The Heaton File

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'” (Mark 4:10-12)

He Taught Them Many Things By Parables

The word of God has always been clear in its meaning and understanding. God told Adam and Eve they could eat of every tree in the garden but the tree of knowledge of good and evil they were forbidden. Satan’s first words were to challenge the word of God and convince Eve the word of God was hard and difficult to understand. She believed the devil and disobeyed God along with Adam. Man has always been challenged in suggesting the word of the Lord is difficult to know and to discern what real truth is. Jesus taught many lessons during His ministry. Some were sermons, other times He discussed matters on a one-to-one basis and often He would take His disciples in private and reveal truths to them. One of the tools Jesus used in teaching was explaining the Father’s will through parables or illustrations intended to explain an important teaching of eternal truth. The gospels tell us He taught in many parables.

Teaching in parables was not to discourage the multitudes from learning the truth but instilling a practical application of truth. Finishing the parable of the sower Jesus admonished the multitude, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” This defines the purpose of the parables. Hearts that seek the truth will find the truth but those hearts who are hardened will not see any value to the word of God. The mystery of the kingdom of God is not a mystery to those who are willing to open their hearts in faith to the word of God. The commands of the Lord are never burdensome and His word is always clear to understand. What challenges man is his refusal to accept the simple teaching of the Lord. Did Noah really grasp the meaning of a universal flood and how building an ark with animals inside was going to save his family? What sense did it make after a person was bitten by a snake to look upon a bronze serpent on a pole? Naaman said it best when the said, “Behold I thought” after Elijah told him to do something very easy to understand: dip seven times in the Jordan River.

Jesus taught in parables not to hide the truth but to show the power of God’s word on the hearts of true seekers who will readily accept the word of God. Obedience to the Lord has always been a thinking man’s religion. Mindless worship is of no value. To those who have no interest in knowing the truth the parable is a story without purpose. They see the story but do not see the truth. Hearing about a man sowing seed on the ground does not sink into their hardened hearts. Obedience to the will of God demands a heart open to the teaching of Jesus and an acceptance of His word that is unchallenged. All of God’s word is a parable in form asking man to seek and find the truth that can be found with an open heart. Those who cannot see the plain teaching of scripture have closed hearts unwilling to accept in faith the word of God.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth … Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (Genesis 1:1,14-19)

The Creator Of The Solar Eclipse Is God

Monday is the first solar eclipse visible from the contiguous U. S. since 1979 when only the Northwest was able to witness the event. August 21 will be a total solar eclipse blocking out the sun in 14 states. The eclipse will start in Lincoln Beach, Oregon at 9:05am (PST) and end in Charleston, S.C. at 4:09pm (EST). For those in the path of the total solar eclipse, it will last two minutes and 40 seconds at most. The next total solar eclipse on earth will be in 2019 and the United States will experience its next total solar eclipse April 8, 2024. All of this is possible because of exacting details that allow the sun, moon and earth to align in a precise manner where the moon comes into orbit directly blocking the rays of the sun. The sun is 94.06 million miles from earth and has a mass 330,000 times larger than earth. Circling the earth, the moon is a short distance of 238,855 miles. The mass of the Moon is only 1.2% the mass of the Earth. August 21, 2017 the three heavenly bodies of earth, moon and sun will align in a perfect alignment allowing a shadow to cast itself across the face of the earth. NASA and the scientific world can predict this event in exact detail for one reason: God created the world in an exact design.

It may seem like a natural event and although it happens irregularly, the odds of all three of the earth, sun and moon aligning in perfect order is astronomical. This is especially true considering most people believe the world was created from chaos and disorder. Total solar eclipses occur about every 18 months with lunar eclipses about every 6 months when the moon passes through the shadow of the earth. The Earth orbits around the Sun at an astonishing 67,000 miles per hour. It takes the Earth 365 days to make a complete circle around the Sun. The moon travels at a much slower rate of 2,288 miles an hour completing its rotation around the earth in about 27 days. This does not happen by chance. These solar and lunar eclipses have been occurring since God created the world. To believe what those who deny God teach is to accept these events as random and chaotic yet they are in precise order and design.

