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1 Cor 16:9 for a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.

The Christian as a Sermon

The Christian As a “Sermon”

May 20, 2008

by Wayne Jackson

How one lives is a better “sermon” any day than what he says. What kind of sermons does your life preach?

The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once raised the question as to what would happen if there were no preachers. He concluded that the only thing remaining would be the lives of Christians. And so he wondered: “What kind of sermon would you be preaching?”

A poet once expressed it somewhat like this:

You are preaching a gospel day by day;
by the things you do and the words you say.
These may be many, or maybe just few;
but say, what is the gospel according to you?

What does the world see as they observe the children of God? I would like to suggest the following.

Calmness

In a world that seems to be coming apart at the seams, the Christian needs to radiate calmness. Someone has written:

Said the Robin to the Sparrow:
“I would really like to know,
why these anxious human beings
rush around and worry so.”
Said the Sparrow to the Robin:
“I think that it must be,
that they have no heavenly Father
such as cares for you and me.”

Do we live in fear? Are we constantly fretting over material things? We should “relax” in the Lord and enjoy our Christian lives. People can tell whether we are contented or not. We ought not to portray a frustrated image.

Sweetness

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul admonished: “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand [near by]” (Philippians 4:4-5). The term “forbearance” (ASV), or “moderation” (KJV) is probably obscure to many. The rendition “reasonableness” (ESV) is some better. I like the expanded “sweet reasonableness” which expresses the meaning of the original.

The idea is that of courtesy or graciousness. Unfortunately some people are known as professional grumps. They are ever poised to “tell off” someone—the waitress, the bank clerk, the grocery checker.

I was visiting in the South a few years ago (where people generally are known for excellent manners). A gentleman invited my wife and I out for an evening meal. He was so belligerent and rude to the waitress that I was greatly embarrassed. I seriously questioned his spirituality.

Compassion

It was said of Christ, on a number of occasions as he saw the crowds in distress, that he had “compassion” on them. The Greek word for compassion is related to a term that has reference to one’s inner organs. Metaphorically it denotes a deep inner feeling for someone. When we see folks suffering, we should feel for them and strive to help them as we are capable. When we see the bereaved, do we “feel” their pain—as much as one can for another?

It seems the world is growing increasingly cold. The problem is not global warming; it’s global cooling. It’s a dog-eat-dog environment (significantly undergirded by the evolutionary philosophy). We cannot help everyone of course; nor can we solve all the world’s problems. The Christian does need to show compassion in his daily demeanor.

Courage

John F. Kennedy wrote a book titled Profiles in Courage, in which he applauded this quality. Courage is a virtue. David once said to the Lord: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3). The noblest courage of all is that derived from faith in God.

Courageousness is not pugnaciousness. It is not the disposition that is loud-mouthed, or that runs over others. Courage is quiet confidence while doing what is right. Courage is a quality people admire; it is not that of which they are fearful, or that by which they are intimidated.

Yes, people are seeing your sermons every day. Make sure they are clear and meaningful for good. When folks observe your life as a truly Christian sermon, they may just want to hear about what it is you have—that they might need!

Wednesday May 21, 2008 - 08:01am (PDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments

Scenes of Sodom in California

By a 4-3 decision, the highest court in California has ruled that state laws which limit marriage to one man for one woman are unconstitutional. In a case that originated with the city of San Francisco (no surprise there) and numerous gay and lesbian couples, as well as various “gay rights” advocacy groups, the court concluded that the right to marry is “a fundamental constitutional right,” and therefore must be extended to same-sex couples. Shame, shame. Yet another example of outrageous judicial activism, legislating from the bench in defiance of all of America’s legal history, this far-reaching decision will undoubtedly send moral shock waves across American culture, and escalate the level of homosexual activism. This judicial audacity flies directly in the face of the over one million California voters whose signatures are expected to enable Californians to decide this November whether to protect the biblical definition of marriage with a constitutional amendment.

For a human court to undermine the very foundations of civilization, by redefining marriage as created and established by the Creator Himself, is unconscionable. The court even admitted that throughout California history, “the statutory designation of marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman has remained unchanged” (California State..., 2008, p. 25). But, of course, constitutional history means nothing to justices who have abandoned their own constitutional responsibility in order to impose their own agenda.

