9/12/22

Underneath it all... by Gary Rose

 

Nice picture! But, for me, it is the wrong angle. I would like to be on that beach, looking at the waves roll in. How serene and peaceful it would be to just listen to those waves. However, I would miss the turtles underneath the waves. Humm, I wonder if God were walking on that beach- what would he see? Of course, the answer would be EVERYTHING! Then, I thought of this passage from the book of first Samuel…


1 Samuel 16 ( World English Bible )

4 Samuel did that which Yahweh spoke, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?”

5 He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

6 It happened, when they had come, that he looked at Eliab, and said, “Surely Yahweh’s anointed is before him.”

7 But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for I see not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”

8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has Yahweh chosen this one.”

9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. He said, “Neither has Yahweh chosen this one.”

10 Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen these.”

11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your children here?” He said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is keeping the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”

12 He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful face, and goodly to look on. Yahweh said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.


We look at the world through our limited senses, but God has a perspective that we can only dream of; he knows the thoughts and intents of the human heart and acts accordingly. Which brings a question to mind: Today, how would you rate your own heart and if it is not quite right; what are you going to do about it? Good question, just think about it – I will!

Origin of Gender by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

 

https://apologeticspress.org/origin-of-gender-5976/

Origin of Gender

From Issue: R&R – July 2021

Considerable discussion has occurred in secular society in the last 50 years concerning gender—from the Feminist Movement of the 1960s to the more recent attention to transgenderism. The Bible speaks very precisely and definitively on the matter of gender. The phenomenon of gender is the result of God’s own divine determination when He created the first human beings on the sixth day of Creation week: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).

When God created gender, He clearly intended to set the stage for all of human history. He sought to convey for all time the interrelationship between men and women. In the New Testament, this interrelationship is discussed in considerable detail in 1 Timothy 2 where Paul explains gender roles as they relate to worship. However, Paul also discussed gender in one of his letters to the church at Corinth. His pronouncements on gender are clearly tied to how men and women in the church are to interact with each other. The respective roles of male and female in the church are affected and informed by gender.

Paul’s remarks demonstrate that gender, as it relates to role function in the church, is a matter of Creation—not culture (as some have alleged). He explains the origin of gender as it was instigated by God at Creation:

For man is not from woman, but woman from man…. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of the woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.  For as the woman was from the man, even so the man also is through the woman; but all things are from God (1 Corinthians 11:8,11-12).

The bolded words represent prepositions in the original language. The term rendered “from” is the Greek preposition ek which means “out of.” The man was not “out of” the woman, but rather, the woman was “out of” the man. He is referring very specifically—and literally—to the origin of the first woman on Earth. Her body was constructed from a portion of the man’s body. Her physical origin was literally dependent on having been taken “out of” the man’s body. No wonder Adam declared: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:23). In Hebrew, the word for man is “ish.” Adam employed a play on words by building on the word for man to indicate a woman: “ish-ah.”

Three verses later, Paul further clarifies gender by stating that though the woman was “from/out of” man, nevertheless, the man is also “through” the woman. Here the Greek preposition is dia meaning “by/through.” Once again, Paul is speaking very literally. All men throughout human history (except for Adam) have come into this world through a woman. Women are the designated child bearers. Men have no reason to consider themselves—or their role—to be superior to women. God intends for the male to fulfill very precise responsibilities in and out of the church, and He likewise has created the female to do the same. Their respective roles are, indeed, rooted in the creation of gender by God at the very beginning of time.1

Endnotes

1 For a discussion of gender roles in the church, see Dave Miller (2014), “Male and Female Roles: Gender in the Bible,” Apologetics Press, https://apologeticspress.org /APContent.aspx?category=7&article=5007&topic=389; Dave Miller (2019), Female Leadership in the Church (Montgomery, AL: King Solomon Publications).


Published

Are we a church of Christ? by Roy Davison

 

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/arewethechurch.html

Are we a church of Christ?

When Roman Catholics assemble, it is called a Roman Catholic Church. Baptists assembled are called a Baptist Church; Lutherans, a Lutheran Church; Methodists, a Methodist Church; Pentecostals, a Pentecostal Church; etc.

What do you call it when Christians assemble?

We call ourselves a ‘church of Christ’. What does this mean? When people hear this, they often mistakenly think: “Oh, a denomination called the Church of Christ.” Simply being a church of Christ is so foreign to most people’s thinking that they have difficulty comprehending the concept.

Why do we call ourselves a church of Christ?

We wish to indicate that we are a local congregation of the church that Jesus built (Matthew 16:18). Jesus promised: “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). We want Jesus to be in our midst, so we assemble in His name as a church of Christ.

As Christians, how can we be anything other than the church of Christ? Biblically speaking, there is only one church, the one that belongs to Christ. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:4, 5).

But are we a church of Christ?

It is easy for us to call ourselves a church of Christ, but is it true? How can we know whether we are really a church of Christ? The core of the answer is given in the passage we just read.

If we are in subjection to the one Lord, if the Spirit of the one true God dwells within us, if we hold to the one faith and have been baptized with the one baptism, then we are in the one body of Christ, His church! The one faith is the faith “which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). The one baptism is Christian baptism as defined in the New Testament. The one body is the church of Christ as defined in the New Testament.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 13 RSV).

Are we being presumptuous when we call ourselves churches of Christ?

When we define ourselves as churches of Christ we are sometimes asked: “Is that not arrogant to call yourselves the church of Christ? Do you think that only members of the church of Christ will be saved?”

If we are not the church of Christ, it is indeed arrogant. If by the grace of God we accomplish our purpose of being churches of Christ, it is not arrogant. If we belong to Christ we must confess that we are His!

All the saved are added to the church of Christ.

The church Jesus built consists by definition of all the saved. No one will be saved without being a member of the church of Christ because God adds everyone who is saved to His church (Acts 2:47). When one understands what we mean by church of Christ, no offense may be taken when we say that only members of the church of Christ will be saved.

