The Heaton File

But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. (Acts 15:5-6)

Solving Church Problems

Authority is necessary for life for almost everything a man does. Governments are ordained by God to establish a body of law which governs the lives of its citizens for their welfare. Officials have the power to enforce kingdom laws because authority has been granted to them in the exercise of such administration. Without authority there would be chaos. Sports are measured by rules and regulations with referees and umpires maintaining the laws of the governing body which determines what is right and wrong. There are implied lines of authority in nature that humankind must live within such as the law of gravity. While the understanding of authority is easily identified in every walk of life with necessary implications, religion is often viewed as a discipline where authority is not required. It is often said about the Bible that it is only a personal interpretation of scripture and that no man can bind truth upon another. The reason there are so many churches is that everyone can read the Bible as they want to read it and come to conclusions that fit their choices. When this same line of argument is used in courts of civil law, the arguments are rejected because there are no established theories of jurisprudence but only the facts of the case. A person’s interpretation of the law can be a powerful argument of logic and reasoning but the judge will not accept such rational because the law does not allow for personal bias to determine adjudication of what is written in the legal precedent of the governing body. In the arena of human wisdom men have changed and abused with crafty wisdom the laws to fit their own needs and serve their own purpose. One certainty in the existence of mankind is that when the Lord God establishes a law, only He can change that law. When that law is enacted, it will never change. The law for a person living in 1234 is just as binding on a person living in the year 2034 because God does not change and the covenant He established through His Son Jesus Christ has not changed. The question remains on how to establish Bible authority and the historian and gospel writer, Luke, gives us the pattern for divine jurisprudence.

One of the great problems in the early church was men teaching the disciples that unless a person was circumcised according to the custom of Moses, they could not be saved. The teaching of Judaizing Christians greatly influenced the infant church and potentially could have destroyed the church in the beginning. So large was the problem that it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of the church in Antioch should go to Jerusalem and discuss the question with the apostles and elders. Among the church were some that had been from the sect of the Pharisees who taught that it was necessary to circumcise and keep the Law of Moses. The apostles and elders came together to consider the matter which became a dispute among the brethren on how to address the problem. Then Peter stood up and presented an argument based upon his experience with teaching Cornelius, a centurion of the Roman Italian Regiment, and the subsequent conversion of the household of Cornelius. When he finished, the multitude kept silent as Barnabas and Paul declared how many miracles and wonders had been worked by God through them among the Gentiles. The journey of Barnabas and Paul had taken them throughout the region of Asia Minor teaching the gospel to the Gentiles establishing churches throughout the region. Finally, James, the brother of Jesus, explained how the scriptures taught the necessity of binding the word of God as authority. The question was settled and the problem solved by establishing a pattern of authority that all the brethren could model after and know the answer to whether a person had to be circumcised or not to be saved. Law was not established by the opinions of Paul or Barnabas or how Peter thought things should be but rather authority was established on three principles of divine law: command, example, and necessary inference.

There have been problems in the church from the beginning. The New Testament church was not immune from the wiles of the devil who seeks to destroy the kingdom of Christ. In the two thousand years since the Day of Pentecost, the church of Christ has suffered from the apostasy of Roman Catholicism and the denominational concepts of Protestants who created multiple churches with different names, creeds, worship, and dogmas. In a world ripe with religious division, the question of authority must be established to know where truth begins and human wisdom corrupts. The example of the events of Jerusalem with the question of what must a man do to be saved is the pattern of how to establish authority. The fundamental hermeneutics of divine law will always be established by the same principles governed by the early church when they met to decide how to answer the false teachings of certain men. Through the example of Peter, Barnabas, Paul, and James, the Lord put forth in holy writ that authority comes from a command (specific command from God; James); example (approved example from the New Testament; Barnabas and Paul), and necessary inference (implied within the text; Peter). Trying to rewrite the law of divine interpretation will only bring the student back to the same conclusion. Solving church problems can only be done when following the divine pattern. Without this view of the word of God, the opinions and interpretations of men will govern authority resulting in vain and false worship.

God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)

God Is Not

Describing the nature of God can only be understood by seeing Him as all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present in all things that pertain to the universe. It is difficult for the mind of man to see how powerful the Lord God Creator is considering that He dwells in eternity where He existed before the worlds were formed and have seen the acts of every man since Adam and will live beyond the existence of all men in eternity to come. The Bible reveals the personality of the Father as one who is full of love and yet disposed to wrath. He created the world with incredible beauty without sin and destroyed the world with a flood because of sin. In the day of the flood, the wrath of God was brought upon everything that had breath killing every man, woman, child and beast with terrific measure and at the same time shows grace by telling the son of Lamech how to save himself and seven others in an ark of gopher wood. Down through the eons of time the Lord God has shown Himself to be the only true and living God revealing Himself through by the evidence of the material world and the written word. There is much to be said about who God is and a lifetime will only touch the hem of the garment of the knowledge of how great the Lord shows Himself to be. The Bible reveals many sides of the character of God and the written word reveals some things about God that He is not.

