The Heaton File

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Pressing Ahead Against The Wind

Henry Ford said, “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” The challenge for those who seek to live godly lives is the reality that life will be like swimming upstream against a raging current of water. There are many joys in living the Christian life, but it does not come with its cost. Jesus described the life of a disciple of truth as bearing a cross, denying self, putting God first in life, and seeking the will of God above the desires of the world. The image of the cross is an instrument of suffering and death. There were no golden crosses worn around the neck as jewelry. The cross symbolized a life of walking in such a way that conflicted with the world.

Jesus taught that the love of family above God was unacceptable, and no one could follow Him without counting the cost of loving the Lord more than anyone. Living apart from the world is a hard life because the world is going so far away from God. While the world rages in its rebellion against the truth, the child of God lives against the whims of the world. The spirit of the Christian is to live above the carnal desires of a perverted world, seeking only the glory of God. True happiness can be found by learning to trust in the Lord and believing with obedient faith in the word of God. 

As the person of faith lives against the winds of ungodliness, the soul is lifted to the throne of God in glory. The true measure of happiness can only be found in living in response to the world. Like the airplane, the Christian lives against the winds of the world, finding joy in rising to the grace of God and His eternal love. True happiness is never found in the flesh, the pride of life, or desires for wealth and power. Godliness brings about a happiness that is far above anything a man’s heart can imagine. Paul reminded the saints that godliness with contentment is the greater gain.

Nothing in life is kept in death except the eternal spirit of man. What men strive for in this world remains for others to divide and waste. Choosing to suffer affliction for a short time is of greater gain in eternity. It is not easy living in opposition to the world. The truth remains that the world stands against the righteous character of the child of God. Jesus lived against the world so that He could serve the will of His Father. He lived a sinless life so that those who lived for Him could find hope in the promises of God.

Life for the Christian is the greatest blessing a man can find, but it comes with a cost. The narrow path is difficult and challenging. There are greater rewards to be found in eternity than in this world. Faith will keep the spirit pursuing the upward call of Christ Jesus. God answered the problem of sin by sending His only begotten Son. Satan is trying to destroy everything God has given to the world, but facing the wind and rising above the wiles of the devil is the strength of the Christian. Soar with the eagles. Lift your eyes to the Lord above, and He will lift you up. There is strength in adversity.

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God. (Nehemiah 6:15-16)

When The World Sees The Work Of God

Jerusalem was the city of David, where the Temple of Solomon adorned the landscape with its majesty and beauty, proclaiming the message of the one true God. The city of God was the perfection of beauty and the joy of the whole earth where the throne of the Lord stood. It represented the covenant of Jehovah God with the people of Israel through whom the Son of God would come to save all the earth. But in 586 B.C., the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple to the ground. The people of Israel had turned away from the one true God to serve the gods of the nations around them. When the Assyrians and Babylonians came against the nation of Israel, they could not see a God greater than their own. Nations fought other nations as gods fighting against gods. The heathen world had witnessed the power of the Jewish God with a rich history of conquest and might, but that had been lost when the Lord God allowed King Nebuchadnezzar and his army to enter the Most Holy of Holies and destroy the House of God’s Glory.

Seventy years after the destruction of Solomon’s temple, the second Temple was completed under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. The walls of Jerusalem lay in ruin, and the gates burned. No one began work on the walls until a cupbearer from Persia came to Jerusalem on a mission from the Lord. Nehemiah was distressed when he heard of the conditions in the city of God. The Second Temple had stood for another seventy years after the people returned, but the walls remained in ruin. Under Nehemiah’s leadership and courage, Jerusalem’s walls were rebuilt in fifty-two days. One hundred and forty-two years after the Babylonians destroyed the city, Jerusalem stood with a Temple in her midst and the walls standing.

Nehemiah faced a lot of persecution as he led the people in rebuilding the walls. It was a great accomplishment to organize the people into a workforce able to restore the city’s walls and hang the gates in less than two months. The impact was immediate. When the enemies of Israel and the surrounding nations heard about the walls being rebuilt, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of the God of Israel. The work of rebuilding the walls, unified as one people together facing persecution, brought fear in the hearts of the nations around Israel because they saw what the people of God could accomplish with a firm belief in whom they serve.

