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Do you really believe that? ONLY Scripture Sola Scriptura
ONLY Scripture – Sola Scriptura

The HOLY BIBLE IS: The written word of God from scripture.

  • Your Mistake – Leaders Handling Controversy

    Your Mistake – Leaders Handling Controversy

    Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.

    Matthew 22:29 NLT

    An Answer to Controversy

    How do leaders under constant scrutiny of the public eye handle controversy?

    Perhaps a leader or two from our times may come to mind. A typical scenario: A leader makes a statement, then media analyze endlessly, opponents criticize constantly and the controversy recycles. It’s always an “us versus them” scenario, with spins in the marketplace of public opinion. What is true, what’s best, what is or should have been required?

    I could point out the obvious that God is a ruler or leader above all things and all mankind. Yet many would question even this prerequisite to leading others in the paths of righteousness and prevailing in the truth.

    No man has ever been such a controversial leader as Christ Jesus. He was proclaimed as ‘King of the Jews.’ We won’t see many leaders follow in His example; for our Lord was crucified on a Cross.

    The crucifixion of Jesus Christ seems like our biggest loss of any leader ever, but in truth His Sacrifice is a victory over sin. No other man could do that!

    Jerusalem in the time of the Passover

    Few places become more important for celebrations of religious festivals than Jerusalem. Israel’s most important celebration is the Passover, a celebration of the miracles of the Lord in Egypt. When the Hebrew people escaped Pharaoh they could not have done it without the Lord. Moses may be given much credit, but the scriptures record how many miracles of God made freedom possible.

    Two-thousand and some years ago an upcoming leader among the captive jews in their own land challenged the teaching of Jerusalem’s authorities. Jesus of Nazareth made pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover festival from another captive part of Rome’s empire.

    No man was ever so controversial as Jesus and even to this day no man is more controversial than Jesus.

    Jesus, Son of Man, has been teaching among the Jews for three years. He had taught in Jerusalem before, but by now Jesus has crowds following Him. Christ Jesus creates not only converts but also controversy.

    A Triumphal King of Controversy

    Jesus a King of controversy approaches Jerusalem

    Crowds of worshipers lay palm branches before this King of the Jews, followed by multitudes to the gates of Jerusalem guarded by Romans. The good news spreads quickly to those who do not know Him. Jesus spoke truly the words of controversy many suppressed in their hearts. His words ignited a new hope in their down-trodden lives.

    Furthermore, many followers witness the recent resurrection of Lazarus in nearby Bethany to others in the crowd. Here comes a King with power!

    On Monday Jesus storms into the Temple, overturning the tables of its merchant money changers. The crowds have all heard of Jesus controversial teaching of the past three years. Followers echo His words.

    Matthew 10:

    34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword… 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household… 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

    Matthew 11:

    16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? …18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

     20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

    Matthew 12:6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

    38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

    Jesus IS Controversial

    No human intellect can stand against the immeasurable knowledge of God. Yer many attempt to find flaws in scripture or in the answers of Jesus. In fact, the religious authorities do not even agree with each other.

    For three years Jesus of Nazareth challenges pharisees, sadducees, scribes and rabbis. He taught on the mountains, by the seashore and in synagogues throughout Galilee, Samaria and Judea. Even the names of these Roman provinces differed from cultural references by the captive jews.

    Controversy: who rules over this captive promised land?

    After making the entrance of a King and entry into the Temple with all Authority, Jesus will answer accusations of those in power. He answers with truth, even though Jerusalem’s powerful leaders seek to murder the innocent Son of Man.

    Matthew 22:

    15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think…

    The Passover Sacrifice

    The true controversy of Christ will be a Passover Sacrifice which changes the relationship of Almighty God to created sinners.

    Jesus Christ IS the Good News of Easter and the resurrection. The King or Kings and Lord of Lords leads His subjects differently than every man.

    He IS God With Us! Controversial to any created man or flesh, who will not bow down to the Creator King.

    To be continued…

    Your Mistake – You don’t know the Scriptures

  • Looking Back – The Evil Before US, a history from Ezra

    Ezra, Looking Back

    Ezra c. 450 BC

    Picture the priest Ezra speaking to the builders and worshipers in Jerusalem:

    You know well how we have come to this place and the work which is before us.

    In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 

    “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

    – Ezra 1:1-2

    Looking Back before US

    Our focus in Ezra’s story today begins in ‘the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam.’  Ezra chronicles time beginning with genealogies from Adam to the tribes of Israel.  Then he proceeds to the united kingdom of David and Solomon. Finally he reveals a story from about five hundred years before the construction of the second Temple.

    If today you and I looked back 500 years we would record important events of the 16th century.  From our contemporary perspective it would compare to chronicling the turbulent times of Martin Luther.

    Our forefathers fled wars in Europe which had caused the deaths of 10-20% of the population. Therefore colonies of the new world became a promised land for those persecuted for varying religious beliefs.

    Visit this link for more well-researched history of a pre-colonial America.  

    Return now to Ezra’s perspective of history looking back as if you were telling the story of the US in the 1600’s. Once again, imagine Ezra telling the story. 

    A Story from Israel’s Past

    While we rebuild the Temple of the Lord let me tell you a story from the chronicles of our history.

    2 Chronicles 13:

    Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam… 9 Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are not gods… so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men.

    Imagine: a half million men chosen by God fell on the battlefield due to the sins of Israel.

    2 Chronicles 14:

    Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David.

    And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim 4 and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment…

    Do we 'Seek the LORD..and keep the law and commandment?'

    9 Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.

    Many of their fathers had been slain on the battlefield and now a defeated army of Israel must face a million mighty warriors.

