Paul’s View Of Chains

Posted on January 3, 2024 by heatonkent

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. (Philippians 1:3-7)

Paul’s View Of Chains

Roman prisons in the first century were filthy, hot, dark, and musty, with poor ventilation. There were few separate cells for prisoners as most had groups chained together in a single room. Most of the time the prisons were overcrowded. The stench would almost be overpowering. Stocks were used to secure the feet of the prisoners, making movement difficult. Few prisons had long-term inmates as the use of the prison was a holding place before execution. It would not be uncommon to hear screams from parts of the prison as the guards tortured the unfortunate. Food was not regularly supplied because friends and family were expected to bring food to care for the prisoner.

Paul was familiar with the Roman prison. Before he became a Christian, his familiarity was the men and women he dragged to prison for following Christ. He used the prisons as a weapon to persecute the church with vigor. How different for the former persecutor to be thrown into a prison, chained with other men, and left in the dark. His former wealth, prestige, and comfortable life were replaced with poverty, humiliation, and suffering. He did all of that for the cause of Christ. Faced with the repeated trips to prison, the apostle developed a positive view of his chains for the glory of God.

Philippians is an epistle to the Philippian church about joy and rejoicing. The epistle is remarkable because Paul was in a Roman prison (jail) at the time of writing. His bonds were the chains on his hands and probably his feet. He was not free to go where he wanted and do what he so desired – preach the gospel. There was plenty to discourage the apostle as he languished in a dark and dreary prison. Paul refused to let his circumstances define his situation. He tells the saints his chains were for the furtherance of the gospel. Looking down at his chains, he did not see discouragement or failure. Paul realized why he was in bondage – in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

Chains can bind a man or set his heart free. Paul knew no chains could separate him from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Paul’s spirit soared in the face of persecution. He knew his life was spent in the declaration of the gospel, and spending time in prison confirmed his love for God. Learning to look beyond the iron chains secured on his hands and the painful wooded stocks binding his feet is how Paul made sense of where he was and why. Paul’s final days were spent in prison before the executioner severed his head.

A positive view of life is learning to look beyond those things that seek to shackle the spirit to a dark world. There were many unpleasant reasons to stay away from the Roman prison. His Roman citizenship protected him from being beaten or scourged. Enduring the difficulties of prison life became common for Paul. He focused his mind above and beyond the place where he found himself. Things in life can shackle the heart, but the key has always been to look beyond those things to Jesus Christ.

Whatever challenges we face can make us stronger. Trusting in God and looking at the chains of life as the link to eternal life will help the soul overcome discouragement. Nothing can defeat those who walk in Christ. God has never forsaken His people, and He never will. Paul sat in prison thinking about how God was to be glorified through him. He kept his focus on the work of the Lord. Changing the mind to overcome chains is done when the heart is filled with the word of God and the feet are busy with the kingdom’s work.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God’s Promise

Posted on January 2, 2024 by heatonkent

For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. (Acts 2:39)

God’s Promise

Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost was a stirring appeal for the devout Jews to consider Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God, the Christ. Three thousand people heard the preaching of the twelve and obeyed the gospel. In response to the preaching, the crowd asked what they had to do to be saved. Peter told them to change their hearts and wash away their sins in the waters of baptism. If they obeyed these words, they would receive the remission of their sins. Entering into a covenant with God, they would also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee.

Two powerful promises were made that day. First, the remission of sins. God would wash away all of the sins. He would forgive them of every evil. A remission is a dismissal or a release. All the sins that corrupted the heart would be completely taken away. Peter outlined the conditions of repentance and immersion in water to receive forgiveness. God would not weigh the balance and take seventy percent of sins away. He would remove one hundred percent of every sin as far as the east is from the west and to the depths of the deepest sin. That was a promise.

The second promise was the gift of the Holy Spirit. There was nothing miraculous about this gift, but it was an incredible divine gift. God promised all those who obeyed the gospel would receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of salvation. Paul would later describe this promise as the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God would dwell in the newly washed heart, cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Paul explained the Holy Spirit would help with the weaknesses of the heart.

