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In Proverbs 2 the wisdom from God’s Word is likened to Hidden Treasures. The more time we spend in His Word, the more treasures we find.  The greatest Treasure we can find is Christ Himself, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3  Until we know Christ personally, spiritual truth is hidden from us.  It is foolishness to us according to I Corinthians 2:9-11

I encourage you  to discover God’s greatest Gift to you,  the Lord Jesus Christ.  You’ll find Him throughout this web site. God’s Spirit, who comes to live in you when you receive Christ as your Saviour and surrender to Him as your Lord,  will unlock the Treasure Chest of His Word to you. 

RECENT  POSTS

 How does our brand of Christianity today compare with the Christians of the first centry?  To be challenged and moved to tears go to The Suffering Church Victorious under the  CHURCH link.

Why has our nation radically changed over the past sixty years?  Go to category KINGDOM  and read “The Kingdom of God in America”,

Don’t miss OVERCOMERS, found under the SALVATION category, one of the most  crucial messages I have delivered  in many years.  Understanding and heeding this message means the difference between Heaven and Hell for you, regardless of how much you know about the Bible and regardless of your past  spiritual experiences.

Our grandson, Andrew Bicker from the Bay Area , recently video-taped a short, unrehearsad  piano concert from our living room, complete with an interuption by our coo coo clock and my wife trying to keep  our dog quiet as he  started to wail  to the music.  He put it on You tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8AbzBQdHJs  Enjoy!

We are presently preaching through Philippians on Sunday evenings. See the most recent message, Beware of Dogs.

Planning to get married or struggling with yours? Get off to a good start. Take time now with your spouse-to-be to read and discuss together our series on MARRIAGE, on the VIRTUOUS WOMAN and on DIVORCE.

 Having problems raising your kids? Read the series on FAMILY.   You don’t have to experience “the terrible twos” nor “teen rebellion”.

For my  biographical sketch  go to MY TESTIMONY.  To learn how God has used others to touch my life through the years, go to INFLUENCE.   

Often in my reading, I come across outstanding, sometimes life-changing thoughts that beg  to be shared.  See  GEMS category for the list.

  See A MERRY HEART  for much more than a smile.

 HOW TO GAIN THE MOST FROM THESE STUDIES 

I encourage you to approach these studies prayerfully, as you should studies from any preacher or Bible teacher,  asking God for discernment to distinguish truth from error. Use your Bible as you check the references scattered throughout these articles.

You may not agree with everything I have written. That’s fine.  I don’t totally agree with every preacher I read; however, I have found that those who hold to the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible and to the deity of The Lord Jesus Christ and  love Christ and His spiritual Body, the Church, and are intent on building up the Body of Christ and not seeking to divide it; usually have something worthwhile to share with me. 

It’s my prayer that this web site will be a blessing to you and that God will use it to draw people to Christ, encourage fellow Christians and be a help to faithful preachers. Sunday School and Bible class teachers.  If you find this site a blessing to you, I encourage you to share it with others.

COPYRIGHTS

Anything I have written in HIDDEN TREASURES  may be copied and used for the glory of God.  If someone should misuse it, they can answer to God for that.

“What?  Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in  you, which you have of God and you are not your own;  for you are bought with the price, (the precious blood of Jesus).  Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”  I Corinthians 6:19-20 Christians have no rights  but to live for Christ and be a blessing to others.

Jesus sent His disciples out to serve Him, saying to them, “Freely you have received; freely give.”  Matthew 10:8

“The things that you have received of me, the same commit to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.” Paul taught young Timothy in II Timothy 2:2.  So the truths that I have learned from reading and studying the Bible and from the works of faithful men of God, have become a part of me and I pass them on to you.

My greatest joy will be to learn one day in Heaven that the things God has taught me through faithful men and women have been passed on to multitudes around the world. Who cares who gets the credit as long as souls are saved, Christians are edified and  Christ is glorified.?

Mal Bicker

Pastor of Alameda Bible Church since 1990

Albuquerque, NM

The Suffering Church Victorious

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEunONfXGHI

 

Something to think about when we join in worship with the saints of all ages. Could Ceaser have imaged what a movement he helped to fan into flames?

 

1. For all the saints, who from their labours rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,

Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;

Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;

Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

3. For the Apostles’ glorious company,

Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,

Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:

Alleluia, Alleluia!

4. For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,

Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,

Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

5. For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,

Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,

And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

6. O blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

7. O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,

Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,

And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

8. And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,

And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

9. The golden evening brightens in the west;

Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;

Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

10. But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;

The saints triumphant rise in bright array;

The King of glory passes on His way.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

11. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,

Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,

And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:

Alleluia, Alleluia!

                                                                             William Walsham How  1864

The Kingdom of God in America

America was founded as a Christian nation.  Although that truth has been removed from the modern history books used in public schools today, the fact remains that the colonists who came over from England and  settled along our eastern shores, came not primarily to seek gold and wealth; nor did they come to these shores to gain freedom from religion;  but freedom from the control and the oppression of a State Church and for freedom to worship and serve God according to the dictates of their conscience.

 

These colonists were not merely religious; they were Christians.  Listen to testimonies of this down through the last four centuries. 

 

John Winthrop, aboard the Arabela in 1630 reminded the colonists, “We are a company professing ourselves fellow members of Christ.”

 

Alexis de Tocqueville, a French philosopher who visited America in 1831 wrote, “There is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America.”

 

President Woodrow Wilson in 1911 wrote, “America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.”

 

President Truman to Pope Pius XII in 1947 wrote, “This is a Christian nation.”

 

Former Governor of Mississippi, Kirk Fordice stated on CNN,  “Christianity is the predominate religion in America. We all know that is an incontrovertible fact.  The media always refers to the Jewish State of Israel, they talk about the Muslim countries of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.  We all talk about the Hindu nation of India.  America is not a nothing country. It’s a Christian country.”

 

Though the Seeds of Righteousness had been planted in the heart of the Colonists, it wasn’t long before Satan had sown his tares in hearts.  The colonists needed to be revived.  In answer to prayer, God sent godly preachers to them, men such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.   They preached the Gospel to tens of thousands during the decades of  1730-1740.  People got right with God and their hearts were prepared for their struggle against England and for the founding of America, a new nation free from the control of a state church and free to worship and serve God.

 

Our founders cried to God in prayer for wisdom and unity as they began the process of establishing this Republic.  Our founding documents, including our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution are filled with reference to our dependence upon God. Our nation’s hallowed buildings and monuments  are filled with Biblical  references carved in stone  to God’s glory and to our sacred purpose as a nation

 

Wherever God is at work, you can be sure the devil is also at work attempting to undo what God has done.   By the end of the 18th century, Liberalism had begun to take control of seminaries and pulpits across America and was turning America away from the God of their fathers.

 

WHAT IS LIBERALISM?

 

Liberalism is basically the denial of the Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of God.  It is the denial of the deity of Jesus. The Liberal may use the adjective divine to describe Jesus as being God-like, but they reject the deity of Christ,  the truth that the man Jesus who walked in Palestine 2000 years ago and then died on a cross, is God in a human body. Of course, along with that rejection of the deity of Christ, was the denial of His virgin birth, His miracles and His bodily resurrection.

 

A liberal is at heart a Unitarian, that is, one who denies the Trinity,  He is at heart a Universalists, that is, one who believes “all roads lead to Heaven and eventually all will be in Heaven”.  They repudiate the truth that Christ rejecters suffer for eternity in Hell.

 

A liberal rejects the Biblical truth that God created the universe in six days simply by the power of His Word. He would rather choose to believe his god of chance, evolution, as the answer to the source of life on earth. He would reject the universal, world wide flood in which all but Noah and his family and the animals in the ark were annihilated.

 

The liberal  judges the Bible by his own mind and refuses to submit to the Bible which  judges all men as sinners under God’s judgment.

 

The liberal’s idea of Christianity is subjective,  based on his reason and experience. He refuses to base it on the Bible.  He interprets it in the light of limited knowledge and teaches it with his unregenerate mind simply as an ethical way of life that we must all strive to live.

 

I argue that if Jesus is not God, as He claimed to be,  then He was a liar and a fraud and therefore not a good teacher. Therefore a liberal is inconsistent in claiming to follow Christ.

 

HOW DO LIBERALS WORK?

 

Liberals believe they are building the Kingdom of God by capturing the hearts and minds of the masses through gaining control of our educational system, our legislative system and the media over the past century. They have been very successful at that. The public school system and most colleges and universities teach the religion of liberalism and humanism.  The way they have accomplished that has been to legislate the Bible from the classroom or in some cases teach it only from a Liberal perspective.  Thus Satan has accomplished his purpose  in turning America, a nation founded on Christianity, into a secular nation.  With their liberal values, they have turned well over half of America into a liberal, secular, godless nation.

 

The National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, founded about sixty years ago,  unite liberal minded churches who advance the liberal social gospel throughout our nation and the world.

 

American Liberalism began in New England in the latter part of the eighteenth century when a handful of Boston area ministers called for a modern rational Christianity.  Hence Liberals were often referred to as Modernists up through the first half of the twentieth century.

 

Their so-called enlightenment ideas gave rise to American Unitarianism and Universalism at the dawn of the 19th century. Perhaps the major fountainhead of Liberalism in America has been Union Theological Seminary in New York City. From there it has spread to most of the major denominational seminaries and State Universities.

 

Again, I remind you that Liberals basically feel they are building the Kingdom of God on earth. Their goal is to promote their idea of the universal fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.  For more on this subject go to  my link LIBERALISM.

 

WHAT IS FUNDAMENTALISM?

 

At the beginning of the 20th century, in response to the rising tide of liberalism in America,  a group of Bible believing ministers and seminary professors from the major Protestant denominations rose up to form the Fundamentalist Movement, a movement who, as the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1:17, was set for the defense of The Gospel.

 

These Fundamentalists, though having their denominational differences, agreed on what became known as the Fundamentals of the Christian Faith. They were godly Christian scholars who agreed that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God,  that Jesus is God in human flesh, born of the virgin Mary, and that He  suffered and shed His blood on the cross to make a perfect atonement for the sins of all mankind. Fundamentalist believe that Jesus arose in His glorified body back to Heaven and that He is returning one day to judge the world and set up His Kingdom on this earth.

 

An important doctrine that marked the Fundamentalist Movement was an insistence on Biblical separation from apostasy.  This is clearly taught in the Bible in both the Old and New Testament.  Some of the major New Testament passages on this subject are found in Romans 16:17-18,  II Corinthians 6:14-18,  Ephesians 5:11  II John 7-11  Jude 3-4 and Revelation 18:4.

 

 

WHAT IS NEO-ORTHODOXY?

 

The Liberal’s dream of bringing in the Golden age of the  Kingdom was dashed with World War I and further crushed with World War II.  About that time a new theological movement was exported from Germany,  Neo-Orthodoxy. 

 

An Orthodox Christian is one who holds faithfully to the Christian Faith. 

 

The term Neo-Orthodox was actually a contradictory term.  How can one come up with a new position concerning the Christian Faith which was once  for all given to the Church, as Jude 3 teaches?

 

No, the term Neo Orthodox was a misnomer for this new theological movement from Europe.  A better name would have been Neo-Liberalism. This new theological movement that swept America’s seminaries almost a century ago was another  “wolf in sheep’s clothing” about which Jesus had warned.  This new movement was rooted in the works of Kant, Schleimacher, and Hegel.  The works of Karl Barth, Emil Brunner and Soren Kierkegaard popularized it in America. Reinhold Niebuhr, a promoter of the Socialist Party in America, was also a leader in this new movement.

 

The Neo Orthodox are masters of double-talk. They say, “Though the Bible is not inerrant, it becomes the Word of God to us whenever it speaks to us.”   Though they deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus, they wax eloquent when they preach on the Resurrection at Easter.   Though they deny that Jesus shed His blood on the cross to appease the wrath of God for our sins, they preach eloquently on the cross of Christ and His love for us.

 

If our sins do not incur for us the wrath of God and eternal damnation in hell fire, then why on earth did Jesus go to the cross and endure  the worst torture and means of death that anyone could ever devise?  Why did He have to show His love to us that way?  That doesn’t make sense. In fact, it would be sheer stupidity.

 

If you were in your front yard watching your home burn to the ground and a fireman should rush into your house, knowing there was no one to save, yet should stay there and burn to death to show his love for you, that would be ridiculous.

 

If on the other hand your child were in the burning house trying to escape and a you should rush in to help him or her escape and in the process you should die in the flames, that would be an act of pure love.

 

Neo Orthodoxy, which denies the truth that all men are sinners and are sentenced to eternal damnation in Hell fire, teaches the irrational doctrine that Jesus endured the torments of death on a cross just to show how much He loves us.   Of course, He loved us.  He died on the cross and shed His blood because He loved sinners and He paid the penalty of death that we deserved to pay in Hell for eternity. He paid that penalty for a world of sinners by enduring the death that we all deserved to pay. Those who reject Christ as their Saviour will suffer in Hell for their own sins.