The court had the gall to compare race and gender to “sexual orientation” (a veiled allusion to deviant sexual appetites—not genetic makeup as is the case with ethnicity and gender):

Furthermore, in contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual’s sexual orientation—like a person’s race or gender—does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights. We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-couples (California State..., p. 7, emp. added).

Such ridiculous reasoning logically implies that it is inevitably just a matter of time before the courts legalize and dignify every other sexual perversion as “marriage”—from polygamy and bisexuality, to pedophilia and bestiality. After all, by the same twisted “reasoning,” the “right to marry” would extend to such persons as well. If a man has a “constitutional right” to marry another man, then a man has the same right to marry his dog.

In the 1885 Utah Territory case of Murphy v. Ramsey, the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed what America has always believed and practiced:

For certainly no legislation can be supposed more wholesome and necessary in the founding of a free, self-governing commonwealth, fit to take rank as one of the coordinate States of the Union, than that which seeks to establish it on the basis of the idea of the family, as consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony; the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our civilization; the best guaranty of that reverent morality which is the source of all beneficent progress in social and political improvement (1885, emp. added).

Such thinking was standard and typical in America from the very beginning until the turbulent 1960s. Americans knew that the very foundation of civilization depended on the home as God defined it in Genesis 1 and 2. They knew that to tamper with that prescription would mean the unraveling of society. Americans had better wake up and realize the deadly threat that sexual anarchy poses to the survival of the Republic. “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it” (Psalm 127:1).

REFERENCES

California State Supreme Court (2008), Opinion No. S147999, FindLaw, [On-line], URL: http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/glrts/ inremrg51508opn.pdf.

Murphy v. Ramsey (1885), 114 U.S. 15; 5 S. Ct. 747; 29 L. Ed. 47; 1885 U.S. LEXIS 1732.

Tuesday May 20, 2008 - 07:54am (PDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments

Portraits of Christ

Portraits of the Christ
May 13, 2008
by Wayne Jackson
The book of Hebrews is a marvelous treatise revealing the superiority of Christ and his New Covenant system over that of the preparatory Mosaic regime. The first chapter presents some fascinating portraits of the Lord Jesus.

Some of the New Testament documents resemble others to a degree—and that by design. For example, there are similarities in the Gospel accounts—especially in the synoptics (Matthew, Mark, and Luke); Ephesians and Colossians contain some parallels, as do 2 Peter and Jude. But the book of Hebrews is unique. It is almost the “holy of holies” of the New Testament record. There is no book more distinctive in highlighting some of the differences between the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ.

The purpose of this book is to demonstrate the superiority of the New Covenant over that of the Mosaic dispensation. It was not that the Law of Moses was fundamentally flawed. That arrangement was from God, hence, ideal in view of the purpose for which it was produced (preparation for the coming Messiah).

The First Covenant was national (for the Hebrew people; cf. Deuteronomy 5:2-3), and temporary (until “the faith,” i.e., the Christian system, arrived—Galatians 3:23-25). No less than a dozen times in Hebrews the term “better” is employed to emphasize the exceeding greatness of the latter regime over the former (cf. 8:6ff).

One of the key arguments in establishing this premise is the exaltation of Christ (the author of the New Covenant) over Moses (through whom the Old Covenant was given). For an illustration of this read the first half-dozen verses of Hebrews 3.

The careful student is not surprised, therefore, that the book should begin with a characterization of the Lord Jesus that provides him with an incomparable status. In this study piece, we will emphasize several qualities pertaining to the Lord that are breathtaking in scope.

Christ the Spokesman
The text begins like this:

God, having of old time spoken to the fathers by the prophets, in different portions and in different ways, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son (1:1-2a).

Jehovah revealed himself to humanity in varying ways throughout the entirety of the Old Testament period (which embraces both the Patriarchal and Mosaic ages). He spoke in dreams (Genesis 20:1-7; 28:12-15) and by means of visions (Genesis 15:1; Isaiah 1:1). At times Jehovah spoke directly to people (as in the case of Adam and Eve—Genesis 3:8ff), while on other occasions he temporarily appeared in a visible form (Exodus 33:23).

But with the incarnation of Christ there was a significantly new mode of revelation. Jesus came to “declare” the Father in a more dramatic way (John 1:18). The Lord Jesus could say, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:7ff); not that Father and Son were the same person, as the United Pentecostal sect alleges. Rather, Christ, being deity himself (John 1:1; 10:30), was the perfect image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15); in him the fullness of the Godhead was resident bodily (Colossians 2:9).

