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"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light
unto my path."
Psalm 119:105
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God’s Way Is Not Man’s Way
--- Even Today!
Isaiah 55:8 For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
my ways, saith the LORD.
This
statement is clearly shown in two examples found in the Old
Testament. The first is found in Joshua chapter 6. The Israelites
were to attack the city of Jericho. This was a very strong walled
city and had a massive wall and a tower. It was a well-fortified
city. The wall was made of mud bricks and was at least 5 feet thick
and 26.5 feet high. So what was God’s attack plan? Israel was to
march around the city for a total of 13 times in seven days, with
seven circuits of that number on the Sabbath. Then at the end of the
seventh time around the city the priests blew the trumpets and the
people gave a great shout. The walls fell down and Israel’s army
marched in for the great win.
What
general today would develop a plan such as this? I believe that
answer is obvious! This was not a plan drawn up by a military man, it
was God’s plan. No man would have thought of this. But God’s plans
always work.
The
second story from the pages of the Old Testament is found in Judges
7. God had chosen Gideon to lead Israel against the Midianites.
Gideon had an army of over 22,000 men, but God said that was too many
soldiers. He told Gideon He didn’t want the people to think they
saved themselves. So He instructed Gideon to send everyone home but
300 that were selected. With that number Gideon defeated an army of
tens of thousands. God’s plans are not human plans.
This
is also true today. What does it take to be great today? I have a
quote that says “a person can be great because of their intelligence,
charisma, power, or wealth.” That is man’s way to become great. God
has a different way for us to become great. These are the words of
Jesus: “But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that
the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones
exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But
whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever
would be first among you must be your slave even as the Son of Man
came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for many.’” (Matthew 20-25-28)
That
is the way to be great in the eyes of our Lord, but that is not
normal human behavior. We must first remember that when we become
Christians, we have given ourselves to the Lord to be his servant, or
slave. Paul wrote: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not
your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your
body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). As slaves to Christ we are
to do His will, and that is to be a servant to all. Paul put it this
way: “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant
to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew,
in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under
the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win
those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside
the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of
Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became
weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all
people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake
of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” (1
Corinthians 19:19-23).
As Christians our lives belong to the Lord. He wants us
to be great according to His definition. That is true greatness. Let
us all strive to be great in the Lord.
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Feature Two: an article by R. C.
Oliver
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Elders Anointing the Sick
with Oil
James 5:13
James 5:13-15 Is any among you afflicted?
let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. [14] Is
any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and
let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord: [15] And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord
shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be
forgiven him.
Does
this reading not teach that Jesus is still performing miracles today?
Now, what is the meaning of this reading? It is simply affirming a
fact, namely all whom the elders anointed and over whom they prayed
were made free from their bond of sickness and were made every whit
whole. When James wrote, he wrote unto the brethren during the
apostolic era. During this period, the Lord very definitely worked
with his disciples confirming the word with signs following. Miracles
characterized the church of the apostolic period, just like miracles
characterized the world in the beginning. God brought order out of
chaos, but just as God has used the law of procreation to cause
things to move along since then, so he now uses the law of the
spiritual kingdom with which to promote his cause. Miracles, in both
instances and in both kingdoms, have been caused to cease. Once
miracles had fulfilled their purpose, in the beginning of the natural
world, God caused them to cease. And once they fulfilled their
purpose in his spiritual kingdom, the church, He caused them to
cease. So, in James 5:13-15, James is dealing with matters as they
existed during the apostolic period so far as miracles are concerned.
Men can no longer cast out devils, or speak in new tongues, take up
serpents, drink deadly poison, or lay hands on the sick and cause
them to recover as they could and did during the apostolic age.
In
Mark 16:17-18, Jesus promised that certain signs would follow the
believers. He said "And these signs shall follow them
that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak
with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the
sick, and. they shall recover," Jesus said this is what
would happen and I believe what Jesus said about it. Not only did
Jesus say they would happen, Mark records in the last verse of this
chapter, Mark 16:20, that these very signs did happen. He said that
the Lord worked with his disciples, confirming the word with signs
following. Now what signs is he talking about? Why he is talking
about the signs that are mentioned in the context; and what signs are
these?
