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god has shown - pART 5

3/16/2017

God Has Shown…Part 5
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (Joh 3:14-16)And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (Joh 12:32)

This is the last mini-article on “God Has Shown It Unto Them.” The focus has been on what God has shown the whole world by His creation. It relates to the question: “Can the un-preached heathen be saved before they are preached to?” Jesus gave the Great Commission to His disciples and all believers who were to follow them, to “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

That is the mind-set we are to have as we go throughout the world, wherever we are. I’m not aware that Christians have preached the Gospel to every creature in any generation since the Great Commission was given. The Body of Christ has been present on the earth and has made its mark on human history, but has not reached “every creature.”
The Great Commission was not to force Christianity upon “every creature” but to evangelize, to explain the “death, burial and resurrection of Christ and His offer of eternal salvation to everyone who would repent and receive Him as Savior and Lord.

We obey this command because our Lord said to do it. Jesus said in His days of ministry: “…The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. (Luk 10:2) I must confess that for many years, every time I read this verse, I inwardly wondered why the Lord wanted me to pray for Him to send forth laborers into His harvest. It’s His harvest, so, why doesn’t He just take care of it?

Finally, it dawned on me that God is honoring us by sharing with us His outreach to the people of the world. He shared with us His project of populating the earth by letting human beings give birth to new human beings. He also shares with us His passion for pointing people to His throne of grace for eternal salvation.

The Word of God tells us why God made the earth: For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. (Isa 45:18)

God instructed Noah and his sons after the flood: And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. (Gen 9:1) The Great Commission was: “every creature – in all the world.”

The Holy Spirit Convicts (convinces, draws) the Whole World of Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (Joh 16:8) We cannot do that and it is not our job. Walvoord and Zuck comment:

“One of the Spirit’s new ministries was to convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. Conviction is not the same as conversion but is necessary to it. The words “convict… of guilt” translate the one word elenxei, “to present or expose facts, to convince of the truth.” The Spirit works on the minds of the unsaved to show them the truth of God for what it is. Normally this process includes human aid (cf. Joh_15:26-27).”

“Jesus’ words, When I am lifted up from the earth, refer not to His Ascension but to His crucifixion (cf. Joh_3:14; Joh_8:28). He knew how He would die — by being “lifted up” on a cross. Jews, however, normally stoned those they considered worthy of death (cf. Stephen’s death, Act_7:58-60).

“Jesus said that at the cross He would draw all men to Himself. He did not mean everybody will be saved for He made it clear that some will be lost (Joh_5:28-29). If the drawing by the Son is the same as that of the Father (Joh_6:44), it means He will draw indiscriminately. Those saved will include not only Jews, but also those from every tribe, language, people, and nation (Rev_5:9; cf. Joh_10:16; Joh_11:52. (BKC) (Emphasis in red added.)

Jesus said He would draw all men unto him. I scanned about 25 commentaries on John 12:32, concerning Jesus’ statement: He would draw all men to Himself. Some said nothing. Some waxed eloquent and said nothing. A few thought it meant that Jesus would draw the dead out of their graves. A few concluded that it simply means what it says: Jesus will draw all men to Himself. That’s what I believe. He drew me that night in the bean market in October, 1943 when I was nine years old. You can’t be saved unless He draws you and He draws ALL men to Himself.

Jesus also said that people must be drawn to Him by His Father: 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. (Joh 6:44) During the days of Noah, God said: … My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. (Gen 6:3)
God’s plan was to make an earth to be inhabited. When it was inhabited, the people were to spread out and populate the whole earth. They were to notice the strong witness of God, their creator in the things He had made. Jesus came and died for the sins of the whole world. He sent His followers into the whole world to preach His Gospel to every creature in the world.

God said through Isaiah: Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. (Isa 45:22-23)

This same message was repeated in the New Testament and updated to focus on Christ:
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Php 2:9-11)

Isaiah and Paul were saying the same thing: the whole earth is to look to God and be saved, bowing the knee and confessing with the tongue that God the Father is God and there is none else. The Father and the Son are one. The Holy Spirit does the drawing and no one can be saved just any time they decide. In the first place, no one will decide to call on God unless they are drawn by the Holy Spirit. No one will bow the knee to Jesus as Savior and Lord unless they are drawn by the Holy Spirit.

God has built His preacher into the things He has made, that men should call upon Him. He sent His Son to die on the cross and be raised from the dead, that men should call upon Him. He sends His servants with Bibles in hand to preach and teach His Bible message that men should call upon Him. His simplest of all messages is: Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Rom.10:13) and (Joel 2:32)

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Rev 22:17)

Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 17, 2017 – FRIDAY
A.M. Deut 29-30    P.M. Mark 16
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psa 19:14)

Song for Today:
What A Friend We Have in Jesus (3:37) – (Gaither Group)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coO5Sl8Vnlw&list=RD_LjZfjuOASs&index=8

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god has shown...part 4

3/15/2017

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God Has Shown…Part 4
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Rom 1:19-20)

“Can the heathen be saved who have never heard the Gospel of Christ?” That was the question my high school teacher asked me and 30 years later a senior N.C. Senator asked me the same thing. This mini-series of articles is a report on what I discovered as I searched the Scriptures for an answer. I’ve heard it said: “The danger of a little learning is that the one who has it may not realize it’s only a little.” That was my plight when I answered my high school teacher.

My answer: “people can only get saved when someone shows them from the Bible how to be saved.” I hadn’t thought it through, that we were short on manpower to show everyone on earth how to be saved and that the earth’s population would more than triple in my lifetime. Did God make too many people to be reached with the Gospel? Even with radio, TV, and Internet, many people have never heard of Jesus Christ and the population continues to mushroom.

