11/6/19

"THE BOOK OF PROVERBS" Wisdom's Plea To Be Heard (8:1-36) by Mark Copeland


"THE BOOK OF PROVERBS"
Wisdom's Plea To Be Heard (8:1-36)

INTRODUCTION

1. In our previous study, we found warnings against the immoral woman...
   a. Who seduces with her beauty and flattery - Pr 6:24-25
   b. Who in the open square lurks at every corner - Pr 7:12

2. In the eighth chapter, we once again find wisdom personified as a
   woman...
   a. Similar to what we read earlier in these discourses - Pr 1:20-23
   b. Who cries out to be heard by the sons of men - Pr 8:3-4

[What does she have to say?  Why should we listen to her?  Let's study
the eighth chapter of Proverbs to found out, beginning with...]

I. THE PLEA OF WISDOM (8:1-11)

   A. SHE DESIRES TO BE HEARD...
      1. By crying out, lifting up her voice - Pr 8:1
      2. Not lurking in the corner (cf. Pr 7:12), but openly:
         a. On the top of the hill, beside the way, where paths meet
            - Pr 8:2
         b. By the gates, at the entry of the city - Pr 8:3

   B. SHE DESIRES TO BE HEARD BY ALL...
      1. By the sons of men - Pr 8:4
      2. By the simple ones and fools - Pr 8:5

   C. SHE DESIRES TO IMPART GREAT THINGS...
      1. Excellent things, right things - Pr 8:6
      2. Words of truth and righteousness - Pr 8:7-8
      3. Things that are plain and right - Pr 8:9
      4. That which is better than silver, gold, rubies, and all that
         can be desired - Pr 8:10-11

[So wisdom is crying out to be heard by everyone, to share things of
great value.  Will we listen to her?  To encourage us to do so, read
further what she says about...]

II. THE VALUE OF WISDOM (8:12-21)

   A. SEEN IN WHAT SHE POSSESSES...
      1. Prudence, knowledge and discretion - Pr 8:12
      2. The fear of the Lord, prompting her to hate pride, evil, and
         the perverse mouth - Pr 8:13
      3. Counsel and sound wisdom, understanding and strength - Pr 8:14

   B. SEEN IN WHAT SHE GIVES...
      1. To kings, princes, nobles, and justices, the ability to rule
         with justice - Pr 8:15-16
      2. To all who love her, riches, honor, righteousness, justice, and
         wealth - Pr 8:17-21

[Doesn't the value of wisdom make us want to hear her?  To help us
appreciate the value of wisdom even more, we next read of...]

III. THE POSSESSION OF WISDOM (8:22-31)

   A. BY THE LORD BEFORE THE CREATION...
      1. At the beginning of His way, before His works - Pr 8:22
      2. From everlasting, before there was an earth - Pr 8:23
      3. Before there were depths of water, or mountains and hills - Pro
         8:24-25
      4. Before the earth was created, before the primal dust of the
         world - Pr 8:26

   B. BY THE LORD IN HIS ACTS OF CREATION...
      1. When He prepared the heavens - Pr 8:27a
      2. When He created the world - Pr 8:27b-29
      3. She was beside Him as a master craftsman, rejoicing in His
         creation - Pr 8:30-31

[The wisdom utilized by God in the creation of the heavens and earth is
the voice crying out for us to hear!  If we have ears to hear, shall we
not hear?   Finally, we hear wisdom speak of...]

IV. THE BLESSEDNESS OF WISDOM (8:32-36)

   A. FOR THOSE WILLING TO KEEP HER WAYS...
      1. They are blessed - Pr 8:32
      2. So hear her instruction and be wise, do not disdain it - Pro
         8:33

   B. FOR THOSE WILLING TO LISTEN INTENTLY...
      1. They are blessed - Pr 8:34a
      2. As they watch daily and wait - Pr 8:34b
      3. They find life and obtain favor from the Lord - Pr 8:35
      4. Unlike one who sins against her (he wrongs his own soul - Pro
         8:36a
      5. Unlike those who hate her (they love death) - Pr 8:36b

CONCLUSION

1. So wisdom cries out to be heard...
   a. To share understanding and knowledge, truth and righteousness
   b. To bless our lives with riches and honor, especially that offered
      by the Lord

2. To whom shall we hearken...?
   a. To the woman lurking in the corners, whose house is the way to
      hell? - Pr 7:27
   b. Or the woman standing on the top of the high hill, and by the open
      gates? - Pr 8:1-3

The answer should be obvious...