If the world was created by a force of unknown variables with a random cause without design, how can these events of total solar and lunar eclipse happen on a regular basis? The “Great American Eclipse” will begin at 9:05am PST on the west coast and end at 4:09pm EST on the east coast because God designed a perfect world that is constant in its measure and created to declare His glory and power. While we marvel at the wonder of the creation and the heavenly bodies we should remember this great event was all made possible by the creative hand of a powerful Lord.

Abraham Lincoln said, “I never behold them (the heavens filled with the stars) that I do not feel I am looking in the face of God. I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist – but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.” His point is that man has created a world that mocks the power of God denying who created the world. The heavens remain untouched. Both the earth and the heavens declare the glory of God in their creation and man has only to see God as the Master Creator who formed a universe declaring His name. The eclipse of August 21 will awe the minds of millions of people. Our prayer is they will come to know the God that made it all possible.

America is a shattered nation. We have experienced a reprisal of the deep seated prejudices against symbols that decry our personal beliefs. In a recent event where two opposing parties met to protest either the existence of an offending memorial or the plans to remove said memorial, a 32-year-old woman was killed by a car plowing through a crowd. In a land where free speech is a valued trade mark, it is becoming clear that sometimes free speech is only afforded a certain group of individuals.

The issue at stake in our modern day America is not about the Confederate memorials. To some it is a remembrance of history that cannot be changed as tragic as it was. Others are repelled by the suggestion of what the memorials may represent. Still some use the symbols of a grizzly war costing over 750,000 American lives to further their agendas of hate. What is happening that has larger implications is the pattern of intolerance that is being used to remove offensive symbols by those who are impacted by what those symbols mean to them. Many cities are quietly removing any references to Confederate memorials during the night with workman dressed in bullet proof vests. Fear seems to press against the hearts of Americans who are afraid to take a stand for anything that might offend another person.

There is a troubling truth that is quietly coursing through the back roads of this new movement in America. It is the sense of intolerance for those things that offend. This is not a matter of whether monuments to a war that ended 152 years ago are pertinent to the conscience of our nation. What is slowly being established in the philosophy of the moral compass in America is the refusal to accept those forms or representations of symbols that strike against the ideas of what is acceptable.

In our lifetime prayer in school has been banned, references to religious beliefs are challenged, monuments inscribed with the Ten Commandments have been removed, crosses on public land have been torn down and the non-acceptance of the homosexual agenda from transgender and bisexual perversion is ridiculed from government and religious institutions alike. This age has become the marshmallow, mindless, spoiled and enabled generation of self-rights that will not tolerate any agenda that is not their own. Now we see a purge in the offending representations of a war that nearly destroyed our country. History is repeating itself.

The New Testament writer Luke furnishes a clear history of the early church from its beginnings to the prophetic utterances of coming persecution. When the church began in Acts 2 there was little fanfare and the world did not take notice. Shortly after Pentecost, Peter and John were arrested and brought before the rulers, elders, scribes and high priest because they taught that Jesus was raised from the dead (Acts 4). This offended the Jewish leaders and they commanded Peter and John not to teach in the name of Jesus. The only thing the apostles were doing was teaching – and they were told to stop.

When the apostles were released they glorified the Lord for delivering them and giving them boldness to continue preaching the saving message of Christ. As the church grew so did the anger of the Jewish leaders. They “were filled with indignation and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison” (Acts 5:17-18) because the High Priest and Sadducees were offended at the teaching about Jesus. The apostles had been warned not to teach in the name of Jesus and to spread the doctrine of the risen Christ and yet they continued. This time before releasing the apostles they were beaten and warned not to teach in the name of Jesus. First they were just warned; now they are beaten and warned.

A disciple named Stephen is brought before the Jewish council accused of speaking blasphemous words against the Temple and the Jewish nation (Acts 6). Stephen’s defense in Acts 7 is a clear demonstration of the powerful word of God and condemnation of the hypocrisy of the Jewish leadership. The leaders were so offended “they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul” (Acts 7:57-58). First they just warned the men; then they beat them and warned them; now they are killing the disciples.

Saul of Tarsus took the movement to a higher level. He persecuted the church and “made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison” (Acts 8:3). Later, Paul would say he “persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished … Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities” (Acts 22:4-5; 26:9-11). After Saul’s conversion the persecution lessened but would be picked in a furious manner by the Romans.