When the children of Israel camped in the plains of Moab, the king of Moab enlists the help of a prophet named Balaam to curse the Hebrews as the Moabites were in dread of being destroyed by Israel. Balaam prophecies as the Lord instructs him and in his second prophecy reveals that God is not a man that He would act like a man. One of the fundamental failures of humankind is to believe that God is like him and that whatever the wisdom of man declares this would be the will of God. Men try to bring the Creator down on the level of the creation as if the clay can demand from the potter anything. God is not a man to act like a man or to think like a man. He is far separated from His own creation as Lord, Savior, Father, and Judge. Jesus will tell the Sadducees of His day that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. The Jewish sect said there was no resurrection and in response to a puzzling question about who is to marry whom in the resurrection, the Son of God reminds His detractors that God cannot be imprisoned with the chains of human wisdom. Men are confined by the sphere of time but God is eternal. Jesus reminds the Sadducees that God spoke to Abraham one thousand years before and He still lives. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

The apostle Paul further explains the character of God when he writes to the church at Corinth reminding them that God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Chaos described the worship of the Corinthians and the apostle tells the early Christians that everything the Lord has done has been with purpose and design. When men allow their own wisdom to recreate the will of God there will be confusion. God did not create a world of confusion but order and design. In the church, there should be purpose and design in the worship demanded of God. Paul tells the churches in Galatia that God is not mocked and men should not try to fool an everlasting divine being that knows all things. When the Lord established the world He created a law of sowing and reaping that holds true in nature and also the nature of man. When man desires the flesh and sows to the flesh he will reap what he sows. No man should mock God to believe that God does not see and know what man has done. It is impossible to serve the living God and fill the desires of the flesh. In a letter to some Hebrews that were endangering their souls by turning away from the covenant of Christ, the author exhorts the saints to remember that God is not unjust to forget their work and labor of love which they showed toward His name by ministering to the saints. While they suffered severe persecution, the Lord was confident of greater things for them. It is difficult to face trials but God is not unaware of the struggles His children face. He knows what they endure, He understands their heartaches and feels their pain in the trials of life. The Christian should know that God is not unjust to overlook the labors of His children because He is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Faith is the ingredient of character that molds the spirit of man to know that God is not ashamed of them when they follow His will. Finally, the greatest blessing possessed by man is the knowledge that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. It is an eternal message from a kind and loving Father that He has never had any desire to destroy His creation. He is not slack concerning His word given to men to repent and live but is longsuffering toward all men as He is not willing to destroy anyone. What God does toward the disobedient is not what He desires but He must carry out righteous judgment because He is holy. There is no joy in what the Lord must do and God has never desired to see men destroy themselves. His grace has afforded everything a man needs to save himself but often chooses to rebel the grace of God leaving the Lord no choice but to punish. It is an eternal sadness to know that no one must perish because God is not willing that any should perish yet the majority of men will die an eternal death because they did not serve the true and living God. God is not a lot of things but what makes Him so wonderful is what He is.

So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day. (2 Kings 17:41)

Three Generations Of Apostasy

Assyria was one of the great empires of ancient history used by God to bring judgment upon His own people the Hebrews. Two hundred years after the death of Solomon and the division of the nation, the ten northern tribes of Israel were carried to Assyria. The rebellion of the northern tribes was complete with an unwillingness to serve the Lord in any fashion rejecting the pleas of the prophets to repent and turn to the Lord. All of the kings of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord provoking Him to anger. They built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city. Sacred pillars and wooden images filled the land and they burned incense on all the high places like the nations around them. They rejected the statutes and covenant of God and followed idols and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and daughters to be burned as offerings to the gods, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. When the Assyrians came into the land the people of God were unrepentant. They feared the Lord but served their own gods. After Assyria settled its own people in the land a mixed religion of paganism and worship of the one true God developed that would become known as the religion of the Samaritans. By the time of Jesus Samaria was entrenched with the mixed religion of the nations around them and diluted belief in Jehovah God. Each generation believed the lie of the previous generation creating a lineage of ungodliness, wickedness and pagan worship of the one true God. The fathers taught the children and the grandchildren learned the vices of the previous generation and a legacy of rebellion was firmly established in Samaria. Generational ungodliness became the norm and it all came from the family.

It is difficult to imagine how the holy people of God became so wicked and so defiled in the religion of idolatry. Israel was the apple of God’s eye and a holy nation devoted to a righteous covenant promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord had shown His love to the people for more than seven hundred years but they would not listen. When the northern tribes rebelled against Judah and Benjamin and became the Israel of the north, the kingdom never saw rest as every king did evil in the sight of the Lord. Kings like Ahab ruled with Jezebel by his side as the people of God fell deeper and deeper into sin and unrighteousness like the nations around them. There were few bright spots in the legacy of the north as found in the maiden taken by the Syrian commander, Naaman, during the reign of Ahab. She believed in the power of God to do the impossible when she told her mistress a prophet in Israel could heal her husband of leprosy. Somewhere in the land of idolatry, a family was teaching their daughter to trust in the power of God. But this was the exception. The people served their carved images and the children and the grandchildren were learning the craft of idolatry like their fathers before them. Three generations of apostates setting the course of the northern tribes of Israel to be destroyed by the wrath of God.

