Maintaining a Healthy Spiritual Walk Part 3 by Ben Fronczek

http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?p=689

Maintaining a Healthy Spiritual Walk Part 3

Maintaining a Healthy Spiritual Walk     Part 3

What would happen if you decided to stop using your legs; if you decided to stop walking.  Maybe you buy one of those Hoveround motorized chairs and decide you are going to get around by cruising around in style. Well, as you could imagine it would not take too long before the muscles in your legs would turn to jello. They would grow weaker and weaker as the months go by where eventually you would have a difficult time standing not to mention the fact that you would no longer be able to run, or even walk.

The saying would come true, ‘If you don’t use it, you’ll loose it.’

If you want a healthy body so that you can keep on functioning properly, we need to maintain a certain level of physical activity. (This is of course assuming you are physically handicapped)    Likewise, if you want to remain spiritually healthy, we need to maintain a certain level of spiritual activity to maintain a healthy spiritual walk.

Walk and its various forms, (walking, walked, walks, etc)…appears 252 times throughout Scripture… It appears as early as Genesis 3:8 when Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden of Eden…
it occurs close to 50 times in the Wisdom Literature like Psalms and Proverbs…
It occurs 47 in the Old Testament Prophets…
It occurs 49 times in the Gospels and Act, and it occurs 15 times in the Epistles.   And the last occurrence is in Revelation chapter 21…
So you can see that this word is found scattered liberally throughout every kind of literature that makes up the Bible…

In particular I like the scriptures that make reference to ways that will improve, maintain, or tune up our spiritual lives as we walk. For Example scripture make reference to:

#1 Walking with God.   When I take a hike it’s especially nice when I go with my wife or one of my kids. On those hikes or mountain climbs, it’s not only a time to exercise the legs, but more importantly it’s a great time to fellowship, enjoy the other person’s company, and share and talk with my love one. Sometimes you talk about things you otherwise would not make the time for. We talk about our worries, concerns, our ambitions, or our dreams; whatever is important.

Likewise it’s important to take time to walk with God like this. I thinks it’s important to learn how to enjoy His company and spend time listening to His voice as you meditate on, or read His Word. It can also be a time to express hopes and dreams with Him as well as our fears and concerns as we pray and talk to Him. Or it may simply be a time to relish His presence as we go thru the day..

Taking time to walk with God in this manner is an important part of maintaining an over-all healthy spiritual walk each day. It is like stretching or preparing your legs before you climb a mountain or hike a trail.

#2. In other places Scripture talks about Walking BEFORE GodA. To me, there is a difference between, “walking WITH God” and “walking BEFORE God”.

Walking WITH God implies close communion and fellowship like we just talked about
But walking BEFORE God seems to imply obedience and faithfulness.

B. In Genesis 17:1, God tells Abraham,  “I am God Almighty ; walk before me and be blameless.”God was establishing His covenant with Abraham. God was telling Abraham that He would bless him with many descendants, that they would have their own land, and God would guide and protect them.  That’s what God would do.

But as far as Abraham’s part, he was to walk in obedience to the Lord, to serve Him and Him alone, and not just Abraham, but all his descendants as well. They were to live their lives in obedience to God, Holy,  Righteous, and blameless.

One phrase that is found over and over in scripture is a reference to “walk in God’s ways.”  Walking in God’s ways implies an obedience to the will of God.

Deuteronomy 5:33 says, “ Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. “

Deuteronomy 26:16-17 “The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him”

In the NT we also have many verses that have been written instructing us how to walk. In Galatians 5 Paul writes,  13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

The Bible encourages those who have been born again to walk in a new way of life. To keep in step with what the Spirit of Christ desires..  verse 25

This isn’t something that is forced upon us, rather, it is a walk we choose when we accepted Jesus as the new Lord of our life.

Just as we should choose to change some habits and choose to feed our body what it needs to keep it healthy, the same is true for our spiritual life. To maintain a healthy spiritual walk we need a good spiritual diet of God’s word, good Christian fellowship, heartfelt prayer. And just like we may need to cut out some bad habits and stop consuming things that are bad for us for our physical health, we are told to stop doing certain things and stop consuming things that will hurt us spiritually.  

And the result will be the fruit of the Spirit mentioned: “ love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.”    

These Fruit of the Spirit to some degree should be evident and seen in our lives. If you lack of any aspect of these ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ in your life you need to take time and examine your walk with God.

It may be time to give your walk a tune up or some maintenance. You may need to make some changes in your life. Maybe you’ve allowed some old unhealthy habit to creep back into your life. Or maybe you are not consuming enough of the good things that are meant to strengthen and enrich your life and spiritual walk.

God is interested in every part of our lives. So we need to submit every aspect of our live to God. It’s not enough to say we are born again or that we are Christians, we must live the life and keep in step with the Spirit.

