12/8/15

From Mark Copeland... "JESUS, THE WAY" Jesus, The Way To Eternal Life


                            "JESUS, THE WAY"

                     Jesus, The Way To Eternal Life

INTRODUCTION

1. We have considered how Jesus is truly The Way to many good things: He
   is The Way...
   a. To a better life (by correcting misconceptions and teaching us to
      seek new goals)
   b. To forgiveness of sins (by offering Himself as a propitiation, or
      sacrifice, for our sins)
   c. To God (by helping us first to comprehend God, then to be able to
      approach Him in a close, personal relationship)
   d. Out of religious confusion (through His own example, and by
      guiding us through His apostles' doctrine)

2. In this study, we shall see why we can also say Jesus is The Way To
   Eternal Life...
   a. Please Note:  In this study we shall be considering those passages
      which use the expression "eternal life" as a future hope, which
      will be realized after this life
   b. In the writings of John, the expression "eternal life" is often
      used differently, referring to that "abundant life" which stresses
      a new relationship with God and Jesus, and is a present possession
      of those who have come to "know" them - cf. Jn 17:3; 1Jn 5:13,20

[First, let's note several reasons...]

I. WHY JESUS IS THE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE

   A. HE HAS PREPARED A PLACE FOR US...
      1. As He told His disciples the night before His crucifixion
      2. "for I go to prepare a place for you" - Jn 14:2

   B. HE WILL COME AND RECEIVE US TO HIMSELF...
      1. As Jesus told His disciples - Jn 14:3
      2. As Paul wrote of this wonderful event - 1Th 4:15-17

   C. HE WILL JUDGE AS TO WHO WILL ENTER LIFE ETERNAL...
      1. As depicted in the final judgment scene - Mt 25:31,41
      2. As described by Paul - 2Co 5:10

   D. HE IS WHAT MAKES ETERNAL LIFE WONDERFUL...
      1. Together with God, who will dwell with men - Re 21:1-4
      2. They shall be the "temple" - Re 21:22
      3. Jesus will be the "light" - Re 21:23
      4. They shall be source of "the water of life" - Re 22:1-5
      5. Jesus makes eternal life what it is, which explains Paul's
         aspirations - cf. 2Co 5:8; Php 1:23

[When we understand all this, would there be eternal life without Jesus?
Not according to the Bible!  Jesus is truly The Way to eternal life!
Since Jesus is the way to eternal life, should we not also consider what
Jesus has to say about it...?]

II. WHAT JESUS TEACHES ABOUT ETERNAL LIFE

   A. PREPARED FOR A PREPARED PEOPLE...
      1. People are not going to stumble into it by "accident" 
         - cf. Mt 7:13-14
         a. The way to life is such that few find it
         b. Lack of preparation is the reason!
      2. Jesus taught several parables to stress this point
         a. The parable of "The Wedding Feast" - Mt 22:1-2,11-14
         b. The parable of "The Ten Virgins" - Mt 25:1-13
      3. Also in His sermon on the mount - Mt 7:21-23
         a. Being religious does not ensure eternal life
         b. We must do the Father's will!

   B. THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE IS HELL...
      1. Prepared for unprepared people - cf. Mt 25:41,46
      2. A terrible place vividly described by Jesus 
         - cf. Re 20:10-15;21:8
      3. The only place that people will "stumble" into accidentally!
         a. Where most people will wind up ("many" as opposed to "few")
            - Mt 7:13-14
         b. Judgment reserved for those who "know not God" 
            - cf. 2 Th 1:7-9
            1) "Punished with everlasting destruction"
            2) What a terrible alternative to the eternal life Jesus
               offers!

CONCLUSION

1. God and Jesus have prepared a terrible fate for those who...
   a. "know not God"
   b. "obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ"

2. They certainly do not want people to experience this...!
   a. God desires all men to be saved - 1Ti 2:3-4
   b. Jesus is offered as a ransom for all - 1Ti 2:5-6

3. In order that "eternal life", and not "everlasting destruction",
   might be the destiny of all men...
   a. God has provided the most precious thing to Him as the Mediator
      between sinful man and Holy God:  Jesus - His Beloved Son!
   b. God has provided Jesus as The Way to all that is good, both in
      this life and the one to come!

