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Mindful of the Words

“That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour.” (2 Peter 3:2)

There has long been a tendency for certain Bible teachers to water down the doctrine of verbal inspiration by arguing that it is the “thoughts” of Scripture that count—not the precise words. They forget that the transmission of specific thoughts requires precise words. Ambiguous language is bound to produce fuzzy thinking and uncertain response.

Thus the apostle Peter, in his last chapter, urged his followers to heed the words written by the Old Testament prophets. And Paul—in his final epistle—stressed that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). That is, all the writings are “God-breathed.” The “Scripture,” of course, means the writings, the actual words written down—they are “God-inspired,” not just the concepts.

Similarly John, in his last chapter, warned of the grave danger incurred by anyone who would either “add to” or “take away from” not just the ideas but “the words of the book of this prophecy” (Revelation 22:18-19). Actually, “he which testifieth these things” was not just John but the glorified Jesus Himself (see Revelation 22:16, 20).

In fact, Jesus frequently quoted passages from the Old Testament, sometimes basing His entire thrust on a single word (e.g., John 10:34, 37; arguing on the basis of the word “gods” in Psalm 82:6). In that connection, He stressed that “the scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35), referring to the actual words written by Moses and the prophets.

Near the end of His earthly ministry, He made a startling promise: “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away” (Mark 13:31). Thus the actual words of the Bible have come ultimately from God, and we do well to learn them and make them a part of our lives. HMM

Dinosaur Herd Found Buried By A Flood........ Noah's Flood

In Mongolia 2001, a herd of 25 dinosaurs were found buried deep in sediment, of what had been thick mud. Evolutionists quickly employed the idea that a lake had existed there and the dinosaurs died there over a long period of time. However, the evidence left behind shows that the animals suffocated (death throw), and decomposed after being buried alive as a blue gray mass exists around each of where the animals were found. The limbs were bent as the animals struggled to get out of the mud. This is what we would expect to see as Bible believers who believe in Noah's flood

Most of the dinosaurs were buried in a life-like crouching posture and, even more surprisingly, the limbs of the dinosaurs were plunging down into the underlying mud as deep as 40 cm. Their hind legs were often still bent indicating that they were struggling to escape. Two of the skeletons were found one right over the other where they apparently fell. This fossil find captures in stone how the dinosaurs perished when they became mired in the mud.

The thick layer of mud in which the animals were trapped displayed bedding that was twisted and convoluted4 indicating that the sediment was only recently deposited from flowing water and still soft when it was disturbed. There was an absence of bioturbation (such as burrowing by worms or crustaceans) in the underlying mud,5 which also indicated that the mud was only recently deposited.

Not only was the thick under layer of sediment recently deposited, but the overlying sediments were deposited soon after the animals were trapped, burying the animals before their soft parts had a chance to rot away. Nearly all the fossil bones were surrounded by a drab, blue-gray halo indicating how far the soft tissue extended, and that the carcasses had decomposed after being buried, not before. In addition, gastroliths (stomach stones) were found in the fossilized ribcages of some animals, as well as carbonized stomach contents . So promptly were the animals buried that the delicate bones in the eye (sclerotic rings) of some animals were preserved. The team interpreted the site as a “catastrophic miring of an immature herd

https://creation.com/dinosaur-herd-buried-in-noahs-flood-in-inner-mongolia

The Deep Sleep

“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.” (Genesis 2:21)

This is the first of seven occurrences of the unusual term “deep sleep” (Hebrew tardema) in the Old Testament. In each case it seems to refer to a special state induced by the Lord Himself in order to convey an important revelation to, or through, the person experiencing it.

In Adam’s case, God made a bride for him during his deep sleep from whose seed would be born all the nations of the earth. “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (v. 22). The covenant God made with Adam and Eve delegated dominion over the earth to their descendants.

The second deep sleep was that which “fell upon Abram” (Genesis 15:12) when God passed between the sacrificial animals and established His great covenant with him, promising that from his seed would be born the chosen nation. “And I will make of thee a great nation” (12:2). The Abrahamic covenant also delegated the central land of the earth to Isaac’s descendants (15:18-21) and promised that “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (12:3).