   "Blessed is the man who listens to me (wisdom), Watching daily
   at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds
   me finds life, And obtains favor from the LORD;"
                                                - Pr 8:34-35


Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016
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Megiddo: Lesson from "A Thousand Towns" by Trevor Major, M.Sc., M.A.




Megiddo: Lesson from "A Thousand Towns"

by Trevor Major, M.Sc., M.A.


A MapFor many hundreds of years, the balance of power in the Ancient Near East pivoted on a few square miles of the rugged Carmel Range. Practically speaking, anyone traveling from Egypt in the south, to Anatolia, Assyria and Babylonia in the north and northeast, had to skirt Mount Carmel or negotiate one of the three passes through the range. Of these, the most direct route went through the narrow middle valley, which opened at its northeastern end on the town of Megiddo and the fertile Jezreel Valley.
Megiddo’s exceptional location made it a site of conflict for the major and minor powers of the region. While Canaanite culture dominated Megiddo from the twentieth through twelfth centuries B.C., Egyptians, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians and others had their turn at occupation. About sixteen historical battles were fought in or near the city over a period of 2,500 years before Christ. A hill rose from the plain as new cities built on the remains of the old. It is no wonder that the book of Revelation uses the hill of Megiddo (harmagedon, incorrectly transliterated “Armageddon” in some versions) to symbolize the spiritual war between forces of good and evil.

MAJOR EVENTS AT MEGIDDO

Archaeologists have dated one of the earliest recorded conflicts to 1469 B.C., based on a fascinating inscription from the Temple of Amun at Karnak. The record describes how Pharaoh Thutmose III (1490-1436 B.C.) marched his army up the middle valley, thus outguessing the Canaanite forces, which were waiting in the northern and southern passes. Enemy chariotry rushed to meet the emerging Egyptians, but Thutmose defeated them near Megiddo. However, he delayed his attack on the city, and had to lay siege for seven months before finally capturing Megiddo and putting it under Egyptian control. Campaign records repeatedly state: “The capture of Megiddo is the capture of a thousand towns.”
The first biblical reference to Megiddo comes around seventy years later. Joshua 12:21 lists the city’s king among those whom “Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west” (12:7). Yet the victory was incomplete. A few chapters later we read that the tribe of Manasseh, whose allotment included Megiddo, “could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities” (17:12). When the Israelites held the advantage, however, they exacted tribute from their beleaguered neighbors (17:13; see also Judges 1:27-28). Another two hundred years passed before Israel, led by Barak and Deborah, scored a definitive military victory in the Megiddo area (Judges 5:19). By the middle of the ninth century B.C., Megiddo had become an important administrative center in Solomon’s kingdom (e.g., I Kings 4:12; 9:15).
Israel’s glory soon dissipated with the dividing of his kingdom. Around 925 B.C.—barely five years after Solomon’s death—Pharaoh Shishak I reestablished Egyptian rule over Palestine. He looted the temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 14:25-26) and then, according to an inscription at Karnak, turned north to conquer several cities, including Megiddo. This renewed a great tug of war between the superpowers. Assyria annexed Megiddo and the surrounding areas in the late eighth century, and deported many of its people to distant lands (2 Kings 17:1-6). But Assyrian power gradually declined, and in 609 B.C. Pharaoh Necho II marched northward to aid them against the rising Babylonians. Despite a warning from God, via Necho, to stay out of the fray (2 Chronicles 35:22), King Josiah of Judah attacked the Egyptians near Megiddo. The ill-advised attempt ended in failure and Josiah’s death (2 Chronicles 25:23-24). Sadly, this brought an end to his religious reforms, and the beginning of the end for Judah.

