Poof!

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Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness … (2 Peter 3:11)

When God completed His work of creation, He declared it all “very good” (Genesis 1:31).  This very good creation was perfect in every way – no struggle to survive, no striving to get ahead, no tears, no sweat, no death.  In fact, this perfect creation fit the description of heaven found in Revelation 21 and 22 including the tree of life (Revelation 22:2; Genesis 2:9).  Then sin entered, and the curse of death was brought upon all of creation (Genesis 3:17-19). 

God’s perfect creation has been severely marred; and His perfection cannot abide imperfection indefinitely.  He must restore His creation.  The day is coming when “the Lord will come as a thief in the night; … the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).  All the material stuff that we experience will be gone in a flash.  All will go up in smoke!

Yet the world tenaciously clings to materialism in every form that it manifests itself.  This is why Jesus cautioned:  “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth … But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven … for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).  All that the world has to offer is an illusion; “And the world passeth away and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17). 

So as we are “Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat” (v. 12), “what manner of persons ought ye to be in all [set-apart living] and godliness?” (v. 11).  Our aim should focus on that “city which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).

The Painful Light

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The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.  (John 1:5)

All of us have experienced being in a totally dark room.  After some time, usually after 20 minutes or so, our eyes become accustomed to the darkness enough so that we can distinguish shades of grey, and we can identify the shapes of bulky objects.  But no matter how long we remain in the darkness, we can never gain the confidence to walk without scooting our feet and extending our arms in all directions to feel our way around.  Suddenly, someone enters the dark room and flips on the light switch.  The light offends and repels us.  We hide our faces from the effulgent intruder, but as we submit to its luminous warmth, our confidence is restored, and we no longer have to grope the air to find our way.  We see all things clearly and in brilliant color.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), “And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5).  The world is in darkness, and it hates the light.  “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John3:20).  The light causes intense pain.  It exposes sin for what it is, and the world does not want to see sin for what it is.

It should not catch us by surprise when the world hates the light and then projects its hatred of the light onto us.  “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world … therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:18-19).  “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John3:21).  For those who are acquainted with the light, Jesus said, “he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Slip Sliding Away

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Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.  (Hebrews 2:1)

Paul Simon sang a song that expresses the sentiment of this verse.  “Slip sliding away, slip sliding away; you know the nearer your destination, the more you’re slip sliding away.”  Anyone who has ever traveled understands that a journey of any distance is made up of more than just the point of origination and the final destination.  There are usually several stops along the way, some planned and some unplanned.  Sometimes those stops, especially the unplanned ones, can delay or even divert our arrival.  They may even prove to be detrimental to our final goal.

For Christians, our final destination is eternity in the presence of our Lord, but before we reach our eternal abode, we are faced with obstacles along the way that have a way of distracting us from our ultimate goal.  When we perceive apparent barriers to our Christian walk, we should not be taken off guard or caught by surprise.  With God’s Word, we are not without counsel.  Indeed, when we encounter such roadblocks, as our verse says, “we ought to give more earnest heed to the things we have heard [from God’s Word], lest at any time we should let them slip.”  The phrase “more earnest” is one word in the Greek (perissostéroos) which means “more superabundant,” and the word translated “heed” is prosecho, which means to “hold the mind.”  When combined, these words encourage us to focus our minds intently on the Word of God so that we do not go “slip sliding away” from God’s purpose for our lives. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

So, how do we keep from “slip sliding away”?  As the children of Israel prepared to enter into the Promised Land, they were facing many obstacles ahead.  God encouraged Joshua with these words:  “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8).  The way to be successful in the Christian walk is to heed and practice the Word of God.  The psalmist echoes this axiom: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).  If you do not want to go “slip sliding away,” you must anchor your life to the Word of God.

In Defense of Genesis

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All Scripture is given by inspiration of God... (2 Timothy 3:16)

Genesis is a book that draws fire (as one might expect) from atheists and evolutionists; but unexpectedly, it also draws “friendly fire” from the Christian camp.  The atheists and evolutionists (typically one and the same) are, for all practical purposes, a lost cause.  They reject Genesis because they choose to; no amount of “evidence” will change their minds.  They simply do not want to believe; but the Christian compromise on Genesis is troubling.  This is the battle ground that creationists must conquer.