4. But if what one does not accept Jesus as the Way? Then he or she is
   destined...
   a. To a life with little direction here on earth!
   b. To die in their sins!
   c. To be forever separated from God!
   d. To go through life in religious confusion!
   e. To go through eternity in eternal condemnation!

5. How much better to come to Jesus, and let Him be your Way...
   a. To a better life!
   b. To forgiveness of sins!
   c. To a loving and close relationship with God!
   d. Out of religious confusion!
   e. To eternal life, with all its prepared glory!

If you haven't, obey the Lord Jesus and His gospel today! 
- cf. Mk 16:15-16; Ac 2:38; 22:16

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2015

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The Prophecy of Cyrus by Eric Lyons, M.Min.


http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=823

The Prophecy of Cyrus

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Imagine taking a trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and visiting the State House where the Constitutional Convention took place in 1787. During the tour, your guide points to a document dating back to just this side of the convention—about the year 1820. The piece of parchment tells of a man named George W. Bush from Austin, Texas, who would be President of the United States within the next 200 years. But how could someone know that a man named George W. Bush would be born in the United States? And how could someone know more than a century before Mr. Bush was born that he would be President of the United States? Furthermore, how could someone in 1820 know that a man from Texas (named George W. Bush) would be President of the United States when Texas wasn’t even part of the Union yet? Such a prophecy truly would be amazing, yet obviously no such prediction was ever made. In fact, despite all of the publicity that “psychic hotlines” recieve, only God can foretell the future.
One of the reasons we can know the Bible is from God is that it contains hundreds of prophecies about individuals, lands, and nations similar to the example above. One such prophecy was about a man named Cyrus and two nations: Babylon and the Medo-Persian Empire. Isaiah vividly described how God would destroy the powerful kingdom of Babylon, “the glory of kingdoms” (13:19). Writing as if it had already occurred (commonly known as the “prophetic perfect,” frequently employed in the Old Testament to stress the absolute certainty of fulfillment, i.e. Isaiah 53), Isaiah declared Babylon would fall (21:9). He then prophesied that Babylon would fall to the Medes and Persians (Isa.13; 21:1-10). Later, he proclaimed that the “golden city” (Babylon) would be conquered by a man named Cyrus (44:28; 45:1-7). This is a remarkable prophecy, especially since Cyrus was not born until almost 150 years after Isaiah penned these words.
Not only did Isaiah predict that Cyrus would overthrow Babylon, but he also wrote that Cyrus, serving as Jehovah’s “anointed” and “shepherd,” would release the Jews from captivity and assist them in their return to Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding the temple. All of this was written almost 200 years before Cyrus conquered Babylon (539 B.C.). Amazing!
In case you are wondering about the factuality of this story, secular history verifies that all of these events came true. There really was a man named Cyrus who ruled the Medo-Persian Empire. He did conquer Babylon. And just as Isaiah prophesied, he assisted the Jews in their return to Jerusalem and in the rebuilding of the temple.
Truly, “no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

Sniffing Out Design by Kyle Butt, M.A



http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=508

Sniffing Out Design

by Kyle Butt, M.A

.