 

Christ’s death on the cross makes no sense unless He died to be the propitiation or to appease God’s wrath that we deserved to suffer for our sins.  See my link on PROPITIATION for more on this.

 

Neo-Orthodoxy denies the orthodox position of inerrancy and verbal, plenary inspiration. By that term we mean that every word in the Bible is completely inspired by God and is accurate, whether it refers to science or history or anything else.  Neo-Orthodoxy teaches that as the authors of the Bible wrote, they interpreted the events or the words of Jesus,  writing their own flawed interpretations. But in this gobbledygook of error, “the Bible becomes the Word of God whenever it speaks to us”.

 

Whereas Orthodoxy accepts the Bible as the complete and sufficient revelation of God to us, Neo-Orthodoxy believes that the Bible is merely a medium of revelation.  Orthodoxy claims it is God’s Revelation to us.

 

To the Neo-Orthodox, truth  is defined as that which is relevant to his experience  or to his personal interpretation, making the discovery of  truth a mystical experience, rather than a concrete fact.  See my article on EXISTENTIALISM on this web site for more on this confusion that is associated with Neo-Orthodoxy.

 

Neo-Orthodoxy further teaches that Scripture is not the only form of revelation, but that further revelation can be directly obtained from God as He speaks directly to us apart from the Scriptures.  This explains the modern “prophetic ministry” which has become a norm in liberal and Charismatic Churches. 

 

Speaking of the gift of prophecy, let me clarify.  In the early church, before the Bible was completed,  there were those who had the gift of prophecy.  In the early church service one with this gift would stand up and prophecy, declaring truth given to him by God.  When the Bible was completed, that gift, along with the gift of tongues, vanished away, according to I Corinthians 13:8-10

 

If a church has come to the place where she believes that Truth is revealed directly and that it is subject to the interpretation of each individual  and that God is still declaring new truth and new revelation, then they have departed from the Truth of God’s Word and according to Revelation 22:18-19 they bring judgment on themselves.

 

We hold and preach the Bible, the complete Word of God.  Let’s not lose it by departing from it to seek new revelations and mysticism, the very foundation of Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy.

 

WHAT IS NEW EVANGELICALISM?

 

By the 1940’s a number of Fundamentalists were fighting one another over issues that had nothing to do with the defense of The Faith.  There was a spirit of negativism and legalism in some quarters of this movement.

 

With Neo Orthodoxy sweeping the country, a new generation of Fundamentalists were enthralled by what they were hearing from the Neo Orthodox. They thought,  “They sound so much like Christians. Surely they must be our brothers in Christ.” 

 

In 1950 a group of these former Fundamentalist leaders decided in a meeting in Pasadena, California to disassociate themselves from the Fundamentalist movement and become known as the New Evangelicals. Christianity Today, a brand new periodical, began to be published to promote this new movement. I remember as a young pastor receiving some of the early issues.  The New Evangelicals  reached out to the Neo Orthodox.  They invited them to teach in their Colleges and Seminaries.  They invited them into their pulpits.  They worked with them in ecumenical evangelistic crusades.   They channeled the converts into their churches.  For all intents and purposes, they eradicated the theological  differences between them.

 

These New Evangelicals were “throwing out the baby with the bathwater.” That is, they were giving up their Biblical stand against false doctrine and ignoring the Biblical doctrine of separation  because some Fundamentalists were bringing a bad name on the Fundamentalist movement and because they considered the Neo Orthodox as brothers in Christ.

 

Chances are you have never heard the terms Neo Orthodox or New Evangelical. They are both passé and irrelevant today.

 

In the meantime, over the past sixty years or so,  this compromise has had a tsunami-sized negative influence in Christian churches. The Christian’s compromise with unbelief has resulted in a massive almost sudden change in the church.  I’ve watched it happen before my eyes as it grew with blinding speed in the early 60’s  and it has broken my heart.

 

There is theological confusion in churches and Christian colleges and seminaries across our land and they are beginning to accept the old fashioned unbelief of the liberals.   If I were a parent of college students today, I would be very cautious of some “Christian” colleges. Some graduates of these schools are coming out with a disdain for the Biblical doctrines and values and with an acceptance of liberal values.

 

Modern churches are more concerned about giving people what they want to hear, inoffensive, guilt-free preaching that does not  cramp their sinful lifestyle; rather than preaching the truth that often offends. We Fundamentalists are often branded legalists for our stands against sin.  For a correct  understanding of legalism I challenge you to go to my study of Galatians under the category FREEDOM. There you will learn what true legalism is and how the Apostle Paul dealt with it.

 

As one who loves and appreciates beautiful, inspiring Christian music, I grieve over its loss to the past two generations. Though some modern Christian composers have given us some quality Contemporary  Christian music, volumes of beautiful Christian music written and sung prior to the ’60’s has been banished and lost to this current generation.  Why discard generations of Scriptural, beautiful hymns of the church to limit yourselves to one style of music?

 

I’ll agree that some of the Christian songs we teens sang in the ’40’s and ’50’s were silly and insipid; but most of what we sang in church and in our youth meetings had spiritual substance and was sung to music that lifted us to Heaven. I grieve when I think of what modern Christians have never known and its replacement with irritating noise lacking melody, harmony and a solid Biblical message, with it’s relentless, same, boring rock beat. Congregations no longer sing four part harmony in the typical church. I listen to them attempt to sing, groaning in a monotone, looking up at the screen, not knowing where the melody is going.

 

Churches today are majoring on fleshly worship experiences and minoring on preaching.   The average Christian today has little or no appetite for Biblical preaching. But we should not be surprised.  Paul warned it would happen. Read II Timothy 4:1-4

 

All of this has resulted in the weakening of Christians and making them more susceptible to the lure of the world, the flesh and the devil.

 

I think we have almost come full circle.  Christians from evangelical churches are  accepting the liberal’s view of missions as simply meeting the social needs of people, with little or no thought to the preaching of the Gospel that saves a sinner from hell.

 

I am not advocating that Christians should not help meet the material and health and educational needs of the lost in third world countries.  I’m simply warning that if that is all we are doing we are helping well fed, well clothed, educated, healthy sinners continue on their way to hell.

 

My prayer is that God would bring the Church back to the solid preaching of the Word of God and make us aware of the subtlety of Satan.  At the same time, may we be loving and kind in our dealing with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. 

 

I challenge you to read through Paul’s thirteen Epistles and note how much concern and attention he gives by inspiration of God to warning of the dangers of compromise with unbelief.  Read the warnings Jesus gave in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7.

 

“When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?”  Luke 18:8  I wonder!

 

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”  Revelation 22:20

Baptism

Many Christians pride themselves  in their distinctives; that is, their theological positions that set them apart from other Christians.  I am not one of them.  I see Christ’s Body as one.  Our distinctives are caused by our limited or faulty knowledge. Our denominational differences are caused by our foolish pride in that limited knowledge.

 

Our only glory should be in our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul emphasized this in Galatians 6:14 “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.”  Nothing in this sin-cursed world system meant anything to Paul, nor should it mean anything to us.  Knowing Christ and living our lives 100% for Him is all that matters.

 

Paul did not glory in the number of baptisms and he evidently kept no records of who he baptized. Knowing who or how many he baptized  was  not  that important to him.  That’s the message of I Corinthians 1:10-17. Verse 17 should forever settle it in our minds that baptism is not a part of salvation.  One can be saved and go to Heaven without being baptized.

 

IS BAPTISM IMPORTANT?

 

Yes it is. Though it does not save you nor insure your salvation, it is the first step of obedience for a new Christian.  Every Christian ought to be baptized in order to declare to the world that he is now a Christian.  Every preacher who wins people to Christ should teach them to take that first step of obedience to Christ.  Baptism, though not a part of salvation, is a part of the Great Commission.  When we win people to Christ, we should teach them the importance of taking this first step of obedience to Christ.

 

Read the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20,   Read the historical account in Acts 2 of the first church service after the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven and spiritually baptized and united into one body those who believed and received the Gospel as Peter preached it.  Note that when the people believed the Gospel, they were baptized in water.  Continue reading through Acts and you will see that baptism in water always followed salvation.

 

WHAT IS THE PREREQUISITE TO BAPTISM?

 

According to Acts 8:36-37  the only prerequisite to baptism is to believe the Gospel and receive Christ as your Saviour.  A full understanding of the Bible or spiritual maturity are not necessary in order to be baptized.

 

If one is truly saved, he will hunger to know God and His Word.  He will have an insatiable appetite to know the Bible and he will have a desire to obey it.   That’s why a new Christian needs to be active in a church where the Bible is clearly preached.  If you have recently been saved, I encourage you to read and devour this HIDDEN TREASURES web site and then find a church that preaches God’s Word in harmony with what you are learning here, as long as you find it to be in harmony with the Bible.

 

If you find that I am not in harmony with the Bible, then you need to part company with me as a false teacher.

 

SHOULD BAPTISM BE BY SPRINKLING, POURING OR IMMERSION?

 

I’m not going to tell you.  What I think, is not the issue.  What the Bible says, is what counts.  Two examples of baptism should suffice to help you determine how to be baptized.  The example of Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3:13-17  and of Philip baptizing a new convert in  Acts 8:26-39.  

 

Oh, I should give you a hint.  The Greek word translated baptize literally means to immerse or dip.

 

 

HOUSEHOLD SALVATION

 

Often when a father or mother is saved, the entire family follows the parent and is saved and baptized.   That was the case in two examples in Acts 16. Read Lydia’s story in 16:13-17  and the Philippian jailer’s story in 16:19-34.

In both case the entire family came to faith in Christ and in both stories the whole family was baptized.  If you want to believe that the little children who were saved were sprinkled or water was poured on them, I have no problem with that.   What is important to me is that baptism does not save and that believing in Christ as Saviour is prerequisite to being baptized. according to Acts 8:36-37.  Note the clear question in verse 36 and the clear answer in verse 37. Also consider from the account in verse 38, why would Philip go down into the water with the eunuch, if he was only going to sprinkle or pour water on his head?  I have found that it is quite impossible to immerse a person in water unless I am in the water with them.

 

However, if you come to me as a Christian, who after trusting in Christ was sprinkled or poured upon, I am not going to ask you to be immersed, unless you are convinced that’s what you ought to do.

 

WHAT’S HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM?

 

When one puts his trust in Christ,  the Holy Spirit instantly baptizes the new believer into the Body of Christ, the Family of God. That has nothing to do with denominations or a local church.  Instantly you know,  recognize and love other Christians as part of the Body you have just entered.  You recognize other Christians as your brothers and sisters in Christ.  That is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 12:13-27 teaches this. 

 

It is normal for a new believer who senses he is now in God’s family, to want to follow the Lord in water baptism and get involved in a local church where the Bible is faithfully preached.

 

My warning to you would be to be very careful where you settle in a church.  Make sure you measure what you hear and experience by the plumb line of God’s Word.  That’s why I encourage you to get into HIDDEN TREASURES and get acquainted with the Bible.  Read the article with an open Bible, checking everything I have written.  Then visit churches and test everything that is said and experienced by the Bible. When you find such a church, get baptized and be faithful in your attendance and share the Good News with everyone you meet.

 

One day I will meet you in Heaven and we will have all the time in the world

(for we will be in a realm where time is no longer measured) to get acquainted and learn how God has worked in your life.

A Logical Salvation

God’s plan of salvation is logical.  Paul uses financial accounting terms  in Philippians 3 to explain it.  The historical details of his conversion are described in Acts 9 by Dr. Luke;  but Paul shares his own personal testimony in Philippians 3.

 

Before Paul met Christ, his spiritual asset column was filled up with all his personal assets he was counting on to make him worthy of Heaven.  But in a moment of time on that Damascus Rd. when confronted by the risen Christ; Paul experienced a radical transformation in his heart which extended to every area of his life. as he realized that all the things he considered spiritual assets were in fact his spiritual liabilities.  Christ, his major liability became his most valued asset.  

 

In fact, Christ became so surpassingly valuable to him that those things which were once his assets became not just liabilities.  He described them  in Philippians 3:8 as garbage, and yes, even excrement!

 

In two parables found in Matthew 13, Jesus  taught the same thing about salvation.  In verse 44 He describes salvation as a man finding a treasure in a field.  The treasure was so valuable that the man sold everything he owned in order to buy the field and thus secure the treasure for himself.

 

In the same 13th chapter of Matthew in verse 45-46 Jesus relates another parable of  a man selling all that he owned in order to purchase a pearl of great price.  That treasure and that pearl in those parables are a picture of the salvation Christ offers us.  Nothing we own or experience compares with the value of salvation.    Your wealth, your women, your success in life is nothing in comparison with knowing Jesus as your Saviour.

 

Even your religion is excrement in comparison to knowing Jesus personally as your Lord and Saviour.  

 

Fornication, adultery and sexual perversion are not the only vices in life.  The worst vice in life is a Christless religion.   That’s what Saul of Tarsus had before his conversion; a Christless religion.   He hated, not only Jesus, but those who loved and followed Jesus.