Nehemiah was a man of vision who saw the needs and worked to accomplish the work of the Lord. The world reacted with shock because of his actions, faith, and courage to do the impossible. There is a lesson to learn from Nehemiah about church growth and the lack thereof. The kingdom of God is the church of Jesus Christ. Like Nehemiah, the church leaders must have the vision to see what no one else can see. There is much work to be done in the work of the church, and it will never be accomplished by talking about it. It requires action. Many churches are failing because there is no vision, and no one is willing to build the walls of the kingdom. Churches that are apathetic in evangelism show the world the gospel is not the power of God unto salvation.

When the church of Christ picks up the banner of truth and works diligently to teach, admonish, encourage, exhort, and share the gospel of good news; the world takes notice. Pharaoh was worried about the Hebrews, who were growing in number and might. There is a lesson when one views the church that is not growing in number and spirit. The world is unconcerned. Put a church of God in the midst of a community and let it grow in the work of the kingdom, and the world will take notice. What the world needs to see in the local church is the work of God as a vibrant and active work. Look around. Is the world concerned about what you are doing? Let them become very disheartened in their own eyes when they perceive that the work being done by the church is from the one true God.

So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (Luke 16:22-23)

What The Rich Man Knew

The story of the rich man and Lazarus is a startling realization of death’s reality. This is not a parable or an illustration but a true story told by the Son of God to impress upon the minds of the Pharisees the seriousness of the judgment. An unknown rich man is shown in contrast to a destitute beggar afflicted with sores that only the dogs sympathized with. The life of Lazarus was a miserable existence of suffering, and he was laid at the gate of a very wealthy man who ignored his plight. There is no mercy shown to Lazarus, which conflicts with the Law of Moses for the poor to be treated with kindness. Because of his disregard for God’s law, the rich man found himself in an eternal place of darkness and suffering.

Jesus describes the rich man’s condition as one of agony, suffering from an unquenchable fire that will never end. The rich man may not have believed in eternal torment, but that reality came to him in death. His torment was real. He was suffering from intense pain. When he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, he cried out for relief because he was tormented in the flames of perdition. What he was experiencing was not a fable or myth – it was real. The rich man knew what kind of life he had lived before and how he mistreated Lazarus. Abraham reminded him that in his lifetime, he received the good things of life while Lazarus endured the evil of the world. In eternity, the roles are reversed.

Abraham told the rich man God had designed the Hadean realm, where a great chasm divided the saved and the lost. It was a place where no one from the flames of torment would ever escape. There would not be a few thousand years of suffering before being released. When someone is condemned to the flames of torment, they know they will never leave. The rich man knew where he would be for eternity. It did not matter whether he understood eternity when he was on earth, but now the expanse of a world without end loomed within his brain. He knew what eternity was like in an eternal flame.

Realizing his attempts at relief were futile, the rich man knew the way his brothers were living would bring them to the same place he found himself. He had five brothers who enjoyed life’s finer things, like the rich man did. The rich man’s brothers did not believe in eternity and rejected the idea of an eternal fire. They lived like the rich man, enjoying the sumptuous offerings of a gilded life without concern for others. Their destiny was an eternal flame, and the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth to teach them the truth. This too was not possible. No one who enters the portal of death returns.

Abraham reminded the rich man that the Law of Moses was given to guide men to the bosom of eternal life. If the rich man’s brothers did not heed the words of Moses and the prophets, they would not be converted if a dead man stood before them proclaiming truth. The word of God saves. There has never been a time when God has not revealed what a man must do to be saved. The five brothers would come to torment if they did what the rich man did. It seems the rich man was mission-minded too late.

Eternity is where all truth is found. The rich man knew many things when he died, but it was too late for him to change. God has given all men the opportunity to repent and turn to Him. That time is limited. You may not believe in eternity and scoff at the idea of a lake of fire without end, but you will know it one day. Like the rich man, you will beg for relief, and none will be given. And like the rich man, you will want someone to tell your loved ones to change their lives, but no one will return from the dead. The word of God that tells us what to do to be saved has been given. Jesus said those who believe and are baptized will be saved, and those who do not believe will be damned (lake of fire and brimstone).

Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” (Matthew 15:12-14)

Too Many Plants

The teachings of Jesus were radical to the minds of the Jewish leadership. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were constant thorns in His work as they challenged His authority and tried to dissuade the people from following Him. For centuries, the Jewish elite had crafted a model of traditions that became the foundation of Jewish teaching when Jesus entered the scene. The sermon on the mountain was a divine thesis against the teachings of the Jews passed down from generation to generation. When the scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus complaining that His disciples did not follow the tradition of the elders and ate bread with unwashed hands, the Son of God rebuked them severely for their hypocrisy.