No nation is destroyed as a nation but when the family dies the nation dies. Israel was destroyed not because the nation of Israel had become evil. The destruction of the nation originated in the heart of the home where God was supposed to reign supreme and His word the center of the home. Every nation that has fallen over time began in the little cottage in the glen or the wealthy home of the city where the desires of the world and the carnal pleasures of life filled the hearts and minds of the family. When children are taught to love the world more than God the home begins to die. Israel had every reason to find its worth in the blessings of the providential care of God but they began slowly to turn their eyes toward the nations around them. Worship to the Lord was replaced with the frivolity and pleasures of the world that appealed to their carnal minds. They would still make their offerings to the Lord but their hearts were far from God. Many generations removed from the days of Israel in Canaan, the church is slowly dying in many places because of the same generational apostasy. Parents are teaching their children their self-worth is being popular with the other kids and having successful jobs where they can live in nice homes and drive new cars. Friends must come from influential and important families. Acceptance is the most important part of the child’s life as they mold their character to be like their friends. The Bible is never opened and prayers are non-existent. Parents fuss and fight with one another as they work long hours, live for recreation, give their children everything but God. Each generation teaches the next generation to trust in idols and the church dies. The spirit of Samaria is strong where people fear the Lord yet serve their own gods and the cycle repeats itself time and again.

And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. (Daniel 5:25-30)

Read The Wall

The one certainty of life is the uncertainty of when death will come. No one knows the time of their death except Jesus who knew His hour. Like an unwelcome guest, death invades life at the most inopportune time. There are no signs to indicate the immediacy of the vale of death and no warning signs hinting at the demise of the body. Ironically this creates a false sense of security that life is endless with no thought of what is a certain reality for all men, regardless of where they find themselves in life. The poor man dies just as suddenly as a rich man. Powerful men will succumb to the sting of death as easily as the most insignificant citizen of the kingdom. The earth is filled with thousands of nationalities that share one common gene and that is the poison of death that flows through everyone. Long ago when the people of God were in bondage to the foreign power of Babylon, a Jew was called to the feasting hall of the king to answer a riddle. Belshazzar sat on the powerful throne of Babylon as his father and grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, had done. He was wealthy as a king could be, the most powerful man in the kingdom and ruler over one of the most formidable nations that existed on earth. There was a reason to make merry and to enjoy all the privileges of wealth, fame, power and fleshly lusts. Calling for the treasures of Israel to be brought into the banquet hall, the king and his lord, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. It was a grand affair with the king enjoying his power to the fullest. Nothing in his heart would cause him to believe this day would be his last. The same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. In terror, Belshazzar saw the part of the hand that wrote and the words inscribed upon the wall. He would give kingly honor to any man that would tell him the meaning of the words. Among the captives was a man named Daniel. The king called for the Hebrew to come and tell the meaning of the words. Daniel was brought in before the king.

Ignoring the promises of wealth and power promised by the king, Daniel told Belshazzar what the writing was and the meaning of the words. The fingers of the hand were sent from Almighty God who held the breath of all men in His hand. The inscription read, “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.” This was a three-part message from God to king Belshazzar. The first two words meant that God had numbered the days of the kingdom and it had come to an end. Tekel signified the king had been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Finally, the once great and powerful nation of Babylon had been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. Lavishing Daniel with gifts of purple and gold, king Belshazzar honored Daniel as the third ruler in the kingdom. He need not have bothered. History will record that night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was killed by Gadatas and Gobryas, generals of the Persian army under the command of Cyrus. The judgment against Belshazzar was swift, punitive and in fulfillment to the writing on the wall. When Cyrus brought his army against Babylon, they diverted the Euphrates River and walked into the city through the dry channels under the walls. The king and his army were caught unaware as they celebrated the feasts of the gods and the city was given up to revelry. Feasting in the banquet hall and using the articles from the Temple of Solomon as his defiling of the God of Israel, Belshazzar lost his life as the writing on the wall had determined. The word of the Lord had come true.

The wall of life is replete with messages from God for men to take heed and be warned of coming judgment. Unlike the plaster walls of Belshazzar, the word of God reminds men of the frailty of life through every generation as viewed from the revelation of the Lord. What Daniel told Belshazzar was not new as all men faced the uncertainty of when death would come. Jesus reminded the disciples that in the days of Noah, men were feasting, marrying, working, and going busy lives as if nothing would change and then the rain came and the flood increased and soon all breath on life was extinguished save eight souls. Two things are certain in the fabric of life: death will come without warning or the Lord will return with His holy angels. One of two things will happen and at present death is the major factor while all men wait for the coming of the Lord. Regardless, the end result is the same. The warning of God to Belshazzar is just as important today as it was so long ago. God has numbered life and the time of the earth and neither will last forever. Death is a real commodity for the human flesh that all the vitamins and exercise will not change. Denying the reality of death does not remove the certainty of death. Inherent in the souls of all men is to understand that life will end. When the Lord comes everyone on earth will come to an end as will the heavens and the earth. The real question about the certainty of death is whether a person is found wanting (like Belshazzar) or found pleasing before God. The answers are so diametrically opposed from one another. If a man is found wanting there is no joy and if a man is found pleasing there is eternal happiness. Reading the writing on the wall should remind all men of the place they find themselves before God. Finally, what will become of life today? Many a man who desired to repent at the midnight hour died at 11:30 unprepared. Belshazzar was killed that night. Knowing that life is short and upon this short life eternity depends, what are you doing about the writing on the wall?

He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:16)

What Did Jesus Say?

Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Great multitudes followed Him as He taught the message of the Father. When Jesus taught the multitude on a certain mountain, the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority. His words were powerful and moving and unlike anything that had been heard from the Jewish teachers of the day. On one occasion, the Jewish rulers sent officers to arrest Jesus but when the officers returned empty-handed, the chief priests and Pharisees asked, “Why have you not brought Him?” The officers answered them, “No man ever spoke like this man.” Everyone who heard the teaching of Jesus was astounded by the clarity of His message, the power of His truth and the force of scriptural foundation in all He said. There was no doubt in the minds of those who challenged Him that seeking a war of words with Jesus of Nazareth would be a futile effort. The Jews tried often to catch Jesus in His speech and failed on every account. John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to Jesus inquiring if the Lord was truly the Coming One, or should they seek another. Jesus replied the miracles done among the people showed Him to be the Christ and the poor had the gospel preached to them and they understood His message. The gospel writer Mark said the common people heard Jesus gladly. Reading the four gospels of the life and teaching of Jesus impresses upon the individual the power of the words of Jesus. There were many people who rejected the words of Jesus denying He said and sadly there are many people today who read the words of Jesus and continue to deny His teaching.

Mark writes a powerful message of the character of Jesus as a man of power. His message resonated with the Roman mind that loved power and authority. The shortest of the gospels, Mark presents the Son of God with the image of divine authority. After the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the Lord appears to the eleven and commissions them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He tells them the simple plan of salvation that when one believes the gospel and is baptized they will enjoy the blessings of salvation. If they do not believe they will be condemned. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the eleven would show through the evidence of many miracles the gospel as genuine confirming the word through the accompanying signs. After Jesus returned to the Father the eleven went out and preached everywhere and what they preached was what Jesus told them to preach. He told them to preach the gospel and they did. When a person believed in the word of the gospel and asked what they needed to do to be saved they were told to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins. Many would answer the gospel call and put on Christ in baptism. Many others did not believe the word of the Lord and denied Jesus was the Christ. They did not believe and were not baptized for the remission of their sins because they did not believe in the fundamental truth of the gospel: Jesus Christ is Lord. When Paul was in Athens he preached a powerful message of the true and living God in a world given over to idolatry. When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others wanted to hear more. Some men believed Paul and were baptized just like Jesus said including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris and others with them. They believed what Jesus said and were saved. Others did not believe. Why were the mockers and disbelievers not baptized? They did not believe. There was no reason to refuse something they did not believe. This was the pattern throughout the Acts of the Apostles as Luke shows the preaching of the gospel in fulfillment of the command of Jesus. Those who heard the gospel and believed were baptized. For those who did not believe they refused the grace of God and were condemned.

There are many religious people today who deny the words of Jesus. Mark is an authoritative writer of the divine word of God telling the story of Jesus as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. Earlier in the gospel of Mark, Jesus said that anyone who is ashamed of Him and His words will be refused by Jesus Himself when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. To deny the words of Jesus will bring judgment upon the heart of the unbeliever. Jesus told the eleven that when a person believes and is baptized he will be saved. When men say today that baptism does not save and is not necessary for salvation they take the words of Jesus and deny He said them. No matter how often a person twists their understanding of the words of Jesus the truth remains the same. He that believes and is baptized will be saved and he that does not believe will be condemned. The argument is made that Jesus did not say that those who are not baptized shall be damned; it says those who do not believe will be damned. In fact Jesus did say that because if a person does not believe they will not believe baptism has any purpose. It is incredible the lengths of human wisdom people will exercise to deny the words of Jesus when all is said and done the words of Jesus remain the same. The sad reality is how many people believe they are saved by faith alone and do not realize that according to the words of Jesus they are condemned. What Mark wrote has remained unchanged for two thousand years. These are the words of Jesus. Denying them does not make them go away. When did Jesus say at any time that faith alone saves? Where in scripture is found the foundational truth of denominational dogma that man is saved by faith only? James is the only writer that uses the words faith alone and that is when he says that man is not saved by faith alone. Every example of conversion (without exception) in the New Testament church follows the words of Jesus when He said he that believes and is baptized will be saved. Paul affirmed in his writings the necessity of baptism because Jesus said it was. The words of Jesus will judge you on the last day and it will not be different from what Mark wrote.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, and so it was if a serpent had bitten anyone when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:8-9)

Salvation In A Snake

It had been forty years since the Hebrews left Egypt and their journey was fraught with discouragement, rebellion, murmuring and dissatisfaction with the way God had treated them. Aaron had died and because of Edom’s refusal to allow them passage through their land, the people had to detour around the country as they made their way to the Promised Land. After a victory over the Canaanite king of Arad, the soul of the people became very discouraged. They complained to Moses and against God for the past forty years of trial saying they had no food and no water. Their spirits were filled with despondency. Tired of the monotonous manna provided by God, the people were angry with the Lord and showed their displeasure. Although God had given them water to drink and food to eat including the manna and quail, the heart of the people rose up against the blessings of the Lord with unthankful spirits and voices of complaint. The land they traveled was a sparse and difficult land uninviting to all who traveled its borders. They forgot how God had cared for them in the worst of circumstances and was unsatisfied with the providential care of the Lord. Speaking against God and against Moses, they took their frustrations out on the Lord and His servant. As punishment for their rebellious hearts, the Lord sent serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. It did not take long for the people to realize their mistake and begged Moses to intervene to the Lord for mercy against the vipers. God could have simply destroyed all the snakes with a sweep of His hand but the Lord told Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. If a person was bitten by a snake, they could look upon the bronze serpent crafted by Moses and their life would be spared. The man of God did as the Lord instructed and the plague of serpents ended.