Although the term “compromiser” carries a negative connotation, I choose to use that term to identify Christians who will not accept the message of Genesis literally.  I do not mean to imply that these compromisers are unsaved or that they purposefully want to discredit God’s word; but in attempting make God’s Word more palatable to an unbelieving world, and to deflect the fiery missiles hurled against the book of Genesis as being unscientific, they unwittingly diminish the power of God to perform the mighty acts that Genesis describes.

Compromisers attempt to soften the impact of Genesis by claiming that it is only an allegory written to acknowledge God as Creator.  They will claim that the book is poetry, and that it is not intended to be historically or scientifically accurate.  The purpose of Genesis, they say, is to teach “who” created, but not “how” things were created.  The “how” can only be answered by science, or so they have been told, and so they say.

As for the claim that Genesis is allegory or poetry, expert scholars in Old Testament and Hebrew will attest to the fact that Genesis is written in narrative form, and as such it attempts to present these acts as facts.  Dr. John Morris wrote in an article entitled “Does Genesis Address the Time of Creation, or just the Fact of Creation?”  In it he emphasizes this point:

Hypothetically, consider a person fluent in Biblical languages who knows nothing of either Scripture or the various claims regarding the age of things, but who can read, carefully analyze, and understand a written document. Given the Bible for the first time, such a reader would certainly understand Genesis 1-11 to teach that creation occurred only thousands of years ago, not millions or billions, and he would cite several reasons.

He would note that the word "day" (Hebrew, yom) in Genesis 1 is best understood as a literal day (either a 24-hour day or the daylight portion of a day). While this common word can mean an indefinite time period, it almost always means a literal day and is so defined the first time it is used in Genesis 1:4-5.  Furthermore, it always means a literal day when modified by a number (i.e., 2nd day) or evening and/or morning, as it is in Genesis 1.  To cap it off, it always means a literal day when used in the plural form (i.e., six days of creation, Exodus 20:11).

Next, he would note the narrative character of those early chapters. They are telling a story, and there is no indication that it is figurative. He would find the poetic portions are no less "historic" than the prose portions. It all appears to be chronological, with each event followed by another.[1]

So the argument that Genesis cannot be taken literally because it is allegorical is based on a false premise.  In fact, even atheists would defend against that point.

In regard to the historical and scientific accuracy of Genesis, one only need look at the rest of the Bible for support.  If Genesis is not historically and scientifically accurate, then how can the rest of the Bible be trusted?  In the first place, God vouches for the integrity of His Word, which happens to include Genesis:  Psalm 119:89, 152, 160; Psalm148:4-6; Isaiah 40:8; Isaiah 55:11; Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:25, etc.  Jesus cited Genesis as factual (Matthew19:4-6; Luke 17:26).  If the events recorded in Genesis are merely poetic allegory, then the deity of Christ is severely compromised because He presented it as historical fact.  Other writers of both the Old and New Testaments also regarded the Genesis account as fact.  To devalue the historical accuracy of Genesis is to cast doubt upon the whole of Scripture.

The Bible, however, has in all areas of scrutiny been proven true.  Modern archeologists use the Bible to locate ancient historical sites.  Even in those areas where the Bible was thought to be in error, e.g., the existence of the Hittite nation, or the reign of Belshazzar as recorded in the book of Daniel, archeology has proven the Bible to be accurate.

In all the instances where the Bible speaks to science, it is consistently found to be true.  Even in the accurate calculation of Pi (π) rounded to a whole number (2 Chronicles 4:2), the Bible is accurate.  So, if the rest of the Bible is historically and scientifically accurate, then it is unreasonable to doubt the accuracy of Genesis.

The “how” of creation is not addressed in Genesis nor can it be answered by science.  Surely the mind of man cannot approach the knowledge and understanding of God in order to fathom the “how” of His creation.  According to Genesis, God created out of nothing, and all that He created, He spoke into existence.  As incredible as this may sound to mortal beings such as ourselves, to doubt it in the least is to deny God His omnipotence and omniscience.  This is what compromisers must understand.