    10 And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried to the Lord his God,

    “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

    12 So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army.

    Ezra’s lesson to a people looking back

    2 Chronicles 15 English Standard Version (ESV)
    Asa’s Religious Reforms

    The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin:

    The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

    3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4 but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.

    Do we do that?  In our current distress will we turn to the Lord?

    5 In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.

    7 But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”

    Asa Takes Action

    8 As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded:

    • he took courage
    • and put away the detestable idols..
    • and he repaired the altar of the Lord..
    • 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin..
    • 10 They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord on that day..

    12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul,

    13 but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. 14 They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns.

    15 And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.

    16 Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not taken out of Israel.

    Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. 18 And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19 And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

    Looking Back – Ezra’s lessons for US 

    Americans and others tend to look back only briefly at history with eyes that will not see. And any mention of Christ Jesus or the Lord God will quickly repulse those with ears which refuse to hear.

    We evaluate our present dilemma in terms of who we think has wronged US.

    Justice and righteousness fail in our palaces of partisan politics where mention of the Lord is anathema to reelection.

    A cynical nation cries out to the masses without one plea to Almighty God. Do we not justify our ungodly actions and inattentive inactions by a tolerant accomodation of our own self-righteousness? 

    Why do we not cry out to the God of our founders? (That is what King Asa did when he faced certain defeat.) 

    WE THE PEOPLE have forgotten the Lord. Surely the decline of our nation will outpace the fall of forgotten mighty empires.

    As Lesson for US from Ezra Looking Back

    Will it take a leader of another nation to lead US back to the Lord? That was the history behind the story Ezra tells here. 

    And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily.. – Ezra 7:21

    Ezra was living in Babylon when in the seventh year ( c. 457 BCE) of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, the king sent him to Jerusalem to teach the laws of God to any who did not know them. source

    In the 20th year of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, (445/444 BC), Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the king. Learning that the remnant of Jews in Judah were in distress and that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, he asked the king for permission to return and rebuild the city.

    Ezra tells of a King Asa, five centuries earlier, who the Lord used to restore Jerusalem (for a time). Then Nehemiah follows with the proclamation from Artaxerxes, king of Persia, to rebuild Jerusalem.

    Yet Israel will again turn from the Lord and captive Israel will await a Messiah to save them from evil.

    When will the nations of these last days remember the love of the Lord?

    For the Messiah Jesus has come to us. He was sacrificed for our sins and rose from the grave in victory! And our Lord will return on the clouds in victory over sin and death. Jesus calls out to the downtrodden souls of humble sinners.

    God rules over the nations and loves our worship and praise. He came to us in Person in Christ Jesus.

    When will you look up and cry out to the Lord? 

     

  • Looking Back – Chronicles of the Years

    “So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. – 2 Chronicles 15:6 NKJV

    Chronicles is more than just recording the history of the hebrew people. Kings and other historical books of the Bible record the events of a nation. Why would someone write out a history of events which will only be read by generations to come? God knows.

    In Looking Back – Nations in the eyes of the LORD we examined history from the perspective of God. Why would the LORD allow His chosen people to fall into captivity? In fact, the Lord had warned Israel to keep her covenants since the time of Moses. 

    We observed that events predicted by Prophets would be like someone in pre-colonial days accurately predicting the amazing power of the United States today.

    The Lord knows what will happen, revealing future events to Prophets. Surely the Lord holds power over the nations and reveals events impacting His chosen people Israel.

    The Lord had a hand in the fall of Jerusalem many times and also in the rebirth of Israel in the 20th century.

    Two Perspectives – Looking Ahead and Looking Back

    Looking back on the nations by the Lord always comes from an all-knowing perspective of everlasting to everlasting. ‘God only knows,’ would be man’s best expression.

    Human perspectives of mankind measured in years can look ahead in speculation or back in retrospection. The chronicles of years of mortal men record history as it happened or as events take place presently. Some Prophets with longevity like Daniel reveal the future from the Lord, then live to record some fulfillment. Even the Psalmists reveal prophesy from the Lord in songs of present praise or lament.

    Moses chronicles the journey of the Hebrew people to and from slavery in Egypt. Yet the Lord reveals not only the Law through Moses, but also prophesy as Moses records history.

    Do the warnings of Deuteronomy not reveal precisely how Israel would turn away from the Lord? 

    The book of Kings records the history of a United Israel and division into the kings of Judah and kings of Israel. Kings reveals which kings ‘did evil in the sight of the Lord’ or what good they accomplished. It continues with defeats, captivity and restoration in an account nearly parallel to Chronicles.

    So what’s the difference in these two books? (One scroll practically reads like the other.)

    1 & 2 CHRONICLES
    The ACTS of the Old Testament

    I want to attribute the apt description above and following explanation of this historical book [a single scroll in Hebrew] to Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

    WRITER: Probably Ezra. There is a striking resemblance in style and language to the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Evidently Chronicles was written during the Babylonian captivity… probably between 450 and 435 B.C.

    Ezra records events which go back to and before the chart above, again, like you or I might do to record historic events for centuries preceding us. Again, Dr. McGee observes:

    COMMENT: Many treat Chronicles and Kings as if they were “Cabbages and Kings.” Are the Chronicles a duplication of Kings? Although they cover the same ground from Saul to Zedekiah, they are not duplications…

    In Kings, the history of the nation is given from the throne; in Chronicles, it is given from the altar. The palace is the center in Kings; the temple is the center in Chronicles. Kings records the political history; Chronicles records the religious history…

    Kings gives us man’s viewpoint; Chronicles gives us God’s viewpoint (note this well as you read Chronicles; it will surprise you).

    To be continued…