It was clear Jesus was directing His teaching toward the traditions of the elders that had been placed above the law of God. Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees that their teachings conflicted with the commandments of God. He calls them hypocrites because they honored the Lord with their lips, but their hearts were embedded in their traditions. They did not follow the will of the Father. Their worship was in vain and became a useless exercise, teaching the commandments of men above the commandments of God. Jesus was very plain and direct in His response to the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders.

When the disciples of Jesus heard His burning rebuke of the Jewish nobles and leaders of the people, they were concerned that the Lord had offended them. Jesus took no quarter with such religious fervor rooted in the carnal trappings of human wisdom. The scribes and Pharisees had created a religion within the teachings of the Law of Moses that was never sanctioned by God. Jesus reminded His disciples that there was only one truth. God has never approved of human wisdom establishing divine authority. The word of God is settled in Heaven by the authority and teachings of the Father. Anything outside of that is apostasy and false teaching.

What the scribes and Pharisees had done was to plant another religion in the minds of the people. Jesus rejected this by showing there is only one vineyard of the Lord, planted by the authority of the Holy Spirit. If the Father did not establish truth, there is no truth. Every teaching that is not established in the word of God will be rooted up. When men teach doctrines contrary to the will of the Father, they are blind leaders guiding the blind to destruction. The defilement of apostasy can look like the truth, but it is not the truth. A plant can look like a good plant and be a poisonous plant. Jesus was bold in teaching that anything that conflicts with the word of God will be pulled up by its roots. There will be nothing left.

The religious world would do well to heed the words of Jesus. There are many churches in the world today claiming to be the body of Christ. Like the scribes and Pharisees, they have established the commandments of men above the commandments of God. They follow traditions more than scripture, and they draw near with their mouths and honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from the truth, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. They are false plants that will be rooted up. The world has too many plants that look similar to the real body of Christ – but they are not. They are blind leaders leading blind followers who will find the wrath of God against them because they are not the true “plant” of the Lord. If God did not plant the church you are a member of, that church will perish because you are in an apostate church. Seek the one church that Jesus died for. There is one church, which is the body of Christ.

These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes. Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God. (Psalm 50:21-23)

You Thought I Was Like You

Someone has suggested that two things are certain in life. “There is a God, and you are not Him.” The problem with the world is the rejection of God. Fundamental to the nature of human wisdom is the exaltation of self above a greater being called Jehovah God. It is hard for the heart of man to accept that he is an insignificant speck in the vast and grand universe. The universe is not so large to show how massive it is, but to remind man how small he is.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong covered the Earth with his thumb while circling the moon as an example of how advanced the technology of human wisdom had brought man to the moon; and yet how small the existence of man was covered by a man’s thumb. Armstrong said, “It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.”

There is a God who created the world with the spoken word and formed the vastness of the universe when He said, “Let there be.” The sun, moon, and stars were created when God spoke them into existence. Days, weeks, months, and years were established because of the power of God. It has remained unchanged since the beginning. Man was formed from the dust of the ground and given the breath of life. Woman was created from a rib taken from man. God created man and woman to show His glory. He created life, and He takes life. When the body dies, the spirit of life returns to God, who gave it. Man is an eternal creature because God created him as a being that will never cease to exist.

Nations rise and fall at the command of God. History is the tapestry of God’s divine hand as He weaves His will and way as He sees fit. The Lord has established prophecies that are still true today concerning nations and cities. God’s word is contained in the Bible as a testimony of how great God is. Divine wisdom does not change with the whims of human wisdom. The laws of men change with each generation, and the law of the Lord remains true to His will. What is there to compare between what God has determined and what man believes? The certainty of the world is that there is a God. Man cannot change or usurp authority over the supremacy of the Lord God Almighty.

There is a God – you are not Him. We are not insignificant in the mind of God. The world was so important to God that He sent His only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world. Acceptance that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him is where hope begins. It begins with removing the notion that man is greater than God.

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Hebrews 11:7)

Eight Sinners In A Boat

The flood was God’s wrath against the unrighteousness of a world seeded in iniquity and wickedness. Sin had so enveloped the world into spiritual darkness, the Creator regretted He had made man. In all the darkness of sin, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. By grace, the Lord told Noah that the world would be destroyed and to build an ark for the saving of his household. Noah, moved by godly fear, prepared the ark according to the pattern given to him by God. When the flood came upon the earth, only Noah and his family were saved. The water that destroyed everything with the breath of life saved those in the ark.