Thoughts about sinus drainage and mucus are not pleasant. Who has not been frustrated by the feeling of a raw nose caused by excessive nose-blowing during a cold? Have you ever wondered why mucus in your nose (more commonly called snot) is there? It just so happens that snot provides a vital tool that enhances your body’s ability to smell.
For many years, researchers have attempted to design electronic “noses” that can differentiate between smells. Such noses have a host of potential uses, including being used in airports to identify chemicals used in explosives. Researchers, however, have failed to master the art of smell. The “e-nose” simply cannot perform to the level of a human nose. Recent research, however, is sniffing out new ways to make the e-nose more useful.
Researchers from the University of Warwick and Leicester University came up with a novel idea. They composed a substance that mimics the properties of naturally occurring nose mucus. This synthetic snot “substantially improved the performance of their electronic nose allowing it to tell apart smells such as milk and banana which had previously been challenging smells for the device” (“Artificial ‘Snot’...,” 2007). Furthermore, the artificial snot helped the electronic nose process the information quicker. The teams involved in the research reported their findings in the Proceedings of the Royal Society in April of 2007.
When asked about the new research, Anthony Turner of Cranfield University said that the study shows the importance of looking to biology to find useful innovations. He said: “It’s important to keep learning from it [biology—KB]” (Simonite, 2007). Notice that Turner attributes the innovations discovered by the researchers to biology. What does that imply? If intelligent men and women from campuses across the globe log thousands of man-hours to design an electronic nose, and base much of their research on naturally occurring substances and functions in a biologic nose, but the electronic nose fails to perform as well as a real nose, then we are forced to conclude that the naturally occurring nose was designed by a superior intellect to the ones now working on the electronic nose. Yet, when asked the origin of the biologic nose, many highly educated university professors would claim it evolved over millions of years by random, purposeless evolutionary processes. Ironically, they are forced to concede that the electronic nose has a design. Such disconnected thinking would be ridiculed in other disciplines, but somehow it finds a welcomed haven in the halls of evolutionary sciences. In truth, it is simple to sniff out the divine design of the nose.

REFERENCES

“Artificial ‘Snot’ Enhances Electronic Nose” (2007), Science Daily, April 30, [On-line], URL:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070430093948.htm.
Simonite, Tom (2007), “Mucus Substitute Helps Artificial Nose Scent Success,” New Scientist, April 25, [On-line], URL: http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11715-mucus-substitute-helps -artificial-nose-scent-success.html.

Evolution Can’t Explain “Smart” Plants by Kyle Butt, M.A.


http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=3762

Evolution Can’t Explain “Smart” Plants

by Kyle Butt, M.A.

Lisa Krieger recently wrote an article titled, “How Do Flowers Know to Bloom in Spring? Now Humans Know, Too.” She reported about research on flower blooming that is being done by plant molecular geneticist Jose Luis Riechmann from the California Institute of Technology, published in Sciencemagazine. Riechmann’s research centers on the ability of flowers to know when to bloom to take advantage of the proper weather conditions to reproduce. It turns out that for plants to survive, timing is everything. As plant biologist Jorge Dubcovsky of UC Davis stated: “Flowering time is one of the most important traits in breeding because it affects the yield of crops. Too early and you are killed by frost; too late and you are killed by heat” (as quoted in Krieger, 2010).
Reichmann believes he has identified the tiny protein that is responsible for setting blooming in motion. The protein is named APETALA1, or AP1. This tiny wonder “regulates more than 1,000 genes” and “serves as the door that opens the way to flowering” (2010). Without this amazing protein, the plant world as we know it would not exist. The importance of this single protein becomes clear, when we realize that “almost everything we eat is a plant, or something that just ate a plant” (2010).
This petite protein poses a powerful problem for the theory of evolution. According to the theory, all plants and animals evolved over billions of years by chance, random processes that were not directed by any intelligence. Although evolution has been repeatedly shown to be false (see Butt and Lyons, 2009), research like Reichmann’s continues to add more weight to the fact that evolution is scientifically impossible.
First, it should be noted that no research ever done has shown us how random processes can produce a protein like AP1. Second, even if random processes produced AP1, which they cannot, how many times of trial and error would we need to grant the evolutionary process to allow it to finally strike upon the perfectly timed sequence to bloom? If the plants that were supposedly evolving bloomed at the wrong time, they would die or fail to reproduce. While that would be bad for those individual plants, it would also be devastating for the alleged evolutionary process, since evolution would have to start over trying to randomly assemble protein AP1 after every failure. Since all evolutionary scenarios are imaginary, and not backed by real scientific evidence, it is easy to propound a scenario by which natural selection somehow “chose” the plants that happened to bloom at the right time and have the proper protein sequence. But in reality, the first wrong turn would have sent plant evolution (although there really is no such thing) back to the drawing board, as would each additional wrongly timed blooming.
In truth, there never have been millions of years of gradual, chance mutations and natural selections that produced the “intelligent” flowering plants that we see today. The intricate design of plants, as manifested by tiny proteins like AP1, testifies to the fact that an intelligent Designer created flowering plants. Plants “know” exactly when to bloom simply because, when God created them, He endowed them with the ability to perpetuate their kind. As Genesis 1:11 states: “Then God said, ‘Let all the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so” (emp. added).