 

But in a moment of time, described in Acts 9,  Christ overcame him and he fell to the ground and surrendered to Christ as His Saviour and as His Lord,  Immediately Saul, a proud Pharisaical Jew,  turned his back on Judaism and became Paul, a fire brand for Christ.  His personal knowledge of Christ far surpassed what his religion offered him.

 

Let’s look at his former asset column in which he had trusted to make himself acceptable before God.

 

1. His self-righteousness

 

Most of the world does not understand this.  They  count their self-righteousness among their top assets.  Ask any unregenerate on what he is counting to attain Heaven.  Nearly all will reply, “I think God will see my good deeds as outweighing the wrong I have done.  I think that on that basis I will one day be in Heaven.”

 

And yet, the Bible thunders back in both the Old and New Testament that our self righteousness is less than worthless.  Isaiah 64:6 describes our self-righteousness as filthy, stinking bloody rags.    Both Ephesians 2:8-9  and Titus 3:5-6 make it crystal clear that no one can attain Heaven by his own works of righteousness.

 

So if you are trusting your self righteousness for Heaven, I urge you to take it out of your asset column and place it in your liability column.  Your good works can never save you.

 

2. His circumcision

 

Because  Paul had been circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, according to God’s Old Testament Law, he gloried in that ceremony as he came to realize that of all the people on the face of the earth, he was one of the elite sons of Abraham.  Surely that asset would see him into Heaven one day.

 

3. His position as a son of Israel

 

He was not only a son of Abraham and Isaac, but he was also a son of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel.   As an Israelite he inherited all the assets listed in Romans 9:4-5 that came with that family.

 

He did not yet understand the truth of I Peter 1:18-19,  Having Godly parents does not insure our salvation.   We cannot inherit salvation from them.

 

4. From the Tribe of Benjamin

 

Paul was not just an Israelite.  He was an elite Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin.  At the time of the division of Israel into  Northern and Southern Kingdoms,  Benjamin had joined with Judah in the southern Kingdom.  From the tribe of Judah one day the Messiah would come.  He was a blue-blood Jew. His tribe had kept pure by not intermarrying with others.

 

PK’s (Preacher’s Kids)  and MK’s  (Missionaries’ kids)  though blessed if they have godly parents, have no in with God, apart from His grace. I as an MK had to recognize my lost condition and put my trust in Christ; otherwise, I as an MK would have spent eternity in Hell.

 

 5. Tradition

 

In Acts 26:4-5 in his defense before King Agrippa, he refers to his life as a strict Pharisee;  but  in I Peter 1:18-19 he admits the vanity and uselessness of tradition as a means of securing salvation.

 

6. Zeal and Sincerity

 

In Philippians 3:6  he speaks of his zeal. No religionist was more zealous nor sincere than Saul of Tarsus; but that zeal and sincerity was worthless as far as attaining salvation was concerned.

 

7. Blameless

 

Not only was he zealous and sincere; but he saw himself as blameless, as far as God’s Law was concerned.  He couldn’t think of a single sin in his life.  He believed himself to be blameless of breaking any of God’s laws.

 

How blind he was and how blind and self-deceived is anyone  who sees himself blameless before our holy God.

 

When we read the story of Paul we are reminded of the rich young ruler In Matthew 19:16-22 who came to Jesus and claimed perfection before God’s Law.  God exposed his sins and we read that he turned away from God sorrowfully. 

 

In contrast,  Saul of Tarsus, the chief enemy of Christ and His Church, when confronted with his sins before God, bowed in saving faith and surrender and became an outstanding servant of God in the first century.

 

Both Saul of Tarsus and the rich young ruler considered themselves blameless before a holy God; but when they each met Christ, Saul (Paul) saw himself bankrupt morally before God and received Christ, whose righteousness was put to His account.  The rich young ruler rejected Christ and His righteousness  and went away lost, trusting in his own pitiful self righteousness which  stunk as filthy rags in the nostrils of God.

 

How do you stand before our holy God?  Do you dare to approach Him in your own filthy self-righteousness, or do you see your self-righteousness as a liability and cast yourself on God’s mercy and receive by His grace the asset of His righteousness credited to your account?

Beware of Dogs

The triple overall theme of the New Testament includes:

1. The exaltation of Christ

2. The explanation of the Gospel

3. The warnings of false doctrine

 

We are repeatedly warned about false teachers and false doctrine, starting with Jesus’ warning in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:15-29.  Paul repeatedly warns us, as well as John, James, Peter and Jude.   Their Epistles are filled with warning against false teachers.

 

We’ve come now to Philippians 3 and in verse 2 Paul warns us against false teachers.  Then in verse 3, he describes true Christians. 

 

WARNINGS

 

First he warns against false teachers. He describes them as dogs, evil workers and the concision.   Though I am a dog lover, I am also aware that dogs love filth.  They love to smell it, roll in it and even eat it. An unbelieving false teacher, though he may have a pleasant personality and  great skill teaching, is spiritually as filthy as a dog.  Proverbs 26:11 describes those who reject God’s Word as spiritual fools, who as dogs return to their vomit. Though we can be loving and patient with sinners, we cannot afford to give an inch to false teachers.  They must be removed from their offices; whether deacons, elders, Sunday School teachers, pastors or seminary professors.

 

Secondly, false teachers  are described as  evil workers.  False teachers, though seemingly nice people and even smart people, cannot be trusted nor condoned.  They must be recognized as evil workers and removed from their teaching positions.

 

Thirdly, the false teacher is described as a member of the concision.  That was another way of describing the Judaizers who were poisoning the young Gentile converts with the need to be circumcised. Circumcision is the surgical procedure on the male organ of  a Jewish baby boy on the eighth day after his birth.    Many gentile boys are also circumcised for health reasons.  That is a decision between parents and their physician.  It has nothing to do with our spiritual standing before God.

 

The Judaizers in Paul’s day were insisting the male gentile believers be circumcised and observe the Jewish Feast Days and sabbaths.  Wherever Paul was preaching and leading people to Christ, these members of the concision followed to poison the young converts with requirements that had nothing to do with their salvation they had received as a gift of God’s grace.

 

Satan, the god of false religion, has always attempted to infiltrate God’s people to contaminate the Truth and weaken young Christians.   Jesus referred to them as those who sow tares in a field of wheat.  Paul referred to them as wolves who destroy the flock.

 

God has given us a way to recognize Truth from error. It’s found in Philippians 3:3.    There Paul describes the true circumcision, those whose hearts have been circumcised by God who saves and cuts away sin in our lives. A true Christians is not simply one who has determined to cut sin out of his life and do right.  Rather, he is one whose heart has been cleansed by the blood of Christ and his heart desires to please God.  When the heart is right, the right actions will follow.

 

A DESCRIPTION OF TRUE CHRISTIANS

 

So Paul in Philippians 3:3 describes the true Christian as one who worships God in the spirit,  who rejoices in Christ Jesus and  who has no confidence in his flesh nature.  That’s one of the most complete descriptions of a Christian in all of the Bible. 

 

The True Christian Worships God in the Spirit.

 

True worship is totally internal in nature and character, but it works itself out in a changed life.  A true Christian is one who adores and worships Christ in His heart. That worship is prompted by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

 

His worship is not  prompted by tradition, so-called worship music, culture, guilt or fear.

 

Nor does he worship to be accepted by others.

 

Nor does he worship to work up emotional feelings and feel good about himself. True worship slays self-righteousness as we give all honor and glory to God for who He is and what He has done for us.

 

In fact, true worship will make us aware of sin in our own lives as it did for Isaiah as he worshipped God. Read of his worship experience in Isaiah 6. It not only caused him to seek cleansing from sin, but also resulted in a desire to serve the Lord in whatever way God could use him.

 

Any so-called worship experience that does not result in a desire to confess and turn from sin and yield ourselves for Christ’s service,  is simply an empty emotional selfish feeling not worthy of the designation, worship.

 

He does not worship to solve problems nor to gain blessings.

 

He does not come to church to worship, for a true Christian can worship God 24/7 wherever he is

 

Rather, he comes to church to hear the preaching of God’s Word and as he hears the Word, he responds in corporate worship with other Christians, as well as private, secret worship too deep and too intimate to make a public show of piety. Such piety is vulgar, hypocritical and false

 

Worship is not just singing or saying words to God.  It’s partly that, but it’s much more. It’s  responding in praise and thanksgiving to God.  True worship always results in obedience in service and in sacrifice to God.

 

 

The True Christian Rejoices in the Lord.

 

Christianity is a personal loving relationship with God based on an understanding and acceptance of the Gospel. 

 

The Gospel is composed of objective facts.  Jesus is God in human flesh. He was born of a virgin mother.  He lived a sinless life  and then went to the cross and willingly shed His blood and gave His life for our sins.  Three days later,  God the Father raised Him from the dead.  He ascended back to Heaven.   Those who trust Jesus and His blood sacrifice are forgiven, cleansed of their sins and made fit to live with God throughout eternity.

 

But salvation is more than receiving these objective facts.  It is more than a mere intellectual understanding of the Gospel.  That intellectual understanding results in a personal, subjective relationship with God.  That personal relationship results in a life of rejoicing in Christ; just as a bride and groom who have given and received objective pledges from one another in their marriage vows are bound together in a new relationship with one another  that results in a lifelong relationship of rejoicing in each other. That rejoicing in Christ is the theme of Paul’s epistle to the Philippians. You’ll see that theme throughout the Epistle.

 

Notice, Paul is not telling us to be happy in our circumstances.  Happiness has to do with our happenstances.  Some happenings are good and some are bad.  Some bring happiness and some bring sadness.   God does not call you and me to be happy in our sad circumstances.   Rather God calls us to rejoice in Christ, regardless of our circumstances.  Such rejoicing acts as shock absorbers to cushion the difficult circumstances of life and to live a smooth, peaceful life, in spite of the bumpy experiences and emotions of life.  As long as we are walking in fellowship with Christ and rejoicing in Him, the circumstances really don’t matter.

 

Horatio Spafford, a lawyer and real estate investor in Chicago, was  an associate of D.L. Moody, evangelist and founder of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago,

 

After the Chicago fire of 1871 most of his real estate holdings lay in ashes. In November of 1873, many of the schools had not yet been rebuilt in Chicago, so he and his wife decided to travel to England and enroll their children in an English academy so they would not be held back in their education.

 

Just before they left America, a business development made it necessary for Horatio to stay in America and so he sent his wife and daughters to England on the ship, Villa de Havre.   In mid ocean, they collided with another ship and their ship sank, taking the four daughters to the bottom of the ocean.  Mrs. Spafford was able to cling to some floating wreckage and was saved from drowning. In England she telegraphed her husband, “SAVED ALONE.” 

 

With his financial holdings gone and now his daughters gone, he penned the following words which became a song Christians find great comfort in singing.

 

It Is Well With My Soul

 

When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul

 

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come

Let this bless assurance control.

That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

 

My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought,

My sin, not in part, but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul.

 

And Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

 

What comfort these words have brought to countless hearts.

 

He Has No Confidence in the Flesh

 

A true Christian has no confidence in the flesh.  By the flesh, we are speaking of our unredeemed humanness, our sinful self nature.

 

There is nothing wrong with our physical bodies.  The Bible says we are fearfully and wonderfully made.    Though we are redeemed, if our trust is in Christ; yet our flesh or self nature is not yet redeemed.   Romans 7 gives us the most information concerning our flesh nature.  

 

Our self nature is basically selfish, proud and lustful.   Paul, the spiritual giant, confesses that there’s not one good thing about our self nature.  We are not to trust it nor feed it and our text, Philippians 3:3, warns us to have no confidence in it. In other words, if you are a Christian, don’t put yourself in a position where you could fall into sin.  Many, many pastors and other Christian leaders have not heeded this warning, thinking themselves spiritually strong enough to avoid sin.  In a moment of unexpected weakness they have allowed the flesh nature to lead them into sin.

 

May God help us as Christians to always be aware of dogs, evil workers and those who would lead us into religious bondage  and may we worship God in Truth and in the Spirit. May we rejoice in Christ and in what He has done and is doing for us and may we have no confidence in our sinful flesh nature.

GEMS

As I read books and listen to preachers and others speak, occasionally I read or hear a gem of truth that is so outstanding and powerful  that it merits being remembered and shared with others. Watch this link for new gems as I unearth them. 

Diplomats or Prophets

“We who preach the Gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We are not diplomats, but prophets and our message is not compromise but an ultimatum.”   

 AW Tozer in Man The Dwelling Place of God 1966

Anticipating Christ’s Return

Most people know the story of the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger. Many know He came to die on a cross for sinners.  They celebrate His birth with carols, decorations, parties and gifts;  even though a strong, growing vocal minority would like to see Christmas removed from the American landscape.

 

But although much of the world is aware of  and even celebrates Christ’s first coming, most of Christendom despises and ignores His second coming to judge the world.  Many who call themselves Christians are ignorant or misguided about this Biblical truth.