The nation of Israel numbered close to two million people. Whenever the people camped in a certain place, each tribe had a specific area they were assigned to set up camp. The tabernacle was in the center of the encampment. Naphtali, Asher, and Dan were placed north of the tabernacle with Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun on the east and other tribes to the south and west. Moses had his tent on the east side of the tabernacle as well as the children of Aaron who kept charge of the sanctuary. If you were of the tribe of Judah it would not be difficult to find Moses and the bronze serpent because you were on the east side of the tabernacle. However, if you were bitten by a serpent and you belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh or Benjamin, it would require you coming to the east side of camp to find Moses and the bronze serpent in order to live. If a person was bitten by a serpent they could sit in their tents and believe on the Lord and His power and ask God to bless them with His grace and die in their tent. God told Moses that salvation would only come to those who looked upon the bronze serpent. This required something more than faith but action. All the belief in the world could not save them and would not save them. The matter of faith had to be saving faith. Being cured of a snake bite does not come from a bronze serpent on a pole. The bronze does not save and the figure of a snake does not take away the poison. Someone could argue strongly the metal bronze had no power to heal and the image of a serpent would not bring saving power. What they failed to understand was the bronze serpent healed the affliction of the serpent’s bite because it was the word of God and His grace that brought life when a man looked upon the bronze serpent. Obedience to the word of the Lord would give life. Faith alone would not save. You see that faith was working together with their works, and by works, faith was made perfect when they looked upon the serpent.

During the ministry of Jesus, a man named Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to converse with the Lord about His work. In the discussion that followed, Jesus told the ruler of the Jews that like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man would be lifted up. The death of Jesus on the cross was a figure of the saving power of God to the Jews in the wilderness when the deadly poison of serpents began killing the people. In an ironic parable of God’s wisdom, a serpent was chosen to save the people from death. It was a serpent that was used to bring sin into the world in the Garden of Eden and like the serpent lifted up in the days of Moses, Jesus would become the curse to cleanse men of the poison of sin. Faith alone in Jesus Christ will not save. A person can believe in Jesus and die in their sins because they have not obeyed the word of the Lord. The Bible never teaches salvation by faith alone. Like the serpent in the wilderness, men must come to the Lord and obey His word to find salvation. No matter where a man finds himself, he must come to the Lord and obey His word to enjoy the cleansing power of God’s grace. There are many who deny the purpose of baptism as salvation by works. If they were in the wilderness with Moses, they would also deny the purpose of a bronze serpent on a pole as salvation by works; and they would die in their tents because of their refusal to obey the word of the Lord. Is there something mystical about immersing in water that saves? No more than the bronze metal used to form the serpent but unless one looked upon the bronze serpent they would die. If a person refuses to accept the remission of sins in the waters of baptism they will die in their sins apart from the grace of God. Salvation came from a bronze serpent in the wilderness when men obeyed the word of the Lord. Today salvation comes from the blood of Jesus Christ found only in the waters of baptism with the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told Nicodemus this was how a man was born again.

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47)

Added To The Church

The New Testament church had its beginning on the Day of Pentecost in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets and the word of Christ before returning to the Father. It was an incredible time as the gospel of a crucified Savior was first preached and recipients of the saving blood of Christ became part of the eternal kingdom of God. Three thousand devout Jews accepted the invitation of the apostles to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and to receive the blessings of the Holy Spirit in spiritual fellowship with the Divine. Luke records the events of those first days as the new converts to God’s new covenant began to explore the teachings of the apostles proclaiming a risen Christ and establishment of the Way known as the church of God’s elect. Hearing the message of how they had killed the Christ, those who were pricked in their hearts cried out to the apostles to know what to do to be saved. Peter tells them the word of the Lord and they responded with great gladness and joy. While men obeyed the word of the Lord on earth there was something very important occurring in the presence of God. The Lord was adding to the church all those who were being saved. This is a special connect when considered in the whole message. There was a need for men to find salvation in Jesus Christ and the apostles preached the message of grace to those gathered in Jerusalem. Not everyone responded to the sermon of Peter and many walked away without being moved by the message. Three thousand souls were impacted by what they heard and wanted to know how they could be forgiven. The first gospel sermon proved Jesus of Nazareth to be the Christ and Peter explained that to receive the remission of sins, those who wanted to be saved had to repent and change their lives in sorrow for killing the Son of God. This would then be followed by immersion in water for the remission of sins. There is no doubt how the Holy Spirit crafted the words of salvation showing without reservation that baptism is for the remission of sins and without immersion there can be no forgiveness of sins. Why would Peter give them a false answer when their eternal souls depended on it? If there was another way to be saved, how could the apostles require three thousand people to be immersed with no purpose in their baptism? Peter told them that salvation would be found in the waters of baptism and this was a promise to every generation.

If the scene of Pentecost was recreated today (and it is often repeated) and people asked what to do to be saved, what kind of answers would they receive? In most cases (nearly all) the answers would not be what Peter said two thousand years ago to three thousand desperate souls. They would be told to accept Christ as their personal Savior but that is not what Peter said. Multitudes are told that faith alone saves and yet that is not the answer Peter gave. As a matter of fact, throughout the book of Acts when the question is asked of what a man must do to be saved, there is never a case of conversion where a man is told to be saved by faith alone. Luke was a careful historian who did not leave out any facts or details as he was guided by the Holy Spirit. His book is a careful testimony of what the early disciples taught and his record of what happened on the Day of Pentecost cannot be challenged. Yet in the minds of most religious people who accept Jesus as the Son of God there is a strong denial of exactly what came out of Peter’s mouth: repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. A person can argue all day long that baptism does not save but at the end of the day what Peter said remains. Not only do the words of Peter stand as true now as they were then, but the New Testament also affirms time and time again the necessity of baptism. The early disciples never denied salvation by repentance, grace, mercy, love, faith, hope, blood and a host of matters given by God to save sinful man from His wrath. What is tragic is how the one thing that changes a person’s relationship with God is denied by almost the entire Christian world. Baptism has never stood alone as Peter did not tell the people on Pentecost to be baptized and that was all they needed to do. He told them to repent and to be baptized because they believed in the word of God because the grace of God has been shown through the writings of the prophets and the love of God expressed in the death of Jesus. Salvation includes the hope of God because Jesus has been raised from the dead. Three thousand people were saved at Pentecost because of the complete plan of God including all the things above culminating in an act of obedient faith in the waters of baptism. Without baptism, there would be no cleansing of sin.