Is it possible to be a church of Christ?

Of course, most who accuse us of being arrogant, do not believe that we really are the church of Christ. We must examine their criticisms carefully and heed Paul’s admonition: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

In many cases, however, their accusation is merely the result of their own sectarian view of the church. Although Jesus prayed for unity among His followers on the basis of God’s word in John, chapter 17, they mistakenly believe that it is acceptable to God for believers to be divided into many conflicting denominations.

If they admit that it is possible to simply be Christians and churches of Christ, they condemn themselves for being something other than a church of Christ! In New Testament times it was possible to be churches of Christ (Romans 16:16), so it is possible now if we accept the New Covenant as the prescriptive standard.

What are distinguishing marks of the church of Christ?

We already saw that we must confess the one faith and be baptized with the one baptism to be in the one body of Christ. What does this entail?

Christ is the only head of His church.

“He is the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18). God “put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body” (Ephesians 1:22, 23). He is the one shepherd of the one flock (John 10:16). We must submit to the one Lord. Submission to centralized ecclesiastical organizations is rejection of the headship of Christ.

Leadership positions must be limited to those Christ has given to His church.

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11, 12 ESV).

The apostles and prophets, with Christ as cornerstone, form the foundation of the church of Christ: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).

We build on this foundation - not by falsely appointing modern-day apostles and prophets - but by continuing steadfastly in the doctrine of the original apostles (Acts 2:42; Revelation 21:14).

The doctrine of Christ (revealed to the apostles and prophets in the first century) is now made known to all nations through the Holy Scriptures. The church is now established by “the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith” (Romans 16:25, 26).

For building up the church, Christ has given us evangelists, shepherds and teachers. To be a church of Christ, our leadership must comply with the New Testament. If we have unscriptural offices, or if we appoint leaders who do not meet the Biblical qualifications (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9), how can we be a church of Christ?

To be a church of Christ we must remain within the doctrine of Christ.

“Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9). We must “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). We must continue “steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42).

The most common cause of apostasy is a rejection of the normative nature of the doctrine of Christ by using some of His teachings to concoct a sauce to flavor and disguise teachings and traditions of men.

There is no excuse for going astray since God has informed us in the Scriptures how we are to conduct ourselves “in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

By definition, a church of Christ must be a bulwark of the truth. We are “sanctified by the truth” (John 17:19). To be saved we must “love the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:10), “believe the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:12) and “obey the truth” (Romans 2:8; Galatians 3:1). We must “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). How can we be a church of Christ if we preach something other than the truth?

To be a church of Christ we must bear fruit.

Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We must bear the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23).

To be a church of Christ we must worship acceptably.

We must worship the Father “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). We must “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28).

If we worship according to our own preferences or according to the traditions of men, we are not the church of Christ but are under the same condemnation that God pronounced on Israel: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8, 9). How can we be the church of Christ if our service and worship are built on the sand by following the teachings and traditions of men?

Let us glorify God as churches of Christ.

Let us submit to Christ as our only head. Let us hold to the one faith and practice the one baptism so we can be in the one body of Christ. Let us abide in the doctrine of Christ and have leadership that complies with the word of God. Let us bear the fruit of the Spirit and worship acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Then God will recognize us as His church. No other recognition is required!

Ephesians 3:21 - “To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. 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)

Why I am no longer a Pentecostal by William (Bill) Davis

 

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davis/William/Charles/Jr/1952/Pentecostalism.html

Why I am no longer a Pentecostal

There were no miracles, no power, no gifts, no healings, nothing but the theatrical antics and delusions of men. What was claimed for the great power of God was nothing more than musical hype and psychologically induced emotionalism.

I would like to begin by giving some background information concerning my roots in Pentecostalism. I believe it is important for anyone reading this to understand that I am not someone new to the Pentecostal or Charismatic movement. My roots go down deep into Pentecostalism. I was a third generation Pentecostal. My maternal grandparents were “old time” Pentecostals and my grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher of the old style. As a matter of fact, I was a Pentecostal before there was anyone known as a “charismatic.”

Actually, in the old days most people did not call themselves Pentecostals, they called themselves Holiness or Full Gospel. I never remember my Dad calling himself a Pentecostal. He always said he was Holiness. This is one reason Pentecostals in the old days were branded as “holy rollers.” The point I am trying to make is that I am no stranger to Pentecostalism, its doctrines, its worship and its experiences. Neither am I a stranger to charismatic doctrines, worship and experiences.

I was in Pentecostalism over 50 years of my life. As a boy I can remember the old camp-meeting days when we worshiped under a tin roof and sawdust on a dirt floor. My family’s roots were originally in the Congregational Holiness denomination - a group that splintered off from the Pentecostal Holiness. I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, a fairly large city, where you could always find a variety of Pentecostal churches to attend. While attending the Arlington Church of God at the age of twenty, I believed I was being “called” into the ministry and so I started preaching. The following year I was married. In time, my wife and I eventually ended up in the Assemblies of God where I was a licensed preacher for 27 years.

There are those who might speculate as to what caused me to change my mind about being a Pentecostal. Did someone talk me out of it? Did I read someone’s book? What happened? I would say it has been a journey. Even though I was exposed to and had learned many incorrect methods and views of Bible interpretation (hermeneutics), I did know, believe and understand that the Bible was/is the word of God and we needed to read it and follow it. For some time, I had recognized certain problems and inconsistencies within the Pentecostal church. These were difficult to overcome at first. But as time went by, I would discover bits and pieces of truth. The problem was, I still couldn’t put it all together. I couldn’t get the full picture.

During my 50 plus years as a Pentecostal, I had been involved in countless Pentecostal and charismatic influences. It would be safe to say that I have been in hundreds of various meetings or gatherings in one form or another. I attended several meetings involving the “Prophetic Movement.” In one conference we were taught how to prophesy to people. They call it being “activated.” My wife and I made two trips to Toronto for “Catch The Fire” conferences. This is where the famed “Toronto Blessing” took place.