 

Unbelievers don’t want to hear about the second coming of Christ, or judgment and hell.  They dread it and down deep in their hearts they know it is true.   If as adults we believed in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, they would laugh us off as foolish; but because they have a vague uneasiness that the Bible and Christianity may possibly be true, they hate and try to silence Christianity and those who declare it.  They mistakenly think that if they silence Christians, God and His Truth will go away.

 

Regardless, we Christians need to lovingly and faithfully warn them. In fact, one of the best ways to share the Gospel is to begin by warning sinners of the Biblical facts concerning Christ’s second coming.

 

Jesus constantly warned of His second coming throughout His ministry. In Luke 12:40 He taught, “Be ready also: for the Son of Man comes at an hour when you don’t expect Him.”  In Acts 17:30-31 Paul approached the unconverted religionists in Athens with the warning, “The times of this ignorance, God winked at; but now commands every man everywhere to repent.  Because He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He has ordained; whereof He has given assurance unto all men, in that He has raised Him from the dead.”   Jesus, who was crucified, buried and raised from the dead on the third day, is one day returning to this earth. His second coming will be to judge and rule over this world for a Millennium, one thousand years.

 

Though unbelievers hate and despise the idea of Christ’s return to judge this world,  we Christians long for His return and we sing, “Oh, Lord Jesus, how long, how long, ere we sing that glad song, Christ Returneth, Christ Returneth.  Hallelujah Amen.  Hallelujah Amen.”

 

Listen to these Biblical promises of Christ’s second coming that challenge us as Christians to be faithful and ready for His return.  

 

“Be patient therefore brethren,  unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.  Be ye also patient, establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws nigh.” James 5:7-8

 

I encourage you to read the major passages on the details of the return of Christ for His own as found in I Corinthians 15:51-58  and I Thessalonians 4:13-18.

 

How can we prepare for His coming?  Let’s return to Luke 21 as we wind up our study of Christ’s Olivet Discourse.  Jesus says to us in verse 28, “Look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near.”

 

I. LOOK UP WITH ANTICIPATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT.

 

When we look at the circumstances around us: political, economic and moral darkness, we have reason to feel hopeless, despondent and in despair.

 

But when we look up to Jesus who bids us  to be of good cheer for He is returning for us and to take over this world one day, perhaps sooner than we can imagine; He give us His blessed hope. James wrote in James 5:8 “Be patient, establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws near.” The last promise and the last prayer in the Bible are found in Revelation 22:20. They are “Surely I come quickly.  Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

 

II. LOOK IN WITH INTROSPECTION AND SELF-JUDGMENT.

 

That’s Jesus’ challenge to us in verse 34 of Luke 21.  “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

 

Christ is warning us here to beware of living lives of excess, immoderation  and self-indulgence, living for fun and pleasure and self-satisfaction.  Imagine! Christians partying while the world around us goes to hell.

 

It’s not sinful for Christians to have fun and enjoy life. I love Church socials and wacky fun. I love to see our children and our teens enjoying occasional church socials and parties in the homes;  but it is wrong for Christians to be surfeited or weighed down,  trying to drown themselves in the pleasures of life and forget the reality of Christ’s imminent return.

 

If anything, church parties and socials should be occasions when we invite our unsaved friends to join us in our fun times so that they can see first hand the reality of Christian joy.  That may be the first step to winning them to Christ.

 

The joyful anticipation of meeting Christ imminently should lead to growth in virtue and holiness.  Listen to John in I John 3:2-3 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. and every man who has this hope in him, purifies himself even as He (Jesus) is pure.

 

Paul says the same thing in Titus 2:11-14. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldy lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works.”

 

Paul writes these kinds of warnings to the various churches.  You can read another of them in Romans 13:11-14.  Peter also warns Christians of the return of Christ  in II Peter 3.  In verse 11 he reminds us as Christians, “See then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.”  

 

John, an old man when he writes His Epistles, in I John 2:28 reminds Christians, “And now, little children, abide in Him; that when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”

 

III.  LOOK OUT WITH EVANGELISTIC CONCERN

 

In the Matthew 24 account of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus refers to the need for evangelistic activity.  He reminds us that in Noah’s time in the days before the Flood began, life went on as usual with people eating and drinking and getting married and ignoring Noah’s warning of a world wide flood right up to the day Noah and  his family entered the ark.   In Luke 21:35 Jesus  speaks of  the world’s population as being trapped in a snare when He returns to judge.

 

In II Peter 3 Peter likens the universal world wide flood of Noah’s Day  to the world wide judgment that will fall on the earth when Christ returns. As people scorned a flood in Noah’s day; so today, unconverted scientists and teachers close their minds to all the evidence of a flood because they know that if they believe it to be true, to be consistent they must also believe in the world wide judgment Peter warned of in this 3rd chapter.

 

How do you stand?  Is your faith in Christ who died for your sins and rose again for your justification?   If so, you are justified and ready for the return of Christ.  If not, you stand condemned to the fiery judgment that awaits this earth and all those who dwell on this earth.

 

Thank God for the doxology in Jude’s little one chapter epistle.  Verses 24 and 25  declare  “Now unto Him (Jesus our Saviour)  who is able to keep you from falling and to present you FAULTLESS before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, OUR SAVIOUR, JESUS, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever, Amen.”

OUR SILENT GOD

Solomon’s temple, one of the architectural wonders of the world, was built silently.  According to I Kings 6:1-7 there were no sounds of iron tools such as hammers, chisels, etc.  All the measuring and cutting of stones was done at the quarry.  The temple went up at the building site in total silence as the men put the pre-measured, pre-cut stones into their proper places. 

 

Is this just mere trivia?  Not at all.  Nothing about the Bible is trivial. Everything is for a reason.  There’s something intriguing about this silence. It tells us something about God and of how He works. Consider

 

OUR SILENT GOD

 

The universe moves in its orbit in total silence. The sun  rises and sets  in total silence.  At the Grand Canyon and other marvelous natural wonders, the hushed silence is noticeable as people ponder God’s creation.

 

Oh yes, there is the occasional roar of thunder and lightening storms, of tornadoes and hurricanes and other natural disasters.  That’s all part of the curse of sin on this earth.  So are the angry screams and roarings of anger and rage as sinful people vent their sinful hearts.

 

Babies are formed silently in the womb.  They continue to grow from infancy to old age, all in silence.   All of God’s creation moves through time and space in total silence.  

 

Though God moves and acts in silence; the redeemed respond in worship and praise in a great variety of beautiful melodious and harmonious music to God and in joyful fellowship with Him and with one another.  

 

By contrast there is the mind-numbing dissonant cacophony of discord and confusion in hell’s music.

 

As one who loves God-glorifying music, I can’t wait to hear and participate in its variety and perfection in Heaven.

 

In the midst of God’s silence, when it seems as though nothing good is happening and God is not answering our prayers;  we can take comfort that God is at work in our lives and working all things together for our good.

 

Listen to the third stanza of the Christmas carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem as it speaks to us of Christ’s coming into this world.

 

“How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is given.

So God impart to human heart the blessings of His Heaven.

No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin;

Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.”

 

As physical growth takes place silently in the body of a child who eats, drinks, exercises and rests; so spiritual growth occurs silently in those who feed on His Word and surrender to His will. 

 

In this message, consider the silence of:

1. Worshiping God

2. Serving God

3, Effecting change in individuals, churches, nations and the world.

 

THE SILENCE OF WORSHIP

 

Habakkuk 2:20 instructs us regarding worship,  ”The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.”  Reverential silence is to be desired in worship. It’s not that  there should be a funeral-like silence in the church; but a respectful, reverential silence is often missing.

 

There is a place in worship for loud, joyful, Biblically-based, instrumental and vocal music  as David describes it in the Psalms, some of which are Psalm 33:3,  66:1-2,  81:1-3,  95:1-3,  98:4-9,  100.  Quiet, peaceful music that turns our thoughts to reflecting on Christ and what He means to us also has a place in worship. 

 

Not only should we joyfully sing from our hearts, but we should reach out in Christian fellowship to others in genuine love, warmth and friendliness.

 

Let us show respectful, reverential treatment of our church property, including our rest rooms, sanctuary and hymn books.  At the same time, keep in mind that our bodies are the true sanctuary in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.  As much as it is important to take care of our church sanctuary, it is even more important that we recognize our bodies as the true sanctuary and holy property of God, as I Corinthians 6 teaches. 

 

The highest form of worship takes place silently in our hearts as we worship the Lord in Spirit and as He prepares our hearts for the Truth of His Word, the Bible.  John 4:24

 

Certainly singing hymns and choruses from a wicked, rebellious heart is blasphemous, according to Amos 5:21-24.

 

 

THE SILENCE OF DOING GOD’S WORK

 

As Isaiah prophesied  of Jesus’ ministry in Isaiah 42:1-4, Jesus ministered quietly. He was not a rabble-rouser.  Though we are to always be ready to share the Gospel; our witness is empowered by the silent witness of a consistent godly life.  If we are failing to live it, it would be better to be silent about our love for Christ, because our hypocrisy brings shame to His name. 

 

Paul writes in II Thessalonians 3:11-12 that we are to mind our own business as we do our own work quietly.  Jesus gives a wonderful description of the attitudes of the Christian life in His Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-16.  For more on this, go to my link, Beatitudes, on this web site.

 

God’s work takes time, energy and commitment; however, we must avoid  frenzied activity. Yes, we get physically tired and emotionally drained, but in our weakness, He promises His strength.  Read some of the wonderful promises upon which we can rest in our times of weariness.  Isaiah 40:29-31, 30:15, Zechariah 4:6  and Matthew 11:28-30.

 

THE SILENCE OF EFFECTIVNG POLITICAL CHANGE

 

The political situation in America and throughout the world today is not encouraging, to say the least.

 

I am convinced from Scripture that my calling as a preacher is not to get caught up in politics and political and social causes.  I believe that through my faithful preaching of the Word and magnifying Christ, I can quietly be used of God to effect changes in values and thus changes in political thinking as changed people seek political leaders who best reflect their changed values.

 

As Christians are grounded in God’s Word, they become like King David’s mighty men described in I Chronicles 12:15-40  Note especially verse 32 as the men of Issachar are described.  They were men who “had an understanding of the times and knew what Israel ought to do.”

 

God is not impressed with big crowds nor majorities. In fact, God does not get the biggest crowds in this world today.  The devil does. He not only gets the biggest crowds, but he also makes the most noise.  We accomplish nothing by trying to out-shout him.

 

God still speaks with a “still small voice.”  I Kings 19:11-12

 

“Be still and know that I am God.”  Psalm 46:10

 

“Stand in awe and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still. Psalm 4:4

 

Our strength in times of trouble is to sit still. Isaiah 30:1-7

 

We are to study to learn to be quiet before God. I Thessalonians 4:11.

 

We are to pray for our leaders that we may enjoy a peaceable and quiet life. I Timothy 2:1-2

 

A woman’s greatest strength is her “meek and quiet spirit”.  I Peter 3:4

 

How does God change our nation?  Quietly without any big show or loud commotion as we Christians get right with God.  II Chronicles 7:14

Epaphroditus

Although the theme of Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians is that of joy,  it is also a call to humility, according to Philippians 2:1-8.  We are to live out our lives without pride if life goes well for us and without complaint if we are faced with difficulties.   Joy and humility are usually found together. Outstanding examples of that truth are found in the person of Jesus, Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus.

 

Joy and humility are also found in the great missionary heroes, such as Hudson Taylor, missionary to China,  David Livingston, missionary to Africa, George Mueller who operated an orphanage in England in the 19th century or the five missionaries who were martyred by the Auca Indian tribe in the jungles of  Ecuador in 1956.

 

That kind of sacrifice is rare in America today and rare is the Christian who is bubbling over with joy, for sacrifice and joy are usually found together.

 

Earlier in our study of Philippians 2:17-24, we looked at the joy of the Apostle Paul and his son in the Faith, Pastor Timothy.  In this article we want to look at Epaphroditus in verses 25-30.

 

Epaphroditus was born into a heathen Greek culture. He was named after the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite.  As a young man, he was saved and became a trusted, faithful deacon or servant in the church of Philippi.  

 

He was a common man who had nothing personal to gain by his sacrifice. The Church of Philippi had entrusted Epaphroditus with a gift of money to take to  the imprisoned Apostle Paul in Rome.

 

How did Paul recognize Epaphroditus?

 

Paul recognized him as a brother in Christ and a faithful fellow worker who worked alongside of Paul to spread the Gospel.  He also recognized him as a fellow soldier.  Paul did not look down on Epaphroditus. He elevated him as his beloved co-worker.

 

He also recognized Epaphroditus as an apostle or sent one in 2:25.

 

Although there were only twelve Apostles chosen, trained and sent out by Jesus to establish the Church, I believe Paul was the twelfth Apostle who replaced Judas after he betrayed Jesus and hung himself, although I don’t question it could have been Matthias who was chosen by the Apostles by casting lots. The point is, there were only twelve Apostles. Those Apostles are referred to in Revelation 21:14 where we find their names written in the  foundations of the Holy City in eternity.