Forgiveness or remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit are promises that have continued for two thousand years. What happened on the Day of Pentecost was not an isolated case. Luke tells the story of the early church, where the promise was carried out multiple times with individuals, families, and multitudes. The word of God was preached, and people repented of their sins and washed their sins away in the waters of baptism. When they came up out of the water, the Father granted both promises. Two hundred years later, in a hamlet in another land, people received the promise when they obeyed the gospel. In 1492, people were washed in the blood of Jesus Christ and rose to receive the promise. This promise has been granted for two millennia.

God made a promise that has been kept faithfully because God is faithful. What Peter said is still true today for all those who believe Jesus is the Son of God and obey the gospel. When the crowd wanted to know what to do to be saved, Peter told them to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins. The promise was given to three thousand souls that day. When someone repents and is washed in the waters of baptism, their sins are washed away (promise one), and they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (promise two). Time will not change that promise. What a wonderful God we serve who keeps His promise.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

525,600 Precious Minutes Lost And Gained

Posted on January 1, 2024 by heatonkent

So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

525,600 Precious Minutes Lost And Gained

Moses lived for one hundred and twenty years, or just over sixty-three million minutes. Methuselah lived nine hundred sixty-nine years, or just over … never mind. Each day is twenty-four hours, containing 1,440 minutes. God has given every person an incredible bank to draw from every day, starting with a zero balance. Whatever happens with 1,440 minutes is entirely left to the decision of man. He can do with it as he sees fit. Part of that time will be spent sleeping (average 6-7 hours). The rest of the day is a varied state of wakefulness.

No man knows how long he will live. The old must die, the young can die, and those in the middle will grow old. Time is measured by the creation ordained by God from the beginning. The lights in the sky are signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. With each passing day, those deposited minutes are lost forever. There is no way time can be reversed, and try as he might, man cannot change what happened yesterday. He can consider the lessons of yesterday and learn from them; but to go back in time cannot be done. When the minute is used, it disappears.

Moses lived a long and full life. When he died, his strength was not diminished, and his eyesight was clear. He writes in the psalm the wisdom of a man counting his days. What the prophet means is how important it is for everyone to consider the brevity of life, how short it is, and the importance of making suitable deposits in the bank of time. The new year began with great anticipation. Looking back on the previous twelve months, victories are realized, and defeats are admitted. A sense of hope seeks to create resolutions to make the coming year a time of victory. It will be twelve months before an answer is given.

Each year, we swap 525,600 precious moments for the next 525,600 minutes. Whatever we did with last year’s 525,600 minutes is now history. What we must look forward to is how to spend the next portion of time granted to us by the grace of God. Looking at the new year as a twelve-month bank of time is helpful but unfulfilling. Trying to plan out twelve months is a daunting task. One of the main reasons resolutions fail is because goals are made that are unrealistic and unattainable. Making long-term goals is essential to success, but goals are never accomplished without the awareness of the daily process of using minutes properly.

Instead of looking so closely at the 525,600 minutes, think about the next 1,440 minutes that make up a day. Yearly goals are accomplished one day at a time. Each day brings the opportunity to succeed and fail. God has only promised the day we have to work for Him. Worrying about tomorrow is a waste of time and unproductive. Work in the kingdom is a daily process of accomplishing the will of the Lord. After spending 1,440 hours a day seeking the will of God, we will find at the end of 525,600 minutes (one year) that we have been diligently working in the kingdom of God.

Moses asked the vital question of life. How do we number our days? It is not the number of hours we have lived. It becomes the awareness of the heart to know how short life is, and upon this short time, our eternal soul depends. We need to count the cost by learning how to number our days. Have we spent our time in service to God? Are we seeking the things that are above where Christ is? What will God say of our lives? Life is a one-way journey that can never be done again. Eternity is final with no change of station.