We spent five months attending the “Brownsville Revival.” When I say five months, I mean we didn’t miss a service unless we were having a service at our church. We were there night after night, often times not leaving until midnight or later. During that period I also served on the Brownsville prayer team. A short time after this five month period at Brownsville, we too started holding similar services at our church. These meetings lasted for a whole year. Various charismatic speakers came and held meetings, praying and prophesying over people night after night, week in and week out. We initially started these meetings with a woman who claimed to have a gift of healing as well as being a preacher, teacher and prophetess. I found out later that she actually believed herself to be an apostle. Our services with her lasted around three months. A variety of speakers came in, each claiming to have their own unique “gift” or “calling.” When we did not have any special speakers, my wife and I conducted the meetings ourselves. During this time a lot of people were prayed for, prophesied over, claimed to see visions and angels, laid in the floor, spoke in “tongues”, shook, vibrated, laughed, cried, wailed, made animal sounds and of course claimed to be healed. However, after a year of this our church was no better off than before. After all the claims of healings, salvations and miracles, no one was any different. After the scores of people who attended and our building being packed night after night, our attendance was less and our finances depleted. By this time, my wife and I felt depleted ourselves. We had put our hearts and souls into these efforts because we believed it to be God-approved; and who doesn’t want to experience the same power and miracles we read about in the New Testament? I can’t tell you how many hours we spent in prayer or the number of meals we fasted, all because we wanted nothing more than God. But after all of this, it wasn’t God that we saw, it was man. From Toronto, to Brownsville, to Cottage Hill, and many more places I could name, there were no miracles, no power, no gifts, no healings, nothing but the theatrical antics and delusions of men. What was claimed for the great power of God was nothing more than musical hype and psychologically induced emotionalism.

In time, as I reflected over the past two years and then over all of the years I had been in Pentecostalism, I slowly began to realize I was in error. I began to see how deceived I was. Then one night something happened that caused me to completely change course. I kept a Bible by my bedside and would usually read a few verses before going to sleep. As I was reading, I came to John 3:5 where it says, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The phrase, “born of water” stood out to me. In the past I had always read over these words, mentally dismissing them on the basis of what I had heard or been taught. The teaching usually went something like, “the word ‘water’ here doesn’t actually mean water.” For some reason ‘water’ always meant something other than the obvious. That evening I finally decided to accept what I read in the Bible like it was written. I accepted the simple fact that Jesus said what He meant and meant what He said. I realized there was nothing in the context that suggested the word water was anything but water. There was no reason to believe Jesus meant anything other than what He said. It was also obvious that to be born of water referred to water baptism. I found this could be confirmed by other New Testament references such as Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:3- 6,17-18 and 1 Peter 3:21. From that point on I knew I had to find a people who taught the Bible just like it is written without any man-made religious additions.

A person has to be a realist when it comes to the Bible. As long as people continue to make excuses for the flaws and inaccuracies of their respective denomination, they will never come to the knowledge of the truth. We have to be honest as students of Scripture. If not, the religious discrepancies we see will vanish in the haze of feeble excuses and unsound explanations by false teachers.

Sometime later, after coming to the Lord’s church, I discovered a saying that had been coined generations ago: “The Bible only, makes Christians only.” There’s one thing for certain, if you follow exactly what the New Testament says without the input of any outside religious source, you will end up being simply a Christian - nothing more and nothing less. You cannot strictly follow the teaching of the New Testament and end up being in a denomination because they all are creations of men. You can only end up a Christian.

Please understand that what I have to say is not meant as an attack on people. There are many sincere, misguided souls in the Pentecostal and charismatic ranks. I know because I was one of them. However, I will attack the lies and heresies of men. False doctrine(s) should always be exposed. We must be willing to earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

PENTECOSTALISM TEACHES FALSE DOCTRINE

Through the years I saw how Scripture was often misunderstood, taken out of context and misapplied. As a Pentecostal, I noticed how we would greatly emphasize some passages and completely ignore other passages. Some verses seemed to hold great authority while others were insignificant.

PENTECOSTALISM TEACHES FALSE DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE GIFT OF TONGUES

Pentecostals fail to accept that New Testament tongue speaking was an understandable language. Acts 2 describes what happened on the day of Pentecost. “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).

There is nothing in Acts 2 that would indicate they spoke an unintelligible language or gibberish. The word “tongues” in this passage is glossa ... the tongue; by implication a language. The word “utterance” means to enunciate plainly, that is, declare: say, speak forth.

The continuing context reveals that understandable languages were being spoken. Acts 2:6-11, “Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”

The word “language” in verse 6 and the word “tongue” in verse 8 is the Greek word dialektos which means a discourse, that is, a dialect; a language or tongue. We can see from the Greek as well as the context that these were known, human, languages.

I must say in all fairness that nowadays due to education, many Pentecostals have accepted the fact that “tongues” in Acts chapter two means a known or understandable language. However, every other place in the New Testament where tongues are mentioned they still hold to the idea that it is a non-understandable language, something mysterious. How Pentecostals or charismatics arrive at this conclusion is based on a misunderstanding of 1 Corinthians 14. They misunderstand Paul’s meaning of “unknown tongue.” They believe the meaning of “unknown tongue” is something different from the tongues spoken in Acts chapter two. They believe it to be something mysterious and non-understandable. They fail to recognize that the word “unknown” is not in the Greek text and the word “tongue” is the same Greek word as in Acts chapter two.

It must be remembered that the miraculous gift of speaking in tongues was that a man could speak in a language he had never studied or learned. Nonetheless, it was still an intelligible language because those in the audience who spoke that language could readily understand what he said. What is amazing to me is the fact that Pentecostal and charismatic missionaries, without exception, all either attend language school or work through an interpreter when going to a foreign country while all the time claiming to have the New Testament gift of tongues!