 

But in addition to the twelve Apostles (which I spell with a capital A) to distinguish them,  the early church also sent out apostles, (which I spell with a lower case a).  In both cases, apostles  were simply sent ones. Epaphroditus was an apostle or sent one by the Philippian church.

 

In both cases, the Apostles of Christ and the apostles of the local churches left their homes, their livelihood and self-interests to devote their lives for Christ.

 

Why was it necessary to sent Epaphroditus back to Philippi?

 

Philippians 2:25-26 informs us that Epaphroditus was distressed. Why was he distressed?  Because they learned he was sick and close to dying, and because of their love and concern for him, they  were distressed.  Their distress became Epaphroditus’ distress.

 

Paul who needed Epaphroditus’ help, did not say to him, “Snap out of it. So what if the Philippian Church feels badly over your sickness. Let them get over it and YOU get over it also!”  No, Paul did not talk  or even think like that.  Paul knew that relationships were more important than programs.

 

God had mercy on Epaphroditus. He recovered from his illness.  He also showed mercy to Paul; otherwise, Paul’s sorrow might have been much worse. Paul already bore the daily burdens of all the churches, II Corinthians  11:28 reminds us.

 

We all have problems and burdens.

 

The Philippian Church had their problems and burdens. Philippians 1:29 speaks of their sufferings.

 

Paul had his problems.

 

Epaphroditus had his problems.

 

But no one was concerned for their own problems.

 

The Philippian church was concerned for the Apostle Paul and their apostle, Epaphroditus.

 

Paul was concerned for the Philippian Church and for Epaphroditus.

 

Epaphroditus was concerned for Paul and the Philippian Church.

 

All of them were concerned for one another, rather than themselves. They were as Galatians 6:2 teaches,  bearing one another’s burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ, which is love for one another.  Therefore Paul sent Epaphroditus home to his church and wrote to the Philippian Church,  “Receive Epaphroditus, welcome him in the Lord and hold him in high regard, for he came close to death for the work of Christ, even risking his life.

 

For what are we spending or risking our lives?  For the cause of Christ, or for self-fulfillment?

 

For whom are we primarily concerned? Ourselves or for others?

 

God help us to so bear the burdens of others that our own burdens seem as nothing.

Philadelphian & Laodicean Churches

The Budding of the Fig Tree

 

 

In the previous article concerning the budding of the fig tree, Jesus used the fig tree as an illustration that as the buds assure us that the leaves and fruit are not far behind; so the generation that sees and experiences the cataclysmic end of this sin-cursed age, as described in Luke 21:20-26 will also experience the ushering in of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom.

 

There, I made the statement that Christ’s true Church, composed of all His redeemed; will not be among this generation that experiences the indescribable terrors of the Tribulation as God’s wrath is poured out on this sin-cursed earth in its final hours. Why?  Because seven years earlier, Christ’s true Church, composed of all those whose trust for salvation is in Christ Himself, will have been caught up supernaturally into Heaven in new glorified bodies, impervious to sin and sin’s curse.

 

In this article I want to give you reasons why I believe Christ’s redeemed, true Church will escape the Tribulation.

 

 

I. The Revelation in context

 

 

First, let me give you a reason you can discover for yourself simply by reading through The Revelation, John’s heavenly vision of the end times. Let’s trace the Church through the book of The Revelation.

 

In Rev. 1-3 Jesus speaks to the seven churches of Asia Minor, a type of the entire Church Age since it began at Pentecost.   It’s quite evident that the seven churches trace church history on this earth  from the time of the Apostles to the beginning of the Millennial reign of Christ.  The dates I give you are rough estimates.

 

Ephesus – The Apostolic Church from  30-100 AD   Revelation 2:1-7

 

Smyrna – The Persecuted Church from 100-312 AD   Revelation2:8-11

 

Pergamos – The Idolatrous Church from 312 – 606 AD   Revelation 2:12-17

 

Thyatira – The Church of the Dark Ages  606 – 1517   Revelation 2:18-29

 

Sardis – The Church of the Reformation  1517 – to 1750   Revelation 3:1-6

 

Philadelphia – The Faithful Church  1750 – Rapture   Revelation 3:7-13

 

Laodicea –  The Apostate Church 1950 – Tribulation   Revelation 3:14-22

 

2. In Revelation 4:1-2  we see the Church being caught up into Heaven, which speaks of the Rapture of the Saints.  The Tribulation follows on earth.

 

3. Revelation chapter 4-5  The Church in Heaven is identified by the Elders, clothed in white raiment with crowns on their heads.   In Chapter 4  they give glory to Christ, their Creator.   In chapter 5  they give glory to Christ their Redeemer.

 

4. Note, the Church is not mentioned in Rev. 6-18, which chapters are a description of the Tribulation. The reason for the absence of the Church on earth is because it has already been caught up into Heaven before the Tribulation began.  

 

An exception is the false church, described as the harlot in Revelation 17.   She is seen riding the Beast or controlling the Anti-christ until in his fury, he destroys the harlot church and  proclaims himself as god, demanding all to worship him or face execution.

 

5.  in Revelation 19, The Church, clothed in white raiment and crowns on their heads, follows Christ from Heaven to this earth to witnesses the destruction of all Christ’s enemies as He assumes His Millennial rule over the entire world.

 

 

II. The faithful Church will not face the wrath of God during The Tribulation.

 

 

I Thessalonians 5:1-11 makes that clear. Though the Church is chastened when needed by Christ, she never faces God’s wrath. See verse 9 in that fifth chapter.

 

Yes, we face tribulations in this world, as Jesus said we would in John 16:33,  but that is a far cry from the horrors of The Great Tribulation under the Anti-christ.   II Thessalonians 2 also makes it clear that the church escapes the Great Tribulation.  To understand this chapter, go to the category PROPHECY and scroll to # 8, The big Picture.  That will help explain II Thessalonians 2 in detail.

 

Titus 2:11-13 is also a great passage on the Rapture, describing it as a Blessed Hope.  If the Great Tribulation is part of the picture for  Christians, then the rapture of the church ceases to be a “Blessed Hope”.

 

So I do not believe true Christians need to look forward to The Great Tribulation. Rather, we escape it via the Rapture.

 

The Churches of Philadelphia and Laodicea

 

Finally, I want to share some thoughts with you concerning two of the seven Churches we mentioned at the beginning of this article; the Church of Philadelphia and the Church of Laodicea. 

 

First the faithful Church of Philadelphia, characterized by brotherly love. This church, faithful to God’s Word and to fulfilling the Great Commission of evangelizing the world, probably got started early in the 18th century and  will be caught up in the Rapture just before the Great Tribulation is unleashed on this earth. 

 

Christ’s promise to the Philadelphian Church ONLY is found in Revelation 3:10.  “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (testing) which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” From this verse I find comfort that His faithful church will be raptured before the Tribulation is unleashed.

 

In contrast, the Church of Laodicea which I personally believe symbolizes the new church movement that got started about 1950 and will  continue into the Tribulation.  For more information abut this crucial event that took place in 1950 go to my category, LIBERALISM  and Scroll to the article, The Kingdom of God in America.

 

Is the Laodicean Church a part of the true Church, the spiritual body of Christ?  I believe it is.  It tells us in Rev. 3 that Christ loves the Church, but He is grieved and even disgusted with it.  It nauseates Him.  Does the Laodicean Church get raptured?  I wonder!  Jesus only promises the Philadelphian Church deliverance from the hour of testing to come upon the world. Again, I believe He is referring to deliverance from the Tribulation.  It would not surprise me if the Laodicean Christians goes through the Tribulation and faces martyrdom for their faith.

 

Regardless, both are true Churches, though one is carnal and the other is spiritual. In either case, these are people who seeing they are sinners, have put their trust in Christ and been given the gift of eternal life which no power can take from them. See Romans 8 on this. But just because they have eternal life is no guarantee that they will both escape the Tribulation. Look again at Revelation 3:10. Note why the Philadelphian Church escapes the Tribulation.  Can the same be said of the Laodicean Church?

 

 

In which Church are you?

 

 

How can we distinguish a Philadelphian Church from a Laodicean Church?

The best way I know is to read Jesus’ message to each of the churches. To the Philadelphian Church, Christ message is found in Revelation 3:7-12. To the Laodicean Church His message is found in Revelation 3:14-21.

 

I think we could summarize the two churches this way.  The Philadelphian Church hungers for God’s Word. Preaching the Word is the most important thing.  The Laodicean Church has turned away from the preaching of God’s Word. They reject any preaching that makes them feel guilty. They label Biblical preaching that deals with sin as “legalistic”.  Their entire church life centers in good emotional feelings of what they call worship as their preachers give them what they want to hear.  Their lives are not much different from the lost all around them.  

 

Christ tells the Laodicean Church that He stands at the door of their hearts, knocking to gain entrance.  He wants fellowship with these carnal Christians.  To those who open the door, He will come in and enjoy  fellowship with them.

 

It is not our responsibility to judge churches anymore than we judge individual Christians.   However, we need spiritual discernment to know where God wants us to worship and be fed.  It tells us in Acts 17:10-11 that the Christians in Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they listened carefully to the preaching and then discerned whether the preaching they were hearing was in line with the Word of God.

 

What you eat and don’t eat to a large extent determines your physical health.  The preaching you hear and digest at church  to a large extent determines your spiritual health and the spiritual health of your children. May God give you His discernment and His peace as you determine where you are going to worship and be fed God’s Word.

 

Read again Christ’s messages to the Church of Philadelphia and to Laodicea in Revelation 3:7-21 and then determine whether yours is a Philadelphian Church or a Laodicean Church.

 

Budding of the Fig Tree

Along with the doctrines of salvation and Christian living, the Second Coming of Christ is a dominant theme of the New Testament. In fact, the Old Testament is filled with prophecies of this event.  It is the culmination of our salvation when we are glorified  sinless and present with Christ for eternity.

 

The end time events begin with Christ returning to catch His Church up into Heaven in an event that has come to be known as the rapture of the saints. Though the word rapture is not used in the Bible, Jesus described this rapturous event of being caught up into the presence of Christ  in John 14:1-3.

 

The Apostle Paul, writing by inspiration of God, gives us the most information concerning this event in I Corinthians 15:51-58, I Thessalonians 4:13-18. In Romans 8:23 it is referred to as the redemption of our bodies.  Romans13:11-14 reminds us that we have no time to waste as we await Christ’s return, Paul also wrote to Timothy and Titus about this great event.  II Timothy 4:8 and  Titus 2:11-14.   

 

The writer of Hebrews also mentions it in Hebrews 9:28.

 

The Apostle John refers to it in I John 3:1-3.  The last promise and the last prayer in the Bible, found in Revelation 22:20 concern the Rapture.

 

The Olivet Discourse, found in Luke 21,  Matthew 24-25  and Mark 13, is Christ’s answer to His disciples’ question concerning the course of this present age and end time events. It does not mention the Rapture of the Saints, for the privilege of announcing and explaining that event to Christ’s Church was given to the Apostle Paul after Christ had ascended back to Heaven and after the Church was supernaturally established at Pentecost. 

 

However, the Olivet Discourse traces the history of this age to its consummation when Christ returns to this earth to reign.  First, Jesus describes this present age as one characterized by wars and rumors of wars, as nations and kingdoms rise up one against another, as well as an age of natural disasters.   He also describes the world-wide  religious deception and persecution of Christians.  He speaks of the universe-altering signs that appear in the last days before His return to reign on this earth in His glorious Kingdom.

 

In Luke 21:29-32 He uses fig trees and other trees in general to illustrate a point we must remember.   When fig trees, as well as other trees begin to put forth their leaves and blossoms, we know that summer is coming.  So when we see Jerusalem surrounded by armies and  the cataclysmic events that follow, described in  verses 20-28; those living on this earth will know that the end of this age has come and Christ is ready to reign over this earth.

 

The question that divides Christians is  Who is the you in verse 31  and this generation in verse 32 referring to?  Certainly they are the same group of people.

 

Some believe they were the disciples to whom Jesus was speaking.  That cannot be possible, for they did not live to see all the prophesied events of verse 8-28

 

Some believe they were the people who witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army in 70 AD.  Again, that cannot be possible for the same reason, even though they witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and their temple.

 

In recent years when Israel returned to their homeland and became a nation in 1948,  many Bible teachers began teaching that this was the “budding of the fig tree” and that this generation would see the return of Christ and the fulfillment of prophecy.   Although all of this is supremely significant prophetically;  time has shown that the adult generation of 1948 were not the generation to see the return of Christ.  Most of them have died.

 

So who is the generation who is spoken of in verses 31-32?  They are those who will be living in the midst of the cataclysmic events described in  Luke 21:20-28. Though the people living in 70 AD witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, there is going to be a future generation who will see Jerusalem surrounded by armies as Armageddon draws near. The events of 70 AD were but a foretaste of what is to come in The Tribulation under the Anti-christ.