Luke continues the story of those first days by showing how the first Christians enjoyed learning about this new covenant. One important point that he makes is what happens when a person repents and is immersed for the remission of their sins. Obedience to the gospel is where a person is added by God to the holy nation of the elect, the bride of Christ, His family of saved, the redeemed called saints and the church of Jesus Christ. The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved suggesting the saved are in the church. Not only has baptism been delegated to an outward sign of an inward grace (without necessity), the church is viewed as a nonessential part of a Christian walk. If the church is not important then why is God adding the saved to something that has no meaning and that Jesus died for is worthless? According to the Holy Spirit, the saved are in the church and the only way the saved can be added to the church is when they repent and are baptized for the remission of their sins. If a person refuses to believe baptism saves them then they can never have their sins washed away and God will never add them to the church where the saved reside. Where are the saved? In the church. How is one added to the church? Repentance and immersion. Who does the adding? God does. Why does God add a person to the church? They through faith from the grace of God have obeyed the will of the Lord. To be in Christ is to be in the church. Salvation is in the church, not out of the church. If God does not add you, you are not saved. If you are outside the church, you are lost. If you refuse to do what Peter told the three thousand at Pentecost you will not be added by God to the church where the saved are.

And the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? And to whom shall it go up from us?” (1 Samuel 6:20)

Killed For Looking In The Wrong Box

The Ark of the Covenant was an oblong chest overlaid with gold the size of 51 inches long and 31 inches wide and 31 inches tall. Constructed while Israel camped at Sinai and ordained by God as the vessel to carry the commandments of God, the ark was the place of the covenant between Himself and the nation. There were strict laws concerning its care and purpose. Placed in the Holy of Holies within the Tabernacle, it became the seat of mercy as the Lord communed with the people. Aaron’s rod and a bowl of manna would also be kept with the Ark as the people wandered in the wilderness for forty years. When the priest bore the ark through the River Jordan, the waters parted as they did at the Red Sea allowing Israel to cross into Canaan on dry land. The Ark of the Covenant would eventually be housed in the splendid Temple of Solomon behind the veil until the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Its final disposition is unknown and in all likelihood taken by the Babylonians and destroyed. Contrary to the popular myth, there are no raiders of the lost ark. When Samuel began his ministry as a prophet to Israel, the Philistines captured the ark from Israel in a remarkable turn of events. After a battle where four thousand Israelite’s were killed by the Philistines, the people of God sent to Shiloh for the Ark to deliver them and save them from the hand of their enemies. At first, the Philistines were terrified at the noise of Israel when the ark came into camp as they shouted so loudly the earth shook. So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated in this historical battle killing the sons of Eli the priest and the Lord allowing the Philistines to capture His Ark. Things did not go well with the Philistines for seven months as the Lord plagued the people who possessed the Ark. Finally, the Philistines called for their priests and diviners telling them to send the Ark back to the people of Israel. They made a new cart and hitched two milk cows which had never been yoked and removed their calves away from them. Letting the cows loose the people waited to see where the cows would take the Ark. They headed straight for the road to Beth-Shemesh which was a city of priests in Israel. When the people saw the Ark coming down the road they rejoiced the Lord had returned His glory to Israel. Sacrificing the cows at the place they stood, the people glorified the Lord with a burnt offering of praise. All was well until someone had the mistaken notion to look inside the Ark. As a result, the Lord struck down a great number of men for their sin.

When the men looked into the Ark of the Covenant, they disobeyed a fundamental law of God. The Ark of the Covenant was a holy emblem of God’s presence with the people of Israel. Only the priests were allowed to come in contact with the Ark and that was with certain restrictions. It was to be covered with a veil when transported. The contents were not to be handled or examined by men. This mercy seat was the place of God’s communion with the people and was to be kept as a holy convocation before the Lord. What the men of Beth-Shemesh did was a flagrant disregard for the holiness of God. As a city of priests, these men would know above all others the requirements of the Ark yet they dismissed the law for their own curiosity. A great slaughter came upon the people not through ignorance but willful disobedience of the will of the Lord. God had plagued the Philistines without mercy but they were not as accountable as the people of Israel. Whether Israelite or Philistine, the wrath of God came upon men because He was to be glorified and revered. The men of Beth-Shemesh should have covered the veil immediately upon its arrival because the law prescribed it. Prying open the Ark was a greater evil as men were looking into a forbidden place of the Lord. Joy was turned to sorrow as the Lord struck the city with a deadly plague. The people of Beth-Shemesh realized too late that God is holy and He demanded His people honor Him as Lord. So the people of Beth-Shemesh sent to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim to come to take the Ark where it remained for twenty years.