RECONCILING STONES AND SCRIPTURES

Despite the rich record of Megiddo in the Bible and in other ancient records, almost every aspect of the archaeological evidence is open to debate. Finkelstein and Ussishkin (1994), who are beginning a new exploration of Megiddo, hope to shed light on these issues. For example, they believe that a six-chambered “Solomonic gate” did not appear in Solomon’s time, although they see plenty of other evidence for Solomon’s building program (1 Kings 9:15). They hope also to investigate structures named “Solomon’s stables,” which some workers say were neither Solomon’s nor stables (see discussion by Currid, 1992). Others suspect that a fresh sifting of the rubble will reveal stables from Solomon’s era (Davies, 1994). While their existence would suggest that Megiddo was one of the king’s “cities for chariots, and cities for horseman” (1 Kings 9:19), the Bible nowhere states that Solomon built stables at this site.
Other questions are more serious. For example, in speaking of a mysterious destruction level in the late thirteenth century, Finkelstein and Ussishkin dismiss the idea that this had anything to do with the Israelites (1994, 20[1]:40). “Incidentally,” they add, “the Bible gives no indication that Megiddo was conquered by the Israelites at this early period.” What they have in mind, of course, is the now-popular idea that the events of Joshua occurred much later than 1406 B.C. (contrary to the view of most conservative scholars). Hence, because the Bible admits that the Israelites failed to occupy Megiddo, and because the city experienced a major conflict in the late thirteenth century, then the invading Israelites cannot be responsible. However, if we begin with an earlier date for the conquest, then this destruction layer falls around the time of Barak and Deborah’s campaign. Although Scripture says nothing about their razing of the city, archaeological evidence is not inconsistent with conservative chronology.
What is interesting in this analysis is that seemingly trustworthy extrabiblical records also challenge the conclusions of archaeology. For example, Finkelstein and Ussishkin state that the Karnak account of Thutmose III’s campaign possesses “a dramatic reality” (20[1]:31). However, Megiddo shows no signs of destruction in 1469 B.C., and no signs of a city wall to resist the pharaoh’s seven-month siege. Similarly, the signs of destruction are minimal or nonexistent around 925 B.C. when, according to another Karnak inscription, Shishak should have conquered Megiddo. In this case, however, archaeologists have found a stele at Megiddo honoring Shishak, which prompts Finkelstein and Ussishkin to suggest that the pharaoh conquered the city without destroying it (20[1]:43).

CONCLUSION

With a basic trust in written records and archaeological data, we can learn an important lesson: destruction does not always follow a victorious military campaign. If that is true for Egyptian war stories, then it should hold true for accounts of conquest in Joshua and Judges. Indeed, there is ample reason to believe that the Bible is a reliable source of information on this period. It is unfair to expect a perfect overlap: archaeology may uncover some events unknown to Scripture, or Scripture may relate some events unknown to archaeology. Further, an apparent discrepancy between the two should not immediately bring suspicion upon the Bible. While stones and potsherds are valuable, the Bible always will provide the most accurate account of its own people.

REFERENCES

Currid, John D. (1992), “Puzzling Public Buildings,” Biblical Archaeology Review, 18[1]:52-61, January/February.
Davies, Graham I. (1994), “King Solomon’s Stables,” Biblical Archaeology Review, 20[1]:44-49, January/February.
Finkelstein, Israel, and David Ussishkin (1994), “Megiddo,” Biblical Archaeology Review, 20[1]:26-33,36-43, January/February.

Matthew Fontaine Maury by Trevor Major, M.Sc., M.A.





Matthew Fontaine Maury

by Trevor Major, M.Sc., M.A.


Many people have the impression that the nineteenth century was a bad time for Christianity. It witnessed the spread of uniformitarian geology, higher criticism, and evolution. However, it was by no means a victory for skepticism. What we often forget is that most people outside academia rejected these new ideas. In England, for example, Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species appeared in 1859, and Essays and Reviews, which appeared in 1860, catapulted German higher criticism into Anglican theology. Yet according to Gregory, “the years following 1860 were a time of great religious revival in England” (1986, p. 373).
Also, many prominent teachers and researchers remained committed to their belief in God and His inspired Word. One outstanding example is Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873). He was born in Virginia, and joined the U.S. Navy at age nineteen. Although an accomplished sailor, Maury always leaned toward the academic side of his profession. Following a serious coach accident, which confined him to duty on land, Maury’s scholarly reputation earned him a position in 1842 as Superintendent of the Depot of Charts and Instruments.
Almost immediately, Maury began the greatest task of his career. He was determined that captains should have charts that would enable them to sail as quickly and as safely as possible around the world. He used old log books and thousands of new observations to produce his famous wind and current charts of the world’s major oceans. These achievements earned him the epithet, “pathfinder of the seas.” Maury also wrote directions to accompany his charts, and he combined these with other observations about the ocean to produce The Physical Geography of the Sea, which first appeared in 1855. This was an immensely popular book, and marked the beginning of the science of oceanography.
Throughout all this success, Maury never forgot his belief in Scripture. Physical Geography is filled with references to the Bible. He could not help but be fascinated by passages that mention the sea, such as Psalm 8:8, Psalm 107:23-24, and Ecclesiastes 1:7. Whoever studies the sea, Maury contended, “must look upon it as a part of that exquisite machinery by which the harmonies of nature are preserved, and then will begin to perceive the developments of order and the evidences of design” (1859, p. 57).
Maury knew full well that these views clashed with those of his colleagues. Before five thousand people at the founding of the University of the South in 1860, he proclaimed the following:
I have been blamed by men of science, both in this country and in England, for quoting the Bible in confirmation of the doctrines of physical geography. The Bible, they say, was not written for scientific purposes, and is therefore no authority in matters of science. I beg pardon! The Bible is authority for everything it touches. What would you think of an historian who should refuse to consult historical records of the Bible, because the Bible was not written for the purposes of history? The Bible is true and science is true (as quoted in Lewis, 1927, p. 99, emp. in orig.).
Such convictions have earned Maury a well-deserved place in Bible-science literature. He is honored as a man who took God at His Word. However, readers may want to treat one claim with a little suspicion (see Major, 1995). Several accounts suggest that Maury was so confident about God’s Word that his mapping of ocean currents resulted directly from reading or hearing about the “paths of the seas” in Psalm 8:8. Some go on to suggest that ocean currents would have remained hidden unless Maury had read this passage in the Bible. Some set this crucial event in Maury’s childhood, and others set it during the recovery from his accident. One popular account by Virginia Lee Cox has a son reading to Maury during an illness (Lewis, 1927, p. 252), but Maury began his mapping project when the oldest son was only two years old. Another problem is that some currents, such as the Gulf Stream, were well-studied by the 1840s. Maury’s feat was to bring his scientific knowledge to bear on a vast array of nautical information, but he was not the first to discover ocean currents.
There is little doubt that Maury held a special fascination for Psalm 8:8 and other passages that mention the sea and the sky. They confirmed to him that revelation in nature and revelation in Scripture were in harmony because they have One Author. These convictions, and Maury’s character, make him worthy of emulation by Bible-believing scientists today.

REFERENCES

Gregory, Frederick (1986), “The Impact of Darwinian Evolution on Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century,” God & Nature, ed. D.C. Lindberg and R.L. Numbers (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press), pp. 369-390.
Lewis, Charles Lee (1927), Matthew Fontaine Maury: The Pathfinder of the Seas (Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute, 1969 reprint by AMS Press, New York).
Major, Trevor (1995), “Honor to Whom Honor...Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873),” Creation Research Society Quarterly, 32[2]:82-87, September.
Maury, Matthew F. (1859), The Physical Geography of the Sea (New York: Harper & Brothers, sixth edition).

Lost Symbols, Mystery Cults, and the Christian Faith by Dewayne Bryant, Ph.D.





Lost Symbols, Mystery Cults, and the Christian Faith

by Dewayne Bryant, Ph.D.