 

One thing for certain is that the Church, the redeemed Body of Christ, will not be on earth to witness all of this.  We will have been raptured into Heaven seven years earlier.  For more on the rapture of the saints and the seven years of Tribulation under the control of Anti-christ, go to my series on PROPHECY.

 

In the next post, Lord willing, I will give you Scriptural reasons why the true Church will not go through the Tribulation on earth.  We will have been caught up to Heaven before that begins.  Christians will never know nor see the Anti-christ.

Timothy, Paul’s Son in the Faith

Preaching God’s Word is important, but preaching itself doesn’t help us live by God’s holy standards. The Christian life must be modeled by the preacher, the Sunday School teacher, the Bible class leader, the parent; or the teaching is worthless.  It’s less than worthless.  It’s damning!

 

We’ve already read and discussed in Philippians some very high standards by which to live: live humbly, without complaining, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, have the mind of Christ, look out, not just for yourself, but for the good of others, no grumbling nor complaining.

 

All of us find it easier to  follow examples, than to simply follow precepts from God’s Word.

 

Christ was  the perfect, sinless example; but most of us, realizing He was sinless, look elsewhere for our example.  After all, who can follow the example of the sinless Son of God?

 

That’s why we look elsewhere for our example: to our parents, an older brother or sister, our Sunday School teacher, our preacher or someone else.

 

We look to redeemed sinners who live in this sinful world and who possess sinful natures. just as we do;  but who live victoriously to show us it can  be done.  One who cannot provide the example to others, has no business attempting to teach others;  until he has gotten right with God and taken some time out from teaching or preaching to prove that his repentance is genuine.

 

In some cases the damage of our sin can be so extensive that God may have to remove us from the position of influence we once had to a position of lesser influence.  God still loves us and will use us if we are broken and surrendered to Him.

 

Timothy was a young man from the Lystra/Derbe area of Galatia who had a Greek father and a Jewish mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois.  The mother and grandmother had led him to Christ and were godly influences in his life.

 

When Paul first met Timothy, he was impressed with his genuine testimony and Christian character and took on the responsibility of mentoring him for the ministry.  Timothy made himself available for Paul as a faithful, trustworthy servant.  When Paul was imprisoned in Rome for the Gospel, he would have returned to the church of Philippi, but could not; so sent Timothy in his place.

 

WHY WAS TIMOTHY SO VALUABLE TO PAUL?

 

1. He was a kindred spirit to Paul.  He thought as Paul thought.  He evaluated situations as Paul.  His heart beat as Paul’s for the same burdens and concerns.   Though Paul had a good number of friends, he said in Philippians 2:20  that he had no one like Timothy.  A preacher is rich if at the end of his life he has even one protégé who thinks as he thinks and has the same values as he has and has the same heart beat for the ministry as he has.

 

2. As Paul, Timothy had the same genuine concerns for the Church of Philippi.

 

3. As Paul, Timothy was single-minded to the interests of Christ.  He did not, as many preachers, dabble in a number of other business interests and time and money consuming hobbies.  He said in Corinth as he could have said in any city, “I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus and Him crucified.” 

 

4. In II Tim. 2:20 Paul wrote that Timothy was a proven servant.  He had passed tests throughout his life. See the need for such  testing in I Timothy 3:6, 10.

 

5. As Paul, Timothy lived a sacrificial life.  There is no evidence he ever married and had children or owned a home or any possessions.  He seemed to have no agenda of his own, but was always available to Paul and was willing to make any sacrifice for him, even when Paul was imprisoned.  In fact, from Hebrews 13:22-23 it appears that Timothy was also imprisoned for the Gospel.

 

 

Timothy was human and imperfect. He, no doubt,  had the same struggles to stay pure that all of us have, especially in our youth.  That’s why Paul warned him in his last Epistle written before he was executed in II Timothy 2:20-26  to stay strong in his fight against these temptations.

Joyful, Humble Sacrifice

The theme of Philippians is JOY.  Three men: Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus, described in Philippians 2:12-18,  illustrate the essential relationship of joy to humble sacrificial service. They stand out among Christians; not as grumblers and complainers, but as lights in the midst of a vile, sinful, crooked, perverse generation.

 

Paul refers to himself in Philippians 2:16-18,  to Timothy in 2:19-24  and to Epaphroditus in 2:25-30; three men with the passion and zeal to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, with humility and without complaint, regardless of their circumstances. 

 

By “working out our salvation” we mean that we are by God’s grace and strength, to work out the gracious Gift of salvation God has given us, a Gift given to us totally by the grace of God apart from any works on our part.

 

If you need more help in this confusing area of faith and works, go to category SALVATION and read OVERCOMERS.

 

PAUL

 

Now of these three men I just mentioned, look first at Paul.  By inspiration of God, he was willing to offer himself as an example of sacrificial service without any self-consciousness.  Every pastor, church elder or deacon ought to be able to say to others without pride or self-consciousness, “Be followers of me.”

 

Certainly parents  ought to be able to say that to their children.  How hypocritical and wicked it is for a father to command his children, “Do as I say; not as I do!”

 

POURED OUT AS A DRINK OFFERING

 

Several times in his Epistles, Paul challenges Christians to “Be followers of me as I am of Christ.”  In Philippians 2:17 Paul correctly understood that the animal sacrifices for sin in Old Testament times were types of Christ who was the final, perfect sacrifice for sin.  However, he talks about himself  being offered upon the sacrifice and service of the Philippian Church. 

 

What is he talking about? He referring to the Drink Offerings of wine poured on the animal sacrifices, as explained in Exodus 29:38-42

 

As those Old Testament saints brought wine as a drink offering and poured it on the burning sacrifices and it vaporized and the aroma rose up to God, so Paul who trusted in the sacrifice of Christ alone as the atonement for sin, in grateful response rejoiced to pour out his life as that drink offering for the edification and blessing of the churches.  

 

That sacrifice of Paul’s life had been from the moment of his salvation on the Road to Damascus when he recognized Christ as His Lord and surrendered for full time service from that very first day.  His death would simply be the culmination of that sacrifice.

 

That’s the sacrifice Paul pleads with all believers in Romans 12:1-2 to present their lives to Christ as their reasonable service in the light of the great sacrifice Christ made for us on Calvary’s cross.

 

Paul and the Philippian Church were both making that drink offering sacrifice together.  Paul’s sacrifice was being poured out on top of the sacrifice the Philippian Church was making for Christ.  They were making that sacrifice of suffering together, as Paul had written earlier in Philippians 1:27-30.

 

NOT IN SPITE OF, BUT BECAUSE

 

Their rejoicing was not in spite of their sacrifice, but it was because of their privilege of sacrificing their lives together for Christ.  Their’s and our sacrifice for God is the very reason for our joy.  Read the following passages and note that our sacrifices for Christ are the very reasons for our joy. Act 5:41.  Acts 20:22-24, Colossians 1:24,  I Thessalonians 3:7-10, 

 

There are two levels of joy.  Earthly joy comes from possessions and passing selfish experiences.

 

Heavenly joy comes from serving Christ and sacrificing our lives for Him. Hebrews 12:1-3

 

We looked at Paul’s sacrifice.  In the next two articles, we will look at Timothy and then  Epaphroditus.

You Can’t Save the Planet

As we continue our study of Christ’s Olivet Discourse in Luke 21, I want to begin by turning your attention to Hebrews 12:18-29. Please, take time to read that first and then you will have a background for what follows. Note in this Hebrew 12 passage two shakings of the earth. The first shaking, described in Hebrews 12:18-21, took place at Mt. Sinai as Moses was preparing to receive the Law of God from God Himself. Exodus 19 describes the scene. In that chapter all the Israelites were warned to stay away from Mt. Sinai. They were not to even come close to it. Instant death was the penalty for touching that mountain.

 The second shaking of the earth described in Hebrews 12:22-25 is infinitely more severe. It involves not only the shaking of the earth, but also the Heavens. The purpose of this second shaking is given in Hebrews 12:26-29. It is to shake to utter destruction everything in our universe that has been defiled by sin and Satan; so that which cannot be shaken, Christ’s Kingdom, can be revealed. Now turning back to Luke 21:20-28, Jesus describes the final hours of The Great Tribulation, the worst time this earth has ever seen since its creation. This shaking is incomprehensible. Our minds can scarcely grasp it.

 EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE GREAT TRIBULATION

 To keep events in perspective, let’s review what we’ve learned in this chapter. It all began with Jesus’  announcement of the coming destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. His Disciples asked when this would take place and what signs would indicate when it would happen. Jesus could easily have answered, “In about forty more years” (which would be 70 AD); but He didn’t give them that information.

DECEPTION

Jesus did not answer by giving a date. Instead, He warned in verse 8 of the coming deception of those who would claim to be the Christ. He warned His Disciples and us to not fall under their spell and follow false Messiahs. That deception has been going on ever since He returned to Heaven, as people continue to follow false Messiahs.

WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS

 Then in verse 9-10 Jesus warns us of wars and commotions as nations and kingdom rise up against one another. That has been going on for over 2000 years now. World history is a study of wars worldwide. Certainly in the over 75 years I have lived, I have only known wars and rumors of wars.

 NATURAL DISASTERS

This sin-cursed, disintegrating planet headed for destruction has already experienced earthquakes, famines, pestilence, plagues and fearful sights over these past 2000 years, just as Jesus warned in verse 11. In spite of all man’s feeble and costly attempts to “Save the Planet”, he is powerless to do anything about its coming destruction. I am not advocating that we pollute it. I hate pollution. We ought to care about ecology, though we are foolish to be ecological extremists and make it our religion by worshipping planet earth. Saving our earth is a lost cause!

PERSECUTION AND MARTYRDOM FOR CHRIST

Then in verse 12, Jesus looks at His twelve Apostles and says directly to them, “But before any of these events  begin to happen, you Apostles are going to be arrested by the Jewish leaders and taken before the synagogues and imprisoned for the Gospel. Later you and other believers are going to be brought before gentile kings and rulers and suffer for My name’s sake.”

 That’s exactly what happened to the Apostles. They were all eventually martyred for Christ, as was the Apostle Paul who was converted later and became Christ’s Apostle to the Gentiles. Furthermore, that persecution has continued to be the experiences of millions upon millions of Christ’s followers these past 2000 years even to this present day.

Perhaps some of us today will be persecuted and face martyrdom for Christ. He encourages us here in verses13-15 to give no thought as to what we will say when we are arrested and brought before authorities. Christ promises that He will give us the wisdom to know exactly what to say, just as He did for Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Read his inspirational story in Acts 6:9 through 7:60

POST MILLENNIAL POSITION

Now you Post Millennialists are going to tell me that the invasion of Jerusalem in 70 AD was the fulfillment of Luke 21:20-22 and therefore we are now in the Millennial Reign of Christ. (even though it’s been over 2000 years now.) I do not begrudge you your opinion nor believe that you are not a good Christian. But let me show you why I believe Christ’s Millennial Reign is yet future.

Yes, I agree with you that Jerusalem was invaded in 70 AD and that Jesus was referring to this event when He spoke of it in verse 20-22. But that was just a foreshadowing of events to come. Jesus does not stop there in His description of the events leading up to His coming Kingdom. Note what else He says in describing the events that preceded Christ’s coming Kingdom.

OTHER EVENTS PRECEDING THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST

In verse 24 Jesus prophesies that “Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” That’s been going on ever since 700 BC when Assyria conquered and dispersed Israel throughout the world. That continues today, 2700 years later, and will continue until Christ returns to reign. Not only was Jerusalem destroyed by Roman invaders in 70 AD, but verse 25-26 give us an inkling of the cataclysmic events yet to take place in the Heavens. Those same events are described in more detail in Revelation 16:17-21.

No one will deny that these events have not yet taken place. In Revelation 19:1 we learn that it is after these cataclysmic events that Christ returns in glory to reign on this earth, as described in Revelation 19 and 20. Note in chapter 20 that Satan is bound and powerless throughout the 1000 year reign of Christ. Afterwards he is released for a short season and stirs up one last desperate rebellion against Christ and is instantly cast into the Lake of Fire where the Anti-Christ and his false prophet had been cast one thousand years earlier.

Yes, I agree with Post Millennialists that the Roman invasion of Jerusalem in 70 AD is prophesied in Luke 21:20-22, but that passage is also referring to Armageddon, a future invasion of Jerusalem as is also referred to here. Luke 21:20-33 is describing the ultimate destruction of Jerusalem and the world just before Christ returns to inaugurate His Millennial Kingdom.

THIS INFORMATION WAS NOT NEW TO THE APOSTLES

As devout Jews,  they attended the Synagogues weekly and heard the reading of the Scriptures, including the Prophets. As they heard the following Scriptures, they had already learned of the cataclysmic events prophesied of the end times. Here are some of those Scriptures that would be profitable to read at this time. As you read them, remember that this is what Jesus was referring to as He described the events that will usher in Messiah’s glorious Kingdom.