But Adam was a type of Christ and Abraham was a type of Christ, and their deep sleeps prefigured His own deep sleep of death on the cross. There He became the last Adam and the promised seed, dying to give life to His great bride and living again to establish a holy nation of the redeemed, fulfilling all of God’s ancient covenants and instituting the eternal New Covenant in His own blood.

When Adam fell into a deep sleep, a bride was born; when Abraham fell into his deep sleep, a nation was born. But when Christ slept deeply in death on the cross and in the tomb, death and hell were judged, and a new world was born. HMM

Babes in Christ

“Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.” (1 Corinthians 14:20)

The Christian life is entered by the new birth so that everyone who is genuinely born again must begin as a spiritual babe. “Except ye be converted, and become as little children,” said the Lord Jesus, “ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

Furthermore, they should continue to be as innocent children insofar as “malice” (Greek kakia, literally meaning “wickedness” or “evil”) is concerned. This is an attribute that should diminish, not grow, in a believer.

The sad truth, however, is that many born-again Christians remain spiritual babes in attributes that should characterize strong men and women of God. Paul equated the term “babes in Christ” with carnality, characterized by “envying, and strife, and divisions” (1 Corinthians 3:1, 3). Paul also speaks of those Christians as “children” who are “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). He urges each one to be “speaking the truth in love,” so that we “may grow up into him [Christ] in all things” (Ephesians 4:15).

Spiritual growth, of course, can come only through spiritual food and spiritual exercise. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14).

Christians should become mature, both in understanding and in behavior. The last reference to growth in the Bible applies to each Christian: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). HMM

Seeds of Doubt

“He [Satan] was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

Satan loves to plant seeds of doubt into the minds of both believers and nonbelievers alike. Jesus warns in today’s passage that Satan is an old pro at lying, so to speak. He has been at it “from the beginning.”

The first example we see in the Bible of Satan’s lying is in Genesis 3:4. When tempting Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he says, “Ye shall not surely die.” Going back one chapter to Genesis 2:17, we see God’s original command concerning the tree: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Notice that Satan removed the “not” from “thou shall not eat of it” and inserted it into “thou shalt surely die.” That change was enough to plant seeds of doubt into the minds of Adam and Eve, damaging their relationship with God and ultimately bringing about the Curse of the Fall on the earth and all mankind who would come after them.

Since we have the benefit of recorded Scripture to study and learn from, let’s be aware of Satan’s tactics to spread lies. We know one of Satan’s devices is to attack the validity of God’s Word. “Did God really say…?” seems to be the approach taken in this instance. Satan may also attack the accuracy of God’s Word, adding or removing words from the Holy Scripture to advance his deadly agenda.

Let’s be “vigilant” (1 Peter 5:8) and informed about the ways Satan attacks so we can stand strong in the faith, “for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11). DWR

Building-Vine-Body

“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)

There are three wonderful figures in the New Testament that depict the relationship of the individual believer to all other believers and to Christ Himself. Christians are like stones in a great building of which He is the foundation and cornerstone. They are little branches in the great vine, which is Christ. They are all members of the great body of which He is the head. In each case, they have been placed “with Christ,” and they derive all life and meaning from Him.

As a stone lying alone on the ground is useless and ugly, so would be a professing Christian who is not truly in Christ. But we, “as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5) as “the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Similarly, a branch without its vine and roots is lifeless. Jesus said: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

The members of a body are functionless without the head to direct them. “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (1 Corinthians 12:18), and it is intended that we “may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together…maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

Outside of Christ, we are useless, lifeless, and without direction. In Him, we become a beautiful temple, a fruitful vine, and a strong body. HMM

Fear Not, Little Flock

“But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Luke 12:31)

In these days of financial worries and rampant materialism, it does us good to reflect on Christ’s teaching concerning our priorities. In this passage, He was teaching His disciples not to be troubled over temporal things (v. 22) but to rest in the fact that He will supply our needs. “If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?” (v. 28). We are not to have our mind set on material things (v. 29), neither are we to be “of doubtful mind,” wavering between hope and fear of the future.

We are to be different. We are children of the King and are in His care. The “nations of the world seek after” (v. 30) these things. Our Father knows that we have need of certain things, and since He loves us and has our best interests at heart, we have nothing to “fear” and can be assured that “all these things shall be added unto [us]” (v. 31).

