4/1/13

From Gary... There is light and then there is LIGHT


Anticrepuscular rays are similar to crepuscular rays, but seen opposite the sun in the sky. Anticrepuscular rays are near-parallel, but appear to converge at the antisolar point because of linear perspective.[1] Anticrepuscular rays are most frequently visible near sunrise or sunset. Crepuscular rays are usually much brighter than anticrepuscular rays. This is because for crepuscular rays, seen on the same side of the sky as the sun, the atmospheric light scattering and making them visible is taking place at small angles (see Mie theory).
Although anticrepuscular rays appear to converge onto a point opposite the sun, the convergence is actually an illusion. The rays are in fact (almost) parallel, and the apparent convergence is to the vanishing point at infinity.[2]  (from Wikipedia.com)

As compared to Crepuscular rays...













What beautiful images!!!  Although I have done a post with a picture of Anticrepuscular rays before, there is something about this new picture that really puts it into focus.  That something is the opposition of the sun; and now I really understand what these are (as much as I am capable of understanding, that is).  I am reminded of yesterday's Bible Class at Zephyrhills church of Christ, where brother Daniel Stearsman taught an excellent class on the first epistle of John.  One of the major texts used was:

1 John, Chapter 2
    18  Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour.  19 They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.  20 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.   21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.  22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.  23 Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn't have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also. 

How many times have we heard premillennial preachers going on and on about the signs of the times and how current events relate to THE ANTICHRIST?  But what about the "many antichrists" mentioned in verse 18?  Not much discussion about THAT, is there?  Yet, there were many who believed that God was solely Spirit and that the flesh was evil and so denied the physical reality of Jesus of Nazareth being the CHRIST OF GOD; God in the flesh, coexisting as both human and divine.  Those that taught such things also taught that the flesh was unimportant and that one could do whatever you wished - it just didn't matter!!!  Kind of a first century "do you own thing"!!!  But, no matter what they and the Gnostic teachings attempted to do, they could not suppress the truth. Lets turn our attention once again to the top picture; notice where the rays come from?  Not the sun, that sure!!!  Compare the beauty of the first picture with that of the second.  Notice the intensity?  The Sun (son) makes all the difference.  While the Gnostic teachers may have been intelligent and had something a little extra in the way of brain power (please note the emphasis on may) they could never compare to the truth, for its revelation from God is in stark reality to a reflection!!! In the first century, God gave special gifts to guide the first Christians in their understanding of the truth 

1 Corinthians, Chapter 12
10 and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.

and 

1 Corinthians, Chapter 14
 27 If any man speaks in another language, let it be two, or at the most three, and in turn; and let one interpret.  28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the assembly, and let him speak to himself, and to God.  29 Let the prophets speak, two or three, and let the others discern.  30 But if a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first keep silent.  31 For you all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted.  32 The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets,  33 for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. 

Today, we have been given God's full revelation of truth as is shown by the following...

Jude
3  Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.  4 For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into indecency, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ. 

Bottom line is... Don't listen to anyone who teaches you something more or something less that what the Scriptures teach.  It does not matter how charismatic the teacher, how many institutions have granted advanced degrees to them or how long you have known them.  The only source of truth is what God has left for us in HIS WORD.  See the light now; I mean the light from God!!!! 

From Gary V. Womack... Thankfulness



Thankfulness

TEXT:   Lk. 17:11-19

Thanks: An expression of gratitude. Grateful acknowledgment of something received by or done for one.

ALL HAD A NEED

Rom. 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the 
                  glory of God."

Eph. 2:11-13 WE WERE ONCE WITHOUT GOD & 
                     WITHOUT HOPE.

Jas. 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is 
               from above, and comes down from the 
               Father of lights, with whom there is no 
               variation or shadow of turning."



ALL ASKED FOR HELP (MERCY) - We should ASK for our needs - it is an expression of trust on our part to ASK.

Jam. 4:2-3 "You lust and do not have. You murder 
                  and covet and cannot obtain. You fight 
                  and war. Yet you do not have because 
                  you do not ask. (3) You ask and do not 
                  receive, because you ask amiss, that 
                  you may spend it on your pleasures."

Mt. 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and 
               you will find; knock, and it will be opened. 
               (8) For everyone who asks receives, and 
               he who seeks finds, and to him who 
               knocks it will be opened."


ALL OBEYED HIS COMMAND - He tested their faith by telling them to go to the priest before they were healed.

Jas. 1:2-3 "My brethren, count it all joy when you         
                fall into various trials, (3) knowing that the 
                testing of your faith produces patience."

Mt. 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, 
              Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, 
              but he who does the will of My Father in 
              heaven."