The persecution against the people of God was never a sudden event. It was a process of small things leading up to greater things. So innocuous were the signs of what was coming few knew it was happening until it was too late. Here is the point of the events of our day: today we remove memorials that offend people and by the year 2035 there will be a lot more things taken down that offend people. The sign outside the building on West Fort Dade Avenue says, “Brooksville Church of Christ.” In the year 2035 that will no longer be tolerated. The name of Christ will offend a certain group of people and they will have demanded removal of all references to Jesus Christ for public consumption. Preachers will be pressured against preaching the hate crime of condemnation of homosexuality. Sermons will be monitored more closely for offending doctrines that do not suit the norm of society. Religion will be viewed as an archaic remnant of a world long forgotten and considered useless. A godless world will dictate what is acceptable and what must be torn down.

History has a tendency to repeat itself. The wise man will look at yesterday to see how tomorrow will be – for the failures of our fathers will the failures of our children’s children who do not learn the lessons of their fathers. The church has enjoyed a peace that has given it opportunity to grow and prosper. These days will end. Intolerance for the doctrine of Christ will grow and many saints will find the world changing against the worship of the one true God. It is not a possibility – it is a reality.

What is truly sad about the furor over the Confederate memorials is why these same energies are not used to stop abortion, starvation, child abuse and neglect. Millions of children are murdered every year in the name of pride, lust and self-worth and it is legal. Many families have nothing to eat and are abused physically, mentally and spiritually in a world of plenty. Where are the protests against abortion, poverty, and care for the elderly and issues that really matter? The priorities of man are strangely misaligned.

A final word. Children of God must shine as lights in a crooked and perverse world. Christians should show their faith in not becoming embroiled in the anger, hatred and poison of a world gone mad with self-righteous piety and rights. We serve the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17-21).

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

The People Of The New Testament Church

There is a difference between those who walk in the darkness of the world and those who walk in the light of the kingdom of God. These are not subtle variants but demonstrative characteristics that consecrate the life of a Christian to the image of the Heavenly Father. Walking in the world is necessary because we live in the world. That way of life is vastly changed from what the norm of society dictates because our walk is to the message of a risen Lord who guides our thoughts, motives and desires. Just because the people of the world act rashly does not mean the Christian should follow their example. When the community is inflamed about a national issue the child of God must remember whom their first allegiance and loyalty resides: Jesus Christ. The actions of the lights of the world will reflect upon the sovereignty of the King we serve and His people. We should never allow ourselves to become embroiled in the affairs of a carnal world that does not show forth Christ in our lives.

It is easy to be overcome by evil. Temptations can ensnare our hearts and we can fall prey to the powerful lust of the flesh. Sin can also knock at the door of our hearts when we allow our example as people of God to be destroyed because we want to take up a cause that is sweeping the nation. This was seen last year during the presidential election when children of the Most High God acted like children of the devil in their speech, actions and disrespect to authority. New issues arise and voices are raised and feelings are raw and in the midst of the wicked confusion of a world gone mad, the disciple of Christ removes his cloak of humility and brandishes a sword of contempt. Overcome by evil the example of the saint of the Lord is tarnished with disgrace.

Evil is overcome by the goodness and righteousness of God. There is no other way. To stamp out evil, the heart of the child of God must remember the admonitions of kindness, forgiveness and humility. The example of a Christian must always be at the forefront of their motives. There are many things we should be concerned about which are good and wholesome. It must be remembered as a child of the living God that we do not have our rights to do as we please. Often we confuse the inalienable rights of being an American with the reality we have no rights under King Jesus Christ. Our lives are not governed by the Constitution of the United States but the constitution of the one Lord. Jesus Christ dictates what we can do and say – not the American nation. We have no rights except what God allows us through His Son. He commands that we not be overcome by evil and to overcome evil by the power of God. Christians are subject to the law of the land in every way because that is the will of God. Only – and only when there is a conflict with the law of God – is the Christian allowed disobeying government. It may be painful to pay taxes but it is not a sin to obey the government.