They
are the signs mentioned in verses 17-18. These signs included casting
out devils in Jesus' name, speaking in new taking up serpents,
drinking deadly poison, without either the serpents or the poison
doing any harm to the disciples, and laying hands on the sick and
causing them to recover. With these signs the Lord worked with his
disciples confirming the word. I believe that all the signs followed
the believers, and I believe it for two good Bible reasons: Jesus
said they would follow them, and Mark records in verse 20 that they
did follow them. Furthermore, if any one of these signs can be
practiced today, all of these signs can still be practiced today. The
same Lord who promised the one promised them all! And it is right
here that some so-called spiritually gifted men meet their Waterloo
today. It is right here that they meet their defeat! It is a defeat
that they cannot successfully overcome.
So
I again affirm for emphasis that Jesus taught that certain signs
would follow the disciples, and your Bible affirms that all these
signs did follow the disciples. Your Bible also affirms that the
purpose of these miracles was to confirm the word as it was spoken by
these men. In addition to this, your Bible also affirms that these
miracles would one day cease to exist, and that the time would be,
when that which is perfect is come. Please turn to 1 Corinthians
13:9-10. Here Paul affirms that “we know in part and we
prophesy in part”. Notice please that no man had it all, but
that each man had a part. Each man had one or more of the spiritual
gifts nine of which are mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 12:8-10.
Paul said they would know in part and prophesy in part “but” he
states, when “that which is perfect is come, then that which
is in part shall be done away.” That is, all nine of the
gifts that are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 will be done away
when “that which is perfect is come.”
Now
the question is this: What is that which is perfect? Someone replies
by saying, why, Jesus is that which is perfect. However, for one to
so affirm not only reflects upon his intelligence, but it is a
dishonor to Christ, for no one who knows anything at all about the
language will affirm that the pronouns “that which” refer to a
person. I might say, “he who” or perhaps in a rather awkward and
careless manner even “he which” is my neighbor is a good man. I would
never say, “That which” is my neighbor is a good man. We simply do
not refer to a person as “that which”. Only such men as are unlearned
or unstable would do such violence to the language. Peter says that
it is the “unlearned and unstable” who “wrest” or “twist” the
scriptures to their own destruction. See 2 Peter 3:16-17. In verse 17
he tells us “beware lest ye also, being led away with the
error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.”
Someone
might add, “Is not Jesus spoken of as “that which” in Matthew 1:20,
where the angel speaking to Joseph concerning Mary, says, “That which
is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” Indeed, Jesus in the fetus
state is spoken of as “that which” in much the same manner that we
refer to a little baby as “it” today. However, once the child is
born, and once the sex is determined, or made known, we no longer
speak of even a baby as “it” today.
“That
which” therefore refers to some perfect thing that was to come, and
once it came, these things in part were to cease to be practiced in
the church. Now, what is that “which is perfect”? James speaks of the
“law of liberty” the law that liberates us from our sins, as
the “perfect law of liberty”(James 1:25). Once the New
Testament law was revealed and made permanent these gifts then passed
away. They ceased being practiced in the church.
Someone might question, “But wasn’t all knowledge to
cease whenever that which is perfect came?” Certainly not “all
knowledge” is to ever cease. Only the knowledge of which Paul speaks
in the context was to cease. This is the supernatural knowledge that was
given to some of the early disciples in the form as one of the nine
spiritual gifts. This was a knowledge for which these men did not
have to study. It was a spiritual gift and qualified the men to know
the will of the Lord. It qualified certain ones to teach in the early
church. Indeed, there will never be a time when all knowledge in
general will cease, and certainly no one who is thinking right will
think that such is going to happen when Jesus comes again. If all
knowledge, in general, is to cease when Jesus comes, this would mean
that God would no longer know anything. It would mean that Christ
would no longer know anything. It would mean that the angels would no
longer know anything, and it would mean that we would no longer know
anything. Surely there will never be a time when all knowledge will
cease, but supernatural knowledge, as a gift of the Spirit, did cease
at the close of the apostolic age. It ceased when the New Testament
in permanent form which is “that which is perfect” came.
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Feature Three: Sandy's Women's Corner
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Editor's Note: You can read weekly
articles from Sandy at the following Web
site: abiblecommentary.com "Blog for Christian
Women"
IS IT RIGHT OR WRONG?