The Bible tells us (Romans 1:19-20) that God has shown the world’s population His awesome power and authority over them through the things He has made. Psalm 19 says the heavens declare the glory of God, utter speech and show knowledge and God’s handiwork and there is no place where their voice is not heard.

In addition to this, Jesus has appointed His followers as preachers and teachers of His death, burial and resurrection as God’s eternal plan for saving lost sinners. We are to aim at telling every person on the earth (Mark 16:15) about the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).
  ──Calling on the Name of the Lord──
It is important to understand these seven verses.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias (Isaiah) saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. (Rom 10:12-18) (This refers to Psalm 19)

No difference between the Jews and the Greeks. The same Lord is rich unto all that call upon Him. Paul establishes that the preferred way of hearing the Gospel, is through a sent preacher.

But, God has another plan already in operation and Paul refers to that plan spelled out in Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God. God’s creation is His background system of preaching and it goes to everyone on earth.

I read about a Russian artist. One day she looked at her hands and fell under great conviction that there was a God who had made her hands with artistic ability. She had been trained as an atheist but in a moment of time she threw her atheism aside and embraced the God of creation and whatever He had for her. She had just experienced the drawing of the Holy Spirit. Thomas A. Edison, who is given credit for the electric light bulb, said that he wouldn’t be an evolutionist until they could make one blade of grass. Edison understood the strong message of God’s massive creation.

God’s people are his second wave of preaching about Him and the most effective way of reaching whatever people they can meet. Out of this effort comes churches that evangelize and that serve the many needs of the Body of Christ. It is God’s living, verbal witness based on the Word of God and on creation. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved. (Joel 2:32; Rom. 10:13)

God has many names. On which name, must a lost person call? God taught the Jewish people at least fifteen names for Himself. Three of His names were Yahweh, Jehovah and Adonai. Jehovah had eight suffixes that could be used, two of which are: jireh and nissi. El is one of His names and can be used with other words. The 4th Commandment is “Thou shalt not take the name of thy Lord God in vain” (Ex.20:7) In the model prayer, Jesus taught his disciples to pray: “…hallowed by Thy name” (Mat.6:9 & Luke 11:2).

●Joel 2:32 says: “… it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be delivered.” (Hebrew: Jehovah is used.) (It occurs 6,521 times in KJV Bible)
●When Joel 2:32 was copied, and recast in Romans 10:13, kurios (Greek) was used. (Occurs 748 times.) It means: “Supreme in authority; controller; Mr. – Master- Sir – God – Lord.” For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved. (Rom 10:13) Paul uses it in his discourse on Jews and Greeks being saved if they will call on the name of the Lord.

Do you see where this is going? Joel’s word for LORD is Jewish. Paul’s word for LORD is not very Jewish, but broad, almost anonymous. Wherever one might live in the world, LORD (kurios) could be used in the mouth of one who knows almost nothing about God, certainly does not know His name, but call on Him using the title of: MR. or SIR. or MASTER or BOSS. Please pause and make sure you understand what is going on here. God has no problem with an ignorant sinner stumbling and fumbling as he/she calls on the LORD to be saved.

I didn’t know this when I was talking with my high school teacher! I didn’t know this when the old Methodist N.C. Senator closed his door and asked me if the heathen could be saved who had never heard a Christian preacher.

(The above word usage comes from Strong’s Hebrew/Greek Dictionary e-Sword Bible program on my computer. Install it on your computer, free, at www.e-Sword.net )

Tomorrow we will look at the work of the Holy Spirit in drawing people to repentance and faith.Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 16, 2017 – THURSDAY
A.M. Deut 28    P.M. Mark 15:27-47
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psa 19:14)

Song for Today:
When the Roll is Called (3:31) – (Gaither Group)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LjZfjuOASs&index=4&list=RDcJnD272vmn
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god has shown...Part 3

3/14/2017

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God Has Shown…Part 3
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Psa 8:3-4)

The Question: Does God show a man enough to show him he is eternally lost, while not showing him enough to be saved? This question was handed to me in my senior year of high school. After I had been witnessing to one of my high school teachers in Stevenson, Alabama, he asked me one day: “Can the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved before you get there to preach to them?” Thirty years later a senior-age, Methodist, N.C. Senator asked me the same question. There’s a Bible answer for that question but it’s not in one verse.

Underneath this question are two other questions: 1. What is the salvation of a sinner based on? 2. What and how much does one have to know to be saved?” By “being saved,” I mean what must one do to go to Heaven when we die? If I had not been asked this question several times through the years I would not bring up the question here. Since the earth now has a population of almost seven billion people and many religions are now taking root in America, we cannot escape the question.

The question divides into two classes of people: 1. Those who have heard the Gospel message of Christ, that is, of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and 2. Those who have never heard of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul was the leading evangelist and theologian of the New Testament. He said this is what he preached in his ministry: And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Act 20:20-21)

When Paul and Silas were put in prison for preaching the Gospel of Christ in Philippi, an earthquake shook the prison doors open at night and the jailer was about to take his own life, assuming the prisoners had escaped. Paul commanded him not to hurt himself and the jailer was astounded. He brought them out of the prison: …and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. (Act 16:30-33)

Peter Preached the Blood of Christ. There are not two or twenty things that will save a wretched sinner from his sins. Only the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross will save one from his or her sins. Peter put it this way: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (1Pe 1:18-20)

The Writer of Hebrews Preached the Blood of Christ. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Heb 9:22)

God Used Isaiah to Preach His Message. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. (Isaiah 45:22-23)

Paul Upgrades Isaiah and Applies It to New Testament Times.
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11)

There is no conflict between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They are always one. When God the Father announces that all the ends of the earth must look unto Him to be saved, that’s final. Nothing in the Bible will conflict with that statement. In Isaiah, God the Father says that everyone on earth will bow their knee to Him and every tongue will confess to Him. He says there is “none else.” God the Son and God the Holy Spirit will not conflict with this statement, ever! It is a God-head statement. They are all saying the same thing in that one statement. If you pray to one, you are praying to all three. Important!