Isaiah 13, 24

Ezekiel 38

Joel 2, 3

Zephaniah 1

Haggai 2

SEALS, TRUMPETS AND BOWL JUDGMENTS

In the Book of Revelation, John the aged Apostle, banished to the Isle of Patmos, writes visions of the future.

Rev. 1-3 The glorified Christ and the Church Age

Rev. 4 The Church caught up into Heaven (The Rapture)

Rev. 5 The Church in Heaven before the Throne of Christ.

Rev. 6-18 The Tribulation unleashed on the world and the cataclysmic judgments prophesied by those Old Testament prophets fulfilled.

Rev. 19-20 Millennial Kingdom of Christ and final judgment of unbelievers.

Rev. 21-22 The eternal state of Christians in Heaven

DEAR CHRISTIAN FRIEND,

Though we may suffer for Christ in this life, you and I will never experience the pouring out of God’s wrath on this earth, for we shall escape all of this in The Rapture. More about this in the next article.

“Cocooning Ourselves”

Throughout this year we will be emphasizing the social graces, things that will heighten your effectiveness for the Gospel’s sake. This morning we’re talking about “cocooning” ourselves. We go from our personal vehicle to our cell phone to our computer, and we can go throughout a day surrounded by people and yet not really involved with them. These “things” can keep us isolated from others (which is rude, thoughtless and uncaring). They can feed the feeling of self-importance and de-emphasize the worth of others (Philippians 2:3).

Introduction to a daily chapel message at Bob Jones University by President Stephen Jones

I am pleased that the  emphasis on  practical Christian living that I received from Dr. Bob Jones Sr. in chapel over fifty years ago  is still being emphasized by the Founder’s great-grandson, Dr. Stephen Jones. who is the current president of Bob Jones University.

OVERCOMERS

As God gave birds two wings with which to fly, so nearly all of God’s truth must have two wings with which to fly. To attempt to focus on only one wing and ignore that which appears to be in opposition, is to end up flying lopsided.

 

For example, when the Bible speaks of Christ’s Kingdom, it’s referring to a present spiritual Kingdom, as well as a future literal Millennial Kingdom.  

 

When the Old Testament prophesies  of the coming of Messiah, it is speaking of two comings.  His First Coming was to come as a baby boy, grow to adulthood and eventually die on a cross as a blood sacrifice for our sins. His Second Coming is about His return to this earth one day to conquer His enemies and reign for a Millennium.

 

When the Bible speaks of God giving us His righteousness to make us fit for Heaven,  He is not only speaking of His judicial act  of imputing His righteousness to our account through Justification, but He is also speaking of practically imparting His righteousness to us through the life-long process of Sanctification which in Heaven will be complete when we are glorified and sinlessly perfect for eternity.

 

Perhaps the main problem dividing Christ’s Church is the failure to understand the relationship of faith to works.

 

Recently I posted on my Face Book page the following statement. “We are never more like our father, the devil, than when we insist on having our own way, even if it means hurting others. We are never more like our Heavenly Father than when we sacrifice our self interests for the good of others. If yours is a life of selfishness, don’t deceive yourself.  Jesus said, “You are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do.” John 8:44

 

An increasingly heavy burden weighs down on my heart as I observe deceived people who claim to know Christ as Saviour, but whose lives show absolutely no hatred for sin and no love for Christ and His Word, the Bible.  Though they testify to being Christians, their lives show little or no evidence of that reality.  It grieves and frightens me that though they think they are saved and going to Heaven; one day they will wake up in Hell.

 

I realize I am no judge of hearts. Only God knows our hearts.  But I can observe  lives and I know what the Bible says about salvation.

 

TWO FALSE EXTREMES

 

1. Some teach that after trusting in Christ for salvation, we can lose it  by falling into sin or by failing to produce a life of good works.  That statement represents the Arminian theological camp and is contrary to the Bible.

 

2. Others teach that because salvation is all of God’s grace, if one is predestined and called to salvation, he will one day be in Heaven, regardless of how he lives. In other words, our works have no relationship whatsoever to our salvation.  That also is a false position.

 

I am not saying that Calvinists and Arminians are not saved.  I believe many are.   If one is accused by a Calvinist of being an Arminian and if he is charged by an Arminian of being a Calvinists, I think perhaps he has the correct balance.

 

SOME BASIC TRUTHS REGARDING SALVATION

 

A. Salvation is received as a pure gift of God’s grace  and is not earned nor secured by our works.  Ephesians 2:8-9

 

B. Saving faith results in God  regenerating our hearts, enabling us to walk with God and live a new life of good works, as taught in Titus 3:5-8 and Ephesians 4:1 and 2:10.

 

C. Faith without works is dead.  That is, faith that does not result in a changed life is not saving faith.  James taught that in James 2:14-26.

 

D. Those who trust Christ alone for salvation, are eternally secure in Him.

Follow along in Romans 8:29-39 as we describe the steps to that security.

 

1. It all begins with God’s foreknowledge and love of those who would come to Him for salvation.  Before the world was ever created  He knew and loved us and predestined us to be conformed to His image and to be with Him forever in Heaven.  See Ephesians 1:3-14 for a strong statement concerning this marvelous truth.

 

2. Those whom He foreknew, He predestined or predetermined to be conformed to His image.  Note, that if you are not becoming more and more like Jesus, that is a red flag that something is wrong.  Don’t deceive yourself.  To become a Christian is to increasingly become more and more like Jesus as we hunger to read and meditate on God’s Word and hear it proclaimed.

 

3. Those whom He foreknew and predestinated to be conformed to His image,  He called to Himself.   Christ calls us as we read and hear His Word preached.  His Holy Spirit takes the Word and convicts us of our need of Christ and draws us to Him.  In John 6:44 Jesus announced, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

 

You cannot come to Christ on your terms or on your timetable.  You must “seek Him while He may be found.” Isa. 55:6  “Behold, NOW is the day of salvation.” II Corinthians 6:2   If He is speaking to you concerning your need of Him, trust Him now.  Tomorrow, your heart may be cold to the Truth and you may never have another opportunity to be saved.  Hearts only grow harder as they continue to reject Christ.

 

4. Those whom He called He justified.  Justification is an act on God’s part by which He takes one who has responded to His call to salvation and transfers all his sins (past, present and future) to Jesus account and transfers Jesus’ righteousness to his account.  That is an amazing truth,  For more on this read and meditate on II Corinthians 5:21 and then go to my message on JUSTIFICATION on this SALVATION link and read it and reread it until you understand and rejoice in this marvelous foundational truth of God’s grace.

 

5.  The final link in this chain of salvation is  Glorified.  To be glorified is to  be just as pure and as perfect as Jesus Himself.  That will not happen until we stand in His presence in Heaven.  Only then will we be glorified and sinlessly perfect.  What a day that will be!  

 

In the meantime, there is another link in the chain between Justified and Glorified.  That link is called Sanctification.  Perhaps the reason it is not listed as a link in Romans 8:30 is because it is implied  in being Glorified. Sanctification is the process  by which God takes a justified believer and turns him into a glorified believer. 

 

Sanctification is a life-long process.  It begins the moment we put our trust in Christ to save us and it concludes as we draw our last breath on this earth and pass into the presence of Christ.  Glorification is guaranteed to the one who has been justified.

 

How does God sanctify us or make us saintly?  He uses three tools.

a) We are sanctified as we read and meditate on and learn to obey God’s Word.  John 17:17

 

b) We are sanctified by the indwelling Holy Spirit as He enable us to grasp God’s Word in our minds and apply it in our hearts.  II Thessalonians 2:13 and  I Peter 1:2.

 

c) God also uses suffering to gain our attention and draw us to Himself to make us more like Himself.  I Peter 5:10

 

HOW WILL WE KNOW WE ARE SAVED ON THE ROAD TO HEAVEN?

 

As we learned in Romans 8:29, we will become more and more like Jesus. What does that look like?  How can we and others recognize we are becoming more like Jesus?  As His Holy Spirit lives and reigns in our hearts, He will begin producing His fruit in our lives.  That fruit is described in Galatians 5:22-25 as The Fruit of the Spirit.  It is His supernatural love, joy, peace, longsuffering,  gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance that begins to be manifested in our lives.

 

In contrast, the unbeliever is described in Galatians 5:19-21. Read both lists and determine which list best describes you. Remember that you can’t fake it.  If you are not truly born again and indwelt by Christ’s Spirit,  you cannot possibly bear His fruit.  It will all be a sham and a counterfeit.  The Christian life is a supernatural life, the very life of Christ being lived out  in us by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  

 

THE DANGER OF DECEPTION

 

Because these truths of salvation are so vital to us now and to our eternal destiny, Satan does all he can to deceive us and foil God’s plan. Christ warns of the danger of false professors of Christianity in His Parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13:24-30.   He also warns of the dangers of self-deception in James 1:22-27 and the danger of falling from our own steadfastness in II Peter 3:17-18.

 

So let’s ask ourselves four questions that will help us determine whether our faith is genuine or spurious.  

1. Is ours a living or dead faith?

2. Are we becoming more and more like Jesus?

3. Are we what the Bible describes as Overcomers?

4. Do we have Jesus’ love for others?

 

I. IS OURS A LIVING OR DEAD FAITH?

 

James asks that question in James 2:14-26.

 

As it is vain and empty for us to “bless” a needy  person with our words when we have the ability to bless and help him with our time and substance and refuse to do it;  so it is vain and empty for us to be testifying with our mouth that we are saved, while at the same time continuing to live in known sin with no thought nor desire for a clean life.  Such a testimony is just empty, vain talk.

 

Such faith a merely academic, static, false and dead.  In contrast, saving faith is dynamic and life-changing.  II Corinthians 5:17 explains that when we put our trust in Christ for salvation,  we are made a new creation, created unto good works. The old life is gradually being replaced by the supernatural new life, Christ’s very life being lived out in us, which brings us to our next question.

 

II. ARE WE BECOMING LIKE JESUS?  

 

According to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:48 it is God’s purpose and plan for us to eventually become as perfect morally as He is. Of course, there is not a one of us who can achieve that perfection on our own.  That’s why Jesus did it for us through His death and resurrection. That’s why when Christ’s life begins to be seen in us as believers, it is all to the praise of His glory, for He’s the One who makes it possible. Ephesians 1:6-14.

 

A true Christian is constantly growing and becoming more and more like Jesus, according to II Peter 3:18.

 

Look again at that great eternal security passage in Romans 8:28-39 and note that the whole purpose of all these things God is working out in our lives is for the sole purpose of us being “conformed to the image of His Son” Romans 8:29.  If that is not happening, please do not disgrace God by talking about your “salvation.”   I’m not saying that if you are not perfect, don’t claim to be a Christian. None of us are perfect, nor will we be perfect until we are in Heaven.  However, all genuine Christians are in the process of becoming more and more like Jesus.

 

Saving faith is more than abstract theory.  It MUST affect our lives. That’s what Peter tells us in II Peter 3:11-14

 

III. ARE WE OVERCOMERS?

 

Revelation 21:7-8 tells us that Overcomers go to Heaven and those who are not Overcomers, but continue on in their sins, go to Hell.

 

If you are comfortable with sin and enjoy it and feel no conviction of sin, you have evidently never been born again and you are still lost in your sins and Hell bound; regardless of the pious things you say about Jesus and the pious experiences you have in a worship service and regardless of your academic knowledge of the Bible. That’s what James teaches in James 2:19-20.

 

When a Christian sins, he is grief stricken and broken before God. He cries out for mercy and forgiveness as David did in Psalm 51 and God hears and forgives him.

 

Genuine Christians, who have been forgiven and are being delivered from the bondage of sin are described in I John 5:4-5 as Overcomers.

 

Why are we Overcomers?  I John 4:4  and 5:4 teach that Christ Jesus who indwells every believer by His Holy Spirit is greater and more powerful than  Satan who is the present god of this sinful cosmos, or  world system,

 

So how do we overcome the world? Christ already has overcome the world. Go to the Gospel of John.  John 16:33  and 17:4 and read of this reality and of Christ’s prayer for us as believers.  As we surrender to His Lordship, we share in His victory over the world.

 

How do we overcome Satan, the god of this present world system?  Read Revelation 12:9-11   We overcome this world:

1. By faith in the sacrifice of the shed blood of Jesus for us.

2. By the word of our testimony that we belong to Christ.

3. And by the total surrender of our lives to Him, even to death if need be.

 

How do we overcome evil men and difficult circumstances? Let God  deal with them. See Romans 12:19-21

 

Christian friend, don’t turn back to the sin from which you have been delivered. If you turn back you will be overcome by it and your punishment will be  more severe than for the one who has never known Christ. That’s the teaching of II Peter 2:18-22.

 

Note Christ’s promises to Overcomers in Revelation.

 

Rev. 2:7 They will eat of the Tree of Life in Heaven, which is a way of saying we will have eternal life.