But more is involved. It is not enough simply to avoid improper fixation on the things of the world; we are to seek rather “the kingdom of God”; we are to be about His business. His priorities should be our priorities. We must strive to know Him and His Word so well that we naturally conform our actions to His desires. If we do so, He not only will take pleasure in supplying our physical needs (v. 31), but also “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (v. 32).

It is our privilege to participate in His work on Earth as He enables. Our part may be to give—“Sell [what you] have, and give alms”—thereby storing up “a treasure in the heavens that faileth not” (v. 33), or to pray, “for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (v. 34). If our primary desire is to enhance the work of the Kingdom, then He will give us that desire, and we will see fruit that lasts for eternity. JDM

Holy Things

“If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD...” (Leviticus 5:15)

The “shadow of things to come” (Colossians 2:17) in the Old Testament focuses on physical items and places that were considered especially holy and dedicated.

• Holy place (Exodus 26:33-34)
• Holy altar (Exodus 29:37)
• Holy sacrifices (Exodus 29:33-34)
• Holy garments (Exodus 28:2-4)
• Holy ointment (Exodus 30:31-37)
• Holy vessels (1 Chronicles 22:19)

In the New Testament, however, the “holy things” were focused on the eternal and spiritual holiness that was merely “shadowed” by the earlier ceremonies. Our “holy calling” (2 Timothy 1:9) is granted through our “holy faith” (Jude 1:20). God has designed us to become “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

While we serve the Lord on this earth, we are “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13), expecting that the Lord will make us “to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men.…To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13).

Jerusalem on Earth, destroyed and rebuilt throughout history, is the prototype of “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven” wherein “the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Revelation 21:2-3). HMM III

Aceldama

“And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.” (Acts 1:19)

Never was a tract of land more fittingly named than Aceldama, an Aramaic word meaning “field of blood,” for it had been purchased with blood money, “the price of blood” (Matthew 27:6). The purchaser had been Judas (through the “executors” of his estate, as it were, following his suicide), but the blood he sold to acquire the price of the field he had deemed “innocent blood.”

The miserable 30 shekels of silver that consummated this transaction was the price of a slave in ancient Israel (Exodus 21:32), but this slave was none other than God incarnate, so the 30 pieces of silver—the price set by the religious leaders of Israel—was the price for the sale of God.

The prophet Zechariah, more than 500 years before, had acted out a prophecy of these strange events: “So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver…a goodly price that I was prised at of them” (Zechariah 11:12-13). Next, according to both prophecy and fulfillment, this blood money was cast down in the temple and then used to buy the potter’s field (Zechariah 11:13; Matthew 27:5, 7-8).

These and many other such details in these accounts constitute a remarkable type and fulfillment of prophecy and thus a testimony of both divine inspiration and divine foreordination. But more than that, it is a striking picture of the price of our salvation, for the “field of blood” typifies the world (Matthew 13:38), and Christ is the man who, searching for “treasure hid in a field…selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field” (Matthew 13:44). All that He had—the very blood of His life—was willingly shed that we, dead in sins and hidden in the world, might be “purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). HMM

In a Moment of Time

“And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” (Luke 4:5)

It is interesting that there are just three “moments” mentioned in the New Testament and that there are three different Greek words so translated, each used one time only in the Bible. Furthermore, each of these three “moments” is used in a context that anticipates the future.

First of all, Satan tempted Jesus by flashing before His eyes a vision of the whole world, offering it to Him immediately without His having to endure the cross if He would rule it for the devil. Here the Greek word for “moment” is stigme, meaning a “point,” like a period after a sentence. In an infinite “timeline,” it would be just a dot on the line, a “point” in time. Satan’s apparent dominion over this world is only a moment compared to eternity, and Jesus knew this was a poor bargain.

One day, in fact, He will return to reclaim the world from Satan. At that great day, “we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). In this passage, the unique word is atomos, meaning an indivisible particle. That is, in an “atom of time,” too instantaneous to measure, we shall be changed to be like Him in “his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).

Right now, however, our bodies are weak and easily beset with pain and sickness. Nevertheless, we are assured that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). The word here is parautika, referring specifically to the present moment. What we must endure “here and now” is so brief compared to the eternity “then and there” that it is not even “worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). HMM