Brethren must be warned and reminded that we are children of the Most High God. We must not allow our emotions to place us in the midst of the emotional chaos of a world that is filled with wicked intents and thoughts. Let our voices be raised in prayer for our fellow man. Examples of a humble heart will show the truth of the only cause we should be fighting for. The life of a disciple of Jesus Christ will impact more souls for good by showing a spirit of kindness in troubled times than holding a sign screaming unkind words to someone made in the image of God. Ultimately the truth lies in the knowledge that no matter the color of skin, nationality, gender or age – we ALL are children of God in creation and our Creator despises the hatred spilled upon the ground of discontent and malice. Christians live a different life. Now is the time to show the world the power of the soldiers who serve in the army of the Lord. Let the people of God be the beacons of hope and love. Stand for Jesus Christ. Show the world how much you love God.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:2-11)

Partaking Of The Divine Nature

Life in Jesus Christ is filled with the immeasurable blessings of the Heavenly Father. Created to glorify the Father, man finds his fulfillment in the covenant relationship of redemption through the knowledge of Him who called men by glory and virtue. Nothing that man can do or say can express the debt of gratitude held to the blessings of God. He has not promised man blessings alone. His promise is to give man exceedingly great and precious promises beyond the capability of man to understand. Throughout the history of the righteous people of God the promises of the Lord have excelled far beyond what was possible. Noah was saved by the grace of God as he prepared the ark for the saving of his household. Abram was promised a son at the age of 100 including the promises of a land to call his own and the father of a mighty nation. The faith of the saints of God has always been founded upon the incredible blessings and promises of the Lord. When men were faithful to the commandments of God, the exceeding and bountiful blessings were given by the hand of the Lord. He never failed in any promises He made.

Living for the exceedingly great and precious promises of God changes the heart of the man. He bathes in the wonder of the manifold bounty of untold blessings that are unmerited by his own failings. God loves man with an eternal love that overshadows the frailty of a broken spirit and penitent heart. Forgiveness is the divine measuring stick of God’s grace to remove the sin of man and receive him into His presence. What happens in man is he begins to take on the image of his Father and partakes of the divine nature of His righteousness. Jesus exhorted the disciples to be perfect as the Father in Heaven was perfect. Peter extols the virtue of molding the character of the child of God into the image of the divine nature by giving all diligence to add to their faith the virtues of the Father. Examining the graces of God listed by Peter will change the outward and inward disposition of the man of God into the image of the divine Father. Partaking of the divine nature is becoming the divine nature. The spirit of man becomes the image of the Heavenly Father.

Through the exceedingly great and precious promises, man takes on the image of the Heavenly Father. In this metamorphosis of the spirit of man to godliness is the removal of the corruption that is in the world through lust. The graces of God enumerated by Peter will change the heart, soul and mind of man to be the perfection of the image of the Father and slowly remove the harmful influences of a crooked and perverse world. Virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love stand in stark contrast to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life. As the child of God learns to mold these graces into the heart, the lusts of the world are driven out. Partaking of the divine nature compels the soul to think on things above where God is and to fill the heart with the purity of His love. The corruption of the world will not dominate the spirit of the child of God who partakes of the divine nature. In the end, the saint will find perfection in the body of Christ that is exceedingly great and precious. All the promises of God are found to be true and the life of the disciple of Christ is measured by the abounding blessings of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Partaking of the divine nature is the life changing experience of molding the character of man to the image of God. All of the graces listed by Peter in his first epistle are the absolutes in matters of spiritual growth or reasons for failings in the spirit of man. Increasing in every area of the grace of God will bring about the surety of salvation. Lacking in these graces will bring failure. The calling and election of the child of God can be made sure when the heart is willing to partake of the divine nature. An entrance will be supplied to those who allow the graces of God to guide their hearts in escaping the corruption of the world and to embody the divine nature of the Father. His divine power has given everything needed pertaining to life and godliness. It comes through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace. (Ephesians 2:15)

The Law Is Abolished

The word “abolish” is a transitive verb meaning to put an end to something such as a law. In the New Testament Greek language it is katargeō “to be (render) entirely idle (useless), literally or figuratively: – abolish, cease, cumber, deliver, destroy, do away, become (make) of no (none, without) effect, fail, loose, bring (come) to nought, put away (down), vanish away, make void” (Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary). In almost all the various Bible translations, “abolished” is found in our text. What Paul is describing in the great letter about the church is the end of the Law of Moses. Jesus came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill the Law. The cross is the apex of that plan to show the Jew could not save himself by having the Law and the Gentile could not save himself apart from law. There is nothing more clearly stated in the New Testament than the end of the Law of Moses.