If we are saved, we must live like it! The Spirit that raised us from the dead will also lead us into Christ-likeness as we walk in-step with Him; that is if we choose to continue to walk with Him.

In our last lesson we looked at an important verse in Romans 12:1-2 which is also important for this lesson. It says, ““Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” 

It begins with the mind, making a decision to no longer conform to the pattern of this world, an allow our self to be transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we will test and know what God’s will is.’  

And that should lead to the first part of this verse where we… out of love, we choose to offer our bodies, our whole self as a living sacrifice to our Lord and God for service.

God not only walks with us in the spiritual sense…and not only are we to walk before God in humble obedience… But there is something else I find most encouraging. . Scripture also reveals that…..
#3. God Walks Among UsFrom the very beginning in Genesis 3:8 we read that man was never alone. We read that the LORD God was there with Adam and Eve walking in the garden in the cool of the day, even when they tried hide from Him.

Even after the fall, all through scripture we can find instances of God being there among His people. In Leviticus 26:12, God told His people, “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people”…and we know that while the Children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness…
There were times when God was real close:

– The pillar of fire by night, and the pillar of cloud by day, to lead the way, the Shekinah glory of God above the mercy seat first in the Tabernacle then in the temple.
– In Isaiah 43:2, God says,  “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire,  you will not be burned;  the flames will not set you ablaze.“

In the Old Testament we read that God spoke to the people through His prophets. And then the Word of God quite literally became flesh, and for a period of some 33 years He dwelt among us, and He walked and talked to us as a man; and we called Him Jesus.  God was with His people then, and He is with us today.

One of the last thing Jesus told His disciple before He ascended into Heaven was, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

And this is true. His spirit was poured out and walks with us and lives in us. Jesus said that we would not be left alone. We are never alone!

We are told that His Spirit would come to help teach, and guide us and lead us into greater truth. The promise wasn’t for just a selected few, but all who would accept Jesus as Lord. (John 16:5-15)

Sometimes when we run a race or climb a mountain we may feel like quitting when we get tired or discouraged. The end just seems too far off. It’s great knowing that we are not alone, that there is someone cheering us on, encouraging us not to quit. Don’t ever forget that God is with you and me all the time. He loves us and wants us to become all that we can be, even if we do not believe in our self.

Closing:  We see from Scripture that we can walk with God in a spiritual sense and that it can be a blessed sweet communion if we choose.

We also see that we should walk BEFORE God in humility and obedience. This is actually for our benefit and best interest.
And there are those special times when God walks amongst us and is always with us.

And  questions naturally arise,  like:  ‘Well where is He? I can’t see Him?’   God is not a physical being, He is a spiritual being and that’s something hard for us to understand. But that’s where faith comes in. And each of us has to  choice to believe or not to believe.  How sad it is for those who choose not to believe He is here. How sad, how lonely.

 And then there’s the question:  ‘How can we walk with Him and before Him?  Who am I, I am too weak.’

In Leviticus 26:13 God told the Jews, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.”

God told those people long ago, you guys didn’t do anything. It was me who brought you out of Egypt. And likewise it is God who will give us the strength and ENABLES us to walk with Him.

It is by His power and thru Christ that we can live for Him and walk before Him in humble obedience each and every day. We cannot free our self of sin and it’s shackles without Him. His Spirit will give us the power to change, that is if we accept that help.

I like what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 40:13 He said,  “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. “

Walking is certainly good for exercise…it is good for the body…it is good for spending some quality time with someone you love…and that includes our Lord Jesus Christ!!

Today I want to challenge you to:

– Walk with Him!!!  Enjoy sweet fellowship with Him…

– And do your best to ‘Walk before Him in obedience to His will. Its for your best interest.

– And finally find comfort in the fact that He walking with you.

(Sermon Based a little on a sermon by Larry Brincefield)

For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

Prove Your Love for God by Alfred Shannon Jr.

https://biblicalproof.wordpress.com/2011/04/page/5/

Prove Your Love for God

Apr. 12, 2011

God hates sin, and  he loves the sinner, but not enough to save a sinner in his sins. God’s love is a conditional love, and is contingent upon us obeying, and remaining faithful to the gospel of Christ. Jesus has done His part, don’t you think its time to do yours, today?

Amos 5:15; Jn 15:13,14; Jn 14:15; 1 Cor 15:1-4; Rom 10:17; Rom 10:10; Acts 2:38; Rev 2:10; 2 Cor 6:2; Heb 3:7,8

The Good Old Days by J. C. Bailey

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Bailey/John/Carlos/1903/Articles/goodold.html

The Good Old Days

Apparently men have talked about the good old days for a long time, for Solomon had this to say: "Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? For thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this" (Eccl. 7:10).

So in Solomon's time it was not wise to say that the old days were the good days. What about now?