When we sum it up, it is easily concluded that Pentecostalism makes three mistakes concerning speaking in tongues:

1) Pentecostalism ignores the law of “first mention.” This simply means that once something is initially established to be a certain thing or way, there is no reason to believe it changes and becomes something different unless the context reveals it to be different.


2) Pentecostalism fails to understand the meaning of “unknown tongue” in 1 Corinthians 14. It forces an interpretation on the text that is inconsistent with Acts chapter two and the entire New Testament. The word “tongue” in 1 Corinthians 14 is the same Greek word (glossa) as in Acts 2:4.

3) Pentecostalism fails to understand the context of 1 Corinthians 14. Paul is not praising the Corinthians for their use of tongues, he is correcting their use of tongues. He is basically saying, “You’ve got it all wrong. Tongues are not for personal use or personal satisfaction.” When no one was present to interpret for others to understand, they were to remain silent (1 Cor. 14:27-28).

PENTECOSTALISM IGNORES THE PRINCIPLE OF “ORDER” IN A WORSHIP SERVICE

Growing up in the Pentecostal Church, I saw that chaos and confusion were eagerly encouraged in worship. This disorder was not only encouraged, but was the gauge by which a worship service was judged. Everyone was encouraged to speak in tongues - all at the same time! This was and is considered to be a spiritual apex in a worship service; a sign of spirituality.

However, 1 Corinthians 12 clarifies the fact that not everyone would have the gift of tongues. When Paul begins to enumerate the gifts, he starts by saying, “to one is given...” (v.8) in order to indicate that not everyone would have that respective gift. Nor would everyone in the church have a spiritual gift at all. Paul went on to make this clear in the closing verses of chapter 12 where he asked rhetorical questions. “Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret” (1 Cor. 12:30)? The obvious answer to these questions is in the negative.

Every Christian during New Testament times did not have the gift of tongues. However, when tongues/languages were spoken, there was to be a proper order to their functioning. “If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God” (1 Cor. 14:27-28). They were to take turns when they spoke, with no more than two or three taking their turn. There must also be someone to interpret so everyone in the audience could understand what was spoken.

The idea in Pentecostal worship was that the more people there were speaking in tongues at the same time, the more spiritual your church was - the greater the moving of the Spirit. But this concept is never taught in the New Testament. Notice what Paul says; “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (1 Cor. 14:33). And then in 1 Cor. 14:40, “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

The Holy Spirit did not come to give an emotional experience. He did not come to excite, stimulate or cause anyone to flail, thrash or whirl about uncontrollably.

PENTECOSTALISM PLACES A PRIMARY IMPORTANCE ON EXPERIENCE

The Bible has a secondary place with Pentecostals as compared to experience. This does not mean they do not claim to love and honor the Word of God. They do. However, they constantly show by their actions that experience is far more important than what Scripture says.

Pentecostalism is all about feeling good. Charismatics speak about celebrating where worship is concerned. They all want an emotional high when they come together for worship. They believe these positive emotions are an indicator of the presence of God and that presence takes priority over what is written.

Listen to one of the leaders in the Assemblies of God. George O. Wood writes: “As Pentecostals, we intuitively approach the biblical text in a manner different from most of our evangelical brothers and yes, sisters. We factor in the element of experience as a lens through which we look at Scripture.” (enrichmentjournal.ag.org/200102/008_exploring.cfm)

The problem with this is that it leads to subjectivism. When experience is your highest priority, truth becomes subjective, Scripture is ignored.

Steve Hill of the Brownsville Revival said: “In these latter days preaching and simply teaching the word is no longer sufficient, the Spirit has to get involved, through signs and wonders due to much sin that abounds.” (Brownsville, 12/14/96)

John Wimber of the Vineyard movement stated: “There’s nothing in Scripture that supports these kinds of phenomena that I can see, and I can’t think of anything throughout the church age that would. ... So I feel no obligation to try to explain it. It’s just phenomena. It’s just people responding to God.” (Holy Laughter, Albert James Dager, 1996). It’s interesting that Wimber openly admits that the charismatic phenomena that was taking place (such as in Toronto) had no Biblical authority or historical precedent.

During the Toronto and Brownsville revivals it was not uncommon to hear many of the leaders and teachers make the declaration, “God will offend your mind in order to reveal your heart.” Since they could not justify what was taking place in those meetings by the Scripture, they felt this statement gave the phenomena approval. So even though they deny it, Pentecostals openly disregard the Scriptures and appeal to feelings or experience as their ultimate source of truth. It becomes evident that going by emotionalism leads people into fanaticism.

Pentecostals wrongly believe that their precedent for emotionalism was established on the day of Pentecost. They believe the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was more about an emotional experience than anything else. They stumble over the simple truth that the apostles spoke foreign languages by the operation of the Holy Spirit in order to communicate the wonderful truth of God (Acts 2:11). The context of Acts chapter two never reveals that the Holy Spirit came as an emotional experience as we see Pentecostals encouraging today. Emotionalism was not the purpose of the Spirit’s coming. There is nothing bizarre taking place in Acts two or any other place in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit did not come to excite anyone. He did not come to stimulate anyone. He did not come to cause anyone to flail, thrash or whirl about uncontrollably. The Spirit came sovereignly, filled the apostles and they spoke in languages they had not learned.

You may ask then: Where do Pentecostals get this idea? They go by what was said by some who observed the apostles speaking in languages they obviously had never learned. Acts 2:13 says, “others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.” From this simple statement an entire theological philosophy has been constructed. They use this statement in order to encourage all types of strange and bizarre behavior during worship, even to the point of people making animal sounds while they go into a trance-like state. Statements are often made like, “We’re drunk in the Spirit.” Or, “This is the new wine.” Rodney Howard- Browne often encourages flippant, foolish and silly behavior by saying “This is Joel’s Bar...belly up to the bar!”