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, God opened up the fountains of the great deep and unleashed the windows of heaven in a torrential fury of water. It rained for forty days and forty nights, and the water rose to more than twenty feet above the tallest mountain. All flesh died that moved on the earth: birds, cattle, beasts, every creeping thing, and every human perished in the flood. Noah and his family spent over a year in the ark before the ground dried, and they were able to leave.

God brought His wrath upon a wicked and depraved world. The cause of God’s wrath was sin, and His solution was global. However, the flood did not answer the problem of sin. The world had become so wicked that the longsuffering of God came to an end, and the Lord God killed every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth except Noah and his family. While the flood ravaged the earth, sin still ruled in the world. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, but he still needed salvation. The eight souls on the ark needed the eternal grace of God to save them from their sins. They did not spend their time on the ark in a sinless state of perfection. Nothing is known about what happened during that time spent on the ark, but all men sin.

Noah built an altar when he got out of the ark, which was a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord. He became a farmer and planted a vineyard. Then he made an intoxicating drink, and the man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord lay drunk in his tent. Sin was still in the world. Ham sinned when he made sport of his father’s nakedness. Noah lived 950 years, and he sinned. Mrs. Noah lived many years and battled sin. Ham, Shem, Japheth, and their wives lived many years, and they sinned. Abraham came from the lineage of Shem – and he sinned.

The flood did not solve the problem with sin. It served as a means for history not to repeat itself. The eight souls in the ark were saved by the grace of God, who still needed the grace of God as they lived in the ark. Jesus Christ would come to be the answer to the works of the devil. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, salvation is found in the waters of baptism that serve as the antitype of God’s grace to Noah and his family. The waters of baptism will save those who obey the word of the Lord and, by virtue of the righteousness of God, condemn those who refuse. Those in the ark of safety (the church) are saved by grace but still need God’s grace to save them.

Noah and his family were saved through obedience, faith, works, grace, love, mercy, and a host of blessings from a loving God. The eight in the ark were sinners who were saved because they were found in the ark. Everyone needs to come to the grace of God and find salvation in the spiritual ark of the covenant of Christ. On the day of Pentecost, the Lord added to the church those who were saved. The church is the ark of safety, and there is only one ark. Those in the ark still need the grace of God. Thank God for His abundant mercy to save those who do not deserve it. Are you in the ark? When the door is closed, there is no hope.

The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived. And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” then they would say to him, “Then say, ‘Shibboleth’!” And he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites. (Judges 12:5-6)

Forty-Two Thousand Lost Lives

The history of Israel during the judges was a time of upheaval, rebellion, oppression, and deliverance. There was no king to unite the tribes under one banner. When Israel left the word of the Lord, God would bring an oppressor against His people to punish them, sometimes for many years. In the cycle of the book of Judges, the people would cry out to the Lord, and He would raise up a judge to deliver them, and peace would reign in the land. It would not take long for the people’s hearts to return to the idolatry of their neighbors and God’s wrath to be brought against them.

Near the end of the period of the Judges, the Ammonites and Philistines harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years. The king of Ammon brought his army across the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. When the people saw this great army surrounding their cities, they begged for God to send a deliverer. A most unlikely judge was raised by God to deliver them, named Jephthah, the Gileadite, a mighty man of valor. Jephthah was the son of a harlot and had been driven out of his home. When the Ammonites came against the land, the elders of Gilead begged Jephthah to fight for them as commander of the army.

Jephthah sent a peace treaty to the king of Ammon, which was rejected. The army of Jephthah fought against the Ammonites and won the battle with a great slaughter. Ephraim had refused to fight with Jephthah and his army. Jephthah had sent messengers to Ephraim seeking their help to fight against the people of Ammon, but they refused. The threat of the Ammonites was very great. After the victory over the Ammonites, Ephraim was insulted that they were not permitted to be part of the great victory. Jephthah reminded them that they had refused to fight with them. In a tragic story of brother against brother, the men of Gilead fought against Ephraim and defeated them. Ephriam had accused Gilead of being nothing more than fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh.

At the fords of the Jordan River, the Gileadites killed forty-two thousand Ephraimites. The Ephraimites could not pronounce “Shibboleth,” saying “Sibboleth” instead. Because of the dialectic difference of pronunciation between the East and West Jordanic tribes, forty-two thousand men died. A small civil war took place in the time of the judges over jealousy, pettiness, and failure to trust in God. The Holy Spirit does not reveal why Ephraim refused to fight with Jephthah, but the end was tragic.

