Truth

Choices

Posted on by Jesse Walker

Many believe today that their lives are predestined by God. That no matter what they do the outcome is already determined. They quote verses like Psalms 139:13 – “For you created my inmost being you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”  And verses like Jeremiah 29:11 – “11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” While all of this is absolutely true, you still have a part to play. God certainly wanted you born when you were born, and God definitely wants the best for your life. But you are not a puppet.  God is not sitting in heaven and pulling your strings. Proof is, If he was, there would be no evil in the world. No murder, no rape, no school shootings, no sexual abuse, no racism. However, the truth is, every one of us is given the freedom to make choices.

In Deuteronomy 30:15-16 it says – “15 “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. 16 For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.”

There are 3 steps given in Deuteronomy 30:16 that we must follow when we choose life.  The first is to “love” the Lord your God. The second is to keep his commandments, and the third is to “Walk” in his ways.

In this life, you will have to make many difficult choices. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” In other words, we suffer pain today, to enjoy gain tomorrow. Let me ask you a question. Are you making the hard choices today, that will one day grant you the opportunity to live with God in eternity? I pray you are.

The Ideal Congregation (Pt. 6)

Posted on by Bob Mathews

The ideal congregation works well with others and strives to deepen godly fellowship with other faithful though imperfect members.  Paul’s working relationship with the Philippians is set in a positive light and provides an example for us (Philippians 4:3).  John expressed interest in promoting godly fellowship as he addressed first century Christians (1 John 1:3).

Working well with others contributes to deeper and stronger fellowship among faithful children of God.  Those who have achieved a quality working relationship with their co-workers do not place an emphasis upon personal power, prestige, influence, or position.  Generally, their personal needs become secondary to the welfare of the body of Christ.  Rather, these seek the position and work for which they are best suited in the local congregation (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Matthew 25:14-30).  Through such efforts fellowship is promoted and qualitatively impacted.

A further strengthening of our fellowship may also be achieved through joint activities designed to provide opportunities to both understand and appreciate one another.  Additionally, by seeking a common understanding of spiritual issues and developing a kindred spirit and like-values, we may very well avoid spiritual pitfalls which have the capacity to challenge the strength and quality of our fellowship.  May we have the courage to invest much labor in the maintenance and improvement of our godly fellowship.

The ideal congregation lives peaceably with others.  The apostle Paul, in admonishing Christians in Rome, said,  “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men” (Romans 12:18).  Though the attitudes and actions of others may impact our personal contexts unfavorably, we yet have obligation based on divine instruction to employ our full capacity to promote peaceful co-existence among others, including those who may not appreciate us personally.

In living peacefully among all men, may we see the wisdom in never allowing any judgmental issue to generate division, especially in the lord’s church (Romans 14).  Some have expressed the fear that we may , on the one hand, intellectually and theologically recognize the wisdom and righteousness of this course while, on the other hand, we fail to regularly practice that which we know to be right in these matters.  May we as well never allow personal pride to hamper relationships in our search for peaceful co-existence.  Though peace is a wonderful and biblical goal to fervently pursue, may our allegiance to the word of God never be sacrificed in the pursuit of peace.  If we cannot maintain peace with men, though seeking it, let us maintain reconciliation and peace with God through faithfulness unto His Word.  After all is said and done, peace with all men will be within our reach when the mass of society, including faithful Christians, truly commits themselves to faithful Christian conduct.  May the Lord bless us in our search for peace.

The Ideal Congregation (Pt. 3)

Posted on by Bob Mathews

The ideal congregation faithfully attends and supports the various public services of the church, whether the occasion be Bible study, worship, or other worthy efforts such as gospel meetings or related events.  The inspired penman wrote, “and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works: Not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:24-25).

Motivation to obey this biblical mandate is abundant: By so doing, one (1) obeys the command to study (2 Tim. 2:15), (2) better possesses the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5), (3) is better able to always give an answer for the hope within us (1 Pet. 3:15), (4) has opportunity to express thanks to and faith in our Father (Phil. 4:6; Heb. 11:6), (5) is more diligent (2 Pet. 1:5), (6) is better able to grow spiritually (2 Pet. 3:18), (7) may deepen fellowship with brethren (1 Cor. 12:14), (8) is edified (Eph. 4:12), (9) may exorcise the love of the world (1 John 2:15-17), and (10) will be present in the habitat of the Lord (Matt. 18:20).  Though mandated biblically, let us assemble regularly because of our responsive love unto the Lord (1 John 4:19) which anxiously compels us unto good works (Eph. 2:10).