Numbering our days brings about wisdom. Looking at the past year to learn from yesterday’s mistakes will give us greater knowledge of how to live in the coming year. Each year should be a time of change. Every new day is the opportunity to dig deeper into the mind of God to know more perfectly His ways. God allows every man to start fresh with a new set of minutes to use wisely or waste. How we use that time is our choice. Learning to number the precious minutes we have will help us to draw closer to Him. It will change our life. Today is the day of salvation—all 1,440 minutes.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Marriage, Divorce, And Remarriage

Posted on December 31, 2023 by heatonkent

For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. (Romans 7:2-3)

Marriage, Divorce, And Remarriage

When God finished creation, He looked upon the world filled with nature, animals, and Adam and Eve and said, “It is very good.” He designed the world in perfect harmony. God created man and woman to complement one another and bring God glory. The purpose of creating one man and one woman was to unite them as one. This was the will of God. He is displeased when men change His will.

Sin destroyed the relationship between God and man. It also began to change the law of marriage ordained by God. Fornication and adultery transgress the law of God, specifically the law of marriage. The Lord has always hated divorce (Malachi 2:14). It was never his intent that Adam and Eve live with hatred, anger, and distrust. Marriage is sacred because God ordained it. Divorce is contrary to the will of the Lord. God allowed for divorce in the Law of Moses, but it was very restrictive. Jesus reminded the Pharisees that from the beginning, it was not the will of God.

Jesus taught one man for one woman for life in Matthew 19:1-9. He knew many would not like this law (Matthew 19:11-12). Divorce was a subject Jesus did not hesitate to discuss when pressed by the Pharisees about the teaching of Moses’ law. The aim of the Jewish leaders was not to find some truth about marriage and divorce but to entrap Jesus in a legal quagmire of doctrinal inconsistencies. Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trap him with the question of whether a man could divorce his wife for any reason. Appealing to the law, Jesus took the Pharisees back to the Garden of Eden, showing that God had created Adam and Eve and that the marriage bond was created in that union. What God had joined together was not to be separated.

The first answer Jesus gave the Pharisees was the law of marriage. God intended for the man and woman to be married to one another and remain faithful to their union. In the creation, the Father established the law of marriage as a binding covenant. There were going to be challenges in marriage. One of the purposes of Satan’s coming to the garden was to bring division between the woman and the man. He has succeeded throughout the ages as marriage is ignored as a divinely established covenant. The philosophy of human wisdom is that marriage is not sacred, and sexual immorality and divorce are accepted norms. Men and women fight and argue and are unfaithful to one another, and Satan smiles. The devil has won a victory when the marriage is dissolved and couples divorce, but God hates divorce.

After Jesus answered the Pharisees, a second question was given: the trap the religious leaders had hoped for. They knew what Jesus would answer whether a man could divorce his wife under the Law of Moses. Hearing Jesus answer correctly, they pressed the Son of God to explain why Moses would say in the law that a man could give his wife a divorce and send her away. This misrepresented the true nature of the law, but Jesus did not flinch. He put the blame squarely upon the hearts of men who had hardened themselves against the pattern of God’s will.

Moses permitted divorce because of the people’s hard hearts, but from the beginning – IT WAS NOT THE WILL OF GOD! The Son of God then declares that divorce can only be granted for one reason and one reason alone: infidelity. He further commands that any marriage ending in divorce for any other reason than sexual immorality is sinful. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. The only exception is for the cause of sexual immorality.

The teaching of Jesus stunned the disciples. Their response to what Jesus said about marriage and divorce left them speechless. They responded that if what Jesus said was true, it would be better for a man and woman to remain unmarried. The eternal consequences of marriage and divorce had never been considered as serious as Jesus taught when questioned by the Pharisees. Jesus knew what He taught would not be popular with a world craving self-satisfaction.

Divorce was common in the days of Jesus and is common today. What men fail to see is the teaching of Jesus has not changed. Not everyone would accept the will of God two thousand years ago, and sadly, the teaching of Jesus on marriage and divorce is not readily accepted today.