Notice what the apostle Peter says as he sets the record straight. “For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day” (Acts 2:15). Peter emphatically denies their mockery. But Pentecostals have been led to believe the opposite. They believe the apostles were drunk, inebriated, intoxicated - falling down drunk. Sadly, they teach this is what the Holy Spirit does to people. Had the apostles been drunk, Peter would have admitted it. He would have pointed out that the apostles were made drunk by the Spirit and not by wine.

We can no more take what outsiders (enemies of the church) said on the Day Pentecost as fact than we can take what the enemies of Christ said about Him (cf. Luke 7:33-34). If we did so, we would have to believe that Jesus was a glutton and a drunk. Proper hermeneutics is the key to understanding the Bible.

PENTECOSTALISM TEACHES FALSE DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH

Pentecostal and charismatic churches believe in women pastors and teachers over whole congregations. They believe Joel’s prophecy quoted by Peter in Acts two gives them the license they need. Acts 2:16-18, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” They believe that when the text says “daughters” and “handmaidens” would prophesy, that it justifies women as pastors, as elders, etc. This, of course, is a gross misunderstanding of the text.

The significance of the pouring forth of God’s Spirit upon all flesh is that the Gospel was to go to all mankind just as Jesus said in the great commission (Mark 16:15-16). Prophecy (inspired teaching) was one of the spiritual gifts during the first century (cf. 1 Cor. 12:8-10); but, once its purpose was served (the inspired, complete, perfect, written word delivered), it was/is no longer in operation - it ceased (cf. 1 Cor. 13:8-10). However, even during New Testament times when spiritual gifts were exercised, women never assumed the position of preacher or teacher over a congregation. There is nothing in Joel’s prophecy that indicates a woman can serve as an elder or be put in charge over a congregation. There is nothing any place in the New Testament that suggests women can serve in the eldership or leadership of the church. Actually, the opposite is true. Paul writing to Timothy said, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (1 Tim. 2:11-12).

When we were in Panama City, a preacher friend of mine called one day and asked me about this verse in Timothy. He wanted to know what I thought it meant. I paused for a moment and said, “It probably means what it says.” He wasn’t too pleased with that answer because his wife taught the adult Bible class at his church. As a matter of fact, he completely rejected that meaning of the passage because it wasn’t what he wanted it to mean. But the Scripture is clear on this subject. Notice what Paul said in 1 Cor. 14:34, “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.”

Some Pentecostals contend that Paul was dealing with a cultural issue that has no bearing on today’s society when he gave this prohibition. Of course, to make such an assumption is to play fast and loose with the integrity of the text. Actually, postmodernists use this ploy on any biblical text they desire to change.

PENTECOSTALISM TEACHES FALSE DOCTRINE CONCERNING SALVATION

They teach an incomplete plan of Salvation. It is some combination of “just believe” or “repent and believe” or “pray the sinner’s prayer and ask Jesus to come into your heart.”

However, in the old days, Pentecostals did not believe in the sinner’s prayer. The old Pentecostals came out of the early holiness movement, so they believed in the mourners’ bench. They believed you were to come down to the altar and “pray through” to salvation. Basically, you “prayed through” for everything; salvation, sanctification, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, etc. A person “prayed through” until they felt like God had saved them. But due to the influx of various denominations through the Charismatic movement, Pentecostals have now adopted the more common or popular style.

The Assemblies of God web site states concerning salvation: “WE BELIEVE...Every Person Can Have Restored Fellowship with God Through ‘Salvation’ (trusting Christ, through faith and repentance, to be our personal Savior).” [1 of 4 cardinal doctrines of the Assemblies of God]

The International Pentecostal Holiness Church in their doctrinal statement says: “We believe, teach and firmly maintain the scriptural doctrine of justification by faith alone (Romans 5:1).”

How is it that both of these denominations claim the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit and His guidance and yet they don’t agree with each other? And, how is it that the Holy Spirit inspired James to say “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24)? Yet, the Pentecostal Holiness claim a person is justified by faith alone? Obviously, both cannot be inspired by the Holy Spirit. They can’t both be right. The Holy Spirit didn’t inspire James to say one thing and the Assemblies of God and the Pentecostal Holiness something else! They treat the Holy Spirit as though He has Alzheimer’s!

Denominational churches make a mockery of God in their doctrinal statements. If divine healing is such a privilege and readily available to Pentecostals, then why isn’t it happening among them? Why do they run to the doctor at the first sign of a sickness? Why are so many on prescription drugs? Why do they have surgery and other costly medical treatments just like everyone else?

PENTECOSTALISM TEACHES FALSE DOCTRINE CONCERNING DIVINE, MIRACLE HEALING

They are confused over the purpose of miracles. The purpose of miracles was not to make our lives better or free from care. In this world, a Christian lives a normal life just like anyone else. When people are taught they can have a miracle and it doesn’t happen, they often become angry and bitter against God. Flamboyant preachers constantly promise the people health and wealth. Without fail, all of these preachers become wealthy by the donations of their followers and consequently receive quality medical care from the best doctors! These teachers make outlandish claims and promises which are neither backed by Scripture nor substantiated by facts.

In a foolish attempt to try to promote modern-day miracles, one famous individual wrote a book called, “A Miracle a Day Keeps the Devil Away.” However, what many people call a miracle is nothing more than something good happening or things going their way. It’s this kind of nonsense that causes an unsaved world to mock the Bible and scoff at the existence of God.