One must not overlook the fact that Christ was in the Old Testament as well. He was there in prophecy (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2) and in type (a pictorial preview), as in the case of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:1ff; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7). Moreover, he was present as that mysterious “Messenger” who occasionally communicated with the patriarchs and prophets (Genesis 22:15-16; Exodus 3:2-6). In the most astounding way of all, though, he made his appearance as the child of Mary. He eventually would revolutionize the world.

Christ the Conqueror
In Hebrews 1:2b, the inspired writer affirms that Christ was “appointed heir of all things.” While it certainly is true that his redeemed people are a part of this inheritance (cf. Mark 12:7; Romans 8:17), there is even more involved.

In Psalm 2 (which is exclusively messianic), Jehovah says to him who is to become his Son:

Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel (vv. 8-9).

He is the “ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5).

The fulfillment of this ultimately will be the glorious triumph of Christ at the time of Judgment. When the Faithful and True Word comes riding on his white horse (a symbol of victory), “out of his mouth” will be a sharp sword, and with it he will “smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty” (Revelation 19:15; cf. 2:26ff).

Those who fancy that they can rebuff the Son of God and suffer no consequence, have a horrible and eternal destiny awaiting them.

Christ as Creator and Sustainer
The Lord’s relationship to the material creation is expressed in two ways. First, it is affirmed that “through” Christ God “made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1-2c). Later in this chapter, quoting from Psalm 102, the writer will acknowledge: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands” (1:10). This affirmation of Christ’s role in the creation process is not unique to Hebrews; there are manifold testimonies to this historical reality elsewhere in the biblical record (cf. John 1:1-3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16).

But this is not all. The author of this treatise also points to Christ’s role as “Preserver” of the universe (Thayer 1958, 650). The Savior is “upholding all things by the word of his power” (1:3b). “Upholding” is from the Greek phero, “to bear up,” and grammatically is a present participle, indicating an ongoing process.

The various parts of the physical universe are not held together and regulated merely by laws of nature; these very laws are His laws, and operate by His appointed decree (Vine 1952, 13).

Can there be “law” without a “law-giver”?

Paul complements this in his letter to the Colossians when he observes that by Christ’s power “all things consist” (1:17). The term translated “consist” is better rendered “hold together” (see ASV fn; ESV). Jesus “is the principle of cohesion in the universe. He impresses upon creation that unity and solidarity which makes it a cosmos instead of chaos” (Lightfoot 1892, 154).

The universe is not a mere mechanistic machine, self-created and self-regulated. Those who so view it have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, exalting the creation to the status of Creator (cf. Romans 1:25).

Christ as Deity
With strobe flashes of brilliance, the sacred writer emphasizes the deity of Jehovah’s Son. Jesus is in the “effulgence” (apaugasma—”brightness” [KJV]) of the Father: he reflects and “radiates” the splendor of Heaven’s glory (Danker et al. 2000, 99), because he is deity as to his very nature (cf. John 1:1). (Not “a god,” as the Watchtower Witnesses allege; but truly God, the Son of his heavenly Father.

)

Additionally, the Son is said to be “the very image” (charakter), i.e., “an exact representation of (God’s) real being” (Danker et al., 1078). The language suggests that Jesus is “distinct from” the Father as to his Person (contra United Pentecostalism), yet he possesses the identical essence of deity (contra Watchtowerism).

Professor Liddon of Oxford once noted that while the book of Hebrews stresses the humanity of Jesus more than any other book in the New Testament, “it is nevertheless certain that no other book more explicitly asserts the reality of His Divine prerogatives” (n.d., 170).

Christ the Priest
In this hallowed introduction to the book, the writer of Hebrews mentions that the Son “made purification for sins” (1:3c). Christ’s atoning work is the major theme of the Scriptures. From Genesis 3:15 (the bruising of the woman’s seed), through the last book of the New Testament, is the message of redemption through the sacrifice of the slain Lamb (cf. Revelation 5:6; cf. 12:11).

The death of an innocent victim (1 Peter 1:18-19; 2:22), who died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3), that the justice of God might be satisfied (Romans 3:26), is the very heart of the gospel.

Christ as Redeemer is a central theme in the book of Hebrews. No fewer than seventeen times Jesus is characterized as our “high priest.” Passing through the “veil” of his flesh, bearing his own sacrificial blood, our high priest entered into the heavenly “holy of holies,” dedicating the way for those who surrender to his will (Hebrews 10:19ff; cf. 6:19-20).