Jesus knew not everyone would believe His teaching on divorce. There is only one reason for divorce. Incompatibility is not a reason, falling out of love is not a reason, and not liking one another is not a reason; in the eyes of God, the only reason for divorce is sexual immorality. Not everyone will accept this teaching, but it does not change the will of God. There are many lives turned upside down because of divorce.

It will take the courage of a devoted man or woman to follow God’s will; in some cases, the person may have to remain unmarried for the rest of their life. What is that compared to the eternal destiny of those who refuse to accept the teaching of Jesus? Divorce is a tragedy of sin. From the beginning, God made man and woman to be united as one. What God has joined together, let no man dare to separate.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

He Is Survived By His Husband

Posted on December 29, 2023 by heatonkent

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘Made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6)

He Is Survived By His Husband

President Abraham Lincoln loved to employ a brain teaser to make a point to constituents. He would ask, “How many legs would a sheep have if you called his tail a leg?” Naturally, they would meekly respond, “Five.” “Wrong! You are mistaken. The sheep would still have just four legs. Calling something a leg doesn’t make it so.”

The wisdom of men is never so ignorant as its attempt to make five legs out of a sheep. With the appeal to rejecting all good and common sense, the intellectuals of our day offer the most ridiculous statements known to man. These conclusions are not new. From the time Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden of Eden, man has tried to justify his carnal pursuits with a program of redefining terms. It is not uncommon to hear of a man dying and, in his obituary, said to be survived by his husband. The assumption is the man who died was the wife, and that takes the depravity of man to a higher level.  

Calling the tail of a sheep a leg makes as much sense as saying two men who are “married” have a relationship of husband and wife. The only conclusion is that both men are husbands, and in the case of women, both are wives. Again, this is against nature on many levels. Regardless of whether intelligent people refuse to define what a woman is, it is evidentially clear there are males and females in the world. Calling a woman a man or a man a woman is stupid in the clinical definition. Two men cannot produce a baby. The same is true of two women.

The science of man can never, ever, never ever produce a baby from two men or two women. Men do not have the organs to create a baby in the womb. There will never be a man who gives birth to a child because life is given by the Creator, who made male and female. Biologically, men can only produce half of the formula to create life. Without the help of the biological design of the women, there is no life. Men cannot have ovarian cancer. Women cannot have prostate cancer. The list goes on. To call a man a husband is ludicrous at best and blasphemous at worst.

Jesus was not teaching some dark secret of wisdom when He said that God made male and female at the beginning. That is a natural fact that can never be changed. When a man rejects the pattern of God for male and female, he is going against the natural design. It is unnatural for a man to join himself to a man and a woman to join herself to a woman. The laws of nature are against it, and it is an abomination before God. The United States Supreme Court can define a woman as anything but a woman or a man to be anything he identifies with, but God is the one who created male and female, and that will not change.

The sad reality of modern homosexuality, transgenderism, etc., etc., etc., philosophy is what is found at the end of the road. Death is the great equalizer of all things. Fifty years after a person dies, their skeleton can be examined to determine their sex. There will be no indicators of identification or mental determinations to change the outcome. God created the human body to identify with its creative design. Men are men, and women are women. At the end of the day, there is no fulfillment or joy against the creation of God. Adam and Eve were created as male and female to find the happiness intended by the Creator. Going against nature denies male and female. There is never fulfillment in the wisdom of men.

Jesus declared that what God has created cannot and will not be changed. Men seek to usurp the word of the Lord and show themselves greater fools by their ignorance. God made male and female. There is such a thing as a father and a mother (male and female). Children come into the world either as male or female. Everyone dies as a male or female. Death removes the identifying marks of rebellion against God. What God has created cannot be put asunder. That is Truth.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Command Of Jesus

Posted on December 28, 2023 by heatonkent

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

The Command Of Jesus

Before Jesus returned to His Father, He spent forty days with the eleven and other disciples, teaching them about the kingdom of God. The establishment of the church and furtherance of the gospel would rest on the shoulders of twelve men and the first disciples. God has always revealed to men what they must do to be saved. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. God gave a law to the Hebrews under the leadership of Moses. Before the coming of Jesus, salvation for the Gentile came from the Abrahamic faith, and salvation for the Jew came from keeping the Law. When Jesus died and rose from the dead, salvation was only possible through Him.