REFERENCES

Butt, Kyle and Eric Lyons (2009), “Darwin in Light of 150 Years of Error,” Reason & Revelation, 29[2]:9-15, February, [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/240057.
Krieger, Lisa (2010), “How Do Flowers Know to Bloom in Spring? Now Humans Know, Too,” [On-line],URL: http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_14803818?source=rss.

Off With Their Heads! by Jeff Miller, Ph.D.


http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=2485

Off With Their Heads!

by Jeff Miller, Ph.D.

Killing unborn human babies is okay, but decapitating roses?—That is just plain wrong. At least, that is what the Swiss Confederation Federal Ethics Committee recently decided. Human beings are now playing God to the point that they are deciding for everybody else what is morally “right” and “wrong”: “The Committee members unanimously consider an arbitrary harm caused to plants to be morally impermissible” (Willemsen, 2008, p. 20, emp. added). As an example, they explain that if a farmer, on his way home after cutting his grass for his animals, “decapitates flowers with his scythe” without “rational reason” (p. 9), he has committed a moral wrong. Really. I suppose that would be either planticide (if deliberate), or plantslaughter (if accidental).
Why does the committee believe that killing plants arbitrarily is wrong? “A clear majority also takes the position that we should handle plants with restraint for the ethical reason that individual plants have inherent worth” (Willemsen, p. 10, emp. in orig.). They explain their use of the words “inherent worth,” by saying that plants, like the rosebush, have worth “independently of whether it is useful or whether someone ascribes a value to it” (p. 7). So, when the card soldiers in Alice in Wonderlandpainted the roses red, they were doing more than merely upsetting the queen (who called for their heads). They were committing a heinous unethical act of seismic proportions and deserved to be punished for their flagrant disregard of roses’ inherent worth—and their right to be the color they were born, or should we say, grown with.
The truth is, human beings have “inherent value” that surpasses the physical realm, because God made us in His image (Genesis 1:27). Unlike the rest of Creation, humans have a soul, and will exist forever. We were created on a different plane from the rest of Creation. Plants have “instrumental value,” because they are useful to humans. God created and protects plants for that reason. Sometimes plants have a “relational value,” if we ascribe value to them (e.g., a tree “planted in memory of a person who has died” [p. 7], or a rose garden that we value because of its beauty). However, a plant’s value is not equal to that of a human being. Jesus emphasized this very point when He contrasted the two: “If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you?” (Matthew 6:30). Humans are of far greater value than flowers or grass.
But the committee says that plants “strive after something,” and should not be hampered without “good reason.” After all,
recent findings in natural science, such as the many commonalities between plants, animals and humans at molecular and cellular level [sic], remove the reasons for excluding plants in principle from the moral community.... Studies in cell biology show that plants and animals, which share a developmental history lasting 3 billion years, have many processes and reactions that do not differ fundamentally at the cellular level.... Plants react to touch and stress, or defend themselves against predators and pathogens, in highly differentiated ways (Willemsen, pp. 5,15, emp. added).
They continue:
[I]t could be that plants...fulfill the necessary conditions for a kind of sentience [sense perception, consciousness, the ability to feel—JM].... It is not clear that plants have sentience, but neither is it clear that this is not the case. It cannot therefore be argued that the reasons for excluding plants from the circle of beings that must be morally considered, have been eliminated.... The majority of the committee members at least do not rule out the possibility that plants are sentient, and that this is morally relevant (p. 15, emp. added).
Not quite half of the committee is doubtful that plants are sentient. So, almost half of the committee are not totally sure, but are “doubtful” that plants are sentient. “A small group considers it probable” that they are. Unbelievable! This sort of “reasoning” is the logical outcome of atheism and alienation from God. Are we to start considering the grass’s feelings before we step on the front lawn? If people of this stripe ever overcome their current doubt and convince themselves that plants really are sentient, plants will take their rightful place as “part of the moral community.”