The serious student of Scripture will find that miracles did not happen all the time throughout the ages. They have always had a limited operation. They were not being doled out like candy at a child’s birthday party every time someone had a cough or a migraine. Jesus illustrates this fact in Luke 4:25-27 when He said, “But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.” Jim Sheerer states of these passages; “Jesus uses two stories to show that God has always been selective with his miracles. The miracles were not to amuse people, but were to confirm God’s prophets and further God’s plan of salvation.” (Sheerer Commentary on the New Testament)

A careful study of the Scriptures reveals that miraculous gifts were given to serve the purpose of confirming God’s Word. Even in the days of Moses, the miracles that were performed confirmed what the prophet said as well as God’s purpose for the Israelite nation. In the days of Christ, miracles confirmed His ministry and Messiahship. Jesus challenged the unbelieving Jews to examine His miracles when He said, “But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me” (John 5:36). Jesus does not beat around the bush. He draws their attention to the works He had performed without hesitation. He clearly states their purpose by saying “the...works ...bear witness of me.”

In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells the Jews that if they did not believe his words that he was the Son of God, they should believe in Him because of His miracles. “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him” (John 10:37-38). His miracles were the evidence that He was speaking the truth.

Jesus pointed the disciples to His works as proof of His divinity when He said, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake” (John 14:11). The works of Christ were the confirmation that He was the Messiah (John 20:30-31).

Miracles also served the purpose of confirming the Gospel after Christ ascended. The apostles were to continue in the ministry of Christ for the purpose of establishing the church. As Jesus said to them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). These works were for the purpose of confirming their apostleship and that the words they spoke were from God. Notice what the Scripture says: “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” (Mark 16:20). “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will” (Heb. 2:3-4)?

Paul makes reference to the apostle’s special ability in miracles by saying, “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds” (2 Cor. 12:12).

Once the Scriptures were complete (i.e., there was no more divine revelation to be given), miracles ceased (1 Cor. 13:8-10; Jude 3). Pentecostals don’t understand the purpose of miracles and this lack of understanding leads to confusion and frustration.

But notice the official doctrinal statement of the Assemblies of God: “Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers.” http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Statement_of_Fundamental_Truths/sft_full.cfm#12

According to the dictionary, the word integral means, necessary: being an essential part of something or any of the parts that make up a whole. Synonyms are: essential, vital, basic, fundamental, central. (Encarta: World English Dictionary & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved)

According to their doctrinal statement, receiving divine healing should be no harder than becoming a Christian. But, if divine healing is such a privilege and readily available, then why isn’t it happening among their members? Why do Pentecostals run to the doctor at the first sign of a sickness just like everyone else? Why are so many Pentecostals on prescription drugs just like everyone else? Why do Pentecostals have surgery and other costly medical treatments just like everyone else, if divine, miracle healing is their privilege like they teach?

Logic demands that if you teach that divine healing is for today, then it must of necessity take place. Notice what the Bible shows when Peter and John stood before the council: “If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. ... And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it” (Acts 4:9-10,14). The Apostles had proof of the miracle working power of God. They were not just claiming something that never happened or could not be proven. The man was genuinely healed and standing there for all to see. This was a fulfillment of Mark 16:20.

Pentecostals teach that divine healing is just as much a part of the atonement as forgiveness of sins. But none of it can be backed up. No one anywhere sees it taking place. There are many claims of miraculous, divine healing taking place, but they cannot be either seen or substantiated. There are a lot of people who claim to be healed of something internal, something unseen. Even then, most of these (if not all of them) receive some type of medical assistance or treatment.

At the churches where I have been, there were people who went to doctors all the time, but when they got better, everyone claimed divine healing. That’s not divine miracle healing. Three surgeries and eight prescriptions later is not divine healing! That’s nothing out of the ordinary. Friend, I spent over 50 years in Pentecostalism and never saw one genuine miracle! Just before I left the Pentecostal church I went to visit and pray for an elderly woman who was in her 80s. She said to me, “You know Bro. Davis, after all these years I’ve never seen a miracle!” She had probably been in Pentecostalism longer than I had, but in a moment of honesty, as she struggled with her physical weakness and sickness, she had to admit the absence of ‘miracle healings’ in the Pentecostal church.

Miraculous gifts have been “done away” because the canon of Scripture has reached “perfection” - completion (1 Cor. 13:8-10). They are no longer needed.

PENTECOSTALISM IS A CREATION OF MAN

Pentecostals themselves admit its beginnings were in America around the turn of the 20th century. Oral Roberts University makes this claim: “The Pentecostal movement is by far the largest and most important religious movement to originate in the United States. Beginning in 1901 with only a handful of students in a Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, the number of Pentecostals increased steadily throughout the world during the Twentieth Century until by 1993 they had become the largest family of Protestants in the world.” (http://webapps.oru.edu/new_php/library/holyspirit/pentorg1.html)

The Assemblies of God official statement says that “the beginning of the modern Pentecostal revival is generally traced to a prayer meeting at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas, on January 1, 1901.” http:// www.cai.org/bible-studies/history- pentecostal-movement

It is only fair to mention the fact that the Church of God claims tongues speaking around 1896 even though the group did not call themselves Church of God until 1907. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_God_(Cleveland,_Tennessee)

The point is this: these groups were clearly started by men in America during the early part of the twentieth century. That makes them nearly nineteen hundred years too late to be the Lord’s church (Matt. 16:18). And, even though they may try to claim relationship with the Christians in Acts chapter two, it doesn’t work. No Christians in the book of Acts or during the first century ever called themselves Pentecostals. As a matter of fact, no one throughout church history ever called himself a Pentecostal. The actual term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks. It commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai. True Christians do not attempt to identify with Jewish feast days, they identify with Christ. The book of Acts tells us the disciples were called “Christians” (Acts 11:26).

While I was still a Pentecostal I remember listening to a preacher friend get all emotional about being a Pentecostal and how we should act like Pentecostals. As I sat there, my mind began to reflect on the book of Acts and how that no one in the early church ever referred to himself as a Pentecostal and how that no one was ever called a Pentecostal. I thought, “Why are we calling ourselves by something different than the first century Christians?” And then I realized, if we are calling ourselves by something different, it must be because we are something different than what they were. My friends, I don’t want to be something different than what the early Christians were. I don’t want to be a part of some modern concoction of man. I just want to be a Christian!