What makes the story of Jephthah tragic is what happens when the people of God fight against one another over matters that should be given to the Lord. The church at Corinth was filled with carnality and pettiness. Churches have divided and split over issues of opinion and personalities. Families are torn apart because of the malicious spirit of envy. What happened at the fords of the Jordan can still take place today among God’s people. Jesus warned against worshiping the Father with an unforgiving heart against another. Prayers are lost because forgiveness is refused against a brother or sister. People squabble, fuss, and fight to their own destruction. These things ought not to be. We should not allow the event that happened at the fords of the Jordan to be repeated today. Live in peace. Seek unity. Serve the Lord.

And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. (Mark 16:20)

The Early Church Followed The Commission Of Jesus

When Jesus returned to His Father after the resurrection, twelve men took up the mantle of preaching the gospel to the world and established the work of the kingdom. It was a daunting task. The Holy Spirit guided the apostles into all truth. Thousands of people became disciples of Jesus Christ as the church grew in number and the spirit of God. Luke wrote two books describing the life of Jesus, His final commission, and the fulfillment of the will of God in establishing the church of Christ. Jesus left instructions on the foundation of what would become a kingdom that would never be shaken, that continues until the end of time.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke included in their gospels the commission of Jesus to the eleven. Each writer shows how the kingdom of God would bring salvation to the world. Matthew shows that Jesus was given all authority in heaven and on earth. The eleven were told to make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. One of the foundations of the early church was the pattern of continued teaching, which was necessary to follow the pattern given by God. It was necessary to teach the first disciples to observe all that Jesus commanded.

Luke describes the appearance of Jesus to the eleven when the Lord dines with them, eating a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. He reminds the eleven of the words He spoke to them before His death that all things had to be fulfilled with were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning the Son of God. Jesus explained that He needed to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day so that repentance and remission of sins could be preached in His name to all nations. The kingdom of God would be established in the city of Jerusalem when the promise of the Father would be upon the eleven to endow them with power from on high.

Mark concluded his gospel with the wonder-working, powerful message of the gospel of Christ. The eleven struggled to understand what was happening after the death of Jesus. The Lord rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. He tells them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone. The teaching of the gospel was the powerful message of grace that everyone who believed Jesus was the Son of God and was baptized would be saved. Those who did not believe Jesus was God’s Son would die in their sins. If a man did not believe, they would be condemned. Jesus further tells the eleven that signs will follow them, proving their message is of divine origin. Signs would follow those who believe. For example, demons would be cast out, disciples would speak in new tongues, and no harm would come to them through the power of the Holy Spirit. Serpents would not kill them or harm them if they were given poison. The sick will be healed. Great signs will follow those who believe and obey the gospel.

Mark wrote his gospel nearly thirty years after the death of Jesus. During that time, the words of Jesus were fulfilled. After Jesus was received up into heaven, the disciples went out and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord worked with them, confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Luke confirms the story of Mark with his gospel called the Acts of the Apostles. Reading the book of Acts confirms that the early church taught the pattern of the gospel according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The first-century church followed the pattern Jesus Christ gave and expressed by the Holy Spirit.

Today, the Bible contains everything a man needs to obey the will of God. Jesus left instructions on what must be taught and the manner of confirming the word as divine. Paul would later describe how that revelation was given to men to read and understand the will of God. It is imperative that all men see what is necessary for salvation. Faith comes from hearing the word of God. There will be no excuse for those who refuse to obey the gospel of Christ. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. Those who refuse to believe and act upon the grace of God will be lost.

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 3:19)

The Refreshing Joy Of Repentance

The Ford Motor Company is the fifth largest automobile company in the world, worth more than $158 billion. Henry Ford founded his company in 1903 after going broke five times and numerous failures. Ford is quoted as saying, “Failure is the opportunity to begin anew, more intelligently.” While this is a good motto for succeeding in life, it is especially helpful in helping the Christian run the race pitted against the adversary, the devil. Sin is a failure, and all men sin, falling short of the glory of God. Jesus lived a sinless life, and even the best of men cannot come close to living a sinless life. All men are failures in the spiritual world.

The proper view of sin is to know it can be harnessed by the power of God if the soul is willing. God knows the nature of man to sin and has offered a way of escape. Sin does not have to have dominion over the soul. The object of life is not to be sinless but to sin less; and this can be done by the grace of God. David sinned when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, got her husband drunk, and then had him killed. When Nathan, the prophet, came to David to expose his sin, David’s heart was filled with godly sorrow, and he changed his life. What David did was to fail his God. His failure would haunt him for the rest of his life, but it did not destroy him.