 

Science has no factual answers to the “how” of creation.  They propose theories, and their theories, especially with today’s technology, are continually proven false, and so the theories have to be continuously modified.  Science demands observation.  Creation cannot be and has never been observed.  Evolution from one “kind” into another has never been observed, and there is no evidence in the fossil record that it has ever occurred.  Science demands experimentation with repeatable results.  All attempts to “evolve” something in the laboratory have failed miserably.  Science has no answers for the “how,” and our compromisers need to understand that.

“Let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4).  Genesis is the Word of God.  It is true; it is historically and scientifically accurate.  To doubt its veracity, is to cast doubt on all of Scripture.  There is no room for compromise.

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[1]  Morris, John D., “Does Genesis Address the Time of Creation, or just the Fact of Creation?” (https://www.icr.org/article/594/).

Faith

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But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  (Hebrews 11:6)

“All you have to do is believe.”  It sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?  People believe or put their trust in many different things only to become disappointed or disillusioned.  One may place their trust in a person to whom they commit their lives only to end up betrayed and abandoned.  Others may put their faith and trust in their investments only to see them squandered away by unscrupulous investors.  Christians invite the unsaved to place their faith and trust in Christ and are ridiculed for promoting a “blind faith.”  But does God demand a “blind faith?”

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for [eternal life with Christ], the evidence of things not seen [heaven]” (Hebrews11:1).  “Substance; evidence?” There is nothing invisible about these nouns.  The Greek word translated “substance” is the compound word hupóstasis: “hupó” is a preposition meaning “under” or “underneath” and “stasis” means “to stand.”  Together they carry the sense of something that will stand firmly supported by a strong foundation underneath.  “Evidence” simply means “proof” – something that can be shown.  So God does not demand “blind faith,” yet “without faith, it is impossible to please him.”

“Abraham believed [had faith in] God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3; Genesis 15:6).  One might argue, “That was easy for Abraham; God spoke to him directly.”  But Abraham believed God enough to obey God in self-circumcision.  He still had to wait another 25 years to see the promised heir, and he never saw the promised nation fulfilled.  Yet God’s Word was sufficient and substantial for him.  

So what about us?  “But now the righteousness of God … is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets” (Romans 3:21).  “The law and the prophets” is nothing other than the Word of God.  The Bible has been tested and tried, and it has never failed.  It is substance and evidence so that our faith need not be blind.  Paul reminds us: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).  That faith, that substance, that evidence is a gift of God.  It is nothing that we ourselves work up; God has already provided it for us.  All we need to do is act on the faith that He has already provided.  “And Jesus said unto them, … for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20).  Great faith is not required, only that you act on the faith you have been given.  Now go on – move mountains!

The Heavens Declare

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The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament sheweth his handy-work.  (Psalm 19:1)

Skeptics demand proof of God’s existence.  They want to see and touch and feel the evidence for God when ironically they are surrounded with evidence.  Having eyes they do not see, and having ears they do not hear (Mark 8:18) the clear message of creation “because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them” (Romans 1:19).  Indeed, as our text indicates, creation “proclaims” God’s existence.  Note the verbs used in Psalm 19:1-3: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handy-work.  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.  There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard” (emphasis added).

Creation is perfectly ordered.  So perfectly is the universe synchronized that engineers can accurately predict the positioning of heavenly objects at any given time so that deep space probes can be safely dispatched along their desired trajectory with confidence.  No “big bang” can produce such order and precision as any pyrotechnician can testify.  Instead, the universe shouts: “handy-work; knowledge!”  From the furthest galaxies to the smallest cells to the invisible atoms, all things exist in perfect order.  “Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (v.4).  As an architect lays down a line on a blueprint, so God has aligned all of creation in one harmonious orchestration.

This evidence is the Word of God for “There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard” (v. 3).  Silence, critic who would self-righteously judge God as unfair for castigating the unlearned and ignorant heathen!  “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20 – emphasis added).  “[T]he judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:9).  If this is true for the ignorant and uncivilized, how much greater the guilt of those who have the written Word and ignore it!  “The heavens declare the glory of God … by them thy servant is warned” (Psalm 19:1, 11).  Listen to the message of creation!

Reported Until This Day

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And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. (Matthew 28:4)

One of the greatest apologetics for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the empty tomb.  Around the modern city of Jerusalem there are at least seven tombs that supposedly held the body of Jesus.  The most famous is the Garden Tomb, but all of these tombs have one thing in common – they are all empty. Muhammad is buried in the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in the city of Medina.  Buddha’s body was cremated and his remains are divided up among several Buddhist temples.  The grave of Confucius is in his home town of Qufu, Shandong Province, China.  But there is no burial site on earth that holds the remains of Jesus.