Peace for all men came when Jesus died on the cross. The Gentiles were measured by an Abrahamic type faith that allowed them to find justification much like the great patriarch Abram. From Adam until the cross all the people of the world separated from the covenant of Israel were justified by the grace of God and His mercy. Jonah preached to the city of Nineveh showing the Lord’s compassion to the Gentiles. The people of Nineveh repented and God withheld His hand of destruction against them. Salvation before the cross did not come solely from the Law of Moses. This law was given only to the Jews as the fulfillment of the seed promise made in the Garden of Eden. Less the same tragic malady fall upon men as it did in the days of Noah, God provided the Law of Moses through the nation of Israel to bring His Son into the world. The Law of Moses was contingent upon the obedience of the Jews. They failed and the Lord withdrew His blessing upon them promising to bring a new covenant with the coming of the Anointed One.

Jesus was a Jew and lived under the Law of Moses. He said during the sermon on the mount He did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill the Law. His life was perfect as He literally never broke a single command of God. When He died on the cross, He took away the curse of the Law because He was able to do what no man had ever been able to do – live a perfect life. Jesus became the curse and the sacrifice. At the cross the Son of God abolished the Law of Moses and removed the guilt of the Gentiles who lived apart from the Law. There is only one name that all men (Jew & Gentile) can be saved and that name was inscribed above the head of Jesus on the cross.

When a person says the Law of Moses is still binding today – they in actual fact suggest that Jesus did not live a perfect life. The two are not compatible. If He lived a perfect life the Law could not stand because there is no foundation and the curse of the Law is removed. Believing the Law of Moses is still in force (in any form) denies that Jesus is the Son of God and that He lived a life of sinless perfection. Anyone seeking eternal life must believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He lived sinless His whole life. This holds true to the keeping of the Law of Moses. Refusing to acknowledge the Law of Moses (all of it) was abolished denies the promise of eternal life and will find that person in jeopardy of salvation. Too many people want to dabble with a little bit of the Law of Moses and hold to Jesus with the other hand. Being crucified with Christ both hands are nailed to one cross and that cross is not the Law. It is the blood bought covenant of Jesus Christ. The Law of Moses is given for man to learn of the goodness and severity of the Lord as an example and a help to bring them to Christ. Salvation is in Jesus Christ – not Moses.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Protect The Home

Vance Havner wrote, “America is a disaster area home wise. The automobile took the family out of the home, and television brought the world into the home.” When God created man and woman He established the home in a place where He Himself walked and dwelt so that the family would find the joys of His presence. Before sin, man did not fear the presence of the Lord. There was no shame, sorrow or heartache. Satan was the adversary that destroyed the paradise home of Eden. His deceitful ploy against Eve took away the happiness of man and God dwelling together. Guilt and pain followed and man found himself cast from the presence of the Lord. The devil continues his vicious onslaught to break down the foundations of righteousness in the home knowing that as the home goes; so goes the world; and as the home goes so goes the church.

Peter warns of the dangers of Satan as like a roaring lion seeking all those whom he can grasp within his web of his deceitful lies. So often, his ploy is not to present wickedness in a form that would disgust the heart with the ugly nature of sin but rather simple things of life that on the surface are pleasant and unremarkable. Havner remarked on the influence of the automobile and the television that are innocuous at best. The nuclear family that spent time together growing in the knowledge of God is now replaced with the hectic pursuit of harried lives pursuing the pleasures of a materialistic world and sitting in front of a glowing box like zombies that are the sitting dead.