What the resurrection of Jesus accomplished was the removal of the Law of Moses and the law of faith the Gentiles lived by. No man can be justified by keeping the old law. It is impossible to live outside Christ’s law and be saved. Jesus did not leave His disciples without the divine instructions of what a man must do to be saved. The grace of God provided the avenue of divine mercy to open a door of salvation for all who would believe and obey. God’s love made it possible that all men could know the path to salvation. All that a man needed to know to be saved came from the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

Before Jesus returned to the Father, He commanded the eleven. He told them that if someone believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and were immersed in water for the forgiveness of their sins, they would be saved. This is what Jesus commanded. Men did not create these instructions. Jesus said if a man believed and was baptized, he would be saved. That is not a hard sentence to follow. His command is easy to understand.

If a person has no desire to believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, they will refuse to do anything else. There is no need to add to the command if a man does not believe and is not baptized, he will be condemned. That is the logical conclusion. Disbelief leads to disobedience. A man will have no desire to repent, make a confession of Christ as Lord, or be immersed in water if he does not believe. The command of Jesus is straightforward, simple, and powerful.

Most people in the religious world reject the need for baptism. They say baptism is not necessary for salvation but essential (which is a conflict). So many have accepted the lie of false doctrine to believe that if someone accepts Jesus into their heart as their personal Savior, they will be saved because that is all they must do (doctrine of faith only). How does that fit the command of Jesus that says salvation does not come until after immersion? Jesus said, “He that believeth AND is baptized will be saved.” Written two thousand years ago, that command has never changed.

The sad reality in the religious world today is that so many churches claim to tell people what they must do to be saved, and they tell them in a way that will condemn them. There are untold myriads of souls that die, expecting to see eternal life – based on the false testimony of those who deny immersion as essential for salvation – and find Jesus was right. How tragic and incredibly sad. Jesus did not deny telling His disciples about grace, love, mercy, forgiveness, etc. Baptism does not eliminate the power of God working to save man. But refusing to accept and teach Mark 16:16 denies God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit.

If a person does not believe, he will not obey. When a person refuses to obey, they will be condemned – lost. There is no good deed a man can do to justify himself without obedience to the will of God. Jesus explained that most people will be lost. One reason is because they believe the lie told them by false teachers who deny Mark 16:16. It is sad to see those who believe in Jesus and refuse to follow His word. The command of Jesus is plain. Reading Mark 16:16 a thousand times will not change the command of Jesus. The disciples went out and preached the command of Jesus everywhere.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Bible Teaches Me To Hate

Posted on December 27, 2023 by heatonkent

Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. (Psalm 119:104)

The Bible Teaches Me To Hate

Everything God wants man to know is found in the Bible. Established over 1500 years, the Bible has become the complete revelation of God’s will, instructing men what to do to be saved. There is no other book that has changed the world more than the Bible. From Genesis to the Revelation, all of God’s words are true. Everything about the sixty-six books of the Bible is the power of God unto salvation, revealing the righteousness and wrath of God. Through the precepts and teachings of the word of God, everyone can understand the way of truth.

Something else happens when one devotes one’s life to the word of God. They develop a hatred for every false way and wrong path. This kind of hatred is not sinful arrogance but the righteous character of discerning right and wrong. The more the heart fills with the word of God, the keener the heart becomes to detest, abhor, and despise the path of unrighteousness. There is an opening of the eyes to the consequences of sin. The Bible exposes sin as an abhorrence to the character of a righteous God. The psalmist proclaimed his love for the truth of God and that in that truth, he hated every false way.