I am going to suggest that what was true in Solomon's time is true in our time. That some things were better in the old days we shall have to admit but the general picture is not better. I remember the day that war was declared in 1914 with the terrible war that continued for more than four years. We could hardly call that the good old days. I remember the grinding years of the depression when my wife made our own mattresses. She made shoes for her boys. With seven children we lived in a house that was so cold that my wife stayed up nearly all night to keep the fires burning. Even then it froze in the house. I was in Ontario in a meeting and all five boys had small pox. The depression began to lift when World War II began. We could hardly call those the good old days.

You say that people were more moral then than now. Ever since I was born there has been murder, suicide, rape and self-abuse among people. These things may have increased and the attitude of the general public towards them has grown worse, but I worked among the men of the world for several years, and any one that would talk about the good old days does not know or has a poor memory. Men beat their wives when they were drunk. Children were starved by drinking fathers in what was called the good old days. I remember my father served on a jury when a man and his two sons were tried for abusing 12 and 14 year-old girls that had been adopted. Our attitude toward foreigners was certainly not as good as it is today.

You say spiritually things were better. Were they? That some things were better we would have to admit but what about the general picture? There were some who argued that a nigger did not have a soul. There were some who argued that we did not need to preach to the heathen. Some white churches would not even let their baptistry be used to baptize black people. That was in the good old days. Black people could not attend school with white people and we could go on and on. Many believed in the superiority of the white race. In the light of our actions in those days of yesteryear we can hardly say those were the good old days. 

A brother recently died in India. He was a little younger than I am. Yet, he was the first person to go to school in his village. He went on to be a school teacher, and was the first person to embrace Christianity in that village. There are now some 80 churches of Christ in the area. What a change from the good old days.

There have been efforts before the present one, to evangelize India but in the good old days two of the preachers left the truth and joined a denomination. In the good old days we were told that we did not need to send missionaries to India. We could leave it to the native preachers when there was work only among one tribe and that represented less than one tenth of one per cent of the population of India. In the good old days, we did not have any work in Nigeria and now there are tens of thousands of members of the church. I am told there are churches that have as many as 1000 members.

In the good old days there was work only in a few of the countries of Central and South America. Back in the good old days there were works in Brazil but they joined a denomination. In the various countries of the world there are thousands of native preachers who were not there in the good old days.

The Spanish Literature Ministry puts out more material to Latin America than was put out in all the world except the U.S.A. in the good old days.

It is true that it may be harder to win souls for Christ in Canada or the United States than it was 50 years ago, but in a great part of the world it is much easier.

More people will obey the gospel now than ever in the history of the world. These are the good days. Jesus could have said of now, "Lift up your eyes unto fields that are white unto harvest." It was not yesterday, it is not tomorrow, it is now. These are the good days. How good? Our faith will answer that question.

J. C. Bailey, 1986, Bengough, Saskatchewan

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

Its not the "pits" by Gary Rose

This fire pit  reminds me of an evening at my son-in-laws place a few months back. Ok, their fire pit wasn't as fancy as this one and we only had folding chairs, but we did have a nice time (that is, until the bugs became too much of a bother).

I am always amazed at people who are handy (like my son-in-law, Mike).  They just seem to know how to get-r done. Then, the thought came to me: What if God wanted something built, what then? Well, here is the answer...

 Exodus, Chapter 35 (World     English   Bible)

 ³⁰  Moses said to the children of Israel, “Behold, Yahweh has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.  ³¹ He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship;  ³² and to make skillful works, to work in gold, in silver, in brass,  ³³ in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skillful workmanship. ³⁴ He has put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.  ³⁵ He has filled them with wisdom of heart, to work all kinds of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any workmanship, and of those who make skillful works.  

Now,all the work these men did (and all those who helped them) was intricate, exquisite and very detailed. If you would like to read about it- check out Exodus, Chapters 36-39. 

Today, people who work with their hands are put down by the intellectuals. But, our society was built by people who were not afraid to get their hands dirty. Remember, without the American farmer we would't even eat!!!

One more thing. God put the skill into the hands of those who made the tabernacle and all its trappings. God gives us all abilities and we should use them to the fullest!!!

Now, to my son-in-law, Mike: How about making this beautiful little project for our fire-pit nights?

"THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS" Holding Up Under Hard Times (1:3-7) by Mark Copeland

"THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS"

Holding Up Under Hard Times (1:3-7)

INTRODUCTION

1. As Paul began his second epistle to the Thessalonians, he expressed
   thanksgiving...
   a. Thanksgiving which he felt compelled to offer - 2Th 1:3a
   b. Thanksgiving which was fitting - 2Th 1:3b

2. He was thankful regarding their faith and love...
   a. Their faith was growing exceedingly - 2Th 1:3c
   b. Their love toward each other was abounding - 2Th 1:3d

3. Indeed, he was even boastful regarding their faith and patience...
   a. Boasting of them among the churches of God - 2Th 1:4a
   b. Boasting of their faith and patience in the midst of persecution
      - 2Th 1:4b

4. The perseverance of the Thessalonians is certainly worthy of note...
   a. They were a congregation that was born in tribulation - cf. Ac 17:
      1-9
   b. Persecution evidently continued, yet they endured - 2Th 1:4

[What can we learn from the Thessalonians about "Holding Up Under Hard
Times"?  First of all, they serve as a reminder that...]

I. HARD TIMES HAPPEN

   A. THIS MAY SURPRISE SOME...
      1. Contrary to the promulgators of the gospel of health and
         wealth, who would have us believe that becoming a Christian is
         the key to success in life
      2. Many suffer disappointment because of the trials they face as
         new Christians

   B. THE BIBLE WARNS OF HARD TIMES...
      1. Jesus warned His apostles - Jn 15:19-20; 16:33
      2. The apostles warned the disciples - Ac 14:22; 1Th 3:4; 2 Ti 3:12

   C. WE CAN EXPECT HARD TIMES...
      1. We are not spared the affects of sin and evil in this world
         a. We still live in a world with sickness and death
         b. We may often suffer the consequences of choices made by
            others
      2. We can anticipate persecution because we are Christians
         a. Our families, friends, and foes may ostracize or even
            physically persecute us
         b. We have an adversary who seeks to devour us - cf. 1Pe 5:8-9

[Be thankful if you seem to be spared trials and tribulations, but be
prepared for difficulties in life that will inevitably come.  From the
example of the Thessalonians we learn that...]

II. FAITH, LOVE, AND PATIENCE IS NEEDED

   A. FAITH THAT GROWS EXCEEDINGLY...
      1. Faith that is:
         a. A strong conviction in things unseen - He 11:1
         b. Created by the Word of God - Ro 10:17
         c. Constantly growing - 2Th 1:3
      2. This is the kind of faith that sustains one in persecution
         a. Remember the faith of Job! - Job 19:25-27
         b. Recall the faith of Habakkuk! - Hab 3:17-19

   B. LOVE THAT ABOUNDS TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER...
      1. Love that is:
         a. Taught by God Himself - cf. 1Th 4:9
            1) Through the example of the Father's love - 1Jn 4:9-11
            2) Through the example of the Son's love - 1Jn 3:16
         b. Increasing more and more - cf. 2Th 1:3; 1Th 4:10; 3:12
      2. This is the kind of love that sustains one in hard times
         a. Even as it comforted Paul in his tribulation - 1Th 3:6-7
         b. So we can endure persecution when we are surrounded by
            brotherly love!

   C. PATIENCE THAT HOLDS UP UNDER TRIAL...
      1. Patience that is:
         a. Based upon the hope that we have - Ro 8:25
         b. Developed by reading the Scriptures - Ro 15:4
         b. Needed if we are to receive the promise - He 10:36
         c. Strengthened the more we look unto Jesus - He 12:1-3
      2. This is the kind of patience that makes us even stronger!
         a. It makes us complete, lacking nothing - Jm 1:3-4
         b. Giving us experience, which can strengthen our hope even
            more - Ro 5:3-4

[As long as our faith is growing, our love for one another is abounding,
and our patience remains firm, we will be "Holding Up Under Hard
Times".  We can also take heart in knowing that...]

III. RECOMPENSE IS COMING

   A. GOD'S JUDGMENT WILL BE RIGHTEOUS...
      1. For God's people who have endured tribulation with faith and
         patience
         a. Which is evidence of God's righteous judgment to come - 2 Th 1:4-5
         b. Having been made worthy of the kingdom through their
            suffering - 2Th 1:5
            1) Though we must never forget that it is God who qualifies
               us for the kingdom - cf. Col 1:12
            2) He is the one Who perfects, establishes, strengthens, and
               settles us - 1Pe 5:10
      2. For those who have caused tribulation for His people - 2Th 1:6

   B. GOD WILL REPAY THOSE WHO TROUBLE HIS PEOPLE...
      1. Tribulation will come upon them, a righteous recompense - 2 Th 1:6; cf. Ro 2:4-11
      2. Paul will describe the nature of this tribulation more fully in
         2Th 1:8-9

   C. GOD WILL GIVE HIS TROUBLED PEOPLE REST...
      1. Also a righteous recompense - 2Th 1:6-7
      2. The same rest enjoyed by Paul, Silas, Timothy ("rest with us")!
         - 2Th 1:7
      3. This rest to be given when the Lord is revealed from heaven
         with His mighty angels - cf. 1Th 4:16-17

CONCLUSION

1. We will consider what more Paul has to say about that great day in
   our next study - cf. 2Th 1:7-10

2. What we have seen so far should help us to endure trials and
   tribulations...
   a. Don't be surprise by hard times, God's Word has told us they will
      come
   b. Look to God and His Word for the faith, love, and patience needed
      to sustain us
   c. Anticipate the coming of the Lord, who will bring us rest even as
      He brings judgment upon those who trouble us!