Skeptics offer many explanations for this.  Some suggest that Jesus swooned and the coolness of the tomb revived Him, and He walked out under His own strength.  Others say that the women in their grief forgot where the body was placed and mistook an empty tomb for the tomb of the Lord.  Still others tenaciously hold to the story recorded by Matthew, i.e., “His disciples came by night and stole him away” (v. 13) while the soldiers slept, “and this saying is commonly reported … until this day” (v. 15).

A close examination of Matthew’s account of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection will readily debunk this story.  The disciples could not have stolen the body for several reasons.  First of all, they feared for their lives: “all the disciples forsook him, and fled” (Matthew 26:56).  Secondly, the tomb was guarded by professional soldiers (Matthew 27:65).  Peter had a short sword (Matthew 26:51; John 18:10), but he was no match for trained soldiers.  Thirdly, the tomb was secured with the seal of Rome (Matthew 27:66) that carried the death penalty for unauthorized tampering.  Finally, the soldiers were under penalty of death for falling asleep while on watch, but they willingly admitted to this infraction knowing that their lie would be covered up by the priests (v. 14).

The truth is that Jesus left the tomb unbeknownst to the soldiers.  In the meantime, a single angel rolled away the stone that would have taken several men to move (v. 2).  The sight of such a display of power accompanied by the radiance of his appearance melted the hearts of these battle hardened soldiers so that they “did shake, and became as dead men” (v. 4).  When the soldiers reported back, the chief priests “gave large money unto them saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept” (vv.12-13), “and this saying is commonly reported … until this day” (v. 15).  For those who refuse to believe, no amount of evidence will convince them; for those who believe, no evidence is required.  “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

"I" Trouble

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But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (Luke 12:20)

We may at times wonder at the rampant egocentrism prevalent in our society.  We cannot escape the onslaught of advertizing over the airwaves and in the press assailing us with enticements to purchase this or that because: you owe it to yourself; you deserve it; it is all about you.  And there is no need to worry if you cannot afford it, you can always charge it or get it now, pay no interest for one year and after that year you can begin repayment.  The undisclosed truth, however, is that while they try to convince you that you deserve “it,” the ulterior motive is that they deserve your money.

Although the prevailing narcissism that seems so rampant today is nothing new.  Jesus confronted it in His day and He told a parable to illustrate the futility of such wrongheadedness.  Luke records this parable in his gospel (Luke12:16-21).  In a nutshell, a rich man has an unexpected windfall and contemplates investing in larger barn to store the overabundance of the harvest.  He dreams of a long leisurely retirement.  What is conspicuous in this narrative is the number of times the personal pronouns “I” and “my” and are used in this story.  He perceived all things to be in his possession and under his control, and that included his soul:  “I will say to my soul …” (v. 19). 

God called him a fool.  “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).  He may not have verbalized that sentiment, but he demonstrated with his life.  He considered all things his which truly belong to God.  “For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” (1 Corinthians 10:26).   God called him a fool, and Jesus said, “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (v. 21). 

Unequal Gifts, Equal Responsibility

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Inequality: John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett 

sketch Britain's obsession with social class in 1966 on the 

Frost Report. Photograph: BBC/PA/PA 

… to each man according to his several ability … (Matthew 25:15)

This portion of Scripture comes from one of several “Kingdom Parables” spoken by Jesus and recorded by Matthew (Matthew 25:14-30).  Although this parable has in view the coming kingdom of Christ, it offers a practical application to our pre-kingdom lives.

In the parable, Christ is portrayed as a man of considerable wealth, perhaps a landowner.  Luke describes him as a “nobleman” (Luke19:12).  At any rate, his servants address him as “Lord” (Matthew 25:20, 22, 24).  The landowner is leaving for a long journey.  Luke describes that the purpose for the journey is so that he may receive a kingdom (Luke 19:12), and it is not difficult to see that Jesus is foretelling His ascension into heaven to later return to claim His kingdom.