The church is not growing and evangelizing because the home has become a place of recreation and self-pursuits building upon foundations of materialism and covetousness. Early saints went everywhere teaching the good news of Jesus Christ under the pale of severe persecution. Before the invention of the automobile and the television, communities were united under the common need of the family. The Bible was read on a constant basis because there was no distraction of wasteful hours of spiritual numbness. There was a unity of common spirit among the community of families that depended on one another, knew one another and shared in the joys and sorrows of life. In our modern world of wonder we do not know our neighbors and more often than not – we do not know our family. The church struggles to interest souls who have little time for God and His work. Services of God’s people are becoming less and less and time spent together in worship is fractured with mini-minutes of fast paced order to dismiss and rush home. Smiling in the shadows is a monstrous lion who knows his work is having an impact on the holy nation of God and he is pleased. Do you hear his roar?

“Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘Stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)

5777 Or 2017

For most people, the year 5777 has no significance. Man is always trying to come up with another way to define history and this will be determined by the counsel of faith they adhere or believe in. The year 5777 is a real year determined from the beginning of the world as God created all things according to Genesis. It is suggested the Maimonides explained this dating in his book, ‘Mishneh Torah: Sanctification of the Moon’ written about 1178. Those who follow the dating of 5777 continue to hold to the traditions of Judaism or the Hebrew faith. The Bible is silent on the matter.

Moses writes in the book of Exodus the formation of the nation of Israel when the Lord God gave the escaped Egyptian Hebrews the Law. This law would form the constitution and daily commandments of the people that would become known as the people of promise. Abram had been promised a seed, the land of Canaan and a nation. The first promise fulfilled was the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. When the people conquered the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, the second promise was kept. Finally, Jesus Christ became the last promise fulfilled through the seed of Isaac, son of Abraham. God kept all of His promises but Israel did not. When the people received the Law of Moses, it was a conditional law. Their obedience would be paramount to the continued blessings of God upon the nation. The Old Testament is the tragic story of Israel’s fall into idolatry and rebellion against the Lord. A new covenant was promised and found its fulfillment in Christ and the church. The book of Hebrews is the new covenant law on the better promises made through Jesus Christ.

It may seem insignificant but the dating of our modern calendar testifies to the working of God in the history of man. The year 2017 is not a random number but closely tied to the life of Jesus Christ. Making calendars has not been an exact science and have been fraught with problems over the years. Jesus was not born in the year ‘0’ and was probably born around 4 B.C. (according to the historical reckoning of calendars). Regardless, the uniform use of 2017 is based upon one man and one man alone: the man from Nazareth, supposed son of a carpenter, son of Mary: Jesus Christ. Every time the date is written is testifies to the powerful influence Jesus had upon history.

Writing the year 5777 is of little consequence because it is based upon a doctrine that denies Jesus as the Messiah, chosen One of God. The Muslim calendar shows 2017 as the year 1438 AH (in the year of the Hijra). Other religions regulate their calendars according to their systems of faith. Overall, the world accepts the year 2017. It would seem clear the thumbprint of God is working in the affairs of men to declare His Son to all men. Simple things like the dating of the year testify to the powerful influence Jesus has had upon the affairs of men. When an atheist writes the date, he conflicts himself. The Lord God has His will among men testifying to His great power and majesty over the centuries. Praise God for His wonderful image expressed through the years.

There is only one name that men will find salvation. Jesus is the Son of God and He gave His life so that all men could come to Him for redemption. The Jews are no longer the people of God and the Gentiles cannot find salvation apart from Jesus Christ. Jew and Gentile alike must come to the cross of Jesus to be saved. The dating of a year is not significant to salvation but it does show the wisdom of God in contrast to the wisdom of man. Saved men base their life upon the man from Nazareth. His name is the only name that man can find the hope of eternal life. 5777 denies Christ. 2017 affirms there really was a man called Jesus. The Bible confirms salvation is only in Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

The God Of Comfort

There are few words that can describe how wonderful and how great the Heavenly Father is to His children. Knowing the love of an earthly father is so incredible words fail. Trying to understand the love of God is nearly impossible. He is so powerful and so kind to His children that do not deserve His mercy, grace, love and compassion – a lifetime of seeking would not find the hem of His garment. Life can be hard and dishearten the strongest soul but the Father still loves and cares for His child. Sin will have its way with the disciple of Christ and through it all the forgiving grace of God will bring comfort to a broken spirit. Comfort.