Hating sin does not produce prejudice against a person. Having a hatred formed of the word of God is developing a heart that demands the word of God be taught in its pure form. Joseph refused to engage in sexual immorality with Potiphar’s wife because he hated sin. He did not reject her advances because of Potiphar finding out or the compromising consequences of their actions. He abhorred evil and refused to be held a slave to sin. Job is recorded as a man who was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil. Hating sin is how a man becomes blameless and upright. Fearing God will help to shun evil.

The Bible is the divine manual to hate all things that God hates. God’s law will teach a hatred for false teaching, lying, stealing, sexual immorality, hypocrisy, and ungodliness. The world does not recognize right and wrong as the Lord defines right and wrong. Devoting the heart to a study of the law of God clearly defines what is right because God is right. Sin is not excused or ignored. The Bible shows the faults of men like David, who sinned with Bathsheba. He repented because he hated sin, and he hated how he had allowed sin to entrap him.

There is no greater message than found within the pages of the Bible to learn the love of God. The irony of knowing the love of God is to learn to hate every false way. Loving God is accepting His righteousness as the path of life. Walking in the light will put a man in contrast to the darkness. Men love the darkness. The Christian loves the light and hates the darkness. Learning about the sacrifice of Jesus and the cost of your redemption should cause you to hate every false way with a divine hatred. Read the Bible. It will change your life.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Stubborn Egyptian Heart

Posted on December 26, 2023 by heatonkent

He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen. They performed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they did not rebel against His word. He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish. Their land abounded with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and lice in all their territory. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He struck their vines also, and their fig trees, and splintered the trees of their territory. He spoke, and locusts came, young locusts without number, and ate up all the vegetation in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land, the first of all their strength. (Psalm 105:26-36)

The Stubborn Egyptian Heart

Egypt was the superpower of its day in ancient times. There was no greater nation than Egypt as the Pharaoh assembled vast armies to destroy adversaries. It became the breadbasket of the world. The wonders of Egypt continue to astound modern scholars. It is one of the oldest nations still in existence today. During the period of the “New Kingdom,” a band of Hebrews migrated to Egypt in the time of a famine. Many years later, a young Hebrew infant was taken by the daughter of Pharaoh and raised among all the splendors of Egypt.

Moses was taken by the daughter of Pharaoh and became the adopted son. He was taught the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. At the age of forty, he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. The next day, Moses learned his deed did not go unnoticed, and he fled the country for forty years. At the age of eighty, Moses returned to Egypt through God’s divine call, who instructed Moses to plead with Pharaoh to free the Hebrews from their bondage. Moses warned the Pharaoh great calamities would fall upon the nation if he refused. Pharaoh refused.

To show the power of God over the gods of Egypt, the Lord sent ten plagues upon the nation of Egypt. These plagues consumed the whole of the Egyptian population. The Hebrews were spared any effects of the plagues. God sent the darkness upon the land, turned the water to blood, and killed their fish. The land was consumed with frogs, flies, and lice in all their territories. The Lord rained down hail and flaming fire on the land, destroying the fines, fig-trees, and the trees of their territory. God spoke, and young locusts came without number, ate up all the vegetation, and devoured the fruit of the ground. The final plague was the most terrible of all. The Lord God killed every firstborn in the homes of the Egyptians, including the firstborn among the animals.

What nation could endure such an onslaught of devastation and disaster? The economy of Egypt was destroyed. There is no competition between the gods of Egypt and the God of the Hebrews. Families were ripped apart with the loss of children. No vegetation or trees were remaining on the land. It looked like a moonscape. Fires simmered from the hail and flaming fire. The stench of dead frogs and locusts filled the land. And Egypt remained defiant against the knowledge of the one true God.

