goers (and many non-believers) love their families at least as much as those that attend Bible classes.

It seems like every time you go to a church service you're being told,

        "You ought to treat your family right,
        you ought to be honest in your work,
        kind in your relationships,
        pure in your sexual life,
       clean in your speech,
       fair in your judgments"

       and "Here are ten Bible reasons why you should and here are three Bible illustrations of people  

       who did/did not do it."

What's new about that? For pity's sake how often do we need to tell that to people who've heard it and believe it since childhood? And the fact is, we do hear it, day in and day out, from non-church people and even secular sources and many of them say it a lot better and more passionately than many of those who are handing out the ceaselessly same divine bulletins every week.

What are the Bible and Bible studies offering that isn't being offered everywhere and by everyone with a heart and half a brain?

That's what I want to know!  

And now we're hearing popular preachers calling the world to compassion and courage and to dream dreams without a word about the gospel of God in the Lord Jesus. Our Story is NOT the same as the humanist and secularist story! The gospel is NOT to be sidelined.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

From Mark Copeland... A Gracious Exhortation (Hebrews 10:19-25)

                      "THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS"

                   A Gracious Exhortation (10:19-25)

INTRODUCTION

1. To this point in "The Epistle To The Hebrews", doctrinal arguments
   have been presented to encourage faithfulness and steadfastness...
   a. Demonstrating the superiority of the Son - He 1:1-8:6
   b. Illustrating the superiority of the New Covenant - He 8:7-10:18

2. With He 10:19, the author begins making application based upon these
   premises...
   a. Which he does through a series of exhortations and warnings
   b. Such composing the remaining part of this epistle

3. In verses 19-25, we find a three-fold exhortation...
   a. To draw near to God
   b. To hold fast our faith
   c. To stimulate one another in love and good works
   -- All based upon what Christ has done and will do for us!

[I have entitled this lesson "A Gracious Exhortation", for certainly
each aspect of the exhortation is based upon God's wonderful grace 
bestowed upon us through Christ, and it reflects the tone of the author
as he makes his heartfelt appeal.  Beginning with...]
 
I. LET US DRAW NEAR IN FAITH (19-22)

   A. WE ARE EXHORTED TO DRAW NEAR TO GOD...
      1. To "enter the Holiest" - He 10:19
         a. That heavenly place where Christ has entered! - He 9:11-12
         b. Into the presence of God Himself! - He 9:24
      2. To so enter:
         a. "having boldness" (with great confidence) - He 10:19
         b. "with a true heart" (with all sincerity) - He 10:22
         c. "in full assurance of faith" (without doubt) - He 10:22
      -- Though not expressed explicitly, this is a call to draw near 
         to God in prayer! - cf. He 4:16

   B. THE BASIS FOR THIS EXHORTATION...
      1. We are able to "enter" God's presence because:
         a. Jesus has consecrated "a new and living way, through the 
            veil" - He 10:19-20
            1) There is now a new way to approach God in heaven, 
               through One who lives!
            2) It is made possible by "the blood of Jesus...His flesh"
               (His death on the cross)
         b. Jesus now serves as "a High Priest over the house of God" 
            - He 10:21
            1) Who is able to come to our aid - He 2:17-18
            2) Who sympathizes with our weakness - He 4:14-16
            3) Who ever lives to intercede in our behalf - He 7:24-25
      2. But we are also able to "enter" God's presence because:
         a. We have had "our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience"
            1) This is an allusion to the Old Testament practice of 
               taking blood from the altar and consecrating the priests
               by sprinkling them with it - Exo 29:21
            2) It is the blood of Christ that is truly efficacious in 
               purging our conscience of sin - He 9:14
         b. We have had "our bodies washed with pure water"
            1) Another allusion to the manner in which priests were 
               consecrated - Exo 29:4
            2) The author likely has reference to baptism...
               a) For baptism is referred to as a "washing"- Ac 22:16;
                  cf. Ep 5:26; Tit 3:5
               b) Though the stress is on the inner cleansing, not the 
                  outer - cf. 1Pe 3:21

[With Christ as our "High Priest", and our own consecration as 
"priests" through the blood of Jesus, we should not hesitate to draw 
near to God in prayer and worship, looking forward to that day when we
literally enter "through the veil" into God's wonderful presence!

For similar reasons we should also heed the next part of "A Gracious
Exhortation"...]

II. LET US HOLD FAST OUR HOPE (23)

   A. WE ARE EXHORTED TO HOLD FAST THE CONFESSION OF OUR HOPE...
      1. In Christ we have a much "better hope" - He 6:19; 7:19
      2. But there is the danger of apostasy - He 3:12-13; 4:11
      3. For which reason we must "hold fast" the hope which we confess
         - He 3:6,14; 4:14
      --  Indeed, we need to "hold fast...without wavering" - He 10:23

   B. A GOOD REASON TO HEED THIS EXHORTATION...
      1. The faithfulness of God:  "for He who promised is faithful"
         - He 10:23
      2. God will not fail us (He 13:5); therefore we need to emulate
         the faith of Sarah, who "judged Him faithful who had promised"
         - He 11:11

[We can depend upon God to keep His promise.  But will we remain 
faithful to Him?  To help ensure that we will, we need to heed the 
final part of "A Gracious Exhortation"...]