The ideal congregation responds positively when encouraged to better learn the truths of the will of God.  Our spiritual screen must ever allow the fresh, gentle breeze of God’s word to penetrate deeply into the whole of our spiritual house.  The attitude of the Ethiopian eunuch in relying on others as they were  qualified to guide him is worthy of our  imitation (Acts 8:30-31).  Our spiritual screen must also be strong enough to  prevent pests of error from entering our personal and congregational fellowship (Eph. 5:11).

To better develop an openness to learning truth both in breadth and depth, we must view ourselves as students truly in need of a greater measure of knowledge of God’s word.  We must be committed to growing beyond spiritual infancy (Eph. 4:15).  Such commitment, if not accompanied by decisive action designed to achieve and maintain spiritual growth, will be impotent in its impact in our lives.  We must both plan and implement if genuine success is to be realized.  Additionally, timely self-evaluation will enhance and support our personal efforts in expanding our knowledge of the will of God.  Our full individual and corporate potential can indeed be attained as we open our minds to the wonder of his Word.

As Christians, our desire should be to better ourselves each day because that is what our God deserves from us. Hopefully, these are a couple more ways we can work together towards that goal.

Jumping to Conclusions

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Many times, the question, “How could you?” is asked prematurely in situations. It is a query of suspicion that has somewhat already placed the blame before the facts have been gathered. It is an assessment that has been made prior to carefully weighing all the evidence.

The Israelites had taken over Canaan’s land. Joshua had divvied up the territorial boundaries of the land each tribe was to possess. Those tribes that had been given an allotment by Moses on the east side of the Jordan (Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh) were returning there to the wives, children, and cities they had temporarily left behind to fight for their brothers.

One the way back home, these 2½ tribes set up an altar by the Jordan. After hearing of this, the immediate response of the tribes west of the Jordan was to gather the assembly of Israel together at Shiloh to make war on Reuben, Gad, and the ½ tribe of Manasseh. The greater part of Israel was zealous for the Law of God and was not going to tolerate what they perceived to be a breach of the covenant, an act of infidelity.

To their credit, the Israelites sent ambassadors to talk with their (wayward) brothers before shooting the first arrow, slinging the first stone, or thrusting the first sword. These representatives leveled the charge: “The whole assembly of the Lord says: ‘How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now?’” (Joshua 22:16).

To their credit, the Israelites also gave them an opportunity to come over and live among them where the true altar of God was set up at Shiloh. Their problem was, however, that they had assumed too much. They had made a rash judgment based on the way things appeared on the surface.

The 2½ tribes responded: “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel know!” (Joshua 22:22). Then they proceeded to explain that they had not built the altar for sacrificial purposes as the rest of Israel had presumed. Israel had misjudged their motives. Rather, they had built the altar as a witness that they were also a part of Israel. They too had a right to bring their sacrifices to the sanctuary of the Lord. Israel rejoiced at their response.

This story is convicting when it comes to interpersonal relationships, especially inside the body of Christ. We discover the following principles:

  • We should suspend judgment until we have gathered all the facts.
  • We should go to those who are caught in or suspected of sin.
  • We should not be accusatory in our approach to others (“How could you?”).
  • We should offer those caught in sin a way of escape.
  • We should rejoice when we find that they are right with God.
  • We should take solace in the fact that whenever others misunderstand us, God knows our hearts.

What do you rely on?

Posted on by Bob Mathews

This is a question that popped into my head yesterday. With all the cold weather around the country, it should be no surprise that we got our share. The snow was nice to see and it was exciting for our young son to experience it for the first time. However, troubles come with snow most of the time. It is always a possibility that power may go out when the weather gets bad enough. Sure enough, we lost power sometime in the middle of the night. This is not something we haven’t dealt with before though. My wife and I have lost power before but this time seemed very different. It was the first time that we went without power with a baby in the house. It made me realize just how much we needed that electricity. If it was just us, we could have managed the cold. Our son has needs that only the electricity could supply. He doesn’t understand how to keep himself bundled up for warmth when the temperatures are freezing. Luckily, he will drink cold milk but it is definitely not his preference. All that to say, we rely on the ability to flip a switch and have power at our fingertips more than we ever realized.