They go further. “The majority opinion is that we require justification to disturb plants’ ability to develop” (p. 17). So, we have to justify ourselves to a plant before we “disturb” it. Concerning “ownership of plants,” the majority of the committee believes that plants are “excluded for moral reasons from absolute ownership. By this interpretation no one may handle plants entirely according to his/her own desires” (p. 20). So, if you live in Switzerland, your potted plant in the kitchen is legally protected. You might think that you own it and can do with it as you please, but you do not, and cannot. And, logically, if you mistreat it (forget to water it as often as you should, water it too much, fail to provide it with proper sunlight, or provide too much sunlight), you could be brought up on charges of—plant abuse. I wonder if plant nurseries in Switzerland will need to provide instructions, with every plant they sell, on how to respect the rights of plants.
Notice that as yet, if one has a “good reason,” it is not wrong to kill plants. But why should it matter if one has a good reason or not? If it is wrong to kill plants, why hesitate to say so forthrightly? Why the loophole? If plants have so many similarities to humans biologically at the cellular level, and it is not acceptable to kill human beings, why should it be acceptable to kill plants? Liberals say that we should not even kill human beings when they have committed heinous crimes worthy of death. Killing others through war is frowned upon, too. The only human killing that seems to be acceptable is euthanasia and abortion, and yet, it is not likely the committee would approve of plant abortion. They likely would rally around a dying plant to keep it alive rather than finish it off. So, why allow plant killing at all? The answer is that, without it, what would we eat? Eating animals is frowned upon by vegetarians. They insist we should exclude meat from our diets. But now killing plants is also being frowned upon. So what is left for us to eat? Insects and dirt? Should we become scavengers and eat only dead items, like road kill or rotting plants? Imagine a dozen starving human beings circling a tree waiting for an apple to die and fall off the tree. Notice the hypocrisy. “It is wrong to kill plants”—up until the point where it really affects me. If these plant-defenders, these champions of flowers, were truly loving and sacrificial towards plants, as they pretend, they would eat no plants or animals at all—any more than they would eat a fellow human being. In fact, given their cockeyed reasoning, they should not even eat dead plants or animals, since to do so would deprive poor little bacteria and microorganisms of their food source. Plus, it would be a desecration of the plant’s memory. Doesn’t the Swiss government committee care for them, too? The loving and sacrificial thing to do would be for humans just to die, and let the Earth be spared the horrible interference of humans.
Consider some implications. Ethically speaking, the arbitrary killing of a plant is now considered to be morally wrong, just like killing a human baby. Of course, to many in society, killing a baby, when it is on the opposite side of the mother’s skin, is not ethically wrong. So, that implies that plants now have more value than a human baby that is merely separated from us by temporary tissues and fluids!
If plants are now to be placed on a pedestal, the future will be bleak indeed. How long will it be until it is considered morally wrong to cut your grass and trim your bushes? What about the murder of trees in order to make room for new roads, houses, and buildings, or to make paper? Logically, all use of wood must be banned. We will have to live in tee-pees made from the leather of dead and rotting animal carcasses or build dirt huts, although doing so, again, would disturb the miniscule bacteria that inhabit such things. Killing cotton plants for clothing would be unacceptable. Humans will have to let the plants take over society. In fact, again, we humans just need to kill ourselves to protect the environment. Remaining alive will mean absolute submission to “Mother Earth” with zero interference so that we are not guilty of sinning against her or having dominion over her. Technological and economical progress must come to a screeching stop so that no harm is inflicted on the environment. We should eliminate all of our energy-using devices and technological advancements, and return to a more primitive time. But wait. There has never been a time when humans did not encroach on their environment. In fact, it would be virtually impossible not to affect the environment—even if you lived in a cave and ate dirt. Microorganisms reside in dirt. Even breathing air affects living entities. Don’t those many airborne microscopic organisms and viruses that are sucked into the human lungs have the right to be included in the “moral community”? This entire discussion is insane.

REFERENCES

Willemsen, Ariane, ed. (2008), “The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants—Moral Consideration of Plants for their Own Sake,” Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (Berne: Swiss Confederation), April.