III. LET US CONSIDER ONE ANOTHER (24-25)

   A. IN ORDER TO STIR UP LOVE AND GOOD WORKS...
      1. As we "draw near" to God and "hold fast" our hope, we are not
         to do so alone
      2. We are to be mindful of each other and how we are doing
         ("consider one another")
      3. With a view to incite or spur on ("stir up") both "love and
         good works"
      -  This is reminiscent of the exhortation in He 3:12-14

   B. ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH FREQUENT ASSEMBLING...
      1. An important purpose of our assembling is to "stir up love and
         good works"
         a. Yes, we do come to worship and praise God
         b. But we also come to edify and exhort one another! - He 10:
            25a
      2. Therefore we must not become guilty of "forsaking the 
         assembling of ourselves together"
         a. The word "forsake" means "to abandon, desert"
         b. I.e., to stop assembling with the saints altogether
         c. Some evidently had done so ("as is the manner of some")
      3. Exhorting one another through assembling is even more 
         imperative "as you see the Day approaching"
         a. Some commentators believe the "Day" referred to is the
            destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70
            1) Which was impending at the time this epistle was written
               (ca. 63-65 A.D.)
            2) Certainly such an event would call for encouragement 
               through frequent assembling
         b. Others suggest that the "Day" refers to the Judgment Day at
            the Second Coming
            1) It certainly fits the context of He 9:27-29; 10:27,37
            2) And while one might not know the "day and hour" of His 
               coming, we were given some general signs of His coming 
               - cf. 2Th 2:1-8
      -- The main point is to appreciate the value and necessity of our
         assemblies, and that forsaking them is indicative of apostasy!

CONCLUSION

1. With "A Gracious Exhortation" before us, we are encouraged to:
   a. Draw near to God in full assurance of faith
   b. Hold fast the confession of our hope
   c. Consider one another to stir up to love and good works

2. As motivation to heed this "exhortation", we are reminded of:
   a. The "new and living way" now open to God, made possible by Jesus'
      death
   b. The High Priest who now serves for us over the house of God
   c. How we have been "consecrated" through having our hearts 
      sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
      water
   d. How He who has promised is faithful
   e. How we have each other to encourage us along
   f. The approaching Day, in particular the Day of Judgment

If we truly appreciate the blessings we now have in Christ, we will do
all that we can to draw closer to God, hold fast that hope which we 
confess, and utilize the opportunities we have to encourage one another
in love and good works!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

From Gary... Brain Drain

Today, my good friend, Bruce Arnold, sent me some questions, entitled ...

 Old-Timers Test‏

1. Johnny 's mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May.   ...What was the third child 's name?

2. There is a clerk at the butcher shop, he is five feet ten inches tall and he wears size 13 sneakers ....What does he weigh?

3. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, ...what was the highest mountain in the world?

4. How much dirt is there in a hole  ...that measures two feet by three feet by four feet?

5. What word in the English language ...is always spelled incorrectly?

6. Billy was born on December 28th, yet his birthday is always in the summer. ....How is this possible?

7. In California, you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. ...Why not?

8. What was the President 's name ...in 1975?

9. If you were running a race, ...and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?

10. Which is correct to say, ... "The yolk of the egg are white" or "The yolk of the egg is white"?

11. If a farmer has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 haystacks in the other field,
...how many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in another field?

 Be careful how you answer, some of them are a bit tricky.  Tricky on purpose.  Sometimes people will try to trick you just for the fun of it, like above questions, or they will do it on purpose for gain. Which (of course) reminds me of something in the Scriptures...

 

 Judges, Chapter 14

Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel. 5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and behold, a young lion roared against him.  6 The Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat; and he had nothing in his hand: but he didn’t tell his father or his mother what he had done.  7 He went down, and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well.  8 After a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.  9 He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother, and gave to them, and they ate: but he didn’t tell them that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion. 10 His father went down to the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.  11 When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

  12  Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle now. If you can declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing;  13 but if you can’t declare it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.” 

They said to him, “Tell us your riddle, that we may hear it.”  14 He said to them, 
“Out of the eater came out food.
Out of the strong came out sweetness.”

 

 Needless to say, the young men didn't "get it", but they did threaten his wife and father-in-law with death by fire, so she nagged Samson until he told her, then...

18 The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” 

He said to them, 
“If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer,
you wouldn’t have found out my riddle.”

  19  The Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and struck thirty men of them, and took their plunder, and gave the changes of clothing to those who declared the riddle. His anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.

 

Ultimately, God used all these things to fulfill judgement upon the Philistines, but all the deception does seem a bit unsavory to me. There are probably many morales to this story, but to me, being careful in what you both say and answer in response seems most appropriate. Humm, I wonder... If the honey in this story had a brand name- what would it be...

answer: lying around honey!

PS. here are the answers to the old timers test...

The Answers

1. Johnny 's mother had three children. The first child was named April The second child was named May. What was the third child 's name?   Johnny, of course

2. There is a clerk at the butcher shop, he is five feet ten inches tall, and he wears size 13 sneakers. What does he weigh?      Meat.

3. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?   Mt. Everest; it just wasn't discovered yet. 

4. How much dirt is there in a hole that measures two feet by three feet by four feet?     There is no dirt in a hole.

5. What word in the English language is always spelled incorrectly?  Incorrectly

6. Billy was born on December 28th, yet his birthday is always in the summer. How is this possible?  Billy lives in the Southern Hemisphere

7. In California, you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not? You can 't take pictures with a wooden leg. You need a camera to take pictures.

8. What was the President 's name in 1975?   Same as is it now - Barack Obama [Oh, come on .... ]
 

 9. If you were running a race, and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?  You would be in 2nd. Well, you passed the person in second place, not first.
 

10. Which is correct to say, "The yolk of the egg are white" or "The yolk of the egg is white"?  Neither, the yolk of the egg is yellow
 

11. If a farmer has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 haystacks in the other field, how many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in another field? One.

How did you do???? I missed one... "old folks disease"

PSS... Thanks for sending me the questions, Bruce; they made a nice start for my day!!!