It is interesting to observe that after Christ “made purification” for sins, he “sat down” at God’s right hand. No Old Testament priest ever sat down in the holy of holies; for his work of offering sacrifices was never ended. By way of contrast, Christ’s sacrifice was a “once for all time” offering (Hebrews 9:24-28).

In view of this, how insulting is the sectarian practice of the alleged “sacrifice of the mass,” in which, supposedly, Jesus is sacrificed every day!

Christ the King
After making purification for sins at Calvary, the Lord “sat down” at the right hand of God (1:3d). It is important that the Bible student realize that the reign of Christ began when he ascended into heaven following his resurrection. Daniel’s vision revealed the Son of Man ascending to the “ancient of days” (God) to receive dominion, glory, and a kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14).

In one of his parables, the Lord spoke of a nobleman (Christ himself) “going into a far country” (heaven) to “receive for himself a kingdom,” and then, ultimately, to “return” (Luke 19:11ff). Christ’s kingdom was received when he entered heaven, not when he returns for judgment. On Pentecost Peter spoke of Jesus being raised from the dead to occupy David’s throne (Acts 2:30ff; cf. 1 Peter 3:21-22).

These texts (and numerous others) clearly indicate that the Lord has been enthroned since his ascension. The premillennial view—that the Savior’s coronation was postponed until the time of the Second Coming, at which point an earthly reign from Jerusalem will commence—is entirely without substance.

The references picturing Jesus upon the throne as King underscore the fact that he is the Law-giver to whom we are subject, and those who reject him in that role will have a high price to pay for treating him as an enemy (see Luke 19:14, 27).

Christ the Worshipped
A prevailing theme in Hebrews 1 is the Lord’s prominence over the angels. No angel was ever honored as was the Son (v. 5). All the angels worship him (v. 6). Angels are but servants; he is King (vv. 8, 13-14).

Surely this ought to emphatically rebuke and refute the fallacious Watchtower dogma—that Christ was but an angel (specifically, Michael).

But more to the point of this context, the preeminence of the Son establishes the fact that inasmuch as the Mosaic law came through angels, and yet the New Covenant was given directly by Christ, the New Covenant thus is superior to the old (Hebrews 2:1-4; cf. John 1:17; Galatians 3:23-25). The Old Covenant, having fulfilled its temporary purpose, has been replaced by an entirely new system (Hebrews 7:12; 8:1-13).

Conclusion
The opening affirmation of Hebrews is inexhaustibly sublime, a marvelous foundation for the grand theme that follows in the balance of the book. Be thrilled by it.

If you would like to comment on this article, please click here

Sources/Footnotes
Danker, F. W., et al. 2000. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.

Liddon, H. P. n.d. The Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. London, England: Pickering & Inglis.

Lightfoot, J. B. 1892. St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon. London, England: Macmillan.

Thayer, J. H. 1958. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh, Scotland: T. & T. Clark.

Vine, W. E. 1952. The Epistle to the Hebrews. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Saturday May 17, 2008 - 08:59am (PDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments

Feeling Design

Apologetics Press :: Reason & Revelation
May 2008 - 7[5]:17-R

Feeling Design
by Kyle Butt, M.A.

Those in the medical field of prosthetics (artificial limbs) are faced with a daunting task—to mimic human body parts. Experts in this field of study are quick to admit that the natural, biological human body is far superior to anything that humans can design. Yet, even though prostheses are clumsy, awkward, and inefficient when compared to human limbs, progress is slowly being made toward more human-like limbs.

One step toward better prosthetics is the ability to feel, also known as tactile sensation. “[S]cientists from Northwestern University, in Chicago, have shown that transplanting the nerves from an amputated hand to the chest allows patients to feel hand sensation there” (Singer, 2007). This new technology has the potential to enable amputees to feel sensations such as cold and hot, distinguish between surface texture such as smooth (like marble) or rough (like sandpaper), and various other sensations that biological hands can feel.

Todd Kuiken, the lead doctor in the research that was presented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Kuiken, et al., 2007), said that improving and refining the technology will take time. Emily Singer, writing for Technology Review, commented on the process of creating usable, “feeling” prostheses, saying, “The task is likely to be difficult” (2007). Kuiken further noted: “Our hands are incredible instruments that can feel things with exquisitely light touch and incredible resolution; to emulate that through a device is incredibly challenging.... All we’re giving our patients is a rough approximation, but something is better than nothing” (as quoted in Singer, 2007).