Throughout the history of Israel, God reminds the people that He is holy and He demands the people worship Him as holy. What is remarkable is how easy it comes for man to forget this fundamental yet vital part of the character of God. The Ark of the Covenant had been with Israel for more than half a century and the people had become casual in their respect of the Ark. It would seem that what the men of Beth-Shemesh had done would never be considered by the people that gathered at Sinai or marched through the wilderness. Did anyone think they could walk into the Tabernacle and go behind the veil into the Holy of Holies and look into the Ark? God told Moses to remind the priest what mortal danger they were in if they trifled with the Ark. There were clear warnings and yet the men of Beth-Shemesh looked inside a box they knew they should not touch or disrespect. There is a great lesson of reverence to be gleaned from a story such as a plague at Beth-Shemesh. Time means nothing to the Lord God and what he demanded of Moses at Sinai did not change many years later when a group of men decided to defile the Ark. Worship to the Lord can become a casual matter of disregard without giving the honor due the Lord. In the early days of the New Testament church, apathy had come to the saints at Corinth when they took of the Lord’s Supper with disinterest and dishonor. The apostle Paul uses very strict commands showing the penalty of failing to honor God by looking into the spiritual box of the Lord without giving Him the honor due His name. Jesus died to free men from the bondage of sin and worship must signify that glory. A casual and carefree disregard for worship will endanger the soul. The church is filled with hearts that have no concern for the holiness of the worship of song, prayer, communion, and preaching. It becomes a carefree bring your refreshments and lax attitudes of dress and attitudes to give honor to the Lord God Almighty. He will not accept such worship. Ask the men of Beth-Shemesh for the meaning of true worship and they will tell the story of looking in the wrong box.

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience. (Titus 2:1-2)

Older Men

Age is relative to the person speaking making it difficult to suggest when a man becomes an old man and when a woman is considered an old woman. The Holy Spirit does not use the language of the old man or woman but rather the idea of the older man and older woman. As aged men, the apostle Paul writes to Titus to exhort these men to put a proper example before those younger than themselves. A great principle is given in this letter as Paul wants to show the older men how to conduct their lives as good examples of sound faith before those who were younger. Six qualities suggest the character of older men so they can be proper examples to young men and women. Temperance is a virtue of older men who have a sober mind about them. Age is often viewed as a time of greater wisdom as life has taught the individual the frivolity of seeking after things of little or no value. Sobriety is a character that brings seriousness to the view of life. Maturity is to mold the heart of older men to know the value of life and how to impress upon the young the need for guidance and direction. Sadly, many a man has entered into a second childhood in his older days and gives way to excesses of youth. He shows by his lack of self-control he has not learned the important lesson of life that must be focused on the reality of a full life. Paul’s admonition to Titus is especially needful to see the maturity of faith that should characterize the hearts of older men. There should be a deeper appreciation for spiritual matters in the hearts of older men. Young men need guidance from those spiritually mature. Older men should be sober in their understanding of the word of God. Reverence, gravity and possessing a dignified example is how older men lead the way for young men to be good husbands and fathers. Having a sober example of speech seasoned by the word of God, dressing with a modest spirit and presenting a character of holiness is the kind of example young people must see in the lives of older men. This is especially seen as an older man is sound in the faith. There is a confidence in the heart of the older man that shows a trust in the will of the Father. Through years of study, the older man has found a way of righteousness to be true and the answer to life’s challenging questions. God’s word is the foundation of his life in everything he does. As an older man, he paves the way for the young man to establish his steps in the grace of the Lord knowing there is more to life than what appeals to youth. Further, the older man is an example of love and patience. There is no bitterness or sour spirit in the heart of a man who has learned to love the Lord. Through advancing age the soul of an older man shows to youth the beauty of love for God and love for others. This love is more than words but shows itself in action, duty, responsibility, and example with a patient and steadfast devotion to the will of God. Perseverance is one of the most important traits older men must teach to the next generation. Life is not a sprint but a marathon reaching toward an eternal home.

The six qualities of older men are given to lead the younger men and women to be better individuals in the world. Leadership is helping others achieve the goals that will make them successful in life and the example of older men leading the youth of the world will do more to stem the tide of wickedness than any other measure. What the world needs desperately is older men leading as examples of spiritual conviction that God’s word is true, His ways are right and life is short with eternity hanging in the balance. Success in life is not measured by ledger books, academic degrees or finding a place in history but finding the love of God and the heart of righteousness that can face life with resolve and a spirit of understanding for what is important in life. Older men need to be teaching younger men and women the spiritual values of godliness. This must begin first in their own lives as they have learned the truth. No greater truth can a man share with others than a life lived wholly in the protection and care of the word of God and the love the Father. What young people must see in the hearts of older men is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Young husbands learn from older men how to love their wives. Young fathers will know the joy of teaching their children about God when older men show them the example of guiding their own children in the way of truth. Sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, full of love, and steadfastness older men will leave an indelible impression on youth.

A final observation about youth. Oftentimes it is said that youth is filled with wastefulness and there exists a great lack of spirituality. This can be attributed to many things as young people are tempted to follow the ways of the world and are easily led into temptation. One reason that may be overlooked is the reason young people act the way they do is because this is what they see in older people who do not act their age. If you look at the six qualities listed by the apostle Paul and consider where some of the attitudes of young people come from, it is not hard to see that men who are not sober, lacking spiritual minds, frivolous and have little faith in the word of God would lead the youth in the same pattern. When men fail to take leadership roles in the church they teach the young men the work of the church is not important. Fathers who fail to show the proper example to their children of spiritual growth will only teach their children to seek worldly things rather than spiritual. Older men who spend their years devoted to the cares of the world teach young men that life is full of carnal pleasures. The church is in desperate need of men to serve as elders yet the body of Christ is filled with older men who have not prepared themselves and their families to shepherd the church of God. Sound doctrine must the foundation of the church and this kind of sound doctrine comes from the examples of older men teaching younger men and women the spiritual values of eternity.

Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed. (Jeremiah 3:3)

The Forehead Of A Prostitute

Language is a powerful tool God uses to impact the message of His righteousness and the depravity of sinful man. Sometimes the words are straightforward and demonstrative, and no time is this ever-present than the final days of Israel through the voice of the prophets. It was a period of rebellion as the chosen seed of Abraham immersed itself in the whoredom of the nations around them, refusing to change and listen to the voice of the prophets. Men like Jeremiah pleaded with the leaders, priests, and common man to return to the Lord before the final judgment of wrath would come. There was little repentance in the heart of the people. Jeremiah was one of the last great prophets who witnessed the final forty years of the once exalted nation of Israel. His message was simple and defined by the people’s attitudes: Jerusalem, the holy city of God, was doomed.

King Josiah would bring a breath of spiritual renewal to the nation, but this was short-lived as the nation plunged into moral disintegration until the city of Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C. Jeremiah saw the fall of God’s people and the disgrace of a sinful nation carried to the land of Babylon. No one could blame the Lord for their plight because He had repeatedly warned them what would happen if they refused to repent. Moses had inscribed in the law the penalties for disobeying the word of the Lord, such as drought, famine, pestilence, and invading armies coming in among the people of God. Elijah, the prophet, had prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. God had withheld the rain in the days of Jeremiah, but this did nothing to change the people’s hearts. Jeremiah concluded the nation had the forehead of a prostitute who refused to be ashamed of their rebellion.

The language was not lost on Israel. As the Beloved of God, Israel had played the harlot with other nations. Through the prophet Hosea, God demonstrated his love for Israel. Yet, the people’s propensity to continue to make its bed with the nations around them continued unabated. The Assyrians destroyed the northern ten tribes of Israel and should have served as a further warning of what was coming for the remaining tribes, but again the message fell on deaf ears. There was no sorrow, guilt, shame, or repentance from rebellious Israel. Jeremiah described the nation as a harlot’s forehead with no shame for her actions’ putridity.

Blushing is one of the emotions instilled by the hand of the Creator to impress the hearts of the humble with the seriousness of sinful actions. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, the immediate reaction was shame at their nakedness accompanied by fear as they hid from the presence of God. Soon, men would learn not to fear God, and their shame would turn to pleasure. In the days of Noah, there was no blushing at sin because the hearts of men were hardened through the deceitfulness of fleshly passions, evil desire, and corrupt spirits. In the final days of Israel, men like Jeremiah boldly preached the word of repentance to hearts that were callused with unrighteousness and ungodliness. The word of the Lord was just as powerful as it had been in times past but what changed was the reaction of the people to ignore the message of God’s judgment.

Israel had become hard-hearted and refused to listen to the word of judgment. Like the forehead of a prostitute who brazenly continues on her path of sin without shame, remorse, or guilt, the people of God refused to listen to the preaching of the prophets. Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, and others preached a message of judgment to deaf ears that would not hear and would not obey. The preaching did not fail – the people failed. Like a harlot’s forehead, the hearts of the people would not listen and pay the final penalty. Many years later, the apostle Paul would remind the saints in Rome that what was written in the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms were given to admonish, exhort and rebuke the hearts of the rebellious. The cycle of rebellion had come full circle, and its path of destruction continues in every generation.

Preaching the gospel of Christ is not unlike the preaching of the prophets and men like Jeremiah. Each generation is afforded the grace of God to hear the words of salvation, and like Israel of old, so often, the hearts are turned away from the hard preaching of repentance. Sadly, among the people of God, there is no shame and modesty. Living in a world that worships the body, children of God parade themselves in less and less clothing without any embarrassment. Sin is no longer viewed as something to disdain as the acceptance of the works of the flesh is embraced with greater frequency. Sexual sins like fornication and adultery are approved as part of the social fabric.

Lying, cheating, dishonesty, and fraud describe the business practices and personal accounts of those who profess a belief in the Son of God. Pornography is rampant throughout the church as more and more hearts are turned into ways of sexual pleasure. Marriages are not happy as men and women fight, scream, abuse, and neglect one another. Divorce is common. Obedience to the will of the Lord is ignored. Preachers will preach hard lessons that are disregarded. Shepherds of the flock admonish, rebuke, and encourage souls who refuse to submit to the role of spiritual leaders. Churches are filled with worldliness and pleasure, refusing to tolerate preaching and teaching that challenge the norms. There are many foreheads of harlots that refuse to be ashamed. The cycle continues, and men like Jeremiah preach the message of repentance in the face of those who refuse to repent.

What we learn from the history of Israel is the principle of man’s repeated failure to learn from his past. God has remained unchanged since the beginning of time and will not tolerate a rebellious spirit. If the Lord warned and punished the nation of Israel as described in the Old Testament, what would make anyone believe He has changed His mind on dealing with sin today? The foreheads of harlots will discover too late the longsuffering of God will come to an end, and judgment will take place. Have the mind of Christ instead of the harlot’s forehead.