In the fullness of time (Gal.4:4) God sent forth His son…to redeem them that were under the law. What God the Father directed toward Himself in Isaiah, God now uses Paul to direct toward the slain and resurrected Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Can one no longer call upon God the Father to be saved? Must one call only upon the Lord Jesus to be saved? Would one be eternally lost because one called on the “wrong” person of the Godhead? You see where I’m going with this. The Godhead persons are one. There is no jealousy among the Godhead.

If one does not know that Christ died for their sins, they can see by the rising and setting of the sun, that there is a creator and can call upon that one, for “God has shown it unto them.” If one such sinner calls upon the creator, (“Whoever you are!”) that sinner has surely called upon the proper agent of salvation. If that sinner needs to know more, God will decide what they need to know and will show them. Salvation is of the Lord and He is ready to save a repenting sinner “from the ends of the earth.”

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. (Psa 34:18) (More is said about proud and humble people before God.)

Romans 10:13 says: “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That is a quote from the Old Testament: (Joel 2:32) and is true for people in Old Testament times and is true for people in New Testament times. (See also, Acts 2:21) It is also good for people who know very little about God and about praying to God, in ancient times and in modern times. It is a matter of gaining access to the blood of Christ that was yet to be shed for them or the blood of Christ that had been shed for them, using “what God has shown them.” Tomorrow we will go a little further. Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 15, 2017 – WEDNESDAY
A.M. Deut 26-27    P.M. Mark 15:1-26
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psa 19:14)

Song for Today:
At Calvary (3:31) – (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vvMPD0iwGk
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god has shown...part 2

3/13/2017

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God Has Shown…Part 2
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Rom 1:18-20)

God has shown much about Himself to a rebellious generation in the Roman Empire. It is not a summary of several generations, for the text says “they are (now) without excuse.” The statement is part of Paul’s declaration to the Roman Christians, that he would like to come to Rome. He would like to preach to the people of Rome because the wrath of God is against all ungodliness (against God) and unrighteousness (against mankind) of men who possess God’s truth and sin against it. How did they learn “what may be known of God?”

The people of Rome have been shown great knowledge about God and have sinned against Him. The Romans could see many things that only God could have made. God communicates to human beings through things He has made. People who see what God has made become responsible to acknowledge His existence and their accountability to Him. God is the great communicator!

Paul is not the first one to tell of God’s teaching through things He has made. King David of Israel wrote: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world….(Psa 19:1-4) Notice the words of communication attributed to the heavens: “declare,” “uttereth speech,” “sheweth knowledge,” “their voice” and “their words.”

Only God knows how many nights David spent the night with his sheep under the canopy of the heavens. It taught him much about God, the creator. David shared that with millions of people when he wrote the experience into a psalm. God teaches the people of the earth when the sun rises and sets and when the stars appear. David ends the six verses with: there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. For those who are too blind to see the stars and the sun, they can certainly feel the heat of the sun. God communicates with the people He made through the heavens when they see the sun, moon and stars God made. There’s a God out there somewhere!

I heard Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. go through his rehearsal of things he enjoyed so much. He said when he looked up in the sky at night and saw the stars, he knew there was a God because he could see the dew drops on His front lawn. And when he walked through a rose garden he knew God had been there and painted the roses.

So, what’s the purpose of God’s showing all the people of the earth His eternal power and Godhead? It’s to show to all the people of the earth that He has taken the initiative in communicating with us and that they need to respond. All the churches and missionaries of the earth can’t reach seven billion people in a lot of years with the Gospel. Reaching all the Muslims with the Gospel by missionaries has been an impossibility. But, they have been seeing the sun rise and set. What we have, are stories of dreams and angels appearing to Muslims. Those converted, become a witness to their own people and oftentimes at the expense of their lives.

The Communist countries were closed to missionaries for many years. Today, North Korea has many Christians in their stinking, freezing prisons. In China, Christianity is growing faster than any place and it’s bothersome to the government. The world’s population continues to explode and especially among the Muslim nations. And they see the sun rise and set. Those who see the sun rise and set are without excuse.

We must remember that salvation is not of us. Salvation is of the Lord. When Jonah was in the belly of the fish he prayed: But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. (Jon 2:9)

“Can those who have never heard be saved before you get there and preach to them?” Those who have never heard, watch the sun rise and set every day. They see God communicating with them. They see God showing them His eternal power and Godhead and they are without excuse…just like the people in the Roman Empire that Paul wrote about.

Question: Does God show a man enough to make him lost but not enough to get him saved? That’s the question. I can’t find a single chapter and verse that addresses that. But I think there are enough verses put together that give a good picture of what we can expect to happen. I don’t believe God will show a man enough to make him lost but not enough to get him saved, if…he wants to be saved.

I’ve talked with many men who know the Gospel as well as I do who are not saved and don’t want to be saved. That’s why we should ask people: 1. Do you need to be saved? 2. Do you want to be saved? 3. Do you know how to be saved? 4. Do you want me to pray with you right now about your being saved?

May I summarize a statement that I have come to believe: “If God shows a man enough to make him lost and without excuse, God will show that man enough for him to be saved if he wants to be saved.” We’ll look at this again, next time. Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 14, 2017 – TUESDAY
A.M. Deut 23-25    P.M. Mark 14:51-72

(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psa 19:14)

Song for Today:
Hallelujah, We Shall Rise! (3:12) – (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9P5VdY9ZBk

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god has shown it unto them

3/12/2017

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“God Has Shown it Unto Them”
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so, that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:18-20)

It is not possible to explore this theme in one or two short articles on Morning Minute. We will take a few mornings to look at Paul’s making such a statement in his classic book: The Book of Romans. The source of revealing will come from heaven. It will be overseen and directed by heaven. The power of God from heaven will see that it is done in a visible way.

God is saying, “I have shown you things you need to know and you have paid no attention. You continue to live as though I have shown you nothing. And now, my feeling toward you is righteous wrath. (Not to be confused with depraved human wrath.) You have no excuse for ignoring the truth I have shown you.” This is a paraphrase of the above verses. It is one of the most important truths in the Bible.

When I was a high school senior, I worked on my last two credits (2 of 16) at Stevenson, AL High School and these credits were transferred to the Homestead High School where I graduated. I went to school a half-day and worked in my daddy’s hickory sawmill a half-day. My Social Studies teacher was a nice fellow, not long out of college. I began dropping little one-liners to him about the Lord, trying to be a Christian witness to him. One day as I came into class a few minutes early, he said to me: “What about the heathen in foreign lands who have never heard of Jesus Christ? Can they be saved before you get there and preach to them?” I was sure he had learned that in college as a reason not to believe the Christian faith.

In those days, I knew more than I know now and I handed it back to him: “A missionary will have to tell them about Christ because that’s God’s way of communicating with them.” My teacher was nice, but he knew I didn’t have it together. I never got over my blunder. It still bothers me. I wonder if he’s still living, where he lives and wish I could talk with him one more time.

Thirty years later I was a lobbyist in the NC Legislature on behalf of religious liberty and the life of the unborn. An old Senator closed his office door and raised the question while I was asking for his vote on our Bill. “Can the heathen who have never heard be saved?” Like lightning, my mind was back in that high school and I knew I had never truly answered the question. I said: “Sir, I can’t give you a Bible answer this moment, but I’ll research it and get back with you in a few days and we’ll discuss this again.”

I did and we discussed it. It was some of the most intense Bible study I had ever done. I was trying to overcome 30 years of laziness in not dealing with that important subject. I was amazed at how much there is in the Bible about God’s dealing with people who know nothing and how much He tells them and how He does it. The subject is hidden away in many places and you have to be looking for the subject or you will slide over it. In the articles, ahead, I plan to share some of those things I found.

Some “Christians” may decide they would like to know no more than the heathen who have never heard. We may fail to realize the implications involved when the world’s population is approaching seven billion. In 1830, there was one billion. In 1930, there were two billion. In 1960 there were three billion. And now there are almost seven billion.

Our verses today talk about people who had truth about God without a Bible. We are used to the Bible being the truth book and it is. Indeed, the Bible is the fountainhead of truth, the gold standard of truth, ultimate truth, authoritative truth, and the encyclopedia of truth. There’s no other book in the world like the Bible. It is God’s special book of revelation.

Jesus commented on truth. “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (Joh 8:31-32)

When Jesus was standing trial before Pilate, the Roman ruler, Jesus talked about truth. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.   Pilate saith unto him, bear What is truth?... (Joh 18:37-38) Pilate didn’t know as much as he wanted to know.

Pilate was familiar with the system of Greek philosophers who constantly debated among themselves for knowing truth. But without God’s assistance, without God’s revelation of truth, men are limited in what they can know. I studied philosophy in college and reviewed some of the stuff these men were debating. It was amazing how generation after generation was trying to know truth but could not decide. Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2Ti 3:7)

Prior to His trial, Jesus had said to His disciple, Phillip: I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (Joh 14:6) Jesus was co-creator with the Father and the Holy Spirit: All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:3). We should not be surprised that Jesus not only spoke the truth but was also, Himself, the truth.

How did God reveal truth to men without a Bible? In today’s text, God communicates a limited but awesome amount of knowledge without a Bible. He is setting forth His eternal power and Godhead. By “eternal” is meant that it is unchanging. It has never been anything else and will always be the same. The power means of an authoritative nature.

“Paul’s conclusion to this description of natural revelation is important — men are without excuse. The witness to God in nature is so clear and so constant that ignoring it is indefensible. Their condemnation is based not on their rejecting Christ of whom they have not heard, but on their sinning against the light they have.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary)

The phrase: “God has shewed it unto them” is the key to understanding much in God’s dealing with humanity. This principle is deeply embedded in the founding documents of the United States. Our Declaration of Independence, that serves as a preamble to the Constitution of the United States, includes the following terms in the first paragraph: “laws of nature” and “nature’s God.” The same document includes: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights…”

This was the conclusion of all these men who were committing the thirteen colonies to go to war with England. They believed it was common knowledge that God communicates certain values into the conscience of men and women, directly. The principles were in the Bible and the Spirit of God endowed the hearts of men with the conviction of those principles.

God was communicating with people hundreds of years before Moses wrote the five books of law and history known as the Jewish Torah, which is part of the Christian Bible.

Barbara and I have almost finished reading the Book of Job again. We’ve read it several times in the last thirty years. It is said to be the oldest book in the Bible. Job said: Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. (Job 23:12) Job had words from God before the words of Moses were written.

Abraham knew God well, talked with Him and God talked to Abraham. But, Abraham didn’t have a Bible. He knew enough about God to be responsible to Him, to appreciate Him, to love Him, to believe Him, and to obey Him.

Enoch was the oldest man that ever lived and the Bible says He walked with God. God took him to Heaven and he is there right now, living and talking with God. But, Enoch never had a Bible. Abraham knew God before God told him to leave his land and kindred and God would show him a land He would give him and would make of him a great nation. But, Moses never had a Bible until God told him to write the first five books of the Bible.

Most of the people of the world have never held a Bible in their hands, today or at any time in history. Very few people in the world have ever sat in a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church. And yet, according to the Apostle Paul, God has shown people enough truth for them to respond to Him, that is, to obey what God has shown them. This principle is true in measuring our knowledge and measuring our money: For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. (2Co 8:12)

Man, in his fallen state, will not have God to rule over him. Isaiah says: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isa 53:6) The foundation and core of all sin is that the sinner has put himself in the place of God. That’s what our verses are about today. God’s wrath is against those who take what God has shown them by any means and hold it while living contrary to what God has shown them. Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
      MARCH 13, 2017 – MONDAY
A.M. Deut 20-22    P.M. Mark 14:26-50
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Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psa 19:14)

Song for Today:
An Old Time Christian (2:30) – (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbWwfEFkrgk

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pray for all those in authority

3/8/2017

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Pray for All Those in Authority
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:1-4)
The above Bible text was written during the days of the Roman Empire. It was, big, powerful, mean, despotic, unfair, corrupt. But, bad government is better than no government. Anarchy, i.e. the absence of civil government, is the worst possible condition under which people could live. So, the Roman Government was bad for Christians but better than anarchy. God first established the family and then established human government. Much later, God established the Church.

Paul instructed Christians to pray and give thanks for all that are in authority. If you’re given a speeding ticket, you may not want to pray for God to bless the patrolman. But if it were not for him, it would be dangerous to drive to church or the grocery store. We live in a world filled with corrupt and violent people who have no heart of mercy or pity on anyone. Government is required to restrain evil people, to limit their power over others to do them harm. For that reason, we are to obey.

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. (Rom 13:1-4)

This should be studied carefully. It uses the words: good and evil. It is God’s will that governments be His ministers to reward good and punish evil as God defines those words. He does not turn the moral structure of the earth over to evil government officials to carry out their own definitions of good and evil, from one king to another king. That would be unstable and chaotic.

God said: When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. (Pro 29:2)

It’s hard for us to realize what it would be like to live under a king. The kind of government we have in America has not been around very long. The Founding Fathers called it: “a Republic.” (Not a democracy). It was known as the “great experiment” to see if human beings could govern themselves. John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers and 2nd president said: Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

The real power of our nation is “we the people.” Power flows from “we the people” to those who exercise the laws over us. The great parliamentarian Edmund Burke warned us, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” “We, the people, are important.

God is the author of nations and claims His authority to be over the nations, not just the individual and not just over the church. The Psalmist prayed: Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. (Psa 9:20)

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. (Isa 45:6)

Isaiah said to Jerusalem and Judah: And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. (Isa 3:4) God is ultimately in charge of nations. He can give us good leaders or bad leaders. It is unthinkable that children would be the princes of a nation or that babes should rule over a nation. God’s power is far reaching and thorough. Should we not obey God and pray for those in authority over us?

J. Vernon McGee comments about our verses for today:
"Paul says that Christians are to pray for public officials, and I take it that he meant that the prayers were to be made in the church. To bring this up-to-date, he is saying the Democrats ought to pray for the Republicans, and the Republicans ought to pray for the Democrats. Many years ago a famous chaplain of the Senate was asked by a visitor, "Do you pray for the senators?" He replied, "No, I look at the senators, and then I pray for the country!"

That is exactly what Paul says we need to do. We need to pray for our country, and we need to pray for those who have authority over us. If you are a Republican and a Democrat is in office, pray for him. If you are a Democrat and a Republican is in office, pray for him.

"For kings." Paul says we are to pray for the kings who rule. You may ask, "Yes, but are we to pray when the government is a corrupt one?" Paul is saying we are to pray even if it's a corrupt government. We are to pray for whoever is in power. Remember that the man who was in power in Rome when Paul wrote was bloody Nero, yet he says we are to pray for kings, whoever they are.

"That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." Any government is better than no government. Some people may question that, but an evil, corrupt government, if it really governs, is better than anarchy. I agree with those who argue that politics is crooked—man has certainly corrupted and misused political power—but there does remain a semblance of law and order. Civil government is a gift from God, and we ought to give thanks for it and pray for it. Many of us fall short of praying for our government in order that we might continue to live quietly and peaceably." (McGee)

We should be in the habit of praying daily. When we pray, we should pray for all those in authority. Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 9, 2017 – THURSDAY
A.M. Deuteronomy 8-10   P.M. Mark 12:28-44
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Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psa 19:14)

Song for Today:
U.S. Army Band & Chorus (5:12): Battle Hymn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jRnL6fRdcc
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wonderfully made

3/7/2017

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                     Wonderfully Made…
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. (Psa 139:14-18)

David is amazed at the creation of new human life─his own life. First, he will praise the Lord for his being made in such a wonderful and amazing manner! It was not a ho-hum happenstance but a very great thing that had taken place. Though people could not see, even though his mother could not see, God could see what He was doing in the womb of his mother. God could see and He looked upon him in his earliest stage. In God’s record book, all the parts of David’s body were already written down before those parts were finished. “Hath God said?” Yes, God hath said.

Have you ever marveled at the fact that you were placed in your mother’s womb, and no other womb on earth? Not in China! Not Iran! Not Africa! If you haven’t been amazed about that, maybe it’s time for you to be amazed! And you were not born during the Roman Empire or in the middle of the American Civil War and you are not yet to be born. God was very specific about where and when you were born and which womb from which you were birthed. It didn’t amaze me either until after I was forty years old.

The idea that little people are of no more value than a dog or a goat until after they are born is demonic. It certainly did not come from God’s Word.

McGee thoughtfully comments: “Before the body was formed David says he was a person. He was a person as he was being formed in the womb. Even before the members of his body were formed, he was a person. The personhood is declared to take place at the very moment of conception.

“This is very important in our day because of the question of abortion. I heard a minister of the liberal persuasion say that the Bible has nothing to say about abortion, and therefore we can make our own decision or do as we please. However, the Bible does have something to say about it, and here is a clear-cut reference. While the body was being formed, David said he was a person, a human being. God had the blueprint of his members before they came into existence. The person was there.

“Now hear it straight: abortion is murder unless it is performed to save the mother's life or even the child's life. Abortion to get rid of the little unformed fellow before he has an opportunity to utter a cry in order to cover up sin or escape responsibility merely enhances the awful and cruel crime. Do not blame me for this charge. Blame David—he wrote it. Blame the Holy Spirit—He declared it.

“The Bible has the answer to all the problems of life if we consider all of it, and it does not always give the popular interpretation. It is well to get God's viewpoint.” (McGee)

A nation’s families must produce an average of at least 2.1 babies per family or the population will shrink and the nation’s economy will be strained and suffer loss. (That figure may be a bit low.) The population will grow older and the old people will be in disproportion to the number of young, working people who are going to support them. China is dying and they know it. The government restrained them from having more than one child per family. They waited too long to reverse their policy and now they are beginning to pay the price. Several nations of Europe lost interest in having children and now they are having to import foreign workers to help make their economy work.

If Johnny and Mary are killed in the womb, they won’t show up at school, will not report for work and will pay no taxes to support the federal, state, county, and city governments of the nation. They will buy no cars, clothing, or houses. America has embraced a culture of death to inconvenient human life. America has killed almost sixty million innocent children in the womb. We lost 408,000 soldiers during WWII. How does that compare with 60,000,000 babies that Americans have put to death in the womb? Yes, we have a culture of death in America. The slaughter of inconvenient life.

We have lost some jobs to automation but that’s a curve ball. Most of our jobs are not automated. They are not! We must have immigrants to help with the labor force. America has been progressively forgetting God and rebelling against God. The Lord addresses His relationship to nations:

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psa 11:3)

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. (Psa 33:12-14)

We need not turn away our heads from the hearing of the Word of God and pretend like everything is all right, because everything is not all right. Our politicians have not risen above the laws of God in making laws and running our courts. None of us have risen above the laws of God in living our daily lives. We will not escape God’s opinion about our nation and we will not escape His able hand in administering correction. There is no greater need than the need for God’s people to visit the prayer closets.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2Ch 7:14) Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 8, 2017 – WEDNESDAY
A.M. Deuteronomy 5-7   P.M. Mark 12:1-27

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Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psa 19:14)

Song for Today:
Huge Orchestra (4:37): Nearer My God to Thee (Amsterdam)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1mQT1u_45I
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sufficient guide for faith and practice

3/6/2017

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Sufficient Guide... Faith and Practice
Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words everyone from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.

Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. (Jer 23:29-32)

The devil said to Eve: “Yea hath God said?” He’s still saying the same thing, because it works. Some people are troubled today that God should claim the right to say something. They label themselves when they reject the authority of their Maker:

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD. (Psa 14:1-4)

It was this kind of thinking that prompted God to tell Noah to build an ark and then sent the world-wide flood that drowned everybody but the eight in the ark.

The main question will always be what the devil asked Eve: “Yea, hath God said?” (Gen. 3:1) The questions swarming around today, troubling and dividing everybody are all wrapped up in the main question: “Yea, hath God said?” If God said it, then pay attention and obey Him. If God didn’t say it, then forget about it. I’m not concerned about pleasing everybody. I am concerned about pleasing God. Jesus said: How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? (John 5:44)

I’ve told many times about walking around in the Congressional Library in Washington and realizing that among all the thousands of books in those two buildings, there’s only one book that can tell the future: The Bible! Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isa 46:10)

When I was in my teens, maybe 1950, I encountered a phrase I had never seen. It was about the Bible and was in a booklet published by the Southern Baptist Convention. It said: “The Bible is a sufficient guide for faith and practice.” That’s it. That’s all I remember. It sort of, jumped on me. That’s why I remember it 67 years later. In life there is the substance of what makes up our faith structure, the blue print.

Then, there is the “how” of carrying out that faith: the practice. The dynamic. The blueprint and the dynamic! The Bible is a sufficient guide for faith and practice. If that’s true, then it’s authoritative. It’s like the automotive manual that shows you all the moving parts and the procedure for taking it apart and putting it back together. It gives the valve settings and the clearance between the crankshaft and the bearings and how to set the timing at so many degrees before top dead center. I’ve used those manuals in rebuilding bus engines under a shade tree. A shade tree mechanic is helped wonderfully with the manual. Without the manual, he might as well go into the house and forget it.

The Bible tells about God, about ourselves and what’s wrong with us and how to get it fixed. It tells us how to get to Heaven and how to live on our way to Heaven. It tells us about family relationships and about our relationship to our country and about our relationships at work and about relationships at church.

We have to decide if we’re the product of evolution or if we were special-designed and special-made by the mind and hand of an Almighty God. Personally, I do not believe my grandpa was a big lizard. If you believe that, then one law is as good as another and if I want to shoot you, by what authority are you going to tell me I should not kill you and take your stuff? No, my friend, if you don’t have a Bible that is sufficient for faith and practice, you have a lot of problems that are over your head. You’re just not that smart. I’m not that smart. I need a Bible.

Whatever temptation comes my way, I know that I’m to search the Bible and see what God said about it. Sin is tempting because it will taste good or feel good or make you feel like a big shot. Otherwise, temptation would have no power to attract and destroy you. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23) The following poem has been around a long, long time.

The Anvil of God's Word
“Last eve I paused beside the blacksmith’s door, And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime; Then looking in, I saw upon the floor, Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

“How many anvils have you had,’ said I, ‘To wear and batter all these hammers so?’
‘Just one,’ said he, and then with twinkling eye, ‘The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.’