Notice the necessary inference implied in this research. Humans are brilliant, creative beings. They are using existing nerves to design prostheses that have “a rough approximation” of the sense of touch that a biological hand has. Millions of dollars are being spent, thousands of hours used, and massive amounts of various other resources are being employed to make this muted sensation available. Yet, evolutionary scientists expect thinking people to believe that the original, biological limbs that have an “exquisite” sense of touch and “incredible resolution” arose due to blind processes and random chance over multiplied billions of years of haphazard accidents overseen by no intelligence? Such a conclusion is irrational. Design demands a designer. If the “rough” prostheses have a designer, the human limbs after which they are modeled must, of logical necessity, have one as well.

REFERENCES
Kuiken, Todd, et al.
(2007), “Redirection of Cutaneous Sensation from the Hand to the Chest Skin of Human Amputees with Targeted Reinnervation,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, [On-line], URL: http://www. pnas. org/cgi/content/abstract/104/50/20061.

Singer, Emily (2007), “Prosthetic Limbs that Can Feel,” Technology Review, [On-line], URL: http://www. technologyreview. com/Biotech/19759/?nlid=689.

Saturday May 17, 2008 - 08:56am (PDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments

God's Instruction to Man

The Gay Agenda...God's instructions to man

Christians believe the Bible is infallible, which means the Bible is direct and error free communication from God the Father to his followers on the earth. In the first book of the Bible, God speaks about his intentions for man in the area of sexual behavior. Genesis 1:27 states “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”. Later in the same chapter, he says, “God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…”(Genesis 1:28). Clearly, we are made in God’s image. To say that God accepts homosexual behavior would be like saying God himself is a homosexual and he was lying when he said increase in number.

Later in the Book of Genesis, the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God because many of the inhabitants were unrepentant homosexuals.

Finally, in the Mosaic law, God gave Moses specific and very clear instructions. In Leviticus18:22, God says “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

”

The New Testament is different than the Old Testament. The Old Testament is written with a lot of priestly and civil instruction where penalties were to be administered by the people. While the New Testament does not completely ignore priestly and civil instructions, it is written with a more moral law component with the punishment element being left up to God, especially with this particular sin. Of all the sins mentioned in the New Testament, participating in homosexual acts, in an unrepentant fashion, is the only sin mentioned where God actually hands them over to their perversion. Notice Romans 1:26 -28, “For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own person the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.” Some have argued, “there is no greater sin than the act of practicing unrepentant homosexuality.

”

The Gay Agenda in America

The Gay Agenda is becoming one of the most active political action groups in America. Its mission is growing and becoming more widely accepted in the media. Prominent actors, athletes and television personalities are having. “coming–out” parties and the gay community applauds and glamorizes these announcements. The primary idea behind the gay agenda is to provide homosexuals the same legal and moral rights as everyone else. There is an overabundance of legislation that basically will require employers, including churches, to employ a certain percentage of homosexuals as their employee base and provide the same benefits as everyone else. Through state funded sensitivity training, everyone will get along. In the event of dispute, there is even legislation being developed that state funded defense funds could be established to defend homosexuals who are mistreated in the marketplace with funding coming from state tax revenue.

The Gay Agenda is clearly an attack on God’s Word. Many homosexuals like to distort God’s Word by twisting God’s intention for man. But the real reason behind the Gay Agenda has four basic components; (1). It is a conscious and deliberate open rebellion before God and Man, (2). It seeks to distort God’s image into a same sex personality (3). It is designed to violate God’s intended order for man to be fruitful and have children, and (4). It ignores the tremendous amount of Biblical admonitions to the sin itself, including Romans 1:26-28, where the Bible states that God eventually will hand them over to their degrading passions.

As Christians we are instructed to stand firm. It is the Christians job to provide a moral compass for acceptable behavior to the rest of the World. As a New Testament Christian, we do not destroy homosexuals like the leaders did in the Old Testament. We are instructed to love them and pray for their salvation....it is their sin (not the person) that we have issue with. Studies have shown that homosexuality, just like any other compulsion such as alcoholism, gambling and pornography, can be treated and rehabilitated.

Saturday May 17, 2008 - 08:54am (PDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments

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