Time is nothing to God as He spans the generations of faithful souls seeking His grace. Abraham gazed upon the same sun, moon and stars that fill the sky giving the same promise of comfort to God’s children today. His promises of comfort to David are secure in the promises made to His saints in the church and through all time that remains. The Lord God never failed in protecting His people eons ago affirming that same security for the children of God who serve him daily. Nothing has changed for man in his struggle to find peace. His mistake has always been to seek wisdom by his own merits finding no peace in his life finding only emptiness. Following the pleasures of the flesh will never bring solace to the soul. Amassing all the fortunes of the world are shrouded in the dust of time forgotten as man dies leaving all of this world behind. Monuments erected today are banished in years to come with no fame remembered.

The comfort of God is eternal. He blessed Adam and Eve and He will bless all those who seek Him in every generation since. His mercies have been offered to all men. The path of peace is set before man to seek and find. Understanding the tribulations of life can be answered in the wisdom of His book. His hand overshadows those who dwell in the shadow of His love. He is the Father of all mercies and God of all comfort and there is no greater place a man can find himself than in the spirt of the Lord God. There is nothing in life that He will not measure by the grace of His love to bring comfort to a troubled heart. No temptation can overtake the mercy of God as He offers the way of escape to those who seek His mercy. He is not a God of some comfort – He is the God of all comfort.

Death is not feared when seen through the eyes of the Lord God who sent His Son to conquer death. He gave His only begotten Son that we could see death for what it is: a bridge to life. The comfort given by God is the knowledge that life is not about the here and now but the joy of what is to come. Finding peace in life is knowing in life there is no peace apart from the God of comfort. Trusting in the blessings of the Lord bring hope and joy because His promises are true and everlasting. No greater comfort will you find than the glorious presence of the God of all mercies and comfort.

Let all things be done decently and in order. (1 Corinthians 14:40)

For The Glory Of God

The church at Corinth had a lot of problems adjusting to the pattern expected by the Lord for His church. Admittedly, they were part of a new revolution that was sweeping the Roman Empire and the world with little to go on for examples and patterns. Viewing the church two thousand years removed reminds us of the challenges the church faces in any generation to learn how to follow the design and arrangement preserved by the Holy Spirit. It can be easy to cast stones at Corinth for their chaotic multiplicity of incredible problems they experienced but we are probably not as far removed as we think. It comes down to a better understand of how to worship and what is pleasing to the Lord and what is done for the pleasure of man.

Worship in the church of Corinth was like a three-ring circus. The gifts of the Holy Spirit were not understood in their proper context, authority was being challenged by the women, partaking of the Lord’s supper was out of place and there were serious issues with vital doctrines like morality, marriage and the resurrection. All in all the church at Corinth resembled a train wreck. The public worship was one of the areas that Paul addressed to this church of God. They had created an atmosphere of confusion and this was driving people away for learning the truth. Because of the chaos being allowed in the worship, those who visited thought the members out of their minds. This is a difficult environment to teach someone the way of truth. The apostle sought to put things back in order for one simple reason: worship at Corinth did not give glory to God.

The Corinthians had failed to remember that worship must be about glorifying God. Everything created and established by the Lord has a design and purpose. Worship has never been a foot-loose, raucous vibration of uncontrolled passions that fuel the spirit of man rather than an orderly approach in respecting the Father. The admonition of Paul that worship must be done decently and in order comes from a military term of the proper manner to come before God. It is not to be done with confusion and discord. There is a pattern to worship the Lord. This form is not a strict regimen of rote sentences and disheartened spirits but worship that is directed to the glory of God. The details of that pattern are left to man to decide if he wants two songs and a prayer and a song and the supper and a song … you get the idea. When all is said and done there must be respect for what is being done.

Worship is to glorify God. Respect for the Lord is paramount. The solemnity of true worship knows the grace afforded man to enter the veil approaching the throne of God in bold humility to offer sacrifices of praise to the Almighty. There must be an order to this worship. Albert Barnes writes, “Let all be done ‘decorously,’ as becomes the worship of the great and holy God.” How that is accomplished is left to the mind of man. Having the spirit of subjection to the manner of true worship, man will find a higher plane in his pursuit of worshiping the Father in spirit and truth.