“And so, I thought, the Anvil of God’s Word For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard, The Anvil is unharmed, the hammers gone.”

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever... 1 Peter 1:25 Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 7, 2017 – TUESDAY
A.M. Deuteronomy 3-4   P.M. Mark 11:20-33

(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psa 19:14)

Song for Today:
Divo Quartet (4:32): Amazing Grace (II Divo Quartet)
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Forgetting the past

3/5/2017

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Forgetting the Past…
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. (Php 3:13-15)

This is one of the most important passages of Scripture on living the Christian life we’ll ever find. Relationship with God and relationship with people is in the mind. That’s why we are told to forget the past. Your future depends on what you do with your past. When you obey God, if something is still in the way, God will reveal it to you. You have His word on that. Read it again.

Living the Christian life always begins and maintains itself with attitude and that has to do with the mind.. The altitude of an airplane always depends on the attitude and power of the plane. That is, whether the nose is heading up or heading down. When I get on a plane, I want the pilot to gain speed and lift the nose up and clear the trees at the end of the runway. At Greensboro, I was always a bit uneasy because of the fuel tank farm located not far beyond the runway. There is also a cemetery alongside the path of the plane. “Get the nose up!”   We’ve got to rise above all of that if we’re going to make it to Atlanta!

I always felt so much better when I heard the clunk of the landing gear being swallowed up into the belly of the plane. That happened just before we passed the cemetery and we nosed up at a steep angle with full power for a steep climb to gain altitude. Every time it was the same. I felt so much better when it was all behind me and the bell went ding and the pilot said we could unfasten our seat belts and gave us the weather in Atlanta.

That’s like it is on our journey to Heaven. I like to forget the troubling things that threatened us in the past and hear the Pilot talk about the weather in Heaven. He’ll tell us refreshments will be served and we are to enjoy our flight.

However, if you will let him, the devil will beat you to death with your past. And if the devil doesn’t care to bother you right now, your conscience will do it for him. Either way, your past may be the biggest thing you must wrestle with. It doesn’t have to be that way. The flowers spend their beauty and bow to their death. But, they’ll be back next spring in dazzling beauty! Hasn’t the Lord demonstrated for us His intentions for us to rise above our failures and blunders to bloom where we’re planted?

A visiting preacher said today at our church that the reason there is not more praising of God among Christians is that there is too much complaining going on. We don’t feel like praising God when we forget how many things God has done for us. Job said: Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. (Job 1:21)

Barbara and I are still visiting with Job and his “friends.” We’re doing about two chapters a day and it is a chore to try to imagine what that poor fellow went through. But, everyone should go through it a dozen times and mark the verses that seem most meaningful to you. He says things we don’t want to hear. Why he didn’t run off his mouthy friends, I don’t know. It reminds me of the song: Am I A Soldier of the Cross. A passage says: “Is this vile world a friend to grace to help me on to God?” And the answer is: No! It is not!

Sometimes the reason we cannot forget the past is that we may be holding a grudge from back there and we have nursed that grudge until it has become a root of bitterness. Oh yes! It goes on big time among Christians, many who are carrying wounds from the past. Wounds that never healed. Some are mad at their mama or daddy and they are dead now. So, how are you going to talk it over? Well, there’s no Bible for this, but you might try setting a chair in front of you and pretend you’re talking to them, like they’re alive. Talk it out. Tell them you’re sorry for your part. Tell them you forgive them for the way they hurt you. Don’t mark me off as weird until you deal with it.

Please listen to me. I have listened to my part of really sad stories and have seen the baggage people drag around with them. Some people in our churches were saved out of some terribly messy situations. If you had a good childhood, don’t try to understand where these people are coming from.

Sometimes the wounds open when a person is getting saved. I stood by the bedside of an old army veteran who was weeping his way to God. It was like he was vomiting. I did his funeral in a few days. He was so full of pent-up bitterness of soul. When we bump into people at Walmart, we never know what they’re carrying around. Be patient with people who act like the devil because they may be driven by him. In Tallahassee, Florida I knocked on a door and talked to a man and the next day he committed suicide. I guess the pastor and I were the last people he talked to. He wouldn’t let us in.

There are so many people walking around waiting for someone to care about them. But we can’t help someone else if we are full of bad memories we won’t let go. Write these memories on a piece of patter and put them in your Bible. Go to the Lord and read your list to Him. Give them to Him, one at a time. If you are holding a grudge, you may have to tell the Lord the same thing every day for a month. If it is tangled up inside of you it may not be so simple to get rid of. Go back to the Lord again and again, day after day.

Start praying for that person, asking God to bless them When you can pray for God to bless them and you feel good about it, you’re getting there. Forgiveness is taking place. Forgiving is often a process and not an event. That is, you may have to do it day after day for a while.

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. (Eph 4:32)

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. (Col 3:13)
You don’t need to ask the Lord if you need to forgive. He has already told you to do it. Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 6, 2017 – MONDAY
A.M. Deuteronomy 1-2   P.M. Mark 11:1-19

(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psa 19:14)

Song for Today:
Acap. Quartet (2:25): Keep On the F. Line (Cal. Mem.So.Pines,NC)
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the pig pen

3/2/2017

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The Pig Pen…

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father.