Is your faith growing exceedingly?  Is your love abounding?  Are you
patiently enduring what trials come upon you, looking for the rest to
come when Jesus returns?

Let the Thessalonians be an encouragement to us in "Holding Up Under
Hard Times"!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

 

Does Mary Intercede for Christians? by Moisés Pinedo

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=2676

Does Mary Intercede for Christians?

by	Moisés Pinedo

It has been argued that “Mary is the creature closest to God. Moreover, while Christ is the mediator of all grace between God and creation, Mary is the mediator of all grace between Christ and humanity. Consequently, Mary is a powerful intercessor for all who turn to her” (see Zoltan, 1994, emp. added). The Bible clearly teaches that Mary is not Deity and should not be worshipped as such (see Pinedo, 2009). If she is not Deity, is she the closest human being to Deity? Does she play an active role in heaven, interceding for individual Christians? Does she make intercession for us in prayer or have an effect on our salvation?

MARY IS NO CLOSER TO GOD THAN ANY OTHER PERSON, PAST OR PRESENT.

When referring to Deity, the Bible mentions only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; cf. Matthew 3:16-17; John 10:30; 17:21; Acts 5:3-4). Mary is never mentioned in that context. Further, the heaven where God and His angels reside (Deuteronomy 10:14; 26:15; 1 Kings 8:27,30) is not yet inhabited by human beings. Jesus said: “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man” (John 3:13, emp. added). These words represent the truth about all the people who have left this world (including Mary). No one is in heaven because heaven is reserved for all faithful servants of God since time began (cf. John 14:1-3). Not until after the Second Coming of Christ and the final Judgment will it become home for the faithful, both living and dead (Matthew 25:31-46;
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The idea that Mary occupies a special place in heaven, close to the Son, is a tradition. It shows a lack of understanding concerning biblical teachings on the afterlife. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus explained that the dead (saved and lost) go to a place called “hades” (16:23, Hebrew sheol)—a spiritual waiting place that separates the consolation of the righteous (referred to as “paradise,” cf. Luke 23:43) from the torment of the wicked. In hades, the righteous begin to taste part of the joy that awaits them in eternity, while the wicked begin to taste part of the suffering that awaits them. Hades is not the dwelling place of God; God dwells in heaven. Mary, along with Abraham and other faithful servants from the past, is waiting in hades until its dead are delivered up, when the Lord returns to judge each man and woman according to his or her works (Revelation 20:13). In this spiritual realm that precedes heaven, there is nothing that those who are there can do for those who are here (Luke 16:27-31).

THE GIFT OF INTERCESSION WAS NOT GIVEN TO MARY.

Catholics have given the title of “Intercessor for the Saints” to Mary, although nowhere in the Bible is it applied to her. “Intercession” means “seeking the presence and hearing of God on behalf of others” (Vine, 1966, 2:267). There are only two areas in which Christians need intercession: salvation and prayers. If Mary is now, or ever has been, involved as “Intercessor for the Saints,” there should be ample evidence in Scripture.

Concerning salvation, the apostle Peter clearly stated that “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, NASB). Of course, he was referring to Jesus Christ. Paul wrote: “[T]here is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). The Hebrews writer added: “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He [Jesus] always lives to make intercession for them” (7:25). Jesus is the one and onlyMediator (Intercessor) between God and Man, and He lives to continually intercede for those who come to God.

But what about prayer? Does Mary intercede in the prayers of Christians? No, she does not. This intercession also belongs to Jesus. When teaching His disciples to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9), Jesus did not teach them to pray to (or through) Mary. And yet, Catholicism created a prayer—the “Hail Mary”—to include the words “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death.” In John 14:13-14, Jesus declared: “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (cf. John 16:24). Jesus is the only One Who can mediate or intercede in our prayers, since “[a]ll things that the Father has are [His]” (John 16:15). If all things that the Father has are the Son’s, then what is left for Mary?

The prerogative of intercession supposedly given to Mary also is argued from the fact that she “interceded” before Jesus on behalf of a family at a wedding in Cana because the wine was running out during the celebration (John 2:2-3). This simple, solitary, tiny thread of argumentation, lost in a loom of confusion, has been misused extensively by the supporters of Marianism. By going to Jesus with a request for help, Mary was not intervening on behalf of anyone’s spiritual needs; she only reported the situation to Jesus. Moreover, consider Jesus’ response: “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?” (John 2:4). With these words, He emphasized that Mary’s concerns did not dictate His actions. Whatever He did in Cana that day would be according to God’s will, not because of human or motherlyinfluences or desires.

If the situation recorded in John chapter two establishes Mary as the “Intercessor of the Saints,” what should we conclude from Matthew 8:5-13 and other passages that tell of similar circumstances? In Matthew chapter eight, a centurion “interceded” before Jesus for his servant who was in bed, paralyzed, and greatly tormented. Seeing the centurion’s faith, Jesus performed a miracle and cured the sick servant. Should we consider this centurion as the “Intercessor for the Paralytics, the Sick, and the Tormented”? Should any paralytic, or anyone suffering from physical or mental illness, pray to this man of great faith, asking him to intercede with God on their behalf? [The Bible further condemns the act of invoking the dead (cf. Deuteronomy 18:10-13; 1 Chronicles 10:13-14; Isaiah 8:19).] Neither this centurion, nor Abraham, nor Mary, nor anyone else—living or dead—can intercede before the throne of God in favor of the faithful Christian, except Jesus Christ Himself.

MARY, LIKE ALL MEN AND WOMEN, NEEDED INTERCESSION.

In Luke 1:47, Mary raised her voice and declared: “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (emp. added). If she had a Savior, then she needed salvation. And, if she needed salvation, then she also needed the only Intercessor of salvation—Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:25). Therefore, Mary’s condition was no different from every human being before or after her. She sinned (Romans 3:23), and she needed the only Intercessor who could make peace between her and God (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Colossians 1:20). Just as Jesus “interceded” on behalf of Mary before He died to make sure her physical needs were met (John 19:26-27), He interceded on her behalf to make sure her spiritual needs were met. Mary cannot intercede for any Christian since she, herself, needed intercession.

Finally, although Christians are commanded to pray for one another (1 Thessalonians 5:25; Hebrews 13:18; James 5:16), Jesus is our only Mediator in prayer. Through Him our prayers are answered.

REFERENCES

Pinedo, Moisés (2009), “Is Mary the Mother of God?” [On-line], URL:http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/240077.

Vine, W.E. (1966), An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell).

Zoltan, Abraham (1994), “A Detailed Guide to Our Lady’s Rosary,” [On-line], URL:http://www.blessedtrinityorlando.org/rosary.html.

Does Hell Mean God Stops Loving? by Earl Edwards, D.Miss.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=5153

Does Hell Mean God Stops Loving?

by	Earl Edwards, D.Miss.

The scholar Stephen H. Travis wrote that he considered an endless hell to be “vindictive” and “incompatible with the love of God in Christ” (1980, p. 135). Another author, John M. Wenham, has written, “I cannot see that endless punishment is either loving or just…. It is a doctrine which I do not know how to preach without negating the loveliness and glory of God” (1992, pp. 185-187). F. LaGard Smith has pressed the issue of “why” a “loving God” would “subject any of his creatures to endless torment, fully aware that we are…weak” (2003, p. 191). [Others who have taken similar positions include Edward Fudge (1982), Homer Hailey (2003; posthumously published), Jimmy Allen (2004), and John Clayton (1990), p. 20.]

THE LOVE OF GOD AND ENDLESS PUNISHMENT

It should be noted that each of these authors pits the love of God against the concept of endless punishment. Travis emphasizes in a special way that he is speaking of the “love of God in Christ” (emp. added). The others quoted would likely agree, since nearly all who study Jehovah God would concur that the fullest measure of His love was expressed in sending Christ to redeem men. In short, the objection is encapsulated in the concept that the God Who loved man enough to give Jesus to save him cannot be the same God who would consign disobedient men to eternal torment. This latter “god” must, therefore, be one that men have made up in their minds as a result of misunderstanding the passages that describe hell.

THE LOVING JESUS ON ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

Indeed, it is true that God “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). And it was not just the Father Who loved us; the Son loved us and made His own decision to “give Himself up for us” because He walked “in love” also (Ephesians 5:2; cf. John 10:18).  And it is also true that His greatest emphasis as He preached on Earth was on God’s love: “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). However, in the same discourse two verses later, Jesus speaks plainly about judgment: “This is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds are evil” (John 3:19). The “judgment” to which He refers undoubtedly includes hell. In fact, David Pharr was very much on target when he wrote,

What will seem paradoxical to many people, however, is that this same Jesus [who was so loving] had much to say about eternal punishment. The most loving man that ever lived said more about hell than anyone else in the Bible. Indeed, the One who is himself divine love gives the most terrifying of all references as to the horrors of perdition (2005, p. 5).

Notice the dilemma of the authors quoted at the beginning of this article. They would contend God’s great love and eternal punishment cannot consistently dwell together. In fact, notice that Wenham said eternal punishment is “a doctrine which I do not know how to preach without negating the loveliness and glory of God” (p. 135). But his problem is that the same Jesus that He construes to be only about love also frequently preached on eternal punishment. Jesus knew how to “preach” “endless punishment” and that “without negating the loveliness and glory of God.” Maybe Wenham just needs to look at and listen to Jesus more carefully!

In fact, listen to some of what the loving Jesus said about hell (Gehenna):

1. In Matthew 5:22, Jesus warns us to refrain from using abusive language against our brothers lest we “go into a fiery hell [Gehenna].”
2. In Matthew 5:28-30, Jesus says that unless one resists the temptations of his flesh (eye, hand, etc.) his “whole body” will “go into hell [Gehenna].”
3. In Matthew 10:28, He says rather than fearing the one who can only kill your body you should fear “Him [God] Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna].”
4. In Matthew 18:9, He again says one must control and resist the temptations of the flesh lest he “be cast into the fiery hell [Gehenna].”
5. In Matthew 23:15, He warns the scribes and the Pharisees that they are making each of their converts “twice as much a son of hell [Gehenna]” as themselves.
6. In Matthew 23:33, He asks those same scribes and Pharisees, “How shall you escape the sentence of hell [Gehenna]?”
7. Mark 9:43 is a parallel to the Matthew 18 statement where Mark tells us Jesus said that one must resist the temptations of the flesh lest he “go into hell [Gehenna], into the unquenchable fire.”
8. In Mark 9:45 and 47 (the parallel to Jesus’ Matthew 18:9 statement), Jesus warns that one must control his fleshly desires lest he be “cast into hell [Gehenna].”
9. Luke 12:5 is a similar statement to the one in Matthew 10:28 in which Jesus says one should not fear the one who can kill only the body, rather the “One” who “has the authority to cast into hell [Gehenna].”

Indeed, the loving Jesus says a lot about hell (Gehenna)! In still other passages in which the word Gehenna is not used, He makes obvious reference to it. Observe how He describes it. In Matthew 8:12, He says that the “sons of the kingdom” who turn to disobedience “shall be cast out into the outer darkness [away from Christ—the Light of the world—EE]; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” In Matthew 10:15, Jesus makes it plain that “those who are cast into hell” will undergo a less “tolerable” fate than the infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The lot of those in hell will be worse than being burned up! In Matthew 22:13, Jesus again says that those who are judged to be disobedient will be cast into “outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Undoubtedly, “weeping and gnashing of teeth” indicate a great degree of misery. In Matthew 25:4, Jesus describes those who are condemned because they are disobedient as going “into the eternal [Greek aiōnion) fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” Later in that discourse (Matthew 25:46), He says the disobedient will “go away into eternal punishment (kólasin aiōnion).”

BUT, DOES JESUS SPEAK OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT?

From Jesus’ descriptions of hell (Gehenna), it is clear it will not be a very desirable place.  But, those scholars quoted at the beginning of this lesson would say their objection is not to hell (Gehenna) as such, it is to hell as a place of unending, everlasting torment. That is the aspect they say absolutely cannot be reconciled with the love of God.

As noted above, Christ says the disobedient will “go away into eternal punishment (kólasin aiōnion); but the righteous into eternal life (zōēn aiōnion)” (Matthew 25:46). Respected Greek scholar A.T. Robertson notes that some scholars would try to limit the duration of the punishment described in this passage. But note his very insightful response:

The word kolasin comes from kolazō, to mutilate or prune. Hence those who cling to the larger hope use this phrase to mean age-long pruning that ultimately leads to salvation of the goats, as disciplinary rather than penal. There is such a distinction as Aristotle pointed out between mōria[vengeance] and kolasis [punishment]. But the same adjective, aiōnios[eternal], is used with kolasin [punishment] and zōēn [life]. If by etymology we limit the scope of kolasin [punishment], we may likewise have only age-long zōēn [life]. There is not the slightest indication in the words of Jesus here that the punishment is not coeval with the life (1930, 1:201-02).

The truth is, Jesus taught that punishment will be endless. [NOTE: For an extensive discussion on biblical terms related to the eternality of hell, see Lyons and Butt, 2005.]

D.A. Carson is correct when he points out that it is foolish to say that eternal punishment and the person and teaching of the loving Jesus cannot be reconciled. In fact, he asks, “Should it not be pointed out that it is the Lord Jesus, of all persons in the Bible, Who consistently and repeatedly uses the most graphic images of hell?” (1996, p. 530, emp. added). Another well-known Protestant scholar, Leon Morris, helpfully concludes, “Why does anyone believe in hell in these enlightened days? Because Jesus plainly taught its existence…. He spoke plainly about hell as well as about heaven, about damnation as well as salvation” (1991, p. 34).

THE REAL PROBLEM IS HUMAN PRESUMPTION

But what is the real problem that causes some to reject endless punishment? It appears to be the same problem that Job had in the long ago. He mistakenly believed that all suffering was due to disobedience and he at first maintained that he had not sinned (at least not in a high-handed way). Therefore, he was tempted to conclude that the God of heaven was unjust and unkind. He, without fully realizing what he was doing, pretended to judge God’s actions. When God finally spoke with him, He asked Job a whole series of questions and Job could not answer even one of them. As Michael Brooks rightly says, though God’s answer “occupies four of our chapters, the argument is essentially finished after four verses” (1992, p. 147).  God says Job was speaking “words without knowledge” (Job 38:2) and asks him where he [Job] was when He “laid the foundation of the earth” (38:4). God asked Job many other questions for which Job had no answer. Job finally accepts that he had “declared that which he did not understand” (42:3), and then he says “I repent in dust and ashes” (42:6). He says this because he finally understood that God’s things “were too wonderful” for him to comprehend (42:3). He had been presumptuous (too proud and self-confident). How, indeed, can a finite being who can’t even see a millionth part of God’s Universe tell the great God who created it all how to define justice like Job tried to do? And, likewise, how can a miserable human who is guilty of sin—spiritual crimes—tell the God Who made him how long punishment can continue without becoming unloving? God forbid that we should be so presumptuous! Let us instead say to God with Job, “I will ask You, and You instruct me” (Job 42:4).

WE MUST LET GOD DEFINE HIMSELF

Indeed, as I let God “instruct me,” I will make up my mind as to His nature and His characteristics according to what He says in His revelation, not according to what I might think. I will not make up my own definition of what justice is or what loveshould do.

Now, following that path of His revelation of Himself, I learn that God is not just love, He is also a God of wrath. Indeed, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36, emp. added).  As Paul puts it, we should keep in mind “both the kindness [love–EE] and severity [wrath–EE] of God” (Romans 11:22). It is as the scholar J. Gresham Machen says,

The New Testament clearly speaks of the wrath of God and the wrath of Jesus Himself; and all the teachings of Jesus pre-suppose a divine indignation against sin. With what possible right, then, can those who reject this vital element in Jesus’ teaching and example regard themselves as true disciples of His? The truth is that the modern rejection of the doctrine of God’s wrath proceeds from a light view of sinwhich is totally at variance with the teaching of the whole New Testament and of Jesus Himself (1923, p. 12, emp. added).

God and Christ are not as uninspired men think they are. They are as they tell us they are through those inspired menwho were guided into “all truth” (John 16:13).

CONCLUSION

The truth is that the “love of God” which, according to some theologians, is inconsistent with “endless punishment,” is not the same “love of God” which is presented in Scripture.  As Carson says,

[T]his widely disseminated belief in the love of God is set with increasing frequency in some matrix other than biblical theology.... I do not think what the Bible says about the love of God can long survive at the forefront of our thinking if it is abstracted from the sovereignty of God, the wrath of God, the providence of God, or the personhood of God—to mention only a few non-negotiable elements of basic Christianity. The result, of course, is that the love of God in our culture has been purged of anything the culture finds uncomfortable. The love of God has been sanitized, democratized, and above all, sentimentalized (2000, p. 9; emp. added).

May God help us to accept our Maker as He is presented in the inspired Word, rather than making up our own version of Him. Our very soul depends on it.

*First presented and published as a part of the Freed-Hardeman University lectureship, February 2007.

REFERENCES

Allen, Jimmy (2004), Fire in My Bones (Searcy, AR: Allen).

Brooks, Michael (1992), In Search of Perfection: Studies from Job (Searcy, AR: Resource).

Carson, D. A. (1996), The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).

Carson, D.A. (2000), The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway).

Clayton, John (1990), Does God Exist? September-October.

Fudge, Edward (1982), The Fire That Consumes (Houston, TX: Providential Press).

Hailey, Homer (2003), God’s Judgments and Punishments (Las Vegas: Nevada Pub).

Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (2005), “The Eternality of Hell—Parts 1 & 2,” Reason & Revelation, 25:1-16, January-February, http://apologeticspress.org/apPubPage.aspx?pub=1&issue=561.

Machen, J. Gresham (1923), Christianity and Liberalism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans).

Morris, Leon (1991), “The Dreadful Harvest,” Christianity Today, 35:34, May 27.

Pharr, David R. (2005), “The Teaching of Jesus,” The Spiritual Sword, 36:5-9, January.

Robertson, A. T. (1930), Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman).

Smith, F. LaGard (2003), After Life: A Glimpse of Eternity Beyond Death’s Door(Nashville: Cotswold).

Travis, Stephen (1980), Christian Hope and the Future (Issues in Contemporary Theology) (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity).

Wenham, John W. (1992), “The Case for Conditional Immortality,” Universalism and the Doctrine of Hell, ed. Nigel M. De S. Cameron (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).