I
am always amazed at the questions children ask is Bible class. They
seemingly get something on their minds, and one day it just pops out.
Such was the case with one of my students a few weeks ago.
This
particular boy was new to me when he came to my class. I wasn’t
familiar with him or his family. He listened, and he read from the
Bible when I called on him. He answered questions when we reviewed,
and most of the time he did his worksheets at home.
I
don’t remember exactly what we were talking about when he asked his
question. All I remember is that it had nothing to do with the
lesson. His question was, “Is it a sin to get a tattoo?” I was surprised
by the question, because nothing had been mentioned in class about
tattoos. I hesitated a minute before answering his question, and what
he said next surprised me even more. Before I could respond, he said,
“Doesn’t the Bible say our bodies are the temple of God?”
The
children quickly responded with their opinions about tattoos. I think
the most often used expression was, “gross”. That, however, did not
answer the question.
I
had the children turn to Leviticus 19:28 that says, “You
shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo
yourselves; I am the Lord.” I explained that this was an Old
Testament command that is not repeated in the New Testament. I also
talked about the Scripture in First Corinthians 6:19 that my student
had referred to. The verse reads, “Or do you not know that
your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have
from God? You are not your own”.
Paul
had been writing about sexual immorality (I did not mention this to
the children). I did, however, asked them to look at the next verse.
Paul says, “for you were bought with a price. So glorify God
in your body”.
That
says it all. That says that what we do and say are observed, and
children especially make decisions based on what we teach them by our
actions. Sometimes they go against what we teach, but they still
learn much about what is right from wrong from our behavior.
Maybe
we should ask that question more often before we do anything to our
bodies—how we dress, what we say, where we go, with whom we go, and
what we do to our bodies. We need to ask, is this right or wrong?
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Feature Four: Honor to Whom Honor
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When
I was planning to move to Athens, Alabama, my brother-in-law told me
that their preacher was, shall we say, different. I wasn’t sure what
to expect, but the first time I heard my brother, Odie Duncan preach,
I realized I was in the presence of a master communicator. Perhaps
you might say Odie marches to the beat of a different drum, but his
preaching is masterful. He is able to bring out points in lessons I
thought I fully understood, but I just never saw what he brought out.
I wondered how I could have missed it. I seldom hear a lesson but
what I learn something important. He is energetic, insightful,
knowledgeable, and a joy to be around. We, of the Mt Carmel
congregation, are honored to have him working with us.
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Feature
Five: Bible Question
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Can you give me an example of someone adding to
God’s word?
While
there are many examples that can be used, one such example is found
in the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witness church. In the passage,
Colossians 1:15-17 the English Standard Version reads in this manner.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all
creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
The
New World Translation, a version of the Bible prepared by the
Jehovah’s Witness church, reads as follows: “15 He is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 because
by means of him all [other] things were created in
the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things
invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or
governments or authorities. All [other] things have
been created through him and for him. 17 Also, he is before all [other] things
and by means of him all [other] things were made to
exist….
There
is no Greek word in this text to be translated as “other”. That is
simply an added word into the text and this is no different than when
Satan told Eve she would NOT surely die when God told her she would
die if she ate the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3:4. Satan changed the
entire meaning of the passage. In this case the Jehovah’s Witness
translater’s change the concept from everything, to not everything.
What they are trying to do is deny the deity of Christ which this
passage clearly teaches. This is just one example of man’s attempt to
change God’s word to teach a false doctrine by adding a word to the
New Testament.
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Did Noah Fish?
A Sunday school teacher asked, “Johnny, do you think
Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the Ark?” “No,” replied
Johnny. “How could he, with just two worms.”
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Once again, thank you for letting me come into your
home. I recently successfully passed my 79thbirthday and
I’m still going strong (but at a much slower pace). I trust this
little paper is helpful to you in some way. --- Bob
Basic
Bible Knowledge About the Holy
Spirit Speech & Debate
Free for an electronic
version of the book: A
Classroom Study
Boboliver32446@gmail.com For
Lads to Leaders
$10.00
Purchase from:
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to Leaders/Leaderettes
5280
West Alabama Christian Drive
Montgomery,
AL 36109
334-215-0251
lel@lads2leaders.com
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