Adam and Eve, Good and Evil by Eric Lyons, M.Min.



http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx?article=2728&b=Genesis

Adam and Eve, Good and Evil

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Q.

Did Adam and Eve know of good and evil prior to sinning? It was only after Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that the Bible says they came “to know good and evil” (Genesis 3:5,22). How could God punish them for an evil action if they did not know what evil was?

A.

Consider a hypothetical situation: What if two godly parents living in the most wicked city in the world chose never to let their children out of their house. They gave them everything they needed for survival inside the house. They filled their home with only good things. Their children never saw evil on television, heard of it on the radio, nor read of it in books. The children could play in any room in the house and open any door, except they had been forbidden to open the front door that leads to “Sodom and Gomorrah.” Do these children know what they can do and cannot do? Yes. Have they seen, witnessed, or experienced the evil outside their house (and compared that evil to the good within their own house)? No. Everything in their house was good. They had the freedom to do any number of things within their own house. They were forbidden to do one thing: open the front door. Did they know they were not supposed to open the front door? Yes. But did they know of the evil on the other side? No. They had never seen it, heard it, thought it, or experienced it.
The term “know” (Hebrew yada, Greek ginosko) or one of its derivatives (i.e., knew, known, etc.) is used in Scripture in a variety of ways. Several times it refers to a man and woman having sexual intercourse (Genesis 4:1,17,25; Judges 11:39; 19:25). Jesus used the term to refer to His regard for His sheep (i.e., people—John 10:27). In contrast to the way of the wicked that will perish, the psalmist wrote that God “knows” (i.e., approves, takes delight in, etc.) the way of the righteous (Psalm 1:6). Paul used the term “know” in Ephesians 3:19 in the sense of knowing “experimentally what intellectually is beyond our powers of knowing”—the love of Christ (Jamieson, 1997). The fact is, like so many other words in Scripture (and in modern times) the word “know” has a variety of meanings.
When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden everything was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). They had the freedom to eat of “of every tree of the garden” (2:16), but were forbidden to eat of the fruit of one of them (2:17). They knew of God’s good creation and they knew that if they ate of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (the one forbidden tree), God said they would die (3:2-3). However, it was not until after they ate of the forbidden tree that they actually “knew” (experienced) evil. Thus, in one sense Adam and Eve did know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil (they knew what they should and should not do; they understood moral distinctions), but they did not know of good and evil experientially until after their disobedience.

REFERENCE

Jamieson, Robert, et al. (1997), Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown Bible Commentary (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).

From Roy Davison... What is precious to you?


http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/060-precious.html

What is precious to you?

Something is precious to us because of its high intrinsic value or because it means much to us personally. These two are not the same, since we often cherish something that has no intrinsic value. It might have extrinsic value to us, or it might be much less valuable than we think it is.
A disaster can reveal what is precious to us. I know a man who fell down a flight of sharp stone stairs. He lay sprawled at the bottom, groaning and moaning: “Oh no! Oh no! It’s broken! It’s broken! I broke my smartphone!”
Noticing what the Scriptures label as precious can help us cherish things that are truly precious, and recognize things that are not.

We may not cherish material things.

Remember Solomon’s evaluation of the material realm: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

On judgment day, precious stones will be worthless.

Many try to prop up their self-esteem by adorning themselves with expensive possessions, gems and jewelry.
The spiritual harlot, portrayed in Revelation as Babylon the Great, deals in “merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble” (Revelation 18:12).
There is an outward appearance of great wealth, but the harlot’s chalice is filled with filth, fornication and blood; and when she faces God in judgment, her wealth is gone: “The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more” ... “For in one hour such great riches came to nothing” (Revelation 18:14, 17).

Love of money leads to perdition.

“And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:8-10).

We should cherish spiritual things.

Spiritual values are eternal.

Wisdom is more precious than gold.

Of wisdom we read in Proverbs 3:15, “She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.”
Job declared:
“But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
Man does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
It cannot be purchased for gold,
Nor can silver be weighed for its price.
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx or sapphire.
Neither gold nor crystal can equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral or quartz,
For the price of wisdom is above rubies.
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
From where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?”
...
“Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding”
(Job 28:12-20, 28).