David used his failure as an opportunity to grow closer to God. Reading Psalms 32 and 51, David wrote about his sin, reflecting on a man seeking to be a better person before God. He understood the reasons for his failure. From that understanding, he developed a deeper knowledge of God’s word to help him in the future. When we face the battles against the devil, we will occasionally fail. The greater failure is if we do not learn from our sin to find out why we sinned, how we sinned, what led up to our sin, and how to avert the sin in the future.

Sin is a transgression of the law of God. When we sin, we break God’s law. We have greater faith when we learn from our sins to be more faithful in the future. That is true success. If we were tempted in one area of our life, we should change that so the temptation will not come again. That is learning from our “failures” to be a better person. Sin is terrible, but it can be instructive. When Satan wins a small battle in our lives, he wins a victory. Learning from that experience will help us not be fooled by the devil the next time.

The challenge of the human heart is how to overcome failure. God desires men to repent and change their lives to find the joy of forgiveness in the grace of God. The Lord is not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. He will blot out sin and wipe it away because He is a loving and forgiving God. The goal is to learn from the mistakes leading up to sin and become stronger to overcome sin. It is possible to resist the devil and make him run away. When the heart has been forgiven, the joy of coming in the presence of the Lord is realized. Sin will have its way in men’s hearts, but God’s grace will overcome sin to find times of refreshing in the presence of God.

Do your utmost to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren. (2 Timothy 4:21)

Four Unknowns And A Pope

Pope Leo XIV becomes the 267^th (or 268^th) Pope according to the Roman Catholic Church. According to Catholic doctrine, the apostle Peter was the first Pope. Nothing in the Bible suggests Peter was the head of the church, considering his fellow apostle Paul wrote that Jesus Christ was the head of the church. Peter was married and had children according to the Bible. The Catholic church ignores the absence of any proof of the papacy in the Holy Spirit inspired word of God. Taking the title of “Papa” or “Father” is contrary to the teaching of Jesus, who forbade such titles (again ignored). One of the most egregious errors of the Catholic church is the teaching that the second Pope of the church was a man named Linus. Supposedly, Peter gave the ordination of the papacy to a successor named Linus.

The Bible is the clearest book written. Many occasions illustrate the surgical precision of the language of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God and thus has the power to know how to frame the language of scripture that all men can read and understand the word of God. He does not leave vague wordings of eternal significance that men must interpret on their own and conclude within the teaching of human wisdom. It should be significant that the Bible never mentions Peter as Pope or hints at a papacy. The only mention of a Linus in scripture is in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Near the end of his letter, he seeks Timothy’s help to have him come to him before winter. Paul is in a Roman prison and will be executed soon. He knows his life is short.

In the closing remarks to Timothy, Paul extends greetings from brethren that are with him, including Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren. How the Roman Catholic church gets a Pope out of this verse is a confounding mystery. The defense given by the Catholics is that the proof comes from sources outside the Holy Scripture. If the Pope were to be the head of the church and take on the role of absolute authority as “God on earth,” why did the Holy Spirit leave out the reference of Peter and Linus as heads of the Roman Catholic Church? Nothing is known of Linus. He is mentioned once in scripture without any clarification. The Holy Spirit (who is God) knew who Linus was, and yet, absent from the Holy Scripture is any reference to Linus being anyone but a companion of Paul (not Peter).

The Roman Catholic Church makes declarations that are to be accepted as true because the Roman Catholic Church makes a declaration that it determines as truth. This flies in the face of God’s authority in scripture. The litmus test is as simple as “show me in the Bible where any reference to the papacy is found.” More than a billion people accept the word of the Roman Catholic Church over the words of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit warned of the apostasy that would come, and the Roman Catholic Church is the fulfillment of the words of the Holy Spirit. Someone has said the Roman Catholic Church is the “mother of apostasy and the Protestant churches are her illegitimate children.”

There is one truth, which is established in the word of the Holy Spirit. No man can take the role of Pope and be found pleasing in the eyes of God. Changing the words of the Holy Spirit is an abomination to the character and nature of a Holy God. Paul warned the saints of Galatia that to heed the words of an angel, that is a different gospel, is an anathema. Every man has the divine responsibility to follow the words of the Bible and nothing else. Eternity depends upon that authority.