William (Bill) Davis

This article appeared in the June, July & August 2013 issues of "Seek The Old Paths." www.seektheoldpaths.com

Formated copy for printing

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

Let us pursue the knowledge of God by Roy Davison

 

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/know.html

Let us pursue the knowledge of God

“Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD” (Hosea 6:3).

To pursue is to resolutely strive for something even if it is difficult to obtain.

God placed people on earth “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27).


Through God’s creation we know that He exists.

The creation is solid evidence for the existence of God.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4).

“The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory” (Psalm 97:6).

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20).

There is no excuse for anyone not to believe in God. Yet knowing God is much more than just knowing that He exists.


Through the Scriptures we know what God is like.

Knowing a person is different from knowing a fact. You know someone only if you are familiar with his characteristics, if you know what he is like. Effort is required to get to know anyone, so it is not strange that effort is required to know God.

God’s nature is revealed in the Scriptures. God reveals Himself to us as our Maker, our Sustainer, our Ruler, our Lawgiver, our Judge and our Savior. He is the source of life on earth and the source of eternal life. God reveals Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Yet knowing God is more than just knowing what He is like. Some things can be known about God through His creation. More can be known through His word. Most can be known through His Son.


Through His Son we can know God.

To know someone well, one must have a personal relationship with that person. Likewise, we must have a personal relationship with God to know Him well. By sending His Son, the Father has made this possible! Before discussing this, let us examine some fundamentals.


We cannot know God through human wisdom alone.

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21).


God has made Himself known through testimony.

Paul did not use human wisdom when he declared “the testimony of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1). “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son” (1 John 5:9, 10).


We must be God-fearing truth-seekers to know God.

We must seek knowledge and be open to God’s testimony to find the knowledge of God.
“Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding”
(Proverbs 2:3-6).

Only those who love truth and seek knowledge accept God’s testimony and find the knowledge of God.

Paul speaks of certain people who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). This is because they have insufficient respect for God: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). “For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight” (Ecclesiastes 2:26).


Someone who hates knowledge cannot know God.

God does not listen to the prayers of people who hate knowledge: “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, they would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies” (Proverbs 1:28-31).

God said about Israel: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).

“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge” (Proverbs 1:22).


We may not reject the knowledge of God.

Deceitful people refuse to know God: “‘Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me,’ says the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:6).

Just claiming to know God is not enough. Of certain people Paul wrote: “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work” (Titus 1:16).

Much evil emanates from a rejection of the knowledge of God: “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. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (Romans 1:21-25).

They who do not know God will be punished when Jesus is “revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:7, 8).


To be God’s people we must know God.

Under the New Covenant one cannot be a part of God’s people unless one knows God: “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

Under the Old Covenant, God’s people were a regular nation that included people who knew God and people who did not know God. The faithful encouraged the others to know God.

Under the New Covenant, God’s people are a spiritual nation consisting only of those who know God. “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7).


In Christ we know God.

Jesus Christ has made God known: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18).

If we are in the Son, we have a personal relationship with the Father: “We know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

Being “in Christ” involves being an active member of His body, the church (Ephesians 1:22, 23). We are “baptized into Christ” (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27). “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 13).

Paul explains that Christians have a personal relationship with the Father because the Spirit of His Son is in their hearts: “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:6, 7).


Our knowledge of God must increase.

Paul prayed that the Colossians might “walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).

Peter admonishes us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).


Knowledge of God must be put into practice.

We can know God only if we love one another and keep His commandments: “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3, 4). “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7, 8).


Pursue the knowledge of God.

Through God’s creation we know that He exists. Through the Scriptures we know what God is like. Through the Son we can have a personal relationship with God.

Although we must seek wisdom and knowledge in general to find the knowledge of God, we cannot know God through human wisdom alone. We must be God-fearing truth-seekers who accept God’s testimony. Someone who hates knowledge cannot know God. We may not reject the knowledge of God. They who do not know God will be punished. We must know God to be His people. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, has made Him known. In the Son we have a personal relationship with the Father through His Spirit within us. Our knowledge of God must increase and must be put into practice.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2). 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)

The hour of His judgment has come by Roy Davison

 

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/judgment.html

The hour of His judgment has come

Maybe we should write on our calendar: Appointment with God - any day now! “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now ‘If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?’” (1 Peter 4:17, 18).

All of us are accountable to God.

Life is passing by. The time of judgment is drawing near. God allowed John to look into the future and see the day of judgment: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).

Every person who has ever lived, will stand before God in judgment. Since Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the Serpent, man has been trying to blame someone or something else for his deeds. But God holds each person accountable for his own actions and words.

Jesus warned: “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36, 37).

This is a sobering thought. We are responsible for every word we speak! Not satisfied with the superabundance of idle words in real life, we have even made talking machines: radios, TVs, computers, DVD and mp3 players, to name a few. Who is responsible for the words spoken by these machines? Those who create the content are, of course, responsible for creating the content. But we who operate the buttons, keys and mouse are responsible for what is actually seen and heard. Since we must give account for every idle word, will not God hold us responsible for the words and images we produce with our machines?

We have an appointment with God: “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28, 29).

We will be judged by the things written in the books.

“And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (Revelation 20:12). If we are wise, we will be concerned about the content of those books!

Jesus said: “If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him - the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:47, 48).

The word of Christ will judge us on the last day! Yet many people spend little time or effort to learn what the Holy Scriptures say. And others who know what the Scriptures teach, reject and ignore the word of God. How unwise this is. We are rushing toward the day of our death, rushing toward the day of judgment when we all must give account to God.

Conscious of the coming judgment, Paul wanted to please God, and he encouraged others to do the same: “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:9-11).