Our faith is more precious than gold.

Peter addresses his second letter “To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1).
In his first letter, referring to our living hope and incorruptible inheritance, Peter says: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6, 7).

Most precious are the gracious gifts of God.


God’s gifts in nature are precious. 

“See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain” (James 5:7).
When Moses blessed Israel, he said of the tribe of Joseph:
“Blessed of the LORD is his land,
With the precious things of heaven, with the dew,
And the deep lying beneath,
With the precious fruits of the sun,
With the precious produce of the months,
With the best things of the ancient mountains,
With the precious things of the everlasting hills,
With the precious things of the earth and its fullness”
(Deuteronomy 33:13-16).

Let us value the precious blessings of the earth, and thank God for them.

God’s mercy is precious.

“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings” (Psalm 36:7).

God’s thoughts are precious.

“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!” (Psalm 139:17). The word of God, which reveals His thoughts, is a matchless treasure.
In 1988 when I visited Dan McVey in Ghana, I was surprised that his bookshop contained many expensive leather-bound Bibles and only a few inexpensive Bibles. I asked why he had so many expensive Bibles for a country with much poverty. He explained that most people wanted a durable Bible because it was their most prized possession. They had to save up for it, so they wanted it to last a lifetime. They might not be able to afford glasses, so they wanted a Bible with large print.
How much are God’s thoughts worth to us? Is God’s word our most prized possession? Can we say with David: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!”

God has given us precious promises.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:2-4).

We have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.

“And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:17-19).
To redeem someone is to purchase his liberation. We sold ourselves into the slavery of sin but we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. We stand in awe of God who loved us so much. How precious we must be to Him that He was willing to pay such a price for our liberation. In gratitude we bow to His will and serve Him with joy.
“You are not your own. For you were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).

Christ is the precious cornerstone in God’s spiritual house.

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation’” (Isaiah 28:16).
We need a solid foundation. Christ is the precious cornerstone of God’s temple. Only by aligning ourselves with Him can we be a living stone in God’s spiritual house.
“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious” (1 Peter 2:4-7).

God’s kingdom is worth more than any earthly interest.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45, 46).
Serving God is worth more than physical life itself. Paul declared: “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

What is precious to the Lord?


A gentle spirit is precious to God.

“Do not let your adornment be outward - arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel - rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:3, 4).
Although this passage is directed to women, the principle applies to all: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Jesus was “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). The fruit of the Spirit includes “gentleness” (Galatians 5:23). Let us cultivate “a gentle and quite spirit,” which is precious to God.

Precious to the Lord is the death of His saints.

“He will spare the poor and needy, and will save the souls of the needy. He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; and precious shall be their blood in His sight” (Psalm 72:13, 14).
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15).
The day of death is victory day for the faithful Christian who can say with Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7, 8).

What is precious according to God’s word?
We may not cherish material things. On judgment day, precious stones will be worthless. Love of money leads to perdition. We ought to cherish spiritual things. Wisdom and faith are more precious than gold. Most precious are the gracious gifts of God. His gifts in nature, His mercy and His thoughts are precious. He has given us exceedingly precious promises. We have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. He is the precious cornerstone in God’s spiritual house. God’s kingdom is worth more than any earthly interest. Precious to the Lord are a gentle spirit, and the final victory of His saints.
As Christians, let us cherish these precious things. If you have not yet become a Christian, you are depriving yourself of life’s most precious treasure. Amen.
Roy Davison
The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

From Gary... Refocus


Every so often I like to refocus my life. I do this by thinking about my roots- where I started, what life was like when I was young and so forth. This Bible verse is one of those beginnings. In my early 20's, I remember waking up one afternoon in front of the fireplace, covered in my own vomit and thought- will I ever change? Then this verse came to mind and I realized that with God's help I could be a different person. One thing led to another and eventually I became a Christian.

I am NOT PERFECT, but I am FORGIVEN- while I still have problems, drinking is not one of them. And those things that I have yet to overcome, I will continue to work on with the help of God. 

And you can do the same- because, with God, all things are possible (Written in stone, above)!!!!