In Matthew’s account, the landowner has three servants.  The Greek word translated as “servant” is doúlous and literally means “slave,” and in this case it would imply a slave who is a steward or manager of his master’s possessions as Joseph was in the house of Potiphar (Genesis 39). The landowner divided his wealth among the three servants giving different amounts to each.  To the first he gave five talents, to the second two talents, and to the third one talent.  One talent was about the equivalent of 6000 denarii, and a denarii was equivalent to one day’s wages.  All things considered, even the smallest amount was a great sum of money; one talent would equal more than 16 years’ wages.  But the lord gave “to each according to his several ability” (our text).  “Several” in Greek is idíous meaning “own” or “self;” so, he distributed his wealth to each according to his individual ability.

Upon his return, the first two servants had doubled what their lord had given them, but the third did nothing with his and returned to his master only that which had been given to him initially.  This displeased the master and he cast out the “unprofitable servant” (v. 30).

Excluding the eschatological aspect of this parable, the lesson for us is this:  God gives each of us gifts.  They are not all the same gifts or even the same amount of gifts (1 Corinthians 12).  But whether our gifts be great or small, we are equally responsible to use our “several” gifts to profit the Kingdom.  When Christ returns, He will call us to account, and we do not want to be counted as "unprofitable."  Until then we must heed His words, “Occupy till He comes” (Luke 19:13). 

Harvest to Burn or Barn

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Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:30)

In explaining the “kingdom of heaven,” Jesus used several similes to illustrate a nebulous concept in concrete terms for our finite minds to grasp.  He compared the kingdom of heaven to a field with a variety of soils onto which the seed of the Word is sown (vv. 13:3-9;19-23).  He compared it to a mustard seed (vv. 31-32) and to leaven in a lump of dough (v. 33).  It is like a treasure hidden in a field (v.44), a pearl of great price (vv. 45-46), and a dragnet gathering in a great variety of fish (vv. 47-50).  The kingdom of heaven is likened to a merciful, but just king (Matthew 18:23-35).  Residents of the kingdom of heaven are compared to innocent children (Matthew 19:14).

In this illustration Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a field onto which good seed is sown (v. 24).  “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom” (vv. 37-38).  Into this field that pictures the church, the enemy (Satan) sows bad seed (tares – “children of the wicked one” (v. 38)) that grows up indistinguishable from the good seed (vv. 25-26).  When the tares are discovered the servants want to weed the field, but the landowner wisely allows both wheat and tares to grow together rather than risking damage to the good wheat (vv. 28-29).  At the harvest, “the end of the world” (v. 39), “the tares are gathered and burned in fire” (v.40).

As the return of Christ approaches, the tares become more obvious.  They are in our churches.  They look like Christians.  They act like Christians.  They know the language and talk like Christians yet they deny the Word of God by compromising to accommodate evolutionary thinking thereby minimizing the power of God.  These tares will remain until the end, but in the end, “shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (v. 43).

As You Go

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And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew10:7)

Many good tools have been developed for sharing the Gospel.  Some of these include “Evangelism Explosion,” “F.A.I.T.H.,” “Four Spiritual Laws,” “The Romans Road,” and several others.  Many of these tools require memorization of a presentation script along with many verses of Scripture from both the Old and New Testaments.  Any of these tools can be very useful in a witnessing situation, but if the witness relies too heavily on them, he or she may find themselves at a loss for words when asked a question that does not follow the script.

How much better it is to hide God Word in your heart (Psalm 119:11) than to simply memorize Scripture.  Hiding God’s Word in your heart makes it part of your being so that you will “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you” (1Peter 3:15).

In our text, “As ye go” is the Greek present participle poreuómenoi that could be better translated “as ye are going.”  Jesus did not have in mind Tuesday night visitations here, but rather a lifestyle of witnessing that is prepared in every circumstance “to give an answer.”  Jesus used the same participle in giving the Great Commission:  “As you are going, teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them …” Matthew 28:19).  This commandment, as that in our text, addresses all followers of Christ, and it is not limited only to special occasions such as “Bring a Friend Sunday” or “Pack the Pew Night,” nor is it reserved only for Tuesday night visitation.  This command is valid at any time, any place, and with anyone God puts in your way.  There is no devised script that will fit every situation, but God’s Word in your heart will fit any situation.  And the message is simple: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand!”