 

Rev. 2:11 They will never experience the Second Death and Hell.

 

Rev. 2:17  As Israel was given Manna, supernatural food to eat in the wilderness, so Overcomers are given the spiritual Bread of Life to eat that the world cannot grasp or appreciate.

 

Overcomers will also be given a “white stone”  In ancient times, the winning athletes were given a white stone as an invitation to a victory celebration.  So Christ will invite all those who overcame by His blood sacrifice and we will join Him at the victory celebration in Heaven.

 

The new name engraved on the stone speaks of a personal relationship with Christ which all believers have experienced and will continue to experience throughout eternity.

 

Rev. 2:26 tells of the power and authority which we will share with Christ over the nations in His Millennial Kingdom.  See more about this under the PROPHECY category.

 

Rev. 3:5 Our names will never be blotted out of the Book of Life.

 

Rev. 3:12 Christians will be pillars in the Heavenly temple of God.

 

Rev. 3:21 We will sit with Christ in His Throne.

 

One final and ultimate test of the genuiness of our faith in Christ.

 

IV. DO WE HAVE HIS LOVE FOR OTHERS? I John 4:7-12,  19-21

 

This is an evidence of genuine Christian that no one can fake.

 

Christ’s agape love, something every genuine Christian has, is not a selfish emotion.  It is not lust  or selfishness.  It is totally others-centered.

 

Christ’s love is expressed in the genuine Christian by selflessness and kindness towards others, even to our enemies or those who do not deserve our love.

 

One with Christ’s love cares abut the feelings and needs of others. Hebrews 4:15   Whereas, a selfish person cares only about his own needs and feelings.   A selfish Christian is a shame and disgrace to the name of Christ.

 

True love is utterly selfless.  Christ, the perfect example of true love expressed it to us by dying on a cross and shedding His blood for  our sins.

Have you received that gift from Him?  Until you have, you will never have the power to live the Christian life.

 

A CHALLENGE TO YOU

 

I challenge you with Paul in II Corinthians 13:5  to examine yourself. Is there evidence that Christ lives in you and is controlling your life?  If not, do not deceive yourself.  You are not a Christian.

 

Yes, we are saved by God’s grace alone and through our faith in His sacrifice for us.  We are kept saved by His grace and not by our works.

 

But the other side of the coin is that if we are saved, we have become His workmanship and He is presently at work in our lives enabling us to live a life of good works, and be overcomers and to share our love, His Love through us,  to those who need it.

 

If none of this matters to you, you are still lost in your sins and bound for Hell. You desperately need to be born again today.

The Great Tribulation

It’s at the height of Israel’s rejection of Christ as Messiah and just before His crucifixion that Jesus unveils a broad, general overview of the future in His Olivet Discourse with His disciples as they sit together with Him on the Mount of Olives just outside the city of Jerusalem. This Olivet Discourse is found in Matthew 24-25, Mark 13  and Luke 21.

 

The future Jesus describes  is much worse than anyone could imagine.  We’re not headed towards utopia and world peace.  Just the opposite is true.  It’s only going to get worse, before Jesus is inaugurated as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and turns this sin-cursed world around.

 

In this Church Age, and in this Time of the Gentiles there are more false Christians than true Christians and there are  more false teachers, than true teachers of God’s Word,

 

This age is characterized by wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, fires and floods. This is an age of famines and plagues.  Persecution and martyrdom of Christians has continued ever since the Church began at Pentecost and continues to this day and will continue through the Tribulation.

 

All of this is the culmination of Redemptive history which will bring about the end of sin and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness.  All of these things Jesus spoke of on the Mount of Olives, had been prophesied throughout the Old Testament by prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Zechariah and Malachi.  

 

The first prophet to prophesy of the Return of Christ in glory was Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam.  Read of him in Genesis 5:18-24 and again in Jude 14.  Note that Enoch never died. Like Christians in the coming Rapture, he was caught up alive into Heaven.  

 

As we see prophecy unfold before our eyes, we recognize it as evidence of Christ’s omniscience, truthfulness and omnipotence to control all these events.

 

THE RAPTURE

 

The next event on God’s calendar is the catching up into Heaven of the glorified bodies of Christians worldwide, instantly, in the twinkling of an eye.  This event is not referred to in the Olivet Discourse.  It is a promise to Christ’s Church.  The Apostle Paul was given the privilege of unfolding this truth.  He speaks of it in I Corinthians 15:51-58  and again in I Thessalonian 4:13-18, 5:2,9,  Titus 2:11-13. It is also taught in Hebrews 9:28 and I John 3:1-3  Jesus also made the  first reference to it in John 14:1-3.

 

THE GREAT TRIBULATION

 

Upon the catching up or rapture of Christians to Heaven, the Anti-christ will be revealed on this earth and will immediately make a peace treaty to protect the Jews.   The world will be glad to see Christians gone and will welcome the Anti-christ as the peace maker they have so longed for. Read the following passages of Scripture for information concerning the Anti-christ and the beginning of the Tribulation, which interestingly will last for exactly seven years.  Daniel 9,  Matthew 24,  II Thessalonians 2,  and Revelation chapter 6-18,

 

For more concerning the Tribulation and the Seventy Weeks of Years, go to my PROPHECY link and study # 13, The Seventy Weeks

 

In the middle of the Tribulation, the Anti-christ will break his covenant with the Jews and will defile the Jewish temple by putting an image of himself in the Holy Place, demanding the world worship him as god.  That will signal the beginning of the Great Tribulation and the beginning of the pouring out of God’s Judgments on the earth. 

 

These last three and a half years will be the worst this world has ever seen.  It will be the environmentalists worst nightmare with bitter rivers, bloody oceans, meteors falling to the earth, gigantic earthquakes, and the disappearance of islands and mountains from the face of the earth. 

 

All of this is described in the opening of seven seals from Revelation 6:1 through 8:1.  As the seventh seal is opened, seven trumpets sound bringing in more terrifying events recorded in Revelation 8-11. and as the seventh trumpet sounds, Revelation 16 announces seven more bowls or vials of judgment that will be poured out on the earth.

 

EVANGELISM DURING THE TRIBULATION

 

During the Tribulation 144,000 Jews, (not Jehovah Witnesses) exactly 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, will take the Gospel to the world. This is mentioned in Revelation chapter 7 and 14.   In addition,  two witnesses, perhaps two Old Testament prophets, will return to earth to preach the Gospel. Their story is told in Revelation 11.  Read about their death and resurrection at this time.   In addition to the 144,000 Jews and the two witnesses, an angel spoken of in Revelation 14:6 will fly around the world preaching the Gospel for the final time.  How many will be saved from all of this evangelism, we do not know. Those saved will refuse to worship the Anti-christ and be martyred. Their souls be caught up into Heaven.

 

THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

 

The final event of the Great Tribulation will be Christ’s returning to earth to fight His enemies in the Battle of Armageddon. It will be fought in the plains of Megiddo. You can read of this battle in Revelation 14 and 16. Christ will be victorious and bring an end to The Great Tribulation as the Anti-christ and the false prophet are cast alive into the eternal  Lake Of Fire. 

 

The earth will experience the final terrible hours of the curse of sin and then Christ will renew the earth, remove the curse from it and it will become once more somewhat like the Garden of Eden.  Christ will come to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  This coming will be His visible, glorious return to earth to reign, in contrast to the Rapture; that is, the secret return of Christ to catch up all Christian from the earth seven years earlier just before the Tribulation is unleashed on this earth.

 

Also Zechariah 12 and 13 prophesy of  the Jews returning as a nation  to Jesus as their Messiah and Saviour.  Christ will reign over the earth for one thousand years.  You can read more about that under PROPHECY  in the articles on The Millennium.  Also you can read a brief summary of the Millennium in Revelation 20.

 

If you have never yet put your trust in Christ, today is the day of salvation. Don’t put it off.  One second after the Rapture has taken place, it will be too late for you, according to II Thessalonians 2:1-12.

 

What must you do to be saved?  Get over your pride and admit you are a sinner who cannot save himself by his good works.  Believe that Jesus is God in human flesh and that He came into this world to die on a cross to bear the punishment for your sins.  Receive Him by faith. He will forgive your sins, come to live in your heart by His Holy Spirit and regenerate you, making you a new person who hates sin and loves righteousness.  No, you won’t be perfect until you are in Heaven.  But when you sin, confess it to God and the blood that saved you will continue to wash away that sin.  Read I John 5:11-13  and get this decision settled once and for all right now.

Complainers

Our modern culture is breeding self-absorbed,  complaining snobs.  We complain about everything: including the weather, traffic,  food, standing in lines,  the temperature, as well as most everything else.

 

We Christians are being infected by the world as we blindly imbibe the world’s philosophy through its media.  We have become “what’s in it for me” Christians.

 

The more indulged we are, the more sullen, complaining and self-absorbed we become.  Next to pride,  few sins are uglier to God and to all of us than  complaining.   The current over-emphasis on self esteem helps feed this sin.

 

It was the same in Paul’s day. That’s why in Philippians 2:14-16 he warns the Philippian Christians to beware of  complaining and disputing. Those complaints and disputes are ultimately with God who controls our circumstances.

 

COMPLAIN AND GRIPING, A SIN FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME

 

Complaining and griping have been with the human race from the beginning of time.   When Adam disobeyed God in the  Garden of  Eden, when confronted by God, he blamed Him. “The woman YOU gave me caused me to eat the forbidden fruit.” 

 

When Cain was punished by God for bringing the wrong kind of sacrifice, he complained to God about his punishment. “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”

 

When God chose Moses to lead Israel out of their bondage of 400 years in Egypt,  Israel complained against Moses repeatedly as they traveled through the wilderness.  Miriam, Moses’ older sister, complained to Moses and was struck with leprosy. Patient Moses prayed for her and she was healed. 

 

COMPLAING AND GRIPING ARE CONTAGIOUS

 

While traveling through the wilderness,  three men: Korah, Dathan and Abiram complained against Moses and his leadership. God was furious with these three men and as they stood by their tents with their families, the earth opened up under them and these three men with their families and all they possessed were swallowed and buried alive.  That put a stop to the complaining of Israel for awhile.

 

When Israel was about to enter their Promised Land of Canaan, they sent spies into the land to see if they could conquer it.  Ten of twelve spies brought back an evil, pessimistic report.   They led the people to complain against Moses and against God.  God punished the older generation by allowing them to continue wandering in the wilderness for forty more years until all that generation had died.  Then the younger generation led by Joshua entered and conquered the land.

 

NO GRIPING TOLERATED

 

That was the sign that greeted me over the door inside every dormitory room at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C. when I came there as a Freshman student in the Fall of 1952. “No griping tolerated: Constructive suggestions appreciated.”   I don’t know whether those signs were ever removed, but I know that if I had any thoughts of griping, that put a stop to it right there. With over three thousand students at that time, can you imagine how quickly griping could have spread through the entire student body if it got started? Since griping is a sin, that was a wise rule.

 

COMPLAINING AND GRIPING ARE UGLY SINS

 

In Romans 9 we learn the truth of God’s sovereign election.  That is, He makes us with our strengths and weaknesses for His own divine purpose.  In verse 20 we are warned against griping and complaining. “Nay, but O Man, who are you to reply against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, ‘Why hast Thou made me thus? Has not the potter the power and the right over the clay to make one vessel for honorable purposes and another for dishonorable purposes?”  God can make a Billy Graham to preach before tens of  millions and  counsel with ten US presidents.  He can make a Mal Bicker to preach to small congregations all his life.  We have no right to question nor complain against His sovereign will.

 

HOW TO BE VICTORIOUS OVER COMPLAINING

 

In Philippians 2:12-13  Paul told us how to avoid a life of complaining and griping.  We are to concentrate on working out the salvation that God worked in when we put our trust in Christ.   Furthermore, in verse 14 we are shown the attitude with which we are to live our lives- without complaining and disputing.   James 5:7-11 teaches the same truth and reminds us the Judge stands just outside the door.  Remember as a kid when you use to complain to a brother or sister about something in the privacy of your bedroom and then you found Mom or Dad standing just outside the door listening to everything?  That was a panicky feeling, was it not?   Remember that the next time you complain.  Christ, the Judge stands just outside the door about to return.

 

Don’t complain.  Rather, remember the goodness of God. Psalm 77.

 

WHY WE SHOULD NOT COMPLAIN

 

1. We should not complain for our own sakes.  Complaining Christians are not attractive.  They are depressing to be around.  People avoid them.

 

2. Titus 2:10 challenges us to adorn the Gospel of Christ and the reality of being Christians  by our lives. Paul, in Philippians 2:14-15 writes, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings that ye may be blameless and harmless, the Son of God, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in a dark world.

 

3. Finally, Paul challenges the Philippian Christians to live such a positive, joyful life that even if he has to be sacrificed and martyred for preaching the Gospel, he may rejoice for the blessed privilege of  helping them become joyful Christians.  If you have such a pastor, bless him by not being a complainer, but a rejoicer and encourager.