Moses went to Pharaoh to argue his case, but the people of Egypt suffered the most. They endured the terrible plagues at the hand of their ruler, whom they called and revered as a god. Every plague proved the Lord God’s might, and yet Egypt’s heart remained steadfast, believing in the false gods. Soon after the Hebrews left Egypt, Pharaoh sent his army to bring them back. His false religion so corrupted the mind of Pharaoh he believed he could defeat the Lord God, who had just destroyed his nation. How arrogant! His pride closed his eyes to what a greater power can do against human wisdom.

The Bible is the testimony of the Lord God. There are no plagues today brought by the hand of the Lord to punish the people who refuse to submit to Him. All of the majesty and power of God is found in the word of God, declaring how much greater He is than all that man has. There is no greater evidence of the power of God than the living word that testifies Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Most of the world, like Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt, scoff, mock, and laugh at the Bible. In the same manner as the misguided king of Egypt, they think they have greater wisdom than God. And when they send their armies of humanism against the power of God, He destroys them like He destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea.

Israel failed to learn the lessons of Egypt. They did not suffer the plagues but saw the devastation that spread across the land. There should have been everyday object lessons for them to learn from and correct their lives. Throughout the wilderness wanderings, they complained and murmured against God, and most of them died in the wilderness. Egypt is a powerful story to show the failure of those who deny God. The stubborn Egyptian heart is still alive today. Do you believe in the power of God? Are you willing to change your life?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Social Gospel

Posted on December 24, 2023 by heatonkent

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (2 Timothy 4:2-4)

The Social Gospel

Satan always likes to make things fun, enjoyable, and pleasing to the flesh. One of his greatest tactics is to take something good and wholesome and turn it against the will of God. He appeals to the nature of the heart to seek the betterment of others as a ploy to change the purpose and design of authority for his own malicious ends. It is a difficult issue to discuss because of the emotional baggage of the social gospel. There is a feeling of doing good for others. Good people aim to do good things in the name of God. Who can blame a person for this kind of philosophy?

The ‘Social Gospel’ is the gospel of Christ driven by the community’s social needs. As the church began to grow, men sought ways to embrace more people with a greater effort to become like the world around them. The church began to be a place of benevolence to all the poor. Programs were established to feed, clothe, and care for everyone. Leaders of the church began to embrace a political role in the community to further their cause. The church services changed to appeal to what the people enjoyed. A time of social preaching, tickling the ears of the respondents, grew churches in great numbers.

Nothing is sinful about feeding people in need, setting programs up to care for others, and creating opportunities for fun and frolic. The challenge the church faces is how to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ without the social gospel of health, wealth, and prosperity. Someone identified the social gospel as a social movement applying ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean environment, child labor, lack of unionization, poor schools, and the dangers of war. All noble causes, but to what end must the church include this in its work?

Another part of the movement of the social gospel, but according to the social gospel, is that Jesus didn’t complete our salvation. Instead, it’s up to humanity to achieve Jesus’s mission and bring salvation at a societal level. To this end, many churches spend more time on the social aspect of the work of the church instead of the fundamental purpose of the church to save souls. The rise of the social gospel has changed the message of the gospel of Christ to be less abrasive. If social programs bring in all different types of people, it would be unwise to preach the truth about sin because it would offend them. Preaching the social gospel excludes the message of the gospel of Christ. The two cannot dwell in the same space.

Feeding a man a loaf of bread will not save his soul, but giving them the Bread of Life (Jesus) will. Jesus could have built His kingdom on the social gospel when He fed five thousand men (not counting women and children), but He refused. When the crowds came to Him the next day (John 6), they were offended that the miracle bread maker was out of business. He upset them by demanding they change their hearts. Many turned and walked with Jesus no more. Jesus did not preach the social gospel. Many churches use the “carrot at the end of the stick,” trying to draw people by it. Jesus had the greatest carrot in the world to offer the people. They wanted to make Him their king. Jesus refused because that was not the purpose of His work.