The wicked will be punished.

On earth, many who commit atrocities go unpunished, but no one will escape the judgment of God. The “righteous judgment of God” is coming “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:5-9).

John was shown a vision of eternal punishment: “Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name’” (Revelation 14:9-11).

Political rulers who wade through blood to come to power will not escape the judgment of God.

Dirty politicians, unrighteous judges and crooked police who pervert justice will not escape the judgment of God.

La Casa Nostra Mafia families who corrupt whole nations and destroy millions of lives with drugs and immorality to enhance their ‘own thing’ will not escape the judgment of God.

Executives who enrich themselves and their companies at the expense of the poor, and have little concern for the welfare of their workers will not escape the judgment of God.

Industrialists who rape the earth and poison the environment to line their pockets, will not escape the judgment of God.

Manufacturers and users of guns, bombs and land mines that maim and destroy men, women and children will not escape the judgment of God.

Shady businessmen and dishonest workmen who cheat customers and employers will not escape the judgment of God.

Men and women who commit fornication and adultery, who destroy families, and make children insecure will not escape the judgment of God.

Abortionists, child molesters, murderers, thieves and liars will not escape the judgment of God.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Romans 1:18). “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:28-32).

Now you may be thinking: “I’m glad I’m not a terrible person like that! Since I don’t do real bad things, I’m ok with God.” But any bad things done separate one from God.

All are sinners and can be saved only by Christ.

Some people think that just because they are religious they are saved. That is what the Jewish people thought in the time of Christ. But listen to what He told them: “There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish’” (Luke 13:1-5).

Only through Jesus can we escape condemnation on the day of judgment: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:22-25). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

We deserve to die because of our sins. Jesus, who was without sin, died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins, so we can be forgiven. “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Hebrews 9:27, 28).

Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).

After His resurrection, Jesus told His followers to proclaim this good news to everyone: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15, 16). “Gospel” means “good news.”

When Peter was asked “What must we do?” he replied: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).

After being born again of water and the Spirit (John 3:3-5), the redeemed dedicate the rest of their lives to serving God: “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning 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. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:17-23).

Yes, the hour of His judgment has come.

We are all accountable to God for what we have done. One day we must stand before His throne to be evaluated on the basis of what is written in the books. We are all sinners and need salvation that is available only through Christ. To escape condemnation, we must repent, confess our faith in Him and be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins. Then we must dedicate the rest of our lives to serving God.

“I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth - to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people - saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’” (Revelation 14:6, 7). 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)

Evangelism Made Personal Concluding Remarks by Mark Copeland

 








https://executableoutlines.com/topical_series/evangelism-made-personal/emp_08.html

Evangelism Made Personal

Concluding Remarks

I pray the thoughts presented in this series might serve in some way to encourage all who desire to lead others to Christ and His church. The emphasis has not been to stress one approach above others, nor to say that everyone must be doing the same thing in this enterprise we call "evangelism," but rather to motivate, encourage, and offer suggestions of a general nature that may help anyone do whatever they can, according to the ability and opportunity God has given them. If it has helped but one person to be more diligent in their efforts, then my effort has been well worth it.

To God be the glory!
Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2022

Evangelism Made Personal Available Resources For Teaching Others by Mark Copeland

 








https://executableoutlines.com/topical_series/evangelism-made-personal/emp_07.html

Evangelism Made Personal

Available Resources For Teaching Others

Summary Of Tools That Can Be Used

There are many different ways to effectively communicate the gospel to others. What follows is a brief summary and description of various tools that I have found helpful. In using them, I try to be flexible, asking God for wisdom as to which approach to use depending upon the particular circumstances.

VIDEO STUDIES
  • "How To Understand The Bible" by Robert F. Harkrider (five tapes)
    This is a five-lesson series that presents a survey of the Bible, salvation, and the New Testament Church. It includes study guides for each lesson. Designed for those who have at least a "basic" knowledge of the Bible.
  • "The Visualized Bible Study Series" by Jule Miller (five tapes)
    Another five-lesson study, presenting a survey of the Bible, salvation, the New Testament Church, and the history of the church. There are also study guides that accompany the tapes. This study might be more appropriate for someone with virtually no concept of what the Bible is all about.
BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSES
  • "Know Your Bible" by Gene Tope
    The six lessons in this study include such topics as:
    • Introduction To The Bible
    • Sin And The Blood Of Christ
    • What Must I Do To Be Saved?
    • The New Testament Church
    • Denominationalism
    • Baptism
    I have used this series on a number of occasions where I have simply given the lessons to a friend, and they taught themselves the gospel.

  • "Jesus, The Way" by Sewell Hall
    The seven lessons in this study include such topics as:
    • Jesus, The Way (Introduction)
    • Finding Jesus, The Way
    • Jesus, The Way To A Better Life
    • Jesus, The Way To Forgiveness
    • Jesus, The Way To God
    • Jesus, The Way Out Of Religious Confusion
    • Jesus, The Way To Heaven
    The first lesson is designed for mass mailing, but can be used as a regular correpondence course.
TRACTS
  • "Facts You Need To Face" By Haun Publishing Company
    A simple tract (reading time is five minutes) that presents the following "facts":
    • You Need To Be Saved
    • Christ Died For You
    • To Be Saved You Must Accept Christ
    • You Can Be Just A Christian
  • "The Gospel Of The Grace Of God" By Leslie Diestelkamp
    A medium-length tract that covers:
    • Man's Unworthiness
    • The Gift Of God's Love
    • What Grace Does Not Do
    • Grace And Salvation
    • Grace And Security
  • "The Way Of Christ Without Denominationalism" By Samuel Dawson
    A good sized booklet that discusses:
    • The Harm Of Denominationalism
    • Fellowship With God
    • Fellowship With God's People

For more information about these materials, or to order them, you can contact Florida College Bookstore.

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2022