Stephen Langdon is at it again. Described as Indiana Jones in a tweed jacket, Langdon is hard at work in Dan Brown’s latest novel, unraveling the secrets left behind in Washington, D.C. by America’s Founding Fathers. He races against time to prevent an international crisis, save a dear friend from meeting an untimely demise, and uncover secret truths that will help men become gods—all in a day’s work for the fictional Harvard symbologist.
Ten months after its release, The Lost Symbol still hovers near the top of the N.Y. Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction. Like his previous novel The Da Vinci Code, Brown once again delves into unorthodox religious viewpoints. In The Da Vinci Code, Langdon stumbles across a society that includes Gnostic beliefs and goddess worship. His latest thriller finds the principal character bringing up the ghost of the ancient mystery cults in his encounter with Freemasonry. While Brown does not take orthodox Christianity head-on as in previous novels, he does offer something of a historical rewrite of the ancient religious landscape.
Brown refers to the ambiguous “ancient mysteries” constantly throughout his book, but does not specify exactly what he means. It seems to be a general description of esoteric wisdom found in ancient religion ranging from the mystery cults to the later Gnostics, but also includes universal spiritual truths found in all the world’s religions. Unfortunately for Brown, his attempt to lump Christianity in as a participant in these mysteries not only shows his lack of familiarity with Christianity, but with other religions and the ancient mystery cults as well.
Brown asserts that Christianity is home to the same religious teachings found in other religions, all tracing back to ancient esoteric wisdom like that of the ancient mystery cults, which are labeled as such because of secret ceremonies (Nash, 1992, p. 115). The problem with this is that Christianity was not secretive. It was celebrated openly and quickly reached the ears of government officials ranging from regional governors to the emperors of Rome. Official persecution of Christianity began only a few short decades after the death of Christ. Within 80 years, the Roman governor Pliny the Younger of Bithynia (in modern day Turkey) complained to Emperor Trajan that the Christian influence in his territory was so strong that pagan temples had been nearly deserted due to a lack of worshippers (Letters, 10.97).
The task of the apostles was to preach the message of Christ crucified for all (cf. Acts 4:9-11), while Paul discusses the “mystery of Christ” (Colossians 4:3; cf. Ephesians 3:3-7) in epistolary form, intending his work to be read aloud and shared with others. In the Eleusinian mysteries, celebrated near Athens, death was the punishment for anyone who revealed its secrets. The Greek playwright Aeschylus was attacked and nearly murdered by an Athenian mob while acting in one of his own tragedies because the audience suspected him of revealing the cult’s secrets.
Through the mouth of the character Peter Solomon, Brown says, “The Bible is one of the books through which the mysteries have been passed down through history. Its pages are desperately trying to tell us the secret.... The ‘dark sayings’ in the Bible are the whispers of the ancients, quietly sharing with us all of their secret wisdom” (p. 491). This vanilla spirituality quickly runs headlong into a particularly thorny problem, often referred to as the “scandal of particularity.” Simply put, this is the idea that a particular God has revealed Himself to particular people at particular times and has a particular way of doing things.
Brown asserts the basic similarity of all religions to the point of stating that all religions are little more than cosmetically altered versions of the same spiritual truths. The blending of religions in Brown’s novel is not something foreign to Christianity only, but to other world religions as well. Each one makes mutually exclusive claims that cannot be reconciled with other faith traditions. Christianity claims Jesus is the Son of God; Islam says He is a mortal man. Religions such as Judaism, Islam, and Christianity claim belief in a personal God, while Buddhism is an “atheist religion” of sorts with no belief in any deity. In order for Brown’s reconstruction to be true, each religion must give up so much of what makes it unique that essentially they all become nondescript and amorphous.
Brown seems to read modern notions of religion and spirituality backward into history. Presenting America’s Founding Fathers as believers in some kind of universal spirituality would no doubt have been strange, if not offensive, to many of them. While a few of them may have been deists, even these believed in a personal God who was active in America’s founding (cf. Miller, 2005; Miller, 2008). The vast majority of the Founders, as well as the population at large, professed Christian belief (see Bancroft, 1837, 2:456; Morris, 1864).
As in previous novels, Brown commits several major blunders, which seems to have become standard operating procedure for his writing. One of these concerns one of America’s most famous works of art. A fixture of the novel is a fresco in the Capitol Rotunda titled The Apotheosis of George Washington. Completed in 1865, artist Constantino Brumidi’s masterpiece shows Washington ascending to heaven, surrounded by figures reminiscent of the Muses from Greek mythology. When viewing this scene, the protagonist Langdon says it describes Washington “being transformed into a god” (p. 84, ital. in orig.). This point will later shed light on the purported beliefs of the Freemasons—taken from the ancient mysteries—that humanity has within it a spark of the divine and is capable of virtual self-deification. In doing so, Brown seems to confuse the differences between the definitions of apotheosis as they are used in theology and art. In theological parlance, the term does mean to attain the status of deity. In art, it means to depict a subject in exalted fashion. Figures so depicted are often those who have become immortalized as national icons and who are revered because of their personal virtue and importance in the national consciousness. Other great works of art apotheosize historical figures ranging from the Greek poet Homer to Venezuelan statesman Simon Bolivar to Confederate general Robert E. Lee, yet no one is arguing that the artists of these works were trying to conceal secret spiritual truths in their masterpieces.
America’s Founding Fathers are a favorite target of critics who deny the role of Christianity in the country’s origins. Another of Brown’s historical errors is his claim that Jefferson’s version of the Bible was presented to every member of Congress in the first half of the 19th century (p. 491). He makes a point of mentioning Jefferson’s excision of the virgin birth and the resurrection in an attempt to illustrate his point of saying that America’s Founding Fathers all believed in the hidden spiritual message of Scripture and warned of interpreting the Bible literally. While Jefferson is famous for combing through the Bible and excising anything that hinted of the supernatural, his version of the gospel accounts was presented to first-time congressmen in the first half of the 20th century—not the 19th—because it distilled the essential moral teachings of Christ. This is clearly evident in its full title: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. Writing in a letter to John Adams on October 12, 1813, Jefferson indicates that his motive for assembling his version in this manner was because he wanted to offer the “pure principles” of Jesus’ teaching, which constituted the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man” (1813). It should also be noted that in this letter, Jefferson demonstrated knowledge of Gnostic beliefs, which he called “nonsense.” It is that very knowledge which several of Brown’s novels praise.
One of the best examples of Brown’s gross religious ignorance is his connection of the word “amen” to the name of the Egyptian god Amun (p. 358). Brown is not the first to make this assertion. This kind of connection is typical among third-rate Bible critics who fail to do meaningful research and try to make connections simply based on the sounds of words. The standard Greek lexicon defines the Greek word amen as “let it be so” or “truly” (Danker, 2000, p. 53), which comes from the Hebrew word ’amen, also meaning “truly” (Brown, et al., 1906, p. 53). The word is thoroughly Hebraic and has absolutely no connection to the Egyptian god, whose name means “hidden” (Allen, 2010, p. 186)
One On-line review of the book says Brown “loves showing us places where our carefully tended cultural boundaries—between Christian and pagan, sacred and secular, ancient and modern—are actually extraordinarily messy” (Grossman, 2009). The relationship between paganism and Christianity is indeed messy for those unwilling to examine that relationship with clarity and precision. It seems to be en vogue to simply ignore the distinctive elements of particular religions, lump them together into an amorphous blob, and declare them all virtually equivalent, regardless of any claims to historicity.
The distinctive truth of Christianity will not permit itself to be classified among mythological writings because it is not mythological in character. Though the gospel accounts are routinely described as “myth” their character is closely related to ancient biographies and is distinctly different from mythology, which never concerned itself with recent historical figures (Keener, 2009, pp. 75-76). Even the ancients generally believed that their myths had no connections to actual history.
Dan Brown is an inventive writer. His stories are fast-paced and engaging, and his conspiratorial plots are entertaining. Though he is a skillful author, Brown continually presents an axe to grind against Christianity. As was seen in The Da Vinci Code, Brown is willing to manipulate the evidence to make his case. Brown’s carefully crafted language is similar to a conspiracy theory: the reader is guided along a predetermined path that offers no room for alternative explanations. Like all good conspiracies, each piece of evidence hangs tenuously upon another. Each interpretation is precariously balanced on the next. Should any one piece be removed, the entire edifice comes crashing down. The Lost Symbol, like Brown’s previous work, is similarly vulnerable at many points where he has misinterpreted or manipulated the evidence. In each of his books the “fall of the house of Brown” is inescapable, and The Lost Symbol presents no exception.