But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. (Luk 15:17-24)

I have always liked Jesus’ story of The Prodigal Son. It is most often preached as though the prodigal son is a lost sinner, coming home to the Heavenly Father by way of the cross. The principles of compassion and forgiveness in the story certainly apply to lost sinners coming home. We often sing the invitation song: “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling; calling for you and for me. See on the portals He’s waiting and watching; watching for you and for me. Chorus: Come home, come home, ye who are weary come home. Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, Calling, O sinner; come home.” But, the story itself clearly states that it’s a genuine son who has wandered away and it’s a son who realizes in the pig pen that he must go home and make things right. I like McGee’s version of the story

“I see a father looking out the window. He's been looking out the window every day since his boy left. And do you know why he's been looking out the window? He knew that one day that boy would be trudging down the road coming home. Somebody asks, "Do you believe that if you're once saved you're always saved?" Yes. Somebody asks, "Do you believe that a Christian can get into sin?" Yes. "Can a Christian stay in sin?" No. Because in the Father's house the Father is watching, and He says, "All my sons are coming home. My sons don't like pigpens because they do not have the nature of a pig. They have the nature of a son. They have My nature, and they won't be happy except in the Father's house. The only place in the world where they will be content is the Father's house.

“And every one of My sons that goes out to the far country and gets into a pigpen—regardless of how dirty he gets, or how low he sinks—if he's My son, one day he'll say, 'I'll arise, and I'll go to my Father.'" And the reason he'll say, "I'll go to my Father," is because the Man who lives in the big house is his Father. Up until now, after at least 6,000 years of recorded human history, there never yet has been a human pig that has said, "I will arise and go to my Father's house." Never, never. Pigs love it down there. They don't want to go to the Father's house. The only one who wants to go to the Father's house is a son; and one day the son will say, "I will arise and I will go to my Father."

“Now the son starts home. Maybe you thought a moment ago that I was exaggerating when I said that this father had been looking out the window every day. But he had, and now he sees him coming. He has compassion, and runs, and says to his servant, "Go down to the tree and cut me about a half a dozen hickory limbs. I'm going to switch this boy within an inch of his life." Is that the way your Bible reads? Well, mine doesn't either. It ought to read that way. Under the Mosaic Law a father had a perfect right to bring a disobedient son before the elders and have him stoned to death. This father had a perfect right to say, "This boy took my name and my money, my substance, and he squandered it. He disgraced my name. I'll whip him within an inch of his life." He had a right to do this.

“But this father, rather, did something amazing. And when our Lord got to this part of the parable, and when He put this bright color on, it caused all those that were present to blink their eyes. They said, "We can't believe that. It's bad enough to see him hit the bottom and go down yonder with the pigs, but it's worse for the father to take him back home without doing something. He ought to punish him. That's the thing that we don't like. He ought to be punished." Will you notice what the father did.” (McGee)

I like to read what other people have to say who have studied the text more than me. The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Walvoord & Zuck) gives us some background to the story.

“This section of the parable describes the actions of the younger son. He requested an unusual thing when he asked his father to give him his share of the estate. Normally an estate was not divided and given to the heirs until the father could no longer manage it well. This father acquiesced to his son’s demand and gave him his share of the inheritance.

The younger son took that wealth, went far away, and squandered it in wild living, involving himself presumably, as his older brother said, with prostitutes (Luk_15:30). The hearers immediately would have begun to understand the point of the story. Jesus had been criticized for associating with sinners. The sinners were considered people who were far away from God, squandering their lives in riotous living. In contrast with the younger son, the older son continued to remain with the father and did not engage in such practices.

A famine occurred and the second son ran out of money so that he had to work for a foreigner feeding pigs, something detestable to a Jew. Perhaps the far country was east of the Sea of Galilee where Gentiles tended pigs (cf. Luk_8:26-37). In his hunger he longed for the pods — the food he fed the pigs. As a Jew, he could have stooped no lower. The pods were probably carob pods, from tall evergreen carob trees.

In this low condition, he came to his senses (Luk_15:17). He decided to go back to his father and work for him. Surely he would be better off to work for his father than for a foreigner. He fully expected to be hired by his father as a servant, not to be taken back as his son.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary)

Children are easy to deal with because most of them are still soft and pliable. But when they get into their teens and begin to show independence it’s a different matter. The further they progress in their age, the harder they get. To them, it looks like living is quite simple and that there are no consequences for decisions they make. They begin to step into holes and become soiled. They are steeped in self-will. Many of them will not turn to God until they are at the end of their row, the end of their rope.

So many times, prison is the best thing that ever happened to them. Thousands of young people have testified of the blessings of prison, where they found the Lord. Such is the nature of one’s straying away from the voice and authority of God. They will not turn until they hit bottom; until they are in the pig pen. I wish it were not that way. Our stubborn will is the problem. We turn better when we are broken and helpless.

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. (Psa 119:67) It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. (Psa 119:71) Someone has said that God will save a man in the pig pen, but He loves him too much to leave him there. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 3, 2017 – FRIDAY
A.M. Numbers 30-31 P.M. Mark 9:30-50
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Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psa 19:14)

Song for Today:
ACAPELLA CHOIR: Softly and Tenderly (S.E. Samonte, Producer)
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Health Tip:
Read – Unless we were endowed with fantastic health genes, we must read if we want the best health possible. We may have the best doctor but he is limited to a 15-minute session with us. Doctors vary in knowledge and insight. Our childhood habits will take us a long way if they are good habits. My mother thought oat meal and chewing my food were good health habits. She finished the 8th grade and was a reader. She inspired me to read.

Today, Mr. Google is a marvelous teacher if we want to learn. Today, I read in my Home Remedies book from People’s Pharmacy while I was waiting on Barbara at Tangles. I read the section about Acid Reflex (GERD). It has been going on since Hippocrates (460 BC) and there are many things that help and hinder in dealing with it.

Omeprazole is the standard today but it creates problems. Stomach acid kills bacteria and helps digest your food. But, the easy thing for the doctor and patient to do is to stop all stomach acid. Not good! So, I’m reading and praying and I’ll listen to my doctor. But, I’m the one who must suffer the consequences and I must decide. Reading is important.

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