The church is limited in what it has the authority to do because the word of God defines the work of the church. This does not suggest individuals do not have obligations. Jesus pictures the judgment scene in Matthew 25 as one of benevolence from the individual. The mission of the church is not to feed the poor of the world. An adage from the pioneer days of preaching suggested if the church brings someone in with fried chicken, ice cream, and sweet tea, they have people as dead as the chicken, cold as the ice cream, and weak as the tea. What drew believers to Christ in the first century was the preaching of the gospel.

Many churches have ‘Fellowship Halls’ where great kitchens and dining areas are found. A study of the word “fellowship” in the New Testament church shows it never refers to the eating of a meal, with one exception. The Lord’s Supper is called a fellowship. No other passages use the word “fellowship” in the context found in churches today. Gymnasiums are built to bring in the social gospel advocates to tickle the fancies of the youth. Softening the gospel helps the crowds grow in number. Sin is no longer a bad thing. The Bible is barely opened and read. Devotees to the social gospel become social Christians who have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2).

Kyle Pope writes, “Man is a spiritual creature dwelling within a physical body. The focus of the gospel and the primary responsibility of the church is to address man’s spiritual needs. There are responsibilities that the church has to assist Christians in need, but it is not the work of the church to attempt to feed, clothe, and provide medical treatment to the world. The word of the truth of the gospel is God’s means of drawing people to Himself.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

He Can Melt Mt. Everest

Posted on December 21, 2023 by heatonkent

The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. (Psalm 97:5)

He Can Melt Mt. Everest

The highest mountain in the world is found on the border of China and Nepal in the Himalayas. It towers to a height of 29,031 feet elevation above sea level. Mt. Everest is a huge mountain. God created Mt. Everest as a powerful testimony of the grandeur of the earth’s topography. From the first time that man gazed upon its beauty, the mountain symbolized nature’s incredible majesty. The Tibetan name for the mountain is “Holy Mother.” Mt. Everest is so high it reaches into the upper troposphere and stratosphere. The air is very thin, with freezing winds that can go as high as 100 miles per hour.

As magnificent as Mt. Everest is, the One who made the mountain is greater. The psalmist made a startling statement when he wrote about the power of the sovereign Lord. He says God reigns with power that can melt the mountains like wax. Imagine a mountain so vast as Everest melting like wax before a flame. The only thing it takes to destroy the highest mountain on earth is the presence of the Lord. If God can melt Mt. Everest, what can He do with Sugarloaf Mountain in Florida (312 feet above sea level)?

The contrast the psalmist makes is between the power of God and idols. There is no comparison. God can melt any mountain on earth by His presence, but an idol cannot melt a candle. An idol is a dumb (without a voice) god. He is carved by man to be his god. What boast is there in an idol when an idol cannot speak? Men fall before their images, seeking their man-made gods to deliver them. The one true God can melt a mountain. What comparison is there?

When the psalmist wrote his poem thousands of years ago, he addressed the gods of wood, stone, and metal. There are many gods served today that take on another form of worship. A man’s job can become his god when he spends his life working to gain wealth to live a comfortable life, and then he dies. When a man dies, he does not wish for more time to spend at his job. It has become a futile god. Pleasure is the god of many. They live seeking all the pleasures of life and worshiping the joys of the flesh, and they die. What purpose did their life serve with pleasures that are no more? A failed god.

Serving the one true God that can melt mountains is the greatest joy a man can find in life. He serves the Creator of the mountains, oceans, stars, and planets. Everything in the world is formed by the word of the one who can melt mountains. Imagine for a moment standing at the foot of the towering Mt. Everest and watching it melt away like a fading candle. Would you not serve the One who can do that? His name is Jehovah God, and He can melt mountains. What He wants to do is melt your heart with His love.

God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son to die for you. You did not know Jesus, but you can know Jesus. God has provided a testimony of His Son that you can read and understand the knowledge of salvation found only in Jesus Christ. He will not melt Mt. Everest. It is just that He is that powerful. If you obey Him, He will remove your sins as far as the East is from the West. There is nothing He will not forgive if you are willing to repent. Mt. Everest is not important to God in the scheme of redemption, but you are. The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment