The Bible is Fair

The Bible can be described in many ways.  It could be described as historically correct, the most read book of all time, an interesting account, salvation providing, the Word of God.  But for this article, let us establish that it is fair.  No other book is more fair in its presentation of the main characters, the heroes.  Other books that men write tend to give some leeway to the heroes of the book, giving emphasis to their strengths and overlooking their faults.  The Bible is different is this.

We see in the Bible many heroes of faith, people dedicated to God.  But in the stories that are recorded of them are the weaknesses as well as the strengths.  No other book is this fair.  Let's look at a few examples.

Adam--Adam is quite  important, being the first man.  Yet we see him in the light of failure.  He fails to remain strong in his trust of the Lord, is banned from the garden and spends his life in toil.

Abraham--Abraham is the father is of the Jews.  He is given much approval by God for his great faith.  Many times he stood up for what was right.  But he lied under pressure when he called his wife his sister.  There was some truth in the lie, but he still lied.

David--King David, the greatest of all kings in the Old Testament, was called a "man after God's own heart."  But he committed adultery and murder....and the whole account is recorded in all of its sordid detail in the Bible. 

Peter--In the New Testament we find that Peter denied even knowing Jesus when Jesus was being tried and was about to go to His death.  Peter was a great servant of the Lord....but his weakness is clearly shown.

There are many more examples that could be given to show that the Bible is more than fair in its presentation of its main characters.  One might ask why this is done so openly.  I would say that it shows us that these were mere men, people like us who had weaknesses and struggles in their lives.  They were not perfect....and we are not perfect. 

In the cases of so many of the great people of the Bible, people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, the many prophets, Peter, Paul, Barnabus, and on and on, the Lord recognized their weaknesses, but also their faith and obedience.  And He gave them salvation. 

We need to be sure that our faith and obedience override our failures, our sins, and serve our God now while we have the chance.  There is a heaven, a life after death, where we can spend forever with the one who has all power, all knowledge, and all glory.  Let's be there!

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!

Sunday

Christians worship on Sunday.  It is interesting to see how the day of worship changed from Saturday, under the Jewish system, to Sunday as Christianity began.  And the timing of this change is also telling.  So we will look a bit further in this brief study of worship.

It is noteworthy that Jesus was a good Jew.  He kept the Jewish Law during His lifetime, including worshipping on the seventh day of the week, Saturday.  Emphasis on Saturday worship was instituted by God, setting this day aside to remember that God created the world in 6 days and rested on the seventh day.  During Jesus' ministry He never taught His followers to change from this day of worship, or really to make any change in following the Jewish Law.  But a big change was coming....

Jesus left the beginnings of the Christian Way to His apostles and other disciples.  Jesus was crucified on Friday and raised on Sunday.  He instructed His apostles to wait in Jerusalem for power to come to them from the Holy Spirit.  This occurred on Sunday.  Then as the apostles begin their work, they bring a total new Way.  A part of this Way is the beginnings of Sunday worship...and the putting away of all Jewish worship and following the Jewish Law.  We see Christian worship after Jesus left the earth always being on Sunday.  An example of this is shown in Acts 20:7, "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread....." (take the Lord's Supper). 

Today there are still people trying to hold on to parts of the Jewish Law as Christians.  But the NT is clear that the Old Law, the Jewish Law, has been fulfilled, has been replaced by the Christian Way.  If anyone tried to serve God by keeping the Jewish Law, they could not keep it perfectly anymore, making it ineffective.  The only way to God now is through Jesus; and Jesus made this clear through His teaching. 

There is a trend today to worship God on Saturday instead of Sunday.  Many do this on Saturday night out of convenience, freeing up Sunday for other things.  This is not following the NT pattern.  There was a reason that the Christians in the Bible made a point of worshipping on Sunday, the first day of the week.  We need to follow this pattern to be pleasing to our God.

Thanks for reading again.  Feel the love.

Prophesies of the Messiah to Come

The Old Testament is full of prophesies about the Messiah, the Christ, to come.  It would be impossible to cover all of these in this short blog.  But we will mention a couple to give examples.

Psalm 22 was written by King David many hundreds of years before Christ, yet it refers to the words that would be spoken by the Christ as He approached His death.  "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?  ...dogs have surrounded Me; The assembly of the wicked has enclosed Me.  They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones.  They look and stare at Me.  They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."   This, of course, is exactly what happened as Jesus was about to die, as we read in the NT. 

Another good example of the OT prophesies is Isaiah 53.  Isaiah was a prophet, spokesman, for God approximately 700 years before Christ.  He may not have understood what he was writing, but listen to his words about the coming Christ:  "He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief......He was despised and we did not esteem Him.  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.....and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

In the NT, we find an Ethiopian nobleman reading this passage from the book of Isaiah, (Acts 8), and asking Philip, 'who is this talking about?'  Philip proceeds to explain that this is Jesus.  And he preached to him about Jesus.  As they rode along on the nobleman's chariot, he asked to be baptized.  Then it says that they "went down into the water, and he baptized him."

These passages show the continuity of the Bible, the continuity of God's plan, the fulfillment of prophecy that only God could accomplish....and it gives us increased faith that our God is real; and as Hebrews 11:6 says, "...and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." 

Now that is Power.  God is Powerful.  Jesus is real.  And we are blessed.  May God bless you this week as you continue to fight the devil and serve our God and Savior.  Praise be to Him!

Paul's Farewell Talk

A very touching occurrence in the book of Acts is where Paul calls a meeting with the elders of the Ephesian church.  Paul is in a hurry to get to Jerusalem for the time of the Jewish feast of Pentecost.  He wasn't observing the Jewish feasts or keeping any of the Jewish Law.  We know this from his other teachings.  But he felt he needed to be there then.  He knew that he could be going to his end.  "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there." (Acts 20:22) 

Paul points out several things to these men.  And what he says is of great importance for he knew that he would never see them again.  He tells them to keep watch over themselves and over the flock, the church there in Ephesus.  He calls them overseers and shepherds.

He then warns them of "wolves" that will come in among them and "will not spare the flock.  Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth..."  This has always been a problem and continues to be so today.  We must always be watchful. 

He concludes by telling them "to help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

This touching farewell of Paul was a most emotional event for these men.  But it was words that they needed to hear.  And it was important enough for Paul to ask them to travel to meet him.  The words are as true today.  We should note carefully, appreciate Paul for his goodness, and hold fast to the truth, living it out in our lives.

Have a great week!

Direct Commands of Jesus

It would be difficult to cite all of the direct commands that Jesus made as recorded in the New Testament.  But we will mention a few in this blog to demonstrate the nature of His teaching.

"I tell you: Love your enemies.."  Matthew 5.  This was a tough command for anyone to do.....but He had no problem making this a direct command to His followers.

"I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear..."  Matt. 6.  He certainly knew how hard this was for us mortal humans.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."  John 15. 

"..Stay in the city (Jerusalem) until you have been clothed with power from on high."  Luke 24.  Said to His apostles before He left them.

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved..."

" 'Who are you Lord?' Saul asked. 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' He replied.  'Now get up and go...."  Acts 9.  This is the account of Saul's conversion, later to be called Paul.

While this last verse is taken out of context, actually they all are, the teaching to "get up and go" might be a good one for us all.  There is a need to follow all of these teachings, but certainly we need to get up and go, get to work, do it now, serve Him, for the time is short on this earth.  I need to heed this as much as anyone.

Ok, thanks for reading.  Serve the Lord.......feel the love.  

The Jewish Law

The study of the Jewish Law that God gave to His people through the man of Moses is important and interesting.  I cannot even begin to cover all aspects of the Law in this blog; but lets look at some of the basic facts about it.

Jesus said, as He began His sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."

Jesus kept the Law during His lifetime.  He was born a Jew, of the tribe of Judah, a descendant of king David.  He demonstrated His keeping the Law, even to the last, as He took the passover feast just before His death.  But His death was to begin a totally new era.  As he took the Passover feast, He instituted the Communion, the Lord's Supper.  "..this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."  There never had been remission of sins under the Jewish Law.  But Jesus was bringing a "new covenant."

In Colossians 2, Paul compares the circumcision of the flesh, the Law (Jewish) to a new circumcision "made without hands.."  He says in verse 14, "..having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.  And he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."  The conclusion here is that the Law of the Jews has now been "nailed to the cross," taken out of the way, fulfilled, to be followed no more.  It ended with the cross, the death of Jesus.

The entire book of Hebrews is a treatise that makes clear that Jesus has replaced the old Law, the old covenant with a new one, with a new way.  Hebrews 7:22 says, "..Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant."  Hebrews 8 and 9 give much more detail and explanation of the significance of this change.  In discussing the old covenant made with the Jewish people, he says at the end of Hebrews 8, "In that He says, 'A new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete.  Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."

So what good was the Law?  Was it never useful?  This is answered in Galatians 3:19-29.  Verse 24: ".the Law was our tutor (schoolmaster) to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after faith (in Jesus) has come, we are no longer under a tutor."  Thus it is clear that the Jewish Law has been fulfilled, and was fulfilled with the death of Jesus.  It is no longer in effect....and is no longer to be followed....and was not followed by the apostles.

Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Organized Religion

Many today are disappointed in "organized religion" for various reasons.  Often people feel that today's denominations are not meeting their needs.  Looking at the religious world today, it is easy to see why people feel that way.  There is such a splintering of beliefs, and often disagreement between religious groups.  The religious world, and Christianity in particular, looks more contentious than loving and supportive.  To see the best answer to the question of what is right, we should look at what the Bible, God's inspired Word, tells us about the need, or lack of, for organization of His followers.

When we look at the beginnings of the book of Genesis in the OT, we see a rather disorganized form of worship to God.  These early people knew that they were to worship God, and we see that they even knew what was expected of them; what was good worship, pleasing to God, and what was not.  An early example of this knowledge can be found in Gen. 4 where Abel gives a better sacrifice to God than Cain does. 

As time goes on, God gives His people a Law to follow, and it is a highly structured Law, complete with many do's and don'ts.  Their religion at this time is definitely well organized. 

When we come to the New Testament, we find that Jesus is with man to bring us a new Law.  Jesus lived during the time of the old Jewish Law; He was a Jew and kept the Jewish Law during His lifetime.  But He came to bring something better; a new law of faith.  He told His disciples in Matthew 16, "..On this rock (that He is 'the Christ, the Son of the living God') I will build My church."  During the life of Christ, He had not built His church yet.  As we read in the book of Acts, He would leave it to the apostles to build it, building it on their faith in Jesus.

As we follow the acts of the apostles, we see them going about setting up an actual organization of the church.  Each church is watched over by elders....and each church is autonomous, self governing.  There is no other organization in today's church.  And, in fact, there wasn't any other organization in the church of the NT except for the guidance given by apostles.  If we had apostles today, it would be appropriate for them to be watchful over the various churches, aiding and instructing the elders of the churches.  But with the death of all the apostles, the churches are now self governed, following simply the teaching of the New Testament.

The problem today then, is not "organized religion," but rather the way churches are organized.  It is important that we just follow the examples given in the NT.

Enough.  Thanks for reading again.  May God bless you.