OBEDIENCE IS THE CONDITION OF ENTRANCE INTO HEAVEN

Rev. 22:14 "Blessed are those who do His 
                  commandments, that they may have
                  the right to the tree of life, and may 
                  enter through the gates into the city."


ONE WAS THANKFUL - 9 of them were not thankful.

2 Tim. 3:1-5 "In the last days, some would be 
                    unthankful...  NOTICE the sins that 
                    unthankfulness is listed with.

Rom. 1:21 "because, although they knew God, they 
                 did not glorify Him as God, nor were 
                 thankful, but became futile in their 
                 thoughts, and their foolish hearts were 
                 darkened."


HOW HE EXPRESSED HIS THANKS:

HE RETURNED - "Gratitude goes out of its way to express itself." (gvw)


       HE GLORIFIED GOD WITH A LOUD VOICE

Rev. 4:9-11 In heaven, God is glorified in 
                   thanksgiving and praise. Will there be 
                   any room for the unthankful in Heaven?

       HE FELL DOWN AT HIS FEET - Humility.  
             NOTICE again in:

2 Tim. 3:2 the boastful and the proud are 
                 unthankful. Do we fall down at His feet in 
                 prayer to thank Him - or do we let days 
                 go by without speaking to Him.?


        HE THANKED HIM
             "There is no thankfulness where it is not 
             expressed." (gvw)

Col. 3:17 "And whatever you do in word or deed, do 
               all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving 
               thanks to God."

Psalm. 100:1-ff "...enter into His gates with 
                           thanksgiving..."




INVITATION

To refuse God's generous offer of His Son is to express unthankfulness

To believe and obey is the greatest expression of thankfulness there is:

Acts 16:30-34 Notice the thankfulness of the 
                       Philippian jailer - He believed the 
                       gospel & was baptized He served 
                       those he had imprisoned He 
                       rejoiced in believing

From Jim McGuiggan... I know someone whose...


I know someone whose...

I know someone whose life is a mental and emotional maelstrom. She has no control over the raging winds of emotional and mental change that sweep over her. The best she can do is guzzle down the prescribed medicine and stay alive even while she inflicts on herself numerous little “suicides”. She can’t be depended on for any length of time to do the “normal” things; she knows she’s “a burden” to her loving family and she’s pretty well “useless” when it comes to congregational programs of outreach and edification.
She simply can’t understand why God would keep her around. Why doesn’t he just end her and relieve her of terror and pain and the world of having to bear with her? She’s filled with protest and tears and pleas for release and at other times with pleas for liferather than tortured existence.
But she cannot because she will not and will not because she cannot turn from God! In her lucid moments she reaffirms her trust in him!
She reminds me of a man I read about whose life was agony, whose pain was excruciating, whose confusion was complete and whose hot protest never ended from morning until night. Drunks sang songs about him, children mocked him, acquaintances avoided him and friends ladled out irrelevant teaching and advice. But would he quit; would he walk away from God? Not if the stars fell from heaven and the ground opened up and swallowed him whole!
He hated his existence, wished God would end it and yet, even more, he wanted the days back when he and God were friends and life proved it. No doubt there were those that looked at him and thought him useless and certainly some of his advisors thought him a positive blot on God’s good name, a stumbling-block to other people. But when the entire story was told it was this man that God brought out into the light and gloried in.
Job might have told God, “You know there were times when you made it hard for me to believe in you.” If he had, God might have said, “That’s interesting, for you always made it easy for me to believe in you.”
I think one of these days that God will bring that woman I know out into the light and show her off as one of his treasures and triumphs of grace. I do believe that!


©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, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland.... The Temptation Of Jesus


                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                   The Temptation Of Jesus (1:12-13)

INTRODUCTION

1. A blessing of Jesus as Savior is His ability to comfort and aid those
   who are tempted...
   a. This is because He too was tempted - He 2:18
   b. He is sympathetic, and can provide mercy and grace to help in time
      of need - He 4:14-16

2. One of His greatest periods of temptation was at the beginning of His
   public ministry...
   a. Immediately following His baptism by John - Mk 1:9-11
   b. Just prior to beginning His preaching ministry - Mk 1:14-15

3. Studying "The Temptation Of Jesus" can be fruitful for several
   reasons...
   a. It reminds us that Jesus can understand our own temptations
   b. It reveals how we can be more successful in overcoming temptation

[With that in mind and using Mk 1:12-13 as our basic text, let's begin
with...]

I. THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS REVIEWED

   A. THE SETTING OF THE TEMPTATION...
      1. The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness - Mk 1:12
         a. It appears this challenge was initiated by the Spirit
         b. The same Spirit who descended upon Him in bodily form as
            dove - Mk 1:10; Lk 3:22
         c. It was likely the wilderness of Judea, a very desolate place
      2. Where he was for forty days - Mk 1:13
         a. During which he fasted, like Moses and Elijah - cf. Mt 4:2;
            Exo 34:28; 1Ki 19:18
         b. During which he was tempted - cf. Lk 4:2
      3. Tempted by Satan - Mk 1:13
         a. Mark uses the term "Satan" (lit., adversary)
         b. Matthew and Luke use the term "devil" (lit., accuser,
            slanderer)
      4. Mark alone mentions the presence of "wild beasts" - Mk 1:13
         a. Animals known to inhabit the area include hyenas, jackals,
            panthers, and lions
         b. Not known is whether they were a source of comfort or trial
            for Jesus (I suspect the latter)
      -- For forty days, Jesus experienced desolation, deprivation, and
         temptation

   B. THE CLIMAX OF THE TEMPTATION...
      1. Mark does not record the climax of Satan's temptations at the
         end of forty days
      2. Both Matthew and Luke do, which we briefly summarize:
         a. Satan's appeal to the lust of the flesh - Mt 4:3-4
         b. Satan's appeal to the pride of life - Mt 4:5-7
         c. Satan's appeal to lust of the eyes - Mt 4:8-10
      3. With each temptation, Jesus responds "It is written..." - Mt 4:
         4,7,10
      -- With the aid of Scripture, Jesus was victorious over Satan!

   C. THE END OF THE TEMPTATION...
      1. Angels ministered to Jesus - Mk 1:13
         a. Exactly what they did is not mentioned
         b. Perhaps they provided bodily nourishment (Hendriksen)
      2. This would not be the last time
         a. That Satan would tempt Jesus - cf. Lk 4:13; Mt 16:21-23
         b. That angels would minister to Jesus - cf. Lk 22:43
      -- After tribulation came consolation!

[With forty days of overcoming temptation behind Him, Jesus was now
prepared to begin His public ministry.  What application might we draw
regarding "The Temptation Of Jesus"...?]

II. THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS APPLIED

   A. WE HAVE THE SAME ADVERSARY...
      1. Jesus was tempted by the devil, and so are we - 1Pe 5:8-9
      2. The devil now directs his attention towards the disciples of
         Christ - cf. Re 12:17
      -- We should not treat him lightly, for the conflict is real! - Ep 6:12

   B. WE HAVE SIMILAR TEMPTATIONS...
      1. The lust of the flesh - e.g., immorality, especially when young
      2. The lust of the eyes - e.g., materialism, especially when
         middle-age
      3. The pride of life - e.g., pride and arrogance, especially when
         elderly
      -- These we must overcome, if we wish to have the love of the
         Father - 1Jn 2:15-16

   C. WE HAVE THE SAME TOOLS TO OVERCOME...
      1. Jesus appealed to the Word of God, and so can we - cf. Ep 6:17
      2. Jesus had faith in the plan of God (victory through suffering),
         we need a similar shield of faith - Ep 6:16; cf. He 10:35-39
      3. Jesus undoubtedly prayed, He taught the use of prayer to
         overcome temptation - Mt 26:41
      -- The Word of God, faith, and prayer...against these the devil
         has no chance!

   D. WE HAVE SIMILAR BLESSINGS WHEN WE OVERCOME...
      1. Jesus was administered to by angels, angels will carry us home
         - cf. Lk 16:22
      2. Jesus received wonderful blessings when He ultimately overcame
         and ascended to heaven; He has promised similar blessings for
         us - cf. Re 2:10,26-27; 3:21
      -- Angels will minister to us, as heirs of salvation! - He 1:14

   E. WE CAN LEARN SOME IMPORTANT LESSONS...
      1. Material food alone cannot satisfy, we need spiritual food from
         God's Word
      2. While we are to trust in the Lord, we should not foolishly
         tempt Him
      3. Scripture can easily be abused, as well as used - cf. 2Pe 3:16
      4. The way to glory is not quick and easy, but long and hard - cf.
         Ac 14:22; Ro 2:7
      -- The Temptation of Jesus teaches much about serving God!

CONCLUSION

1. Perhaps the greatest lesson from "The Temptation Of Jesus" is that we
   have a Savior who in all things was made like us...
   a. That He might be our merciful and faithful High Priest - He 2:17
   b. That having suffered, being tempted, He can aid us who are tempted
      - He 2:18
   c. That He might be sympathetic, providing mercy and grace to help in
      time of need - He 4:15-16

2. Are you burdened with temptations...?
   a. Look to Jesus as your example in learning how to overcome
      temptation in your life!
   b. Look to Jesus as your High Priest when you need to approach God in
      prayer and receive mercy and grace for those times when you
      succumbed to temptation!

As in all things, look to Jesus, as the writer to Hebrews exhorts us...

   "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
   for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising
   the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

   "For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against
   Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls."

                                                      - He 12:2-3


Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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