REFERENCES

Allen, James P. (2010), Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Bancroft, George (1837), History of the United States (Boston, MA: Charles Bowen).
Brown, Dan (2009), The Lost Symbol (New York: Doubleday).
Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs (1906), The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody, MA, Hendrickson).
Danker, Frederick William, ed. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), third edition.
Grossman, Lev (2009), “How Good is Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol?” Time, September 15, http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1923182,00.html. Accessed March 3, 2010.
Keener, Craig S. (2009), The Historical Jesus of the Gospels (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
Jefferson, Thomas (1813), “Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, October 12, 1813,” The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1. General Correspondence. 1651-1827, Library of Congress, [On-line], URL: http://tinyurl.com/38dmuqm.
Miller, Dave (2005), “Deism, Atheism, and the Founders,” http://apologeticspress.org/articles/650.
Miller, Dave (2008), “The Founders: Atheists & Deists or Theists & Christians?” Reason & Revelation, 7[12]:45-R, December, http://apologeticspress.org/articles/240010.
Morris, Benjamin (1864), The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2007 reprint).
Nash, Ronald H. (1992), The Gospel and the Greeks: Did the New Testament Borrow From Pagan Thought? (Richardson, TX: Probe Books).
Pliny the Younger (no date), Letters, trans. William Melmoth, http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_plinyltrstrajan.htm.

THE BIBLE OR THE CHURCH? BY STEVE FINNELL



THE BIBLE OR THE CHURCH? BY STEVE FINNELL


Where does the complete truth reside, in the Bible or the church? The Bible has the complete truth, no truth needs to be added.

If the church has the absolute truth, then which church would that be? The Mormon Church, the Seventh-Day Adventism Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Baptist Church, the Jehovah's Witness Church, the Methodist Church, etc.

There is one Bible and many churches. Only the Bible has the absolute truth.

Churches cannot be trusted to teach and maintain the truth. 1 Timothy 4:1-4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith......(NKJV)

You can only trust the Bible.

Church leaders cannot be trusted, the apostle Paul had to confront the apostle Peter because of his hypocrisy. Galatians 2:11-14 But when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed.......(NKJV)

Church leaders are not infallible. Only Scripture is infallible.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,(NKJV)

Man-made church doctrine is not Scripture. Creed books, denominational edicts and statements of faith, are not the infallible word of God.

Only the Bible has God's Scripture. If the churches are receiving God's inspired word, then why do they not add their creeds to the Bible?

1 Peter 1:23 But the word of the Lord endures forever."(NKJV)

God's word lasts forever. The church doctrines of men change as they rely on their own understanding.

Trust the Bible or trust church doctrines written by men? Two choices.      

Why do so few become Christians and live as Christians? by Roy Davison



Why do so few become Christians
and live as Christians?