It made me think though, do I rely on God and Jesus this much? Are they so important to our everyday lives that without them our days grow difficult or even unbearable? The truth is, we must rely on God and Jesus that much. Without them there would be nothing, no life, no you or me. “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). You can continue reading on from there and see God go on to create all aspects of life including people. If you look at John 1:1 and following you would see that Jesus was there at the beginning with God as the Word that helped to create all things and continues to hold all things together. Unfortunately, after we were created, like bad weather causing problems, sin was brought into the world by going against what God commanded. This continues today whenever we choose to go against God. Because of our sin we are separated from the one who we need the most. Luckily for us, this is not the end of the story.

Insert God’s love here. If we look further into the gospel of John, we get to the famous passage John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” This is not the only passage we should know, but it does give us an idea about why we need to rely on God and Jesus so much. God loves us enough to show us grace and mercy. Mercy because we deserve punishment that He is willing to forego. Grace because He is willing to also bless us with a gift that we don’t deserve and could never earn in spite of our sin. But the only way we could be blessed in either of these ways is because He was willing to allow His Son (Jesus) to die for our sins and it is our belief, trust, and obedience to Him that affords us the blessings of His sacrifice.

So, what do you rely on? Is it the amount of money in the bank? Is it the job that pays the money? Is it the car that gets you to the job? Is it your family that takes care of you? Is it the government that provides what you need? The truth, however sad it may seem to be, is that all of those thing like electricity could be gone. And they may never come back. Nothing on this earth will last forever or ultimately be reliable. God and His Son are the only truly reliable sources that you will ever find. They were here at the beginning and the will continue after the earth is no more. Don’t take them for granted like electricity. A day is coming when the light switch of life will no longer work. When that day comes it will be too late to start believing and relying on them. If you have a desire not to perish and have eternal life, than choose to rely on Jesus today. It is those that believe and follow Him that have blessings from God that are necessary for eternal life.

FACT of the Gospel

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John present the one true gospel (see Gal. 1-6-9) from four different perspectives. Each writer has a particular audience in mind as he portrays the life of Jesus. Major themes within each account compose the acrostic “FACT.”

Fulfillment. It is believed that the Gospel of Matthew was sent primarily to Jewish Christians. Matthew uses the genealogy of Jesus to prove he is the fulfillment of prophesy the Messiah. Matthew includes the greatest number of quotations from the Old Testament in any New Testament book. Matthew also discusses divine intervention in the world of men and establishes Jesus’ sinless nature and position as master teacher. He does this to prove that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), the fulfillment of the Old Testament because that is the goal of the book.

Action. It is believed that the Gospel of Mark was sent primarily to Gentile Christians, possibly in Rome. Mark’s account is the most concise as he portrays Jesus as a “man of action,” a powerful miracle worker. The episodes of Jesus’ life are woven together by the Greek word eutheos which is translated “straightway,” “immediately,” “at once,” and “without delay.” It is used 42 times throughout the short 16-chapter book.

Compassion. The Gospel of Luke was addressed to “most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 1:3), but it was certainly intended for a wider audience among the Gentiles. This book was the first of two volumes, the second being Acts. Luke demonstrates the compassion of Jesus for the disenfranchised of Jewish society: women, the poor, Samaritans, tax collectors, and sinners. Luke also helps comfort all those who read his writing of the gospel by providing a sense of assurance in the accuracy of the message. He lays out facts in an orderly fashion, but not merely just trying to present history. He presents historical facts that point to something greater/significant – the fact that God has entered into human history offering His Son as the payment for the sin of mankind. No greater compassion can be shown.

Truth. It is believed that the Gospel of John was written for Christians and non-Christians alike, possibly in Ephesus. John emphasizes the evidence or testimony for faith in Jesus. “Truth” is a key word, occurring over 50 times in the account. Jesus’ miracles are signs that testify to the truth: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. (John 20:30-31 – “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”)

The FACT of the matter is that Jesus is the Fulfillment of everything that was told and promised, the perfect man of Action to carry out God’s will, Compassionate in a way that proved God’s love was shown for all mankind, and the Truth that we need to believe in and bear witness of in our own lives.