Jesus said: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart: and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28, 29).
Living as a Christian means to have rest, peace with God. Do we have rest and peace? If not maybe we have not really gone to Jesus to learn how to live.
One must first become a Christian in order to live as a Christian.
One is not a Christian by birth. Personal commitment is required. Our parents cannot decide for us. Everyone must decide for himself to follow Christ.
What does this involve?
Becoming a Christian means being saved by God's grace on the basis of faith in Jesus. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned: but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:16-19).
Jesus did not come to condemn the world. The world was already condemned because of sin.
"For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law: and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law" (Romans 2:12).
Jesus brought salvation. He came "to give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). "For the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life: but he who disobeys1 the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God rests upon him" (John 3:36).
An obedient faith is required to escape the wrath of God. One's faith must be confessed, "For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10).
One must repent and be baptized: "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).
People are faced with a choice. "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision" (Joel 3:14).
To live as a Christian we must make a personal decision. We must become a Christian by faith and obedience.
Why do so few live as Christians?
After Jesus has done so much to make salvation possible, why are so many lost anyway? Why do so few live as Christians? This has several causes.
Many do not live as Christians because of selfishness, self-centeredness.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). "Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone: but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit" (John 12:24, 25).
"He who finds his life shall lose it: and he who loses his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 10:39).
"For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it: and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it. For what does it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matthew 16:25, 26).
"Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it" (Luke 17:33).
Since Jesus gave His life for us, He asks us to forfeit our lives to serve Him. Many do not want to do this.
Many do not live as Christians because of impenitence.
Most people refuse to repent. Referring to such people, Paul said: "But because of your hard and unrepentant heart you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath when the righteous judgment of God shall be revealed" (Romans 2:5).
Jesus made repentance a condition for salvation: "There were some present at that time who told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered, saying to them, Do you suppose these Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, No: but, unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:1-3).
"The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patient toward you, not wanting that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
"This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as other Gentiles walk, in the futility of their minds, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts: who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to licentiousness, greedy to practice all kinds of uncleanness" (Ephesians 4:17-19).
"Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
"Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up" (James 4:7-10).
Many do not live as Christians because they set their minds on earthly things.
Earthly-minded people scorn the sacrifice of Christ. "For many, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even with weeping, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, with minds set on earthly things" (Philippians 3:18, 19).
When people make this world their god, they are struck with spiritual blindness: "But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. For the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest they should see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4).
In their blindness they think God's word is foolishness: "For the preaching of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness; but to those of us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
They do not think very highly of Christians either. Even worse, to them we stink. If we want to live as Christians, we must be willing to endure the ridicule and persecution of people of the world.
"Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and makes manifest through us the fragrance of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are an aroma of Christ to God, among those who are being saved, and among those who are perishing: To the one we are the aroma of death to death; and to the other the aroma of life to life" (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).
Someone who loves money cannot live as a Christian: "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil" (1 Timothy 6:8-10).
The waging of war is also an expression of earthly-mindedness because of which many are lost, as Jesus warned Peter: "Put your sword back in its place: for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52).
Earthly-mindedness leads to spiritual infertility: "And these are the ones who are like seed sown among thorns; they hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust for other things enter in, and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful" (Mark 4:18, 19).
Many do not live as Christians because of false doctrine.
Jesus warned: "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:11-13).
Peter warned that ignorant and unstable people twist the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who secretly shall bring in destructive heresies" (2 Peter 2:1).
People accept false doctrine because they lack love for the truth: "And then shall the lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and shall destroy by the brightness of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is through the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who perish; because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that all those might be condemned who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Tessalonicenzen 2:8-12).
Why are there so few who live as Christians even though Jesus died for them? Because they are self-centered and earthly-minded they refuse to repent. Because they reject love for truth they believe a lie by which they are lost.
Let us live as Christians.
Let us walk the narrow road: "Enter in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there are who enter in by it: but small is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there are who find it" (Matthew 7:13, 14).
Although it is not an easy road, Jesus will help us. As Paul said, "Persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:9).
The salvation of Christ extends beyond death: "And some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And you shall be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head shall perish. By your perseverance you shall win your souls" (Luke 21:16-19).
Jesus takes good care of His sheep: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, nor shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:27, 28).
"Therefore be imitators of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice, a sweet smelling aroma to God" (Ephesians 5:1, 2).
"Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Galatians 1:3-5).
Footnote:
1 Some translators have interpreted απειθων in this verse as 'those not believing' but the word means 'those not obeying'.

Roy Davison

New Testament quotations are from the Revised King James New Testament
(RKJNT) and Old Testament quotations are from the translation of the Jewish Publication Society.


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

"Walking" by Gary Rose




Recently, Bruce Arnold sent me a link that contained many unusual pictures; this is one of them – A man walking on the salt flats of Bolivia. If you focus on the man and the top half of the picture, it looks like he is walking on water; but, if you look at the bottom half, it looks as if he is walking among the clouds. Deceptively beautiful!

I remember the incident of Jesus walking on water (John 6:19-21), but Jesus walking on the clouds? Humm, I don’t remember Jesus walking on the clouds, but I do remember him ascending into heaven…


Acts 1 ( World English Bible )
[6] Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?” [7] He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority. [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” [9] When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. [10] While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, [11] who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.


And as I think of it; there is that passage from Matthew…


Matthew 24 ( WEB )
[29] But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;* Isaiah 13:10; 34:4 [30] and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.


And why will he come back?


1 Thessalonians 4 ( WEB )
[13] But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope. [14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. [15] For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. [16] For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, [17] then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. [18] Therefore comfort one another with these words.


To answer my own question: Jesus will come again to begin the final events of the return of Jesus; first to bring back to life, the faithful who have died and then to bring to himself those faithful ones who are still alive on the Earth. Knowing these things is truly a source of comfort (vs. 18, above). The remaining “last things” to be fulfilled are fully described in the book of Revelation.

You